Sanibel Island

Found out my birthday gift is a family trip to Sanibel Island. I have wanted to go there for years. Does that sound like I want to go there to stay for years or that for years, I have longed to go? Both apply, I guess. I love seashells. I collect tons and tons of them and never know what to do with them. Prior to our last move, Brad frowned at my pile of shells sitting unused in the basement. I ended up throwing them out into my landscaping but did tell Brad that I expect to be able to collect new ones to replace them. And now I get to travel to one of the most popular shelling places in the U.S. We are going Easter weekend. The weather will be great. I think one day we should head for the Everglades, a mere 75 miles from Sanibel. Emma is already worried about getting eaten by an alligator. If anyone has been to the area, let me know what you loved about it! Also, pass on any ideas for what to do with all the shells I will be bringing home...

Time to face the music....

It's time to change my blog name. I need to take the "nearly" out. Forty is here today. A friend of mine from Lincoln mentioned in "25 things about her" that she hates it when people complain about their age. She's right. We shouldn't. It beats the heck out of the alternative. There's nothing I'd rather be today. Plus, I happen to know that I am getting a family vacation to Florida at Easter time for my fortieth birthday. Happy Birthday to me!

Crazy Bird Lady

It seems I am turning into a crazy bird lady. In 40 years, picture me on a bench feeding the swarming pigeons. I just put an oriole feeder up in my backyard, right next to the kitchen window. I am hoping it will double as a hummingbird feeder. Although, I have several hummingbird feeders to put up as well. I feel bad for my hummingbirds back in Illinois wondering where their feeders went. Much of my time is spent in the kitchen looking out at my feeders. My sister says I have too much time on my hands. I believe it would drive her insane to have as much free time as I do. She's a total A, while I would be the farthest away from a type A, Z maybe? Here are some of the delights I see throughout the day (house finch, goldfinch, white-throated sparrow): Saw my first white-throated sparrow April 21st. The grackles are taking over. I removed a feeder that had black oil sunflower seeds in it but they adapted to the woodpecker feeder and my window wild seed feeder. Buttheads. I am delighted to report that a cardinal has made her nest right outside my family room window. As of yesterday, there are 3 speckled eggs in it! By the end of April, I hope to have 3 baby birds to shoot and share. Hopefully soon as well, I will have some hummingbird and oriole pictures to share.

Patty Gray class at the Vinery

I recently attended a 3 day glass intensive class taught by Patty Gray. My friend Dakota and I road-tripped up to Madison, Wisconsin, to take the class at the Vinery glass shop. It was a bit humbling to be in such company! Many of the students were experienced glass workers and Patty has a scary amount of glass knowledge and talent. Dakota was a huge help to me and the other students were great about sharing ideas and helpful tips. We worked for 3 days straight from 9:00 to 5:30 or even 6:00. I took bunches of pictures, as many as I could, anyway, during breaks. Dakota's red bowl: The wonderfully talented and patient assistant, Richard, demonstrates combing: A peeking admission... I am a peeker. I don't peek into folks' medicine cabinets but I do peek into hot kilns. It is FABulously thrilling to see glass in its melted stage. This kiln was being vented. I wouldn't want to open the kiln and ruin someone's piece. I do look into my kiln when it is down to around 1400 degrees. I need to get some special glasses since this is a compulsion I can't resist. Making stringers First blob of glass out of the kiln: Bummer- it's blurry: Hot and dripping: Here Patty is coiling the glass around a copper pipe: Here is my tile of glass for a high-fire experiment. The glass is supposed to move around in designs but I am guessing the kiln was overloaded or not hot enough or mine was in a bad spot b/c the glass didn't move despite tons of voids in the design. Our bowls after fusing: Mine is the bottom right. Hard to tell from the pic but it turned out quite lovely. I left it there for them to slump. Didn't want to take a chance of messing it up myself! Pattern bars and a few bas reliefs: My pattern bar set is the one that looks like a roll of lifesavers. After cutting is when I discovered some of the strips look like a roll of lifesavers. Wasn't intentional but it turned out super cool. Misc. mosaics: Mine is the lizard. Jacob is getting an anole from school so I made this tile for him. Since I have no blasted clue what an enola looks like, I made a blue-collared lizard that Dakota told me about. Here is a fun group shot (minus two, I believe- Carol and Charlene): Denny (Vinery owner) Ann Janet Dakota Jean Pam Richard Patty (Patty Gray, renowned glass artist and teacher)Nancy Kathryn Dawn Lisa (me) And finally! We spotted the great pumpkin on the way out of Madison. How cool is that?!?!?! (taken via high-speed drive-by)

The face of a show-stopper.

Emma Kate is a show-stopper. Literally. Picture us at Jacob's winter band concert. The director of music for the school district organizes it to showcase her talented teachers and intermediate students. It is a HUGE deal. We arrived 15 minutes early and still had to sit in the nosebleed section (high up in the stands is a foreshadow of how Emma came to be a show-stopper). We were about 25 hollow, wooden steps up, third row from the top (another hint). Oh, and this is the second section of the high school gymnasium, so be thinking huge capacity. Jacob's group went very first out of what was an 75 minute concert. We sat intently for the first five minutes then had to suffer through the remaining 70 minutes. About halfway through the concert, a restless Emma decides she has to go to the bathroom and Abby agrees to take her. Upon their return lies the problem. One song had just ended and another was about to begin. However, about two steps up, Emma discovers that she can make a delightfully loud noise by stomping up the stairs. Thwomp! Thwomp! Thwomp! I start immediately snapping my fingers and yell-whispering, "Emma, stop that! Emma, that is too loud!" to no avail. She is coming up the stairs one painfully loud stomp at a time with her head down watching every footstep. By the time she discovers me yell-whispering, she is nearly to me. She looks up at me and smiles. Probably 50 people around us are laughing and half of them clap when she smiles. Aye, aye, aye. As if that weren't bad enough, I then discover that the band director had to wait for Emma to sit down before she could announce the next song! Abby's comment: "Mom, your face is bright red!"

The Melted Pane

Check it out!! http://www.themeltedpane.com/ Thanks to my web designer Brad and my friend JanetK who suggested the name.

Fused Glass Samples

Here is a quick and dirty grouping of pix that will give you an idea of some of the glasswork I have done. A poor picture, but this shows one of the few pieces I have done that have no function other than dust collecting. This can be used as a serving plate or a center-piece. After Thanksgiving, I will add greens and candles or maybe something like dried cranberries and candles. This teal piece I made for an anniversary gift. Teal and white were the bride's colors 50 years ago. Also pictured are a fun orange one and one that Diane wanted for her beautiful new home. This is an absolute favorite of mine. They are the same piece but one with light behind it and the other just sitting on the counter: Another favorite serving piece of mine. Please disregard the glare. Another fave: A load of glass (pic from cam phone) just before fusing: The precious little piece (right hand side, 2nd from top) was made by EmmaK8. Another personal favorite for really no good reason is the Crazy Quilt Bowl. This bowl contains most of the colors that I have used in all of my other pieces. Guess that is why it is special to me. It has a totally different look inside- not as bright and see-through.