Quinn and Mama Sandra came to visit us Sunday for a couple of days, and what bliss!! The weather cooperated “enough” that we were able to spend a little time on the deck, with a fire one night, and then potting flowers the next day (although I did get rained on as I put the pedal to the metal to get ‘r done). I gave Quinn a super soft plush Red Panda, and he LOVED it. He carried that thing around just about everywhere.
It was chilly, but so nice to finally spend some time outside. Ahhhhh!
Sandra helped me deliver flowers to the pots, which I like to do in order to get an idea of the color combos. I didn’t get enough (any?) “thrillers,” so I will keep my eye out to pick some up if I see anything I like. But everything will grow (fast) and it may not be necessary. (Plus, those flowers were expensive!)
Quinn helped Papa haul down extra bags of potting soil. (The two big ‘uns I bought weren’t enough for all of the extra pots!) Notice he’s also carrying his Red Panda (named “Red”).
Did I mention “bliss?”
THEN, today I got a delivery! Flowers from Nate for Mother’s Day! The note says, “Happy Mother’s Day! I miss you! I’m sending these while leaving [edited to say: a scary country in the mid-east] Crazy, huh? –Nate-Man”
My heart is full.
”Stop calling it ‘culture wars.’ It’s religious tyranny.”
Helen left this morning after a two-day, whirlwind visit! What a great time. Monday night (the day she arrived) we had a warm cheese & simmering broth fondue dinner! Oh. Yum.
I also had plans for chocolate fondue dessert, but we were all so full that we decided to have it the next night! We dipped strawberries, fresh pineapple chunks, sliced bananas, pretzel chips, and Nilla Wafers. The chocolate had a little bit of Kahlua in it. Mmmm.
Yesterday, Helen and I went out for lunch and then headed to Olympia to our favorite nursery. It was a wet drive (off and on), but by the time we got there, the rain stopped and it was very comfortable inside that often humid/stuffy nursery. We. Had. A. Blast. We filled the back of her Highlander with flowers and potting soil.
(We look a little pleased with ourselves, don’t we?)
Here’s my haul. We’re waiting on the delivery of a few new deck pots, plus for the #$!&*! weather to calm down and dry up so I get them planted. Might be a while…
I may have to keep my eye out for a few “thrillers,” as I mostly zeroed in on the “fillers” and “spillers.”
We had a pleasant little “Easter,” in that I bought a little ham and we had a nummy little ham dinner that evening. I’d gone grocery shopping for Helen’s visit the day before, and it was a freaking ZOO. And of course, as I lugged my overflowing grocery cart to the back forty to load my car, I got caught in a graupel storm. The windy roads on the island were COVERED in the stuff and it was spookily slick! This has been the coldest and yuckiest April I can recall in a very long time.
Speaking of Easter, here’s Quinn and his dimple and a bunny:
And eggs!
And a goat!
Here’s my latest little bowl! (It was a shallow mold so in between a bowl and a plate)
I’ll be hitting the studio/kiln again tomorrow. (More experiments to come).
Finally, if you have Netflix, I HIGHLY recommend you kick back and watch the documentary series “Our National Parks.” It is astounding. The cinematography is gobsmacking. There is humor, (some) tension, and so many surprising facts about Earth’s creatures of which I certainly had no idea before. Hippos surfing? Yup. It was so pleasurable (and mostly very relaxing).
Every time I saw one of those majestic creatures, I couldn’t get it out of mind how much Don Jr. would want to kill it.
Getting ready for company and doing a bit of cleaning in between spending time in the glass studio. It’s a decent balance! Playing with the glass is a reward for accomplishing chores. Things will heat up (not so much the glass) this weekend as I get down to the nitty gritty, but for now it’s all good.
It’s been a busy week all around. I’d mentioned that John and I got our 2nd Covid boosters— I had some unpleasant “digestive” issues the following day, which could be attributed to the shot. Or not. At any rate, it’s a relief to feel as protected as possible. We have eased up quite a bit on mask-wearing, though. I’m keeping my eyes on cases here in our area and it’s the lowest it’s been since the pandemic started. When/if it starts to climb, we’ll adjust.
