What's Going On ...

Now I'm being attacked by Clementine

I have no idea what is going on, but as I sat down to update, Clem jumped in my lap and will not be denied...I've put her back on the floor THREE times, but she keeps jumping up, and refuses to leave...i think she's excited because I just changed her litter box, which makes her VERY happy...its hard to refuse Clementine anything, she's the littlest one in the house and the most hilarious one in the bunch...Ah, she's finally decided to move onto other adventures, so I'm free!
I need to make a run into Austin to buy more jewelry boxes to ship the bracelets in, but I may push that to tomorrow...I do have a few left that I can use today to get the job done and I guess I'm not in the mood to go as I thought I would be...I've been playing at the torch and feel like doing that again today...

Oh drat, I missed getting the garbage out, the truck just pulled by...oh well, it wasn't full anyway...

I've signed up for knitted clog class on Sunday (the Super Bowl starts around 5:00pm doesn't it?)...I bought this pattern ages ago but never attempted it and when I saw a class was available, I thought that would help me...i have some 'homework' to do ahead of time...exciting!

Uh oh...guess who is eyeing my lap again...i gotta go...

Wow, I'm being attacked by doves

I'm minding my own business in my studio, watching the birds fight at the feeders, when they all take off at once - and one of the large doves flies right into my window...loudly...I gotta go see if he's ok, but wow, that made all of us jump in here (Darcy is on my lap, and now I have new scratches on my legs...). I had a dove hit my windshield once, doing 60 mph...and that my friends, is loud...and scary...UPDATE: the dove musta been ok, he's not outside on the ground, so I guess he's holding his side and saying 'owwwww'...

24 is getting kinda boring to me now...I still enjoy Jack, but I'm bored with the Pres and his scheming sidekicks...and I'm bored with what little American Idol I've seen this year...I think I need to Netflix some more stuff...I need to watch what I've already got...or maybe read? I think I should get some more 'Learn a Foreign Language' CDs and learn me a new language...whaddya think? Se Habla Espanol...

What an AWESOME weekend!

Oh, poor Barbaro...I'm very sad...I was rooting for him, but injuries like that are so very hard to recover from...I'm glad they did their best to keep him going for so long...

I had a blast this weekend, indeed...after picking my buddy Katie up in SA, we headed to our first yarn shop and did some most excellent damage...I hadn't been to this shop in years, and when I used to go, I wasn't knitting at the time (the shop is full of needlepoint, cross stitch, knitting and other goodies)...so this trip was all new for me...and I have the shopping bags to prove it...afterward we hit a Sonic (!) for lunch (I'm a great host, only the best for my guests!) and after the onion rings and milkshakes, we were off to our next stop...in the second store, we found a corner filled with carded roving ready to be spun...

Now, I don't know BEANS about spinning, but I did buy a drop spindle the other day and I've already warned Brian that I think I might be interested in learning a little bit about spinning (and maybe even dying, who knows)...Sure, I'd love to have my own little sheep, but then I think - do I really wanna deal with all the complications of raising a sheep when I can just buy the roving and do the spinning instead...so thus, no sheep in my yard just yet...but I did load up on some really groovy dyed roving and alpaca and even some silk...oh so smooth and silky (heh)...and right now, its all still sitting in the bags...

Because....I have BEADS to post...yes, indeed, I've been madly making beads because I've been in the mood to do it...so look for those later today..they're strung and ready, just need to get those pics posted...

So yesterday, Brian and I ventured to the new IKEA that opened late last year...And even tho it was a Sunday and every parking lot space was filled, we managed to get into the building and find some very nice bookshelves that Brian has been eyeing...sure, there were 80,000 people in there, but it didn't seem all that bad...sure, there were crying children around each corner (all screaming for ice cream, how funny is that), but we just kept walking and trying to get away from them...I picked up some gigantic night lights that don't come with bulbs - what a surprise that was...but they are very groovy and I just need to find some cool places to hang them up...I'm sure we'll go back, I told Brian the best (quietest) time to shop is Monday evening...we had swedish meatballs and some salmon with lingonberry juice in their cafeteria...how European of us...

Ok, I've got work to do...back in a bit with some new bracelets...

San Antone...

I'm spending the day w/ friends in SA, and Brian has successfully returned from Denver and is recouping here (I don't think he got any sleep at all - just like Jack Bauer!)...The Bead Fairy is doing a bang up job of dropping off beads, but I'm not ready to reveal them just yet...Enjoy your Saturday...

Its a GORgeous day..

