WIA Sunday 1st February

[LadyArowana]

Hi everyone, . Hope you can forgive me for not being here on a regular basis, we are sort of getting down to the wire on the whole home project and it has been a bit stressful.

They brought the "furniture" etc back from the storage unit Thursday. We didn't keep much as there was a bunch of old bits and pieces that went in the skip. It wasn't nice enough to take with us 20 years ago, so you can imagine ....... I had packed all the kitchen stuff though and some linens, so have been dealing with all those boxes and getting it into the new units. We lost one wineglass ( not part of a set or anything ) which is good considering that the chaps heaved the boxes around in a van and are not "real" movers, just the heavy jobs lads.

I thought I had lost one of the handsets for my new telephone system yesterday evening, couldn't find it anywhere. Decided that it must have got gathered up with something and junked, so reformulated where to put 2 rather than 3 so that I would still hear them, and having done that of course I move something on a shelf and it's right there. Covered in dust of course, and without batteries, but not lost! Hope to make it to the big DIY store for odds and ends today, so can get those.

Rita, I'm so glad your Dad was basically OK after his fall. Claire, that was a nasty surprise for Leon, I guess he does have to learn that not all other canines are super friendly. EEEEEEEEW on the decomposing rabbit leg, what is it with dogs that they can look at something completely rank and gross and go "I know what to do with that, I shall eat it" at least it didn't get into his system.

I have a long "to do" list, so need to get myself another cup of coffee and be out of my bed ! Hope you all have a good one. Fiona

[claire.c]

Hi all,
We have white stuff, not loads and not settling but it is supposed to get worse. Only one more month and this cr*p should be behind us, I keep telling myself. Leon's nose has scabbed over, no knowing what is going on there but I am keeping an eye on it. We will probably take him to the vet tomorrow for an antibiotic jab just to be on the safe side. One of his eyes is a bit red and droopy, he may well have scratched it a bit in the grand chicken chase, it doesn't seem to be actively bothering him but I'd rather have it looked at. He is fine in himself, played with other dogs and ran about happily.

We've had a busy morning, David cut back the ivy in the garden, we have to get it tidied before nesting starts. I fixed a couple of hooks I'd got to hang the dog lead up, and moved the tall thin bookcase I keep music in next to the piano, something I'd been meaning to do for ages. I think I have chosen a laptop, there's a second hand Lenovo T43 which is refurbished and very reasonable, they are robust and well designed and do all I need. It will run on XP, I don't want to sacrifice half my resources to Vista.

Angela, your holiday plans sound exciting, Mexico is very exotic to me. I adore the planning too, keeps me occupied for hours. Did you find any books worth getting? I'm going to be looking on Amazon over the next few weeks.

Steph, hope you enjoyed your day, despite the cold. I'll have to look up that recipe, anything with chocolate is good.

Maggie, we used to go to that cottage with Cassie sometimes, it is lovely and the owners really friendly, they invite us over for aperatifs and we chat for ages. I'm sure Leon will love it.

Gwen, you can use copper wire for cloisonne, it needs to be flat strip rather than round wire. Sometimes you get a reaction between the copper oxide and the enamel so it discolours a bit near the cloisons, I've only noticed it on pale colours. I have sometimes hammered copper wire flat to make my own strip, it is easy as you don't need much.

Pam, a studio day seems to have cheered you up, creating art is much more satisfying than cleaning the house for the umpteenth time. Your money meditation reminds me of the proverb "be careful what you wish for"

Rita, your poor Dad, good thing Eric was OK about going to help out, I remember you saying how fond he is of your Dad. Lucky there are no bones broken, that is always a worry. Was he trying to let the cat out again? I had to laugh about you and the tequila, David is the same about rum, same reason!

Barrie, I'm glad the class went well, having it at home must be much easier than at the college. Your dh is a treasure, a man who cleans and cooks is worth keeping. The gîte is tiny but very sweet and perfect for just us and dog, there are lots of tiny fished in the stream outside which we feed from the little balcony.

Fiona, good to hear you are keeping going, you have done really well to get so much done. If one or two things aren't completely finished before you go back it is not disastrous, just imagine what it would have been like if you had not been there to supervise!

[BeadTowne]

Fiona, Is it this Thursday you will be heading home? You are probably ready for a long break away from the apartment. Good luck with that to do list, hope there are no snags in anything else that comes your way.

Claire, Not the white stuff! Sounds like you are accomplishing a lot of tasks at home, spring cleaning a bit early. Having Leon looked at is probably a good thing, especially with the eye problem also.

Rita, Let us know how your dad is doing today. I hope he is still sleeping and getting his strength back. I have your hearts in the kiln right now. Almost forgot about annealing them.

Pam, Hope those sales keep coming. I'll get a few sales in a row and then nothing for days. Fairly happy with how I did in January.

We usually see the kids on Sundays, but other than than, not much planned. Since I have the kiln going I will make some beads. Think I may try cheery colors rather than organics today. Did a bit of that yesterday.