Then, after months of John making repairs and replacing the flooring and tons of other big and small matters, his folks’ mobile home sold. (There was even a bidding war). We are quite shocked at how much it sold for. Mind-blowing. It closed today and holy moly what a relief it is to have that DONE.
Wanna see some more glass stuff? (heh). Remember how wonky this turned out? I cut out a clear glass circle a little larger than the wonky piece and fused them together. The excess glass made the final result quite a bit bigger (and a bit diluted), but the good news is that it’s now ROUND! No more wonky!
It’s currently in the kiln being slowly slumped into a bowl mold. Meanwhile, all day yesterday this baby cooked. I showed the “before” picture earlier (here it is again):
And here is how it turned out!! This was my view when I opened the kiln lid:
Yup, I’m doing the happy dance! Woohoo! The possibilities for this technique are just about endless. My brain is busy coming up with ideas! And I haven’t come close to doing all the suggestions in the e-book. (What a find!)
I’ve done the pre-work on a few new projects and it’s getting frustrating to have to wait for my kiln to cook the project ahead of it. I have another Really Big kiln, but since I hadn’t been working on glass for so long, it has become a catch-all for John’s folks’ keepable stuff from their trailer.
{Clears throat}
When the sailors at sea decide to have a barbecue, they call it a “Steel Beach Picnic.” (Get it? steel ships) The USS Gridley posted this! (Nate’s 2nd from left).
Those are some nice coals!
And finally, another streaming show to recommend. We just finished watching “Severance,” and boy was it GOOOOOD. I don’t know how many times throughout the 9 episodes that I said, “OH MY GOD!!!” It’s just so well done. The other thing I will say about it is that it’s a perfect allegory of every corporate place I’ve ever worked in so many ways.
lib’er-al, I.a 1. Possessing or manifesting a free and generous heart; bountiful. 2. Appropriate and/or fitting for a broad and enlightened mind. 3. Free from narrowness, bigotry, or bondage to authority or creed. II.n 1. Any person who advocates liberty of thought, speech, or action.
I was frustrated with how thick it is, but other than that it turned out quite pretty, I think. So I decided to try another one just like it, but using a little less clear glass (to hopefully reduce the thickness).
I’m not sure why, but it didn’t turn out right. I’ve been trying to figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again, and we did discover that my kiln wasn’t completely level. It wasn’t off much, but John did wedge several thin shims under the kiln feet. I’m a little nervous, though, to try again! It’s a lot of time (and, honestly, expense) to get to that final firing and have it fail.
You can see it didn’t stay round, and it looked like it sluffed to one side, likely because the kiln wasn’t level. (It’s the only explanation we can come up with). I hope that’s it and that it’s been remedied!
I did start another (similar) project, but I haven’t gotten very far with it since I had a lot of household chores to do. Working on these projects takes quite a block of time. But I’m curious to see how this one will turn out. I’m using glass “stringer,” which is very thin glass sticks, and sometimes curlies. This is just the first step:
I tac-fused them and need to snip the ends. Then I’ll place them on top of clear stacks of glass like I did before and let ‘r rip. This is from that glass artist’s e-book tutorial and how his ultimately turned out:
It’s like those “sticks” drip! I love it! Or, at least, I love his! I’m still motivated, but that wonky result sure has me scratching my head and feeling some trepidation.
John and I got our 2nd boosters today and that is a relief. Afterward we went to our favorite diner for lunch, so we made an outing of it. It was SO WINDY and therefore SO COLD. I think it would have been rather pleasant without that awful wind since the sun was out most of the time. And my eyes—both of them—are back to watering profusely. (…string of cuss words…)
We went to our neighbor’s Celebration of Life service yesterday, and while it was nice to see so many people there (lots of extended family, employees, friends, and a few of us neighbors), it was also very sad. So many tears. And my heart keeps breaking all over again for his wife, Mary. And then there was THIS: We didn’t realize that our neighbor had an identical twin. He was there, apparently up from Arizona, and it was DISCONCERTING. They look exactly alike, and they also have the exact same unique voice and inflections! Oh my!
