| THE PAST IS PAST! |
May 9..Monday,
George had his staples taken out today! He is getting around a bit better...still wobbly and stiff
legged, but the doctor was pleased and said there would be more improvement as the month
continued and then smaller improvements over the next six months. Bravo!
I stopped at Bullseye on the way home from the doggie hospital. I picked up one 'new' color, one
of those experimental ones, which means if it is super, I have to hurry back and grab every rod on
the shelf! I was also told that the 'color stix' they make will be discontinued because they have
made all those colors into rods. Well, in my opinion, the Striking Violet and Striking Light Pink just
aren't the same. It is so tempting to grab all those too. They are still available in sheet glass,
which I can cut into strips myself, but that is a pain! Ah, what to do!
The weather today is absolutely disgusting, it is raining and blowing and cold and you just want to
hide under your pillow! They are forcasting sun starting late tomorrow and continuing through the
weekend.....As I told my son ... they do that just so you won't commit suicide! Even the dogs hate
this weather. Lilly has to be bribed to go outside potty...I swear she waits until she is close to
exploding before she will even consider leaving the house, and even then I have to carry her and
insist.
I did make cookies, my own concoction...too bad I didn't measure or write down what I was
doing, not bad, peanut butter, oatmeal,raisin......
George had his staples taken out today! He is getting around a bit better...still wobbly and stiff
legged, but the doctor was pleased and said there would be more improvement as the month
continued and then smaller improvements over the next six months. Bravo!
I stopped at Bullseye on the way home from the doggie hospital. I picked up one 'new' color, one
of those experimental ones, which means if it is super, I have to hurry back and grab every rod on
the shelf! I was also told that the 'color stix' they make will be discontinued because they have
made all those colors into rods. Well, in my opinion, the Striking Violet and Striking Light Pink just
aren't the same. It is so tempting to grab all those too. They are still available in sheet glass,
which I can cut into strips myself, but that is a pain! Ah, what to do!
The weather today is absolutely disgusting, it is raining and blowing and cold and you just want to
hide under your pillow! They are forcasting sun starting late tomorrow and continuing through the
weekend.....As I told my son ... they do that just so you won't commit suicide! Even the dogs hate
this weather. Lilly has to be bribed to go outside potty...I swear she waits until she is close to
exploding before she will even consider leaving the house, and even then I have to carry her and
insist.
I did make cookies, my own concoction...too bad I didn't measure or write down what I was
doing, not bad, peanut butter, oatmeal,raisin......
June 22
Well, the longest day of the year has passed, for me that is sad....I love the long days of light.
This morning we woke to drizzle, even the dogs didn't want to take a long walk. We went down to
the path (I live right next to a "Greenspace" which includes several miles of bark trails...I'll
photo it next 'good' day) and they immediately took care of the 'business' at hand and we
returned home. Hopefully it will improve a bit as the day continues...I can see across the river
now (the Columbia....I live on a ridge, and although I cannot see the river, I can see the rolling
hills of Camas, Washington.) whereas this morning it was shrouded in fog.
I'm still playing with the 15 jars of frit I bought during the Bullseye sale and have a list going for
several more jars I want. It is somewhat like working with different colors of paint, but you never
quite know what you will get because of the chemical reactions. I especially love the effect of
the frit on clear beads.
I have a backache this morning. Yesterday I went after the moss on the driveway. It is like a
miniature forest and is tenacious as steel. First I roughed it up with a shovel and then sprayed it
down with bleach (a surprisingly inexpensive solution to moss and mildew). One of the least
appealing aspects of the Northwest. But here in Portland we have so much to make up for those
small problems. Sunday we went to the first of the 2 large open air art shows here on the Park
Blocks of Downtown (We have the most spectacular downtown and the cleanest....we were just
votesd as the cleanest city in the US!). 150 artists in 14 mediums. Plus food booths from around
the world (I had wonderful salad rolls with peanut sauce and Carl had Thai style chicken and
noodles) and some of Portland's best musicians playing on center stage.
For those who are wondering....George is at about 75% of where he was before the onset of his
problem. I still carry him up and down the stairs most of the time and he still cannot jump onto
the couch or other furniture as he used to. I have set up a stepstool for him at the couch so he
can join Lilly without having to 'ask' me to put him on there. He seems to be out of pain, but I still
watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't overextend himself . The doctor said we will see
improvement for the next 6 months or so.
Well, the longest day of the year has passed, for me that is sad....I love the long days of light.
This morning we woke to drizzle, even the dogs didn't want to take a long walk. We went down to
the path (I live right next to a "Greenspace" which includes several miles of bark trails...I'll
photo it next 'good' day) and they immediately took care of the 'business' at hand and we
returned home. Hopefully it will improve a bit as the day continues...I can see across the river
now (the Columbia....I live on a ridge, and although I cannot see the river, I can see the rolling
hills of Camas, Washington.) whereas this morning it was shrouded in fog.
I'm still playing with the 15 jars of frit I bought during the Bullseye sale and have a list going for
several more jars I want. It is somewhat like working with different colors of paint, but you never
quite know what you will get because of the chemical reactions. I especially love the effect of
the frit on clear beads.