[Dawnt0721]

Good morning!

I still need to catch up with everyone from yesterday but it will have to wait until this evening. My husband is trying to fix my computer so I've hijacked the kids' for now.

Tomorrow is Cody's 8th birthday so today we're doing cake and ice cream and then heading to town to the roller rink for a couple of hours. Tuesday is my birthday and I found a new computer for cheap yesterday so DH is taking me to look at it and has offered to pay half for my birthday gift. I'm sure he will be able to fix mine just fine but I've been wanting a larger screen again. I bought this little 13" and it's easy to carry around but the small screen can be a little tedious. Laptops are SO cheap these days and RJ has been eyeing my small one for a year now.

Okay, so hugs to all and I'll be back to catch up more later this evening.

[Andee]

Just a short hi from me - I'm not in the mood... (Rita, what a scare for you, I'm glad nothing worse happened to your dad! Claire, poor Leon. Having him checked by the vet to be on the safe side is good. Soz, that's all I've got in me today...)

[Barrie]

Quick fly by from me today. Students will be arriving in an hour and I should probably be 'ready' for them! I really do enjoy teaching at home - nothing to pack up and haul away, just tidy and put away. Big difference!! Have a great day all!!

[TheBlueBetween]

hi everyone Finally feel like I've caught up on sleep from that time when I wasn't getting any... phew. Today we have a superbowl party to go to, I don't know who is playing or anything, but the food will be good

Claire, I told Luke it was snowing in England and he thinks that's very unfair, he'd take it in a minute if he could.

Fiona, sounds like it's (sort of) coming together. You will be so happy to go "home". Hope you have lots of princess things planned to make up for this.

Maggie, I'm very happy with January sales too, now just to keep it up without letting every other aspect of my life fall apart. I wish someone was selling a tutorial on balancing the artist's life with real life.

Dawn, you are going to have a busy week of birthdays! Fun Love how cheap laptops are now, we got Luke one last year so we wouldn't have to share, he loves to play club penguin - do your kids play that? It's very safe - I got him a subscription for his birthday.

to Andee and Barrie and everyone else.

xoxo

[Ritazart]

Fiona, Nice job finding the other phone handset. You are so close to the end now.

Claire, The gite is perfect!! What a wonderful setting, fishes and all!!! Hoping Leon's nose is better soon.

Maggie, I hope the colors don't all go to crap. I had a few of the ones I kept here go really grey when they fired. If they are too bad maybe you can swap them with BOC beads.

Barrie, I hope your class goes well. But then they have the best teacher possible, how can they miss!!!

Pam, Hope your superbowl party is fun!!!

Dawn, I am sure the birthday fest will be fun for all of you!!! A new laptop ought to be a great gift for you and RJ.

I got the torch fired up last night. Tried turning down the gas a bit, and working just a bit closer in and I think I got it right. I only made four beads, but one is an organic!!!! One skulls, and two turquoise and coral combos. Kind of fun!!! Tried not to push myself after the day we had yesterday. More like a decompression thing. I will take photos in a bit and get them posted.

Dad is up and moving this morning. His hand is really sore where he tore the skin. I have it soaking so we can remove the bandage and see just how bad it really is. I will put new bandaging on it after I clean it up a bit. He says it is hurting pretty badly so I figured I better check on it. His ribs are really sore, and his left knee is hurting, but he managed to stand up and walk about 12 feet before he had to get in the wheelchair. We figured he better walk what he could so he didn't just get stiffer as the day wears on. I think he will be fine, but he definitely appreciated the pain pills for sleeping.

Well, I soaked the bandage on his hand enough to get all the layers of saturated bloody gauze, but not the one directly against his skin since it is really holding it all together. We peeked under it as much as we could without starting the bleeding again. It is a huge tear in his skin that kind of looks like a lightning bolt, his skin is so thin it tears like paper. It will be a while before this one is healed up I am sure. Owwwwy!!!

Here are my beads, including the one that broke. Of course it was my favorite. Yea, no smoked clear!!!!



I like the reactions in the next one. Turquoise with silver foil and coral stringer.



Side 2 of the little skull:



The organic after I got it cleaned:



BBL

[BeadTowne]

Dawn, Happy birthday to Cody! Hope you are having a fun time celebrating.

Andee, Sorry you don't have any energy today. Hugs.

Pam, I'm wondering how much torch time I will get once I am back teaching. Balance is hard for me at all times, but especially when teaching takes so much out of me. Finally feel like I am no longer a newbie when I am at the torch. Go team! I still don't know who is playing either and don't even want to watch the commercials. Now good food I could go for.

Rita, Your poor dad. Sounds like he will be in pain for awhile. Hope he gets lots of rest. I'm sure your beads will turn out fine. I'll post a picture here tomorrow. Finished torching so it will go through the rest of the cycle now.