I wanna go outside and play...I need to add my compost to my tilled earth to get ready for the butterfly garden...but I also feel like working...and I feel like going on a road trip w/ the top down just cause I haven't been out in my car in weeks...a trip to the airport doesn't really count...its like I'm spinning around, wondering what to do next...

I kinda tugged nearly all my nails off over the past couple of days...so the few that remained were chemically removed (painlessly) and now I'm back to stub nails, but I can type easier!

There's a continental knitting class being offered soon...I was thinking about signing up, since I've never attempted it before...they say (and you know 'they' would know) that its a faster method of knitting...which sounds cool...i guess I need to go faster...how much knitting do I need to get done anyway...but I like learning new things, so maybe...

Time to get going...there's work to be done and daylights burnin'...

Mad love from Darcy..

Brian is dashing off to Denver to put out some crazy fires in their office...someone has downloaded something that is doing bad things to their computers and the remote staff can't fix it...he has 24 hours to get the job done...can he match Jack Bauer and save the day?

So many kitties, so much petting needs to be done...some kitties hang around me more than others...Amelie is pretty much attached to me, she's rarely more than 5 feet from me at any time...Clementine gets SOOO excited that she must run into the bathroom and jump on the counter, waiting for her petting...And Darcy likes to jump on my keyboard and just walk onto me and settle down for her petting...I must close my studio door to keep them out, otherwise, I end up covered in kitties and nothing gets done...When I open the door, they nearly pour into the room, like treasure hunters...Its always a fun day here with kitties in the house...

Is it wrong that I laughed at every Carrot Top prop in his quick appearance on "I've Got a Secret" last night on Game Show Network?

I've been watching some eps of TVLand's Myth's & Legends and its been enlightening...Most folks think Walt Disney was frozen after his death in 1967, but nope...he was simply cremated...(some thought his head was removed, why would you freeze just a head?)...And I learned Greg Brady did a scene while high on pot (quite by accident)...I never noticed, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to people on mind altering chemicals (unless they are fall down drunk like Tara Reid)...

I missed the opporunity to register and try out online for Jeopardy (it was yesterday for me) but if you're smart and on the West Coast, give it a try! I would do fine with the Entertainment categories, but History and Geography - no way..."Which island is located in the Southernmost part of the geographic region where the Norse first invaded Gaul?"...wha??? (I just made that up, but it might as well be gibberish...but if you ask me 'What actor was born Archie Leach', I would know that!!!)

Sulu, Ahead warp 3...

Aha! I figured out the problem...I stayed awake last night long enough to watch some Star Trek (the original series, that I love) and around 1:00am I was finally sleepy...I slept right thru till 7:30am...success! In fact, I wanted to see the Enterprise escape the Tholian Web (again) but I was tired...

A friend of mine is getting sued by her neighbor for moving his rocks...yes, that's right...she paid to have the gravel on her road replaced, and when the dude was scraping the rocks out of the ditch and back into the road, the neighbor claims she 'stole' his rocks...so she had the dude push them back into the ditch and he said he doesn't want 'those old rocks' (mind you, they are the exact same rocks that were pulled out of the ditch - you know how gravel gets kicked into the ditch and out of the road, right?) he wants 'clean rocks'...and so, she goes to court tomorrow to explain to the judge what her neighbor is upset with...I wonder what the judge will say about all this...priceless...

I'm still working at the torch...nothing to show yet...but I had an interesting situation occur...well, in days of old, I woulda been bummed, but now a days, I just shrug my shoulders and go 'whatever'...I made 8 beads for a bracelet, and 4 of them cracked in half...I was mixing glass types and thought they were compatible, but apparently not...I watched those cracks appear and snapped each bead in half...it was rather fun! course, had I cut my fingers, I woulda thought 'doh! what a dork!'...but I didn't cut myself...and I've remade the beads using compatible glass and all is well in the world...

Rock your world and I'll be back w/ stuff as soon as I can...time to get back to work...

Sleepy, Grumpy and Doc

I hate it when my sleep schedule goes awry and that seems to be the case of late...waking up at 1:45 or 2:00am and staying up till 5:00am...I don't eat, or read or do anything (maybe I should) because I'm trying NOT to condition my body to wake up in the night...I hope its a passing phase, but man it makes for an interesting day...

I removed the "Ice Storm 2007" pic on the page because, well, I saw two Robin Redbreasts in the yard today...doesn't that mean it's gonna be Spring soon? Whatever it means, I'm pretty sure Winter is close to being over, although I could go for a few more weeks of cool temps...I'm just ready for the sun to return, I feel like the day never gets started when its grey out...