I have a backache this morning. Yesterday I went after the moss on the driveway. It is like a
miniature forest and is tenacious as steel. First I roughed it up with a shovel and then sprayed it
down with bleach (a surprisingly inexpensive solution to moss and mildew). One of the least
appealing aspects of the Northwest. But here in Portland we have so much to make up for those
small problems. Sunday we went to the first of the 2 large open air art shows here on the Park
Blocks of Downtown (We have the most spectacular downtown and the cleanest....we were just
votesd as the cleanest city in the US!). 150 artists in 14 mediums. Plus food booths from around
the world (I had wonderful salad rolls with peanut sauce and Carl had Thai style chicken and
noodles) and some of Portland's best musicians playing on center stage.
For those who are wondering....George is at about 75% of where he was before the onset of his
problem. I still carry him up and down the stairs most of the time and he still cannot jump onto
the couch or other furniture as he used to. I have set up a stepstool for him at the couch so he
can join Lilly without having to 'ask' me to put him on there. He seems to be out of pain, but I still
watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't overextend himself . The doctor said we will see
improvement for the next 6 months or so.
| June 24, 2005 A little political cartoon I found in this morning's Oregonian. I figure Kate McKinnon (one of my favorite places to stop - www.katemckinnon.com) almost always has some ploitical comment in her daily journal and she is a jewelry maker, so maybe it isn't bad to mix up beads with a little comment on society now and then. And this struck home.....it was accompanied by an article by Marianne Means commenting on the fact that Congress just can't seem to get it together to even discuss the larger problems that are facing the country and will become even bigger problems as the decades roll by. I suppose we should just be thankful that we are not stuck in the Macarthy era, but as Ms Means reminds us...."Bush supports seven constitutional amendments, including this one. All are faddish issues; none would substantively affect our fundamental right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the central subjects of the Constitution. And yet they are worrisome. In this instance, an expression of free speech would be eliminated. If we decide to do that, perhaps partisans would be emboldened to limit freedom of the press and religion as well. Legally, the slippery slope hovers just within reach." Back to earth later or tomorrow....I am waiting for my camera battery to recharge so I can download the pictures I took of my greenspace paths...I promised those a couple of days ago and the weather was finally nice this morning. Meanwhile, I have to go down to my workbench and start to torch. I have some ideas to treat frit to create a look like those fantastic endpapers used for some expensive hardcover books....they look somewhat like peacock feathers. I experimented a little yesterday and now looking at those complete beads I can see a little alteration is needed. So, off to more experiments! |
| Here are pictures of my greenspace. Above you can look north to the Washington side of the Columbia. All this is just steps from my front door! |
| June 25 One of the remarkable things about being self-employed is that you have to look at the newspaper to find out the day and date. You are no longer caught in that horribe loop of waiting for the weekend. It is a good feeling. Isn't my path through the 'greenspace' fabulous? There are several little creeks that gurgle along and it always is about 10 degrees cooler there in the summer. The dogs love it and so do I. I haven't given much thought to today's work. Some days I have my sets all planned out and ready to go. Things I want to try and things I know will work. One way or another the day will generally revolve around a theme. I try one set and then want to see what it will look like in another color and it all grows from there. Some days are just a surprise. Maybe today will be one of those days! |
| June 27 A typical Monday....much running around doing little stuff, a trip to the Post Office, launder the bed linen, make sure the overall cleanliness of the house isn't too foul..... Lilly seems to have some sort of a problem with her right eye, so there may be a trip to the Vet.....the poor girl accidentally went swimming in the Columbia on Friday. Carl was showing his boat to a perspective buyer when he heard Lilly crying...I guess she decided to see what would happen if she jumped off the dock. No problem...she swims wells and was in her harness and lead so it was easy for Carl and the buyer to fish her out. She stays pretty clear of the edge now, and Carl did give her a shower....he considers the water of the Columbia pretty dirty. And now with her eye...I wonder if it was the Columbia, or possibly she scratched it on something when she was foraging outside during the weekend. This week I promise to put some sets up for sale here. That way you can have them at a set price and they can be shipped immediately. Of course I have to feed ebay first and if I don't get down to my workbench right now, that just won't happen! I also promise to take a photo or two of my work area....I always enjoy inspecting other lampworkers' studios (in my case I have to use the word "Studio" very lightly!). |
| July 2 Okay! I'm getting there! A set up for SALE! That was the big news. Some other interesting things though......I have really been challenged in the most unusual ways in the last 24 hours. Yesterday evening my young, newly un-wed (parent - female) neighbor called out to me. She was terrified, was having trouble talking, said she couldn't move her hands and was ice cold. I won't go into the details, but I managed to get her settled and then had a friend of hers take her to the emergency room.....it was a panic attack, something I expected, and she is fine now. But I did manage to get things sorted out and help. Then this morning I was walking the dogs about 6:30am on the greenspace path, and where it lets out onto a side street, a huge black dog came running toward us, growling, hackles raised..... George and Lilly would be nothing to it! I just yelled "NO!" at the top of my lungs, in my most authoritative voice. The dog stopped in its tracks, still growling, still raised hackles, but he stopped. I yelled "NO" a couple more and then "Get Away!" and much to my relief the dog did turn around and head back to the side street, growling all the way. I gathered up the hounds and headed back the way I came. George, the idiot, wanted to follow the big dog! It is really interesting to see what happens when you are put to a challenge.....and as far as I am concerned, that was my quota for quite a bit of time! Now, go and buy my beads....there are some great sets at auction also! |