So, Book Club is postponed at our house this coming week, until Mary feels more up to it. But I’m getting ready for Helen to visit! I’m planning on doing fondue! We will also go to our favorite nursery and load up on deck pot/landscaping plants. I certainly hope it’s not too early to do so because our weather has been schizophrenic! Thunder, lightning, hail, wind. And I’m even seeing snowflakes in the forecast on my weather app. It had BEST be wrong!
“The worst thing about Trump’s presidency isn’t what we learned about him. It’s what we’ve learned about our families and friends.”
It’s been two whole years since I’ve worked on a fused glass project, or even spent more than a moment in the studio. Literally ever since Covid hit, I’ve stayed away. You would think it would have been a good escape, an excellent way to fill the isolation, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t. I just had no desire.
In the past few months I’ve tried to spark some inspiration by perusing ideas online, but nothing struck my fancy until I became aware of an e-book tutorial by a glass artist I follow. And suddenly, I was curious.
But first, I had to CLEAN THE STUDIO. It took a while because everything was as I’d last left it, two years ago. What a mess. Cut glass everywhere, shards everywhere, tools everywhere. Also: cat hair everywhere. (Snoozing grounds). Ugh. But I did it. And then I got to work.
And I’m still in the midst of it. It’s a multi-fired project, and I can currently hear my kiln relays clicking the 2nd major firing. I woke up this morning knowing that I could finally see the results of the first major firing, and I was so nervous! I opened the kiln lid with both excitement and anxiety, because either it would be A-OK, or else a disaster. Whew. It was A-OK.
I started out covering a couple of glass strips with “confetti,” which is basically shaved glass pieces, ultra-thin. I’d bought a couple of jars some time ago and figured this was an excellent way to utilize it.
After fusing them, I cut up the strips into shorter strips and set them on top of stacks of clear glass, inside a stainless steel “dam” to maintain the flow of the melting glass within the dam circle:
This dam is only 6” diameter, so it’s much smaller than it looks here. It also created some havoc because the tutorial starts at an 8” dam and I wanted 6”! So I had to do MATH. And I may not have done it quite RIGHT. (As is my experience with…MATH).
The first major firing was a l-o-n-g one. I started it about 2:00pm yesterday and I couldn’t open the kiln until about noon today! (Hence, anxiety!) This is what I saw:
A-OK. I think.
I removed the slab of glass from the dam and cleaned it up, nipped off the spikes around the edge, and then put it back in the kiln without the dam for another s-l-o-w fuse, which it is doing now. You go very slow, gradually increasing the heat, to prevent thermal shock, and then “holding” the temperature at different times to let it soak and stabilize those wiggly molecules. Then you do the same on the way down, holding at the annealing temperature for a couple of hours, and then gradually stepping down from there. The slab is quite thick, and this current fuse will spread it out, thin it out, and hopefully spread out the colors to fill in more. (It’s supposed to, anyway!) We’ll see. My poor math ability may bite me in the butt yet. I’m hoping I didn’t get the ratio of confetti-to-clear wrong. Gulp. At any rate, I won’t know until around noon tomorrow…
It’s sad around these parts because our beloved neighbor lost his battle with an extremely rare cancer this week. He was only a year older than John. It breaks my heart and I know his wife is shattered. It’s just the worst.
A couple of things to mention—have you seen the commercials for “Vuity,” which is a prescription eyedrop that allows you to see up close without reading glasses?! I am gobsmacked! Oh man, would that be great or what! I read up on it, and of course there are some caveats. My reading glass correction is 1.5, and it sounds like that’s the sweet spot for these eyedrops to work the best. John’s is something like 2.75! So, they may not work so well for him. Also, the effect only lasts for about 6-8 hours. (I’m not sure if you can then add another drop; I’m thinking not). And then from what I’ve read, those who have extremely poor distance sight (near-sightedness) also may not benefit as well. It’s also expensive ($80/month), and insurance doesn’t cover it. I’m about due for an eye exam, so I may ask for a prescription and try it out. Maybe. Hmm.
I also want to mention my incandescent rage at the vile, despicable, craven behavior of the republican senators during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. What dregs of humanity. Absolute rock bottom.