I'm still making stuff, but am not quite ready to post anything just yet...I'll letcha know...I need to build up a bounty of goodness first...

A truly boring day today...

Well, in the fact that I don't have anything exciting to tell ya'll...our big day out yesterday was to go get a larger finch feeder (shown on the page w/ the ice dangling from it) because we have loads of finches that all fight to get on the 6 little perches...the new one handles like 15 or more birds, BUT - they were out of the large bags of thistle, so its sitting empty until we can fill it up...right now the finches are on the old feeder and they are indeed fighting for spots...thank goodness they like sunflower seeds, the overflow just hop onto the sunflower feeders and all is well in the bird world...

The football games yesterday were good, I am always sad for the teams that lose at this point because they are SOOOOCLOSE to getting to the Super Bowl and alas, do not...Even the team that loses the SB is in better shape (I suppose) because at least they GOT there, even if they didn't win...ah well...I just wanted the games to be good, not blowouts...and that's all there is to that..

I am busy in my studio today...I strung 3 bracelets, replacements for ones I sold on my trip to Tucson...but I'm making more...I really enjoy making bracelets cause its 'instant gratification'...I can make the beads, string and wear them in no time...and we all know that deep down I'm a lazy designer...I have beads sitting here that I've wanted to string for months, but you know what - they are still sitting here...

Dog is full of energy, she wants to go out, but its 37 and so she wants to come in...so far, we've done this dance 3 times this morning...she'll be glad when its Spring more than anyone...Our neighbor was out riding his horse yesterday, its always cool to see a horse in the neighborhood...

And as you can see, I truly have nothing exciting to tell ya'll...and with this, I wave my wand and magically go back to my studio...fire up the kiln and send signals to the Bead Fairy...whooosh...

Football, you bet!

Did you see how to make your own platform shoes? Awesome...

My beloved football season winds down today...the Super Bowl is the only game after these...and its always a bit of a weird game...more hype than actually play...I'd like to see Chicago and Indy in it, even if its NO and Pats, that's ok too...The football season starts in Sept and runs thru Feb, but it still seems to go so quickly...Spring is right around the corner now...and that's pretty sweet...

The sun is out...its like a whole 'nother world when the sun shines...and maybe 60 today...I'm ready to go for a drive...but I think we'll be working inside the house instead...responsibility...i'm ready to hang a little cage I've filled with Clementine brushings and left over knitting threads so the birds can fill their nests with warmth...

Its ok to laugh - I'm laughing too!!

Check out this groovy Snape tshirt...Be careful reading those comments, tho, there might be some spoilers for ya'll..but the shirt rulez...

Its ok, really...I'm not offended at ya'll laughing at me or Austin or our situation at all...It is rather amusing that a small amt of ice can completely bring a city to it's knees, and yet it happens every time here...there's nothing we can do about it...I wasn't trying to say "hey, we are in trouble here", I was just posting pics of what's going on in my world and saying that I would love to know how ya'll in the North would get around if no one had ice/snow removal tools, like we don't...that was all...remember, I TOO laughed at the kids who all ran to the windows when it 'snowed' in Houston that day..I was the only kid still sitting in my chair in English class while everyone else was clammoring for a view of the snow..it was all rather hilarious, I completely agree...and I was the one who was LAUGHING when I slipped down three concrete steps (there's a bruise on my butt, but I won't go into details)...so its all cool my pretty babies...and on that note -

I have beads to post...yes indeed...they are cleaned, I just need to string, shoot, you know the process...its raining outside, so I haveta find a decent place to shoot, but I will...

The dog is in the dog house again...she chewed our Christmas tree skirt and now she's chewed my very fabulous pillow shams from Pottery Barn that I dearly LOVE...Brian is hunting on eBay to replace them...she has her chew rings, she has bones, she has chew ropes, but she CHEW-ses (haha) to chew on my good things...she's banished from the living room, I can't trust her in there...sigh...

and on that note, I gotta go get some beads strung and ready to go...Hope ya'll are in the mood for some bohemian Valentines...back in a minute, I need to go put on my parka, scarf, snow boots, mittens and goggles...HA!

Yes Yes, I hear the laughing around the world..

Hahahahahaha....I hear ya...and its all cool...laugh all you want, because we do it to ya'll in the summertime...! :)

Remember, I grew up just outside of Chicago, so I understand cold and snow and ice and winter very well...but here in Austin and all along the South, we don't have things such as PLOWS..or SALT trucks...or bags of rock salt stashed in our houses to de-ice our porches...hell, a lot of us don't even have winter BOOTS or coats in some cases (I had a snow coat that I didn't wear for 10 years and finally donated it with its tags still on)...Please - let me ask you laughing northerners...if you had no snow blower, or shovel or plow truck to make it thru to your neighborhood, how would you get out of your house? what would you use? I bet ya'll don't give it another thought, you just pull out the shovel, or snowblower, bags of salt and get to work...you have to...and you hope your street gets plowed so you can get to work...things don't shut down just because there is 6 feet of snow on the ground...but what if you had none of those tools to do that?

Its a lot like why we laugh here in the South when ya'll experience heat waves of (gasp!) 95 for a week! And there is no a/c in the house, let alone in the car...and you sweat and cry and complain at how hot it is...and we all just smirk as you're doing now (understandably of course) because you don't have a/c...why would you? It never gets hot enough to need it for more than a week, right? Now, with global warming, you'll probably all have a/c in your homes and cars and things will be fine, and maybe our city will invest in expensive machinery and salt and de-icing chemicals (did I mention the ice started on Monday and by Tuesday the city was already running out of the chemical? ha)...that we won't need because the last time we had an ice storm like this was 1998...I think that's 9 years ago...If you only experienced temps over 90 every 9 years, would YOU buy an a/c for your house? I bet not...they are expensive and unnecessary...On average it snows (real snow, not just ice) in Austin every 11 years...

When I first moved to Texas it snowed once in Houston and all the kids ran to the window and started jumping up and down..I couldn't even SEE the snow, but they were so excited...some of them were 16 and had never seen snow (granted, this looked more like a dusting of confectioner sugar than real snow)...I thought "you should go through a December like I did when it was BELOW -20 for everyday that month" (which is not an exaggeration, it was freaking cold that year)...But alas, people who live and breathe in the North will never understand what happens down here...and that's ok...Believe me, there's a reason why I live in the south...I can't deal with the winter weather up north...when I lived there sometimes it would start snowing at Halloween and keep snowing thru Easter...that is just evil...Sweating is no fun either, but the Californians have all the really GOOD weather and it costs too much to live there to enjoy it...so the rest of us either sweat or freeze and complain about it...

I am filling up my kiln today, I took some cool things out this morning but I want to keep making stuff, so more work today..no beads yet..I'm hoping for tomorrow, depending on how things go today...I'll keep ya aprised of course...and I saw the sun a minute ago...its 40 out...maybe I'll go buy some boots and coat and salt...wait, no...it'll be 85 here in a few weeks, why bother...heh...

What's that sound I hear?

Why, its ice sliding off my roof...its 33 here and predicted to be 48 by this afternoon...the Ice Storm 2007 is apparently at an end and we could not be any happier...there is still plenty of ice out there right now, but the icicles are dripping and you can actually see the ground now...offices are open, folks are going back to work (Brian left at 10:00) and while its supposed to rain every day until next Tuesday, I can deal w/ rain...My left buttock is rather sore, and apparently I tweaked my left wrist and inside elbow as I fell and grabbed the door handle...but its very minor and I'm functioning at 99.99%...we ventured out last night and walked down to a mexican restaurant at the end of our road..it was packed with people who were as stir crazy as we were...

Hey Darlene- Your email is bouncing, my response isn't getting to you...send me another email address por favor...

but there was no ice on the ground, so it wasn't hazardous..it was rather nice to get out of the house...and we never lost power, not once...I've got pics, I'll post them in a minute...

So today is back to work for me..I like having a routine and now I feel like I'm ready to go again...

Alas, I've decided not to do Bead and Button this year...registration was Tues at noon and I had completely forgotten..(I was knee-deep in doing my sales tax at the time)...I had looked and looked and this years crop of classes just didn't do anything for me...they are cool and all, but nothing that I felt like I HAD to attend...I don't feel bad about not going, I can of course still fly up and spend some time w/ my friends, but I've got some other things I'm focusing on right now, so its all good...maybe next year...maybe a different show...who knows...

Alrighty then, lemme get on those pics and I'll be back shortly...woohoo!

29 is so fine...Its Ice Storm 2007! Dunh dunh duhhhhhhh

Taxes are done...it took me longer to find my tax number than it did to actually punch in the numbers...My past self left some pretty good instructions for my future self...I'm just thankful its over...

Brian has managed to slip and fall down the bottom of the stairs, and I have slipped and fallen down our backyard stairs...so far, we are ok, nothing broken, but geez...I was just trying to get pics of the snow in the yard and I fell on my butt down each concrete step (only 3 thankfully)...good thing the ground was there to catch me...and our indoor steps are very slick and shiny and Brian's socks slid from under him...I think we should just sit on the floor the rest of the day...its dangerous in here...

Thats the temp outside right now...everything is still iced up...same as yesterday...the only difference - today I'm working on my sales taxes...oh what fun...actually, once they are done, I'll feel a lot better about getting on with my other tasks...I was smart last year, I wrote myself a 'how to' list of the process since I only do this once a year, and tend to forget what I need to do...So, my Future self wrote a note to my Past self, telling her the steps to take...now if only my Past self can find where my future self stored the note on my hard drive...ha!

Did you watch 24 last night? My favorite line of the night 'Stay Down!'- Jack yells at the dude who he throws to the ground as he steals his car...and so now what?...LA has had a nuclear bomb detonated, does that mean Shaun of the Dead has to come and battle the LA Zombies that will be walking the streets? Its a crazy world...I'm having a push-pull fight on whether or not to get caught up in the American Idol fever this year...I've watched since Season 2 (sad, I know) but I'm really tired of Drunk Paula and her Stupid Antics, Cranky Simon and Dawg Randy...I kinda feel like 'been there, seen that'...the previews don't make me wanna watch either...I'm gonna try to stay out of it..Ironically, I like the beginning sessions with all the disaster auditions, but Brian likes once the final 24 are chosen, and to start the season then...

Alrighty then, I've put off the taxes as long as I can...time to go play with numbers...save me from the monsters...

Ice is Twice As Nice..

Oh yeah, I forgot - Comedy Central has been running Napoleon Dynamite these past few days..so if you get a chance, sit back and crack up when Uncle Rico zings that steak into Napoleon's face...hilarious!

Well, it really isn't, but it rhymes...I'm doing a fast drive by update because we are under an winter ice system and its slowly accumulating on the power lines and tree limbs...our power has blinked on and off a couple of times already today, but we are still up and running...our cable was out for an hour, and while its back on, I thought I'd check in with ya'll...we're supposed to be iced-in till Thur morning...I took some groovy pics of a gigantic tree that fell down across the street...If the power goes out, we'll gather up all the critters and look for a hotel..good lord, I don't want to think about it...

In the meantime, I'm still making some funky beads...Valentines stuff...and I also have some of the 'ring' beads for ya'll to make your own wire rings with..I completely forgot I made those...so look for an update later this week, I think...no guarantees, tho...

My basket class was interesting...the teacher was very good at what she did, but I guess I just don't get teachers who are crabby and curt...I like teachers that make you laugh and feel at ease...I'm not so sure I'll be going back for another class, but they do carry basket supplies, so I can always try some at home myself...geez...the basekt turned out good, Brian thought I was kidding when I said I was taking a basket class, so when I brought it home, he went "Oh, you really meant you were making a basket!"...

The birds and squirrels have been enjoying the feeders all day, I'm glad I filled them up and scattered seeds on the ground for them...chickadee, finches, cardinal, titmouse, dove all showed up, but no woodpeckers today...I hope it wasn't their tree that fell over...See ya'll hopefully sooner, but if not, you'll know why...rock on!

Underwater Basketweaving

Even tho the weather is cold and wet, it isn't icy yet...that's for later tonight and tomorrow...so I'm headin' to Austin to take a basket weaving class and I told Brian to stay home so that if I get stuck, he can come get me...ha...I don't expect any problems, but then I'm sure the folks on the Titanic didn't either...

I made some really fun beads last night, but I'm still working on them and won't be ready to post for a few days at least...I have more ideas, and I can't make any today...so I'll letcha know when they are ready...I was experimenting with different glass and pulled out some things I'd hadn't used in ages...all in all I'm happy, but there's more to do...

I put together another PMC bracelet, this one is one I wanted to make just for myself...I was inspired by a bracelet at Kate's...pics to come...

I have some emails to catch up on, I've read them and will answer as soon as I can...no worries...

I wish I had worked on my Mystery Ball scarf more, I could be wearing it today...I have no boots, so I'm wearing my 'slipper boots'...they LOOK like boots, but you wouldn't want to go stomping thru snow in them...its all smoke in mirrors...its colder here today than NYC...the dog wants to go out and play, but when we do, she doesn't like the cold wet ground...she helped me fill up the bird feeders, but mostly she's just bouncing around inside, wanting to go out and play in the warm sunshine...she's no dummy...