This morning I heard from my Oregon friend that has been here to be with her mom. Her mom died this morning. I'm really glad I got to see her a few weeks ago, she was a very special part of my childhood. Our brothers were also best friends and when I went to leave a message on John's phone I got all choked up and couldn't say anything. I'm sure he will panic when he hears the first message. I called back and got it out.

Stopped torching because I dropped a rot hot of glass on my sweats, which burned through to my leg. I cut away the pants and saw it could be worse and finished the bead. Makes me mad because I always torch with a towel on my legs and it had slipped enough to not catch the glass.

[TheBlueBetween]

oh rita, sorry about the broken beads. My two favorite hearts broke the other day too... one I knew was going to because it was ASK glass encased. Why I did it, I have no idea. Hope your dad is feeling better soon, what a nasty fall for him, poor guy.

Maggie YAY!!!!! That is so big that you no longer consider yourself a beginner! Because you are not I really need to find that leather apron because I keep dropping twisties on my lap...hot hot hot.

OK, I'm making meatballs and bacon wrapped bbq shrimp. Then we are out of here. It's ghosthunter marathon weekend if anyone likes that show.

[ValleyCreekStudio]

Guess everyone is off watching Super Bowl. We have it on but I really don't do football or any other sport for that matter. I did see the fellow make that 100 yard run and that was way awesome. Missed the 3D commercial, didn't have my glasses ready.

Fiona, glad you are coming to an end of your remodel and that Singapore is on your horizon. I know it will be good to get home. You have done such an awesome job on the reno but I know you are more than ready for it to be over. How fun to set up the apartment so you have a London home when you decided to go there.

Claire, ugh on the white stuff. We have another cold front coming through but no moisture. We are so dry it isn't even funny. Poor farmers, I really feel sorry for them as it doesn't look like this year will be a good one for them. The fellow that leased our place this year hasn't even come in to plow. No need to plant as it won't come up without some rain. I had checked the catalog I received for the flat copper but all they had listed was silver. I had wondered about just using copper wire but was afraid I might not get it hammered out even. I think I have way too many irons in the fire but enameling sure looks like fun. Hope Leon is ok after his bite! Poor thing, he hasn't a clue that some dogs are not as friendly as him.

Barrie, I wish you were nearby as well. Would love to have a go at the MiniCC before buying one. I found a place that has them for sale at a very low price. I saw one on LE and it was new but they wanted a bit more than this retailer. If I had found this retailer first I would have probably bought the Mini rather than the Cricket as the Mini isn't that much more. I was so used to being able to warm rods in the radiant heat as I was spinning the bead on the mandrel and that just doesn't work on the Cricket! Plus the ends on a long bead get cold because they stick outside the heat area. It's a great little torch if you work pretty small.

Rita, that broken bead really is pretty! Clean it up, glue it together and put it somewhere you can just look at it! I have a little rabbit I did that to because I couldn't bear to toss him! Terrible about your dad. He was sure lucky that he wasn't hurt more badly or that he didn't crack or break something! Good thing he has the Life Alert.

Ooooh Pam, bacon wrapped shrimp sounds so good! I did some murrini today but cutting it was another story. I think I have bits of murrini all over the studio! How do you control it to cut it?

Maggie, I can relate to the glass bits burning through ones pants leg! I keep forgetting to put my apron on until I'm in the middle of something and can't stop! So sorry to hear about the passing of your friends mom.

Dawn, happy birthday to Cody! I bet he is having a good day.

Andee, sorry you are feeling moody. Will you got back to work tomorrow?

Signing off. Must go and check out the rest of things.

[TheBlueBetween]

Gwen, I cut them into a coffee can so they don't fly all over the place. The shrimp were not as good as usual without my "secret ingredient" (I'm out of it), oh well, still nice to see our friends.

everyone!

[BeadTowne]

Gwen, I cut my cane into the towel I use on my lap. Make a little bowl like setting. Corina uses the bottom of her shirt pulled up like a bowl.

Rita, Here are your BOC beads. Posted the exchange hearts in that thread. Everything came out perfect and as cute as can be. They are so little compared to my big old hearts.

[Ritazart]

Maggie, My beads came out well. I am relieved. I wasn't sure how many would go all grey or black. Whew!!!

Pam, Those meatballs and bacon wrapped shrimp sound great. Okay, secret ingredient, huh?!!

Gwen, I think I got the torch figured out last night. I had it turned up too high, now I can work in much closer and not brown up my clear. Yea!!! It just takes a while to melt. When I work with clear I can't see it with the diddys on so I have to take them off or I can't even tell when it is in the flame.

Hope everyone had a great Superbowl Sunday. My son and his wife came over with a turkey and baked it here while we watched the game. Then fed dad and I and left us some turkey, too. Good night and dad finally went to bed at nearly 10 pm.

[TheBlueBetween]

Rita, THIS is my secret ingredient: http://shopping.nosoc.com/browseprod...27s-Stuff.HTML SO good on EVERYTHING. Glad you had a nice day with your son!