Button class today, ah the brilliance of it!

Here we are at Lane's House of Glass where we can throw no stones!  This is located at 111 Colorado Ave., Pueblo, Colorado.  Phone # on that is 719-542-2210.   Now the way I happened to wind up in here was I was at the Weaver's Guild meeting and they said who would like to take a class on fused glass and I got confused.  For some reason I thought it was a wine tasting class and since my hand was already up and I was hollering "Pick me! Pick me!" when I actually figured out what was going on and I did not want anybody to know I was not paying attention, I signed up for the fused glass button making class.  Now, I had walked past Lane's House of Glass a time or two on my way to the homemade candy store (which incidentally, is going out of business if they don't find a buyer.)  I knew they had beautiful stained glass hanging in the display window, but that was a far as my tiny mind had taken me, until that day.

Now as I anxiously awaited the day of my class and told people, "No, I am busy that day at my fused glass class", I was asked several times exactly what kind of class it was and what was I going to do.  Did I get here before you?  What is fused glass?   I have no idea.  No idea whatsoever, but when I get done I will know what I did.  That seemed to satisfy my most ardent admirer; sort of anyway.

So today it arrived and off I went at the allotted time.  I was greeted by two of the nicest people I have encountered in quite some time; Bob Lane and his able assistant, Lisa.  We were ushered into the workroom in the back which was all laid out for us.  I at first thought the dark marks on the table were dried blood but was told that was a  crock.  See, I am smart enough to know that glass is sharp and broken glass is really sharp.  Bob asked if any of us had ever worked with glass before and I told him that one time I actually washed a window, but that did not count.

This is my work station.  It consisted of a big square of paper, glass cutters, pliers, some glue and lots of containers of broken scraps of glass and other stuff that I did not remember what was. 

These are my little palettes which I shall attempt to turn into works of art.  They are squares of thin glass.  The big ones are about 1 1/2" and the little ones about an inch.

Now after much brilliance I ended up with little piles of stuff that I am sure were what I did although I am not sure what I saw in my head and what ended up on the palette were any where near the same thing.  You people do know I have about as much artistic talent as a slug, but I gave it the old college try.

Here is my efforts laying in the bottom of the jewelers kiln.  Look kind of sad, don't they?  Ah, but wait!  The master will bake them!  10 minutes at some temperature, then raise it for another 10 minutes and then raise them to 1600 degrees.  I think that is right.  And voila!  The glass I had piled and glued and placed strategically would begin to slump and fuse together, hence the term, fused glass.  Get it too hot and apparently it all turns into a big ball and is good for not much of anything!

 

 

 

 

So, now tomorrow, I can go pick them up, because today they are really hot! 

 

So, I count today as a good day and let me tell you why.  I learned a craft that I had never had an inkling of how to do it.  I now know what fused glass is and I made some.  That is one thing.  I met two very wonderful people, Bob Lane and Lisa.  I tell you this much, they were very kind to me as I navigated this world that was totally foreign to me.  Bob did a lot of my glass cutting for me because I think he could foresee a lot of blood if he didn't.  Lisa is a font of knowledge and the two of them together made my journey a lot of fun.  And my fellow classmates were quick to point out my mistakes.  Ah, bless them! 

So if you think you can not do it, just pop right in to Lane's and tell them Lou said.  I am sure they will work you into a class and what is life if it is not the never ending quest for knowledge.  And it is always fun to learn how to do something first hand.  I am probably not going to take this up as a full time hobby, but it was fun.  Hey, if I can do it, you can do it.

 

 

 

 

 

Oak Valley Township has a new Trustee!

 

I finally have a child in the elected political arena.   Can you tell by looking that this is my oldest daughter?  Kind of surprised me that she looks so much like me!  Let me introduce you to my daughter Debbie and her husband Carl.  Well, we do not call him Carl.  We call him Hammer.  They live in a small town in eastern Kansas.

 

It seems that dear Debbie has gotten involved in the politics of the county.  This seems to be the only one I raised that is into all the things I hold dear, like recycle, GMO, civil rights, animal cruelty, organic, and on  and on we go.  She was the first to stand up and tell them about recycle centers and I do not know what ever became of that.  She is the first at the council meetings and holds their feet to the fire on all the issues.

 

She has been described as a pit bull.  She stands her ground and listens to what is presented and then explains her point of view and then listens to your point and if it is unfair, the back bone straightens and locks in place and the tail with the stinger that was wagging is now poised right above her head.  When she leaves the table, things are all as they should be and everyone is happy.  Happy is what it is all about, isn't it?

 

Now Debbie did not run for this office.  She did not campaign for this office, but when the votes were all in and the write-ins were counted, she was the clear winner.  She received a letter stating that.  Not sure what this entails, or when the entailing happens, but I am sure she will fulfill her obligation with pride and a fair open mind.

 

And our little Hammer is now the First Man.  Some how when they were  standing in front of the Justice of the Peace with my friend Shirley as their best man (many years ago ) taking wedding vows or roaring the highways and byways of western Kansas on their Harleys, they could not see what the future held.  I sure never dreamed that my survivalist daughter would be the first politician in my family.  I rather thought that would go to my son, but so goes it.  For the record, I am pretty sure she is a Republican!

 

So, I send her my congratulations! 

 

 Hats off to Debbie Kiesel for doing something her mother never had the guts to even try!

 

Snake #3, or as I laughingly named the folder, Friday snake.

 

 

 Ok, kids, this is what happens when you keep catching the snakes and relocating them and they keep coming back.  This is the third snake in less than a week.  Just more than I can handle