Pics of my new tote when I return..assuming I can finish it in 4 hours, which I highly doubt...but it's gonna be fun all the same...!

That Wacky Winter Weather

I know ya'll are probably tired of my weather tirades, and this isn't really another one, its just to say that that winter blast that is taking over the US has made its way to us in Austin...we've had flash flooding in Austin this morning, lots of rain at my house, I've been awake since 2:00am when the thunderstorms came busting into town...its supposed to keep getting colder and the rain will turn to ice on Monday and Tuesday...the entire city pretty much shuts down when that happens because we don't have plows or salt trucks, so we all just stay home...Brian can work remotely from here, so I hope he doesn't try going into town, the overpass will ice over...

this happens every few years, I can remember back in the day when I worked at the computer game company and we'd get iced into our apartments...in some cases you couldn't get out of the apartment complex due to the ice...and just walking to the mailbox was treacherous...anyway, I digress...

I signed up for a basket making class on Sunday but I don't think I'll be attending..I hope they post pone it for another day...I learned to make baskets 20 years ago and haven't made anything in a long time, so I'd like to get back to it...I wish I could make Nantucket baskets, but alas my baskets are much more primative...

PMC is my new best friend...

The PMC pieces are posted on the Metalwork page, but I made the Ready for Pickin' link point there as well...rock and roll...

Yesterday with Jill was fun...she brought some new Lauscha from her Dad and we made beads..course, they are in the kiln at BlueMoon so I don't have them to show, but I'll pick them up...maybe I'll get Brian to swing by and bring them home this afternoon...Jill brought her stash of beads, and she's posting an update today...I took my camera which immediately ran out of battery juice, so I took 2 shots of her beads using her camera, but I have to wait till she mails me the shots...so, while you're waiting for those pics, you can go to her site and see what she's listing...

I haven't made big focals in awhile and she had some really groovy 'redline' beads that were so pretty and heavily encased in clear, so they sparkled...I enjoyed torching with someone, I need a neighbor to come over and hang out with me so we can collaborate on pieces, or just inspire new ideas...any volunteers?

Fingerupdate: I took the bandaid off, and so far so good, but its still tender and I'm already seeing some areas that haven't stitched back together yet...have you seen how laser surgery is done on the eyes? where they flip back part of the eyeball? that's kinda what I did on my finger - flipped a chunk of it off..and now I'm trying to force it back together...at least I didn't cut it off entirely...sorry for the ugly images, its just the gory nature of the injury...but it'll be fine..and I did move the tissue cutter so I won't do this again...and I hope none of ya'll do this either...

back w/ the new stuff, prob listed on my new Metalwork Page instead of the Pickin' page...

I'm not farting around, really...

Check out the very groovy new Menu Buttons that my designer made for me (I'm not PhotoShop savvy)...Love them!

Sorry about no update yesterday, I was teaching a friend how to use the internet (no lie) and we spent time searching for addresses in the neighborhood so she can send out a mailing list, blah blah blah...she had never used Google Maps and wasn't familiar with the computer much, so it took awhile...and after I got home, I finished the PMC (yes Coleen!) with all the tumbling, patina-ing, hammering, blah blah...I will post them, but first, a little friendly business...Jill Symons called me last week to say she'd be in town and so we've made a play date to hang out and torch today...Pretty cool, huh..And, I'm not sure I am supposed to say anything, but I'm gonna -

Her parents are moving near here and so GlassDaddy will be 'just down the road' (well, about 45 min away, but its Texas, and we drive far distances) from me...Her dad is a Lauscha distributor...Jill spent 10 years here in Austin and her parents are relocating (retiring?) just outside town...pretty sweet...Not that I'll be stalking him or sitting in their driveway, or peering in their windows asking for glass, but its always fun when a semi-celebrity lives near ya...ha...

So as far as posting my PMC, I will do it after I get back today, possibly tomorrow, depending on the sun level outside...(meaning, it might be dark when I get home)...its overcast and a nasty Nor'Easter is coming down w/ice possible on Sun/Mon...boo hiss boo...

FingerStatus- I replaced the bandaid and looked at the injury..its healing, but is still pretty tender..I put bacitracin on it and a new bandage..I can type easier than I could, but it still hurts when I squish it against a plate or while lifting a 20lb kiln...

La La La...connect the dots...La La La...