We recently finished watching the series “Normal People” on Hulu, and it was very, very good. It may not be for everybody, but we honestly enjoyed it. It’s very sexy! Also well-acted and unique, plus the show’s music is right up there with how good Grey’s Anatomy’s at least used to be (remember that?) And, my current book is John Scalzi’s “The Kaiju Preservation Society” and I’m loving it! I would say it’s in the same vein as “The Martian” and “The Hail Mary Project,” both of which I highly recommend. You won’t go wrong. And laughing is good for us in these rock bottom times.
And now, here’s Quinn asking his mom to buy him a “cooooool” car. “When I get a little bigger, OK?”
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true. The other is to refuse to accept what is true.” -Soren Kierkegaard
Kind of an interesting experiment! According to the date on the picture of me on a neighbor boy’s bike, I’m about the same age as Quinn is now—4-1/2 to 5. I think I see a bit of a family resemblance! (I set his photo to B&W for comparison). After seeing this picture of me numerous times throughout my life, I JUST NOW noticed the cat at the front tire. I remember that her name was Muffin. Huh.
I sure hope he doesn’t have to deal with the “Miller Nose” as I have, once puberty hits.
Nate actually got an onshore port-of-call! They were in Bahrain for a few days and I even got to Facetime with him! (I still find it remarkable that we can do that with a 13-hour time difference). He and some sailor buddies all chipped in together for a very nice hotel suite and had a great time (and no sleeping in the bathtub—they have definitely matured). He said they had a wonderful dinner one night with Wagyu steaks (to die for).
He also said he (and possibly they?) got pedi-manicures and massages. I think that’s so cool! A much-needed break for the sailors. (And getting to wear their civvies!)
My boy.
Nate said he hadn’t yet received the deployment box I’d sent him a few weeks ago, but he knew that a huge mail delivery had been made on the ship while they were ashore so I assume he finally got it once he was back on the ship. I think it’s time to send him another one! Especially since it apparently takes about a month to receive it.
The rain continues, the godawful Putin war in Ukraine continues, and there are signs that Covid is on the rise AGAIN. Sigh.
Because St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, I’ll leave you with this cutie from four years ago:
“Every person in the media should introduce any Republican elected official as from the "party of Putin." The GOP is the Party of Putin.” -Matthew Dowd
Because the world is a sad, scary place these days, I’ll start with a couple photos of a happy, laughing kiddo, because we all need that.
Even though little kids like Quinn are too young yet to be vaccinated, and 1,700 people are still dying from Covid every day (including my cousin’s husband I mentioned in my previous post), I guess it’s been decided that the pandemic is over. Right.
Sandra sent me these pictures of Nate participating in training exercises for accosting and subduing bad guys (pirates?) I would imagine he wasn’t particularly enjoying himself! Notice all the people standing around laughing in the first pic. I’ll bet Nate made a wisecrack:
Ouch. I feel for him. He has a sore body (back issues, shoulder issues…)
I know that over a week ago they were in the vicinity of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. I follow his ship (USS Gridley, DDG 101) on Facebook, and they’re pretty good about reporting after the fact of where they’ve been and posting photos like this. Obviously we can’t know where they are in real time, and they have extremely limited communication until they’re in port somewhere. I’m pretty sure they still are not allowed to disembark and explore ports-of-call. Maybe that will eventually change? They still have six months to go.
John gave me a set of prints/paintings for Christmas to hang on a wall, and today he finally hung them! (Some things just take a while). I am so delighted!
Here it is with the lamp turned off. Pictures always seem to blow out the lights which doesn’t look that way with the naked eye. Maybe time for a new iPhone with a better camera?
Here’s a close-up. It’s so very much Pacific Northwest!
“I’m not a praying man, but if I were, I would be on my hands and knees thanking the Almighty that during the worst crisis in Europe since 1945, the United States is led by Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.” -Max Boot
Nate’s Obachan passed away on February 16th. He’s been notified, and Sandra said he took it hard. She was able to talk to him, and he also spoke with his dad (Obachan’s son), and as we expected, he’s not allowed emergency leave to come home for the service. Sad.
And then ANOTHER sad. Yesterday, my first cousin (we’re just 4 months apart in age) lost her husband of over 40 years. I’m in shock, and at first it appeared to be sudden, but then she and I texted briefly and she said “It’s been a rough two weeks.” So I’m not sure of the details yet. I am reeling. She will call me in the next few days and I’ll learn more.
It has just been sad and stressful! A friend who lost her husband a few months ago from Alzheimer’s just unexpectedly lost her beloved dog who has been her anchor throughout this difficult time. A brutal dictator is on the march to take over a democratic country (who just wishes to be free!), and a large portion of the U.S. population with their extremist right-wing media mouth piece, support the dictator! Including republicans in office! I have whiplash from the lunacy.
The good news is that Sandra is recovered (aside from a lingering cough) and is back to work. And Quinn is very happily back to daycare. Whew.
I’ve been escaping into books and British/Australian TV series. Oh, and Wordle. So HERE is a frustrating recent Wordle. I finally got it, but jeeze! It’s been recently purchased by the New York Times, and since then it has been a little…weirder.
My aerogarden basil has exploded (this isn’t my picture, but it looked a lot like this before I harvested).
I’ve used a fair amount of fresh basil, but I can’t keep up with it! So, I learned about drying it in my air fryer and it worked out great!
First, I rinsed it well and spun it in my salad spinner, then spread it out on paper towels for a while. Then I destemmed and placed it all in my air fryer (160°) for three minutes, shaking it every minute.
Heh. After sitting for a bit, I crumbled it. Yeah, I’d say it “reduced,” right?
Oh my, it’s sooooo fragrant! It certainly won’t go to waste.
And now Russia is attacking Ukraine. I am furious. I am sickened. FUCK putin. (And the U.S. republicans—and fucking trump—who dare to support that monster).
“I don’t remember being this sick.” That’s what Sandra said yesterday as she’s battling come-and-go fevers, headaches, and a bad cough, plus congestion and fluid in her ears. Poor thing! And she’s caring for Quinn who feels JUST FINE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. He is an energetic little boy with opinions.
Yesterday Sandra notified me that Nate’s grandma, Obachan, had a heart attack. She’s in the Good Samaritan hospital ICU in Puyallup, and is hanging on, but hasn’t gained consciousness, at least the last I’ve heard. It doesn’t look good. Apparently she had called 911 herself, and the EMTs were able to triangulate her location. They had to break down the door to get in, as she had collapsed, and performed CPR on her. She is breathing on her own, but isn’t responding to light or pain stimulation. She is well into her nineties, but I’ve always considered her as immortal. Such a funny lady, and oh man could she cook Japanese food!
Nate’s dad will be contacting the Red Cross who then contacts Nate’s Command in order to get word to him.
Here’s a picture of baby Nate with his Obachan:
Which reminds me of this one with baby Quinn:
She’s always been a hoot. Nate and his dad inherited that witty gene from her.
I got flowers yesterday for Valentine’s Day! I also cooked up some Spaghetti Carbonara for dinner—a recipe from the New York Times. It was NUMMY!!!
Update:Obachan passed away today, February 16th.
“Socialism is the fire department saving your house. Capitalism is the insurance company denying your claim.”
Why do there tend to be so many more downs than ups? Sigh. Although, I’m peering out the window at a beautiful sunny day and the water is calm and gently lapping on the beach. Chilly, though. (But not freezing!) And beautiful! So that’s an “up.”
We just learned that Sandra has tested positive with Covid, likely catching it from Quinn (who never has exhibited symptoms). However, Sandra says she feels like she has a cold so she’s symptomatic. The plan was that we were going to head up there tomorrow and spend the night and watch Quinn Monday while Sandra was at work (his quarantine ends Monday but daycare doesn’t re-open until Tuesday). Sandra had a vital need to be at work Monday and none of her local support were available to watch Quinn. But now she’s in quarantine, and she’ll have Quinn continue to stay home with her just in case. On top of having Nate gone on deployment, life’s been quite crappy for them.
And speaking of Nate’s deployment, you would not believe the ordeal with sending him a deployment box. The post office requires a completed Customs form which they DO NOT provide online, not even to just print off, so you have to fill it out at the post office. I remembered that from a previous deployment, and that you needed to itemize the contents. Back then, it was kind of irritating to lose your place in line to fill out the form, but ultimately not that big of deal. So I wrote out a list for John (he was the go-to-the-post-office guy) and he planned to mail it at the post office in Allyn on his way to the Hydro Museum. The box was packed with a whole slew of various snacks, including nuts, chips, beef jerkey, power bars of different brands and types; a bag full of an assortment of hot sauces (which Nate loves); assorted candies; playing cards and cribbage board; coffee, creamer and a portable coffee press; and a zipper bag of toiletries (like about 20+ different guy toiletry things—shampoo, conditioner, shaving lotion, deodorant, nail clippers, Q-tips, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc.). The woman at the post office demanded to know each and every item, brand, weight, and cost. For EACH AND EVERY ITEM. (Keep in mind the box is solidly taped up with strapping tape).
Post Office Nazi Woman: “You list snacks. I need to know what snacks.”
John: “Well, snacks. Chips, nuts, candy.”
PONW: “What kind of snacks? What brand? How many potato chips? How many corn chips? What candy? How many of each?”
John: **Blink**
PONW: “And what is the value of each?”
John: “What?!”
PONW: “And the weight of each.”
PONW: “And what specific toiletries? Plus weight and cost per item?”
PONW: “And keep in mind that the weight for each item must add up to the total weight of the box.”
John: “Are you kidding me?”
PONW: “No, I’m not.”
So, John picked up the box and walked out. When he told me about this, I blew a gasket. W.T.F.!!!!
John decided that since there were only four lines for contents provided on the form, he would just complete the four lines. (Screw listing the cribbage board and toiletries). He knew the box weighed 7 lbs. so he made sure the 4 lines totaled 7 lbs. Came up with arbitrary “costs.” Then on Friday he took the box to the Shelton post office and everything was a piece of cake. The guy at the counter just accepted it, was kind, and then said, “Thank you for supporting our overseas military members!”
Then, John received an invoice from the (lame) attorney handling his mother’s estate. He has complained throughout to me that the attorney is not all that bright, and her “assistant” (likely a niece) is an absolute box of rocks who has screwed up several appointments and has called numerous times for information that John had already provided. Lots of incompetence. And here’s this invoice for which the box-of-rocks “assistant” is billing at $150/hour meaning that 15-second voice mails asking for information (that John has already provided) are charged at $15 because the minimum is 1/10th of an hour. And there are a lot of them. Of which she already HAD THE INFORMATION. And that’s just a fraction of all the imbecility. The whole thing is sure dragging out, as John had to replace the flooring in the mobile home and deal with some damaged siding+painting. He also needs to find someone to come out and do some basic landscape cleanup. THEN, he can put it on the market. Jeebus.
We’ve been watching some really good TV lately (so there’s another “up”). Oh my God, have you seen “Line of Duty?” We just completed Season 4 and it is gobsmacking. The writing!!! I swear it’s up there with “West Wing” as far as amazing dialogue and incredible story lines with twists that knock you out of your chair. It is SO GOOD. We also recently completed “Station Eleven.” I’d read the book a while ago, and John had JUST finished it the day before we started watching the series, so it couldn’t be fresher in his mind! While the series follows the general arc of the story, it was actually quite different from the book, which I know disturbed John quite a lot, especially at first. Lots of big and little differences, and I always wonder WHY? But when it was said it done, we both felt that the changes mostly made sense (it did get quite “dreamy” at times), and the ending was honestly much better than the book’s! (It was a very good ending). Ultimately, it was well done and well-acted. We’d come to know the main character (Mackenzie Davis who plays Kirsten) from a series we watched a while ago called “Halt and Catch Fire” and we loved her! It was good to see her in this, and she was perfectly cast for it.
For the first time in a while, we had a pretty nice sunset a couple of nights ago:
Enjoying the Olympics, although I haven’t been watching it balls to the walls like I have in the past. Mostly late night.
“If your personal beliefs deny what’s objectively true about the world, then they’re more accurately called personal delusions.” -Neil Degrasse Tyson