Litte Miss Impatient

So the PMC kiln arrives yesterday and in all my impatienceness I plug it into my studio - where I already have a bead kiln chugging away, a floor heater running, a server keeping the computers going, my television and cable boxes running and various lights lit...and I'm sure you can guess what happens next..."don't any-body move! a fuse is out"...it wasn't painful, I just turned everything off and reset the breaker...ha! I learned my lesson, so today I found an outlet outdoors that is on it's own circuit (I even looked in the breaker box to make sure!) and got setup this morning...the kiln worked like a champ, ramped up, held and shut off just like it was 'sposed ta...

I'm tumbling my little PMC offerings right now and am upstairs hunting for my liver of sulphur..I'm pretty sure I know where they are...Oh, 15 min is up, gotta go get them outta the tumbler and start patina-ing...I'm gonna leave some items silver, just cause I know some of ya'll don't want or like a patina...cool...

back later...

Kitties everywhere

Clementine decided she needed to swish her tail thru the running water in the bathroom sink while I was brushing my teeth and now Darcy is sitting on my keyboard while I try to work...I do love the kitties, especially when they try to keep me from working...

The finches are fighting over the thistle, dive bombing one another..they've nearly finished a small bag of thistle in a few days...last night when I was filling the feeders, a bird started shrieking in the tree, either in excitement that more food was coming, or in fear I was running off with what was left...the woodpecker is back and eating sunflower seeds as well...i wonder where his new house is...

Don't Fear the Reaper is on the radio..Of course I wanna jump around like Will Ferrell with my cowbell...

I've got a special delivery arriving today..something big and bulky and that gets really toasty...I'm pretty excited..I'm sure it won't get here till late in the day, tho...rats..

I'm not that inspired by the classes at B&B this year..I keep going back to the book, trying to decide what I need to take, and what I can buy in kit form...Hmmm...

I feel like making beads, not doing paperwork...is that so wrong?

First of the Year chores

January arrives with such fun things as doing my yearly sales tax - the paper work is worse than the actually paying of the taxes - cause I do hate math so, and getting my yearly game plan in order...there are lots of things that I want to accomplish this year, and I really need to spend time getting myself organized and goal-oriented...I like a plan, a schedule, a direction..knowing where I'm going, but giving myself enough of a leeway to get there in the best way I know how...I'm not able to say 'I'll make beads every Monday', cause some days are just not good beadmaking days (i've heard that from other artforms as well, some days the clay just doesn't sing, or the sewing machine jams constantly)...

My finger is actually much worse than I'm letting on, I have a nice big chunk of finger that's been, well, I won't go into details, but its not a simple cut I'll just say that...however, I've had my bandaid on my finger and it seems to be holidng it together, although why is it that when you have an injury, its always finding a way to get hit, smacked, knocked about, poked, pinched, bit and mashed...I didn't know I used that part of my left ring finger pad as much as I did...I'm sure I should have gone for stitches, but I'm gonna put that off as much as possible..I've had stitches, not my favorite thing...

Time to get back to work...paper work that is...make it go away!!

Guess what I learned...

I meant to post this the other day - Our friends who left us for the sunnier vibes of California sent us this ornament for Christmas

...she does the most wonderful watercolor prints and sells them on Cafe Press...I was tickled to have a monarch ornament on my tree this year, after the A monarch saga from November...

A new Harry Potter Knitting book is coming out in April...cool...

I sliced my left ring finger rather nicely yesterday...and by that I mean it hurt like heck...so typing was nearly impossible yesterday and rather painful today...what a dork...i've since moved the tissue blade so it won't reach up and bite me again...and my skin is knitting itself back together...who knew PMC was so hazardous to your health?

So, not a big update today, this is taking too long and is too painful...I'll try again tomorrow...I'm gonna give the torch a whirl and hopefully can hold the mandrel in my left hand...we...shall...see...

The song stuck in your brain...

Brian and I have been watching the SNL video from Christmas called "D*** in a box" over and over again...(its bleeped, but if you are easily offended, do not click this link...)It cracks us up and is rather catchy...after hearing it on the radio in the morning, and watching it with Brian last night, the tune is now ground into my brain...so I'm flipping channels, and on Leno is Justin Timberlake - and they are playing the video too...its like a song I cannot run away from...and now I have it linked on my site...Have you ever seen the movie 'the blob'? (it was on TCM the other night)...its the big blob of a song that I can't run away from...but its pretty hilarious none-the-less...

The truck passed its inspection, does that mean I have to buy it a wash and detail now? I've got a sushi date and have to run some errands...its been raining here and we need it so badly that it could rain every day for a month and it wouldn't be enough...except the dog isn't happy to stay inside when its raining...she acts like its my fault...and the house is small enough that there's no where for her to run, so she just hangs out and tries to stay out of the cat's way...they rule the house, there's no doubt...

Watching too much DIY television

I've gone ahead and posted them for sale...nothing expensive, just fun fashion rings...

Here's a pic of all the rings I made this morning...It was rather fun...I had to figure out which size hole would work, and turns out they both work, just depending on the size of wire you wanna work with...the smaller wire can be rolled into little spirals for added spaz...If you think this would be something you'd like, I can post them for sale...I was thinking of making beads so that YOU crafty little folks can make your own as well...whaddya think? I gotta go get my car and truck inspected so I'll be back in a bit...

I am super-glued to that channel in the mornings...and while one half of me (the back half I suspect) thinks its a bad thing, the other half cannot quit...And as such, I was watching a show I don't usually watch, and there was a segment on 'make your own rings' that inspired me to make some beads to try it myself....I'll take some shots after I get them cleaned and made up...I'm rather looking forward to it..

I had a dream that I was in a class and the instructor was kinda crazy...she insisted that we take tests at the end of the class and we could seriously 'fail' her class..I wondered what that would mean on my permanent record...She wanted me to dress a little metal doll using unusual metal components to see what kind of imagination I had...and THEN, she had the other students secretly start to remove bits and pieces of metal findings from my work area so that I couldn't finish my project...I finally flipped out and she confessed that she was obsessive about her classes and thought I was there to cause trouble...wow...I'm exhausted from just thinking about it again..Oh, and something about Halloween and haunted trees in her yard, and people were dressed up like ghosts and witches...I wonder what I ate for dinner last night..?!?!?!

Even tho there was no mail yesterday, I still went out to check the mailbox..but it was ok cause I got to stand and admire my new 'glow in the dark' front door...As someone wrote to me - you know, there was a porno about 'behind the green door'...ha! Love it...The only porn (pr0n) going on in my home is of the bead and PMC kind...and maybe DIY network...I loves me the DIY network...maybe tonight I'll dream about glitter pears and wire firescreens and feather lampshades...

It goes so fast...

The holiday season always flies by...the tree is down, the lawn ornaments are gone and the 'sounds of the season' digital music channel was playing disco yesterday (I guess for New Year's Eve, but still)...Pack up Rudolph and lets get ready for Spring!

We bought and hung a thistle feeder over the weekend, and this morning there were EIGHT little finches clammoring for 6 spots on the feeder...obviously some were higher in rank than others, and they were dive bombing the low life who were already perched, but those low lifes were fighting back, keeping their perch and happily munching on the thistle...the squirrel tried to get his fair share, but realized he couldn't get into the feeder, and moved onto another where he is suspended upside down, merrily eatting the sunflower seeds, while his buddy cleans up the remnants on the ground..

Loads of PMC is drying, I get all sorts of stress in my back as I make it, cause it dries out so quickly, you have to move fast...still, I'm happy with what's been done so far...I still have a little way to go, the pieces need to be fired, run thru the patina and tumbled...but I'm workin' on it all...

I watched the Boise State/Oklahoma State game last night...fantastic!

Do people still write checks anymore? Do you have the problem with the date change like we all used to ten years ago...? I wish I wrote more instead of typed so much...do you still hand write things? I think its a dying art...

Happy New Year!

Raise your hand if you painted your front door LIME GREEN yesterday!!!! Its the perfect time of year to do outdoor projects, and I've been wanting to add some color to this new house for awhile...I saw a lime green door on a house for sale in Central Austin and just fell in love with the idea of a bright powerful color on the house..its definitely not a color you see everyday...AND, I have more in store...after we installed this, we decided that more color needs to be added..so stay tuned to see what's next...

Brian installed the new hardware and we LOVE it..the old hardware was ugly and industrial, the new pieces are sleek and the locks work smoothy...so nice...I forgot to get a pic of the door before we started, it was a basic off white door that had no personality...we put some plastic up to keep the fuzzy buddies inside, but as you'd predict, one made her great escape...during cleanup, we lost another one down the box hole...

I hope ya'll had a great night last night...we had lots of local fireworks going off, but it rained recently, so everything was wet and I wasn't too concerned about the house going up in flames...Today the tree comes down cause next week we have people installing our entertainment pieces that moved with us, but have been sitting on the floor...I feel the need...the need for PMC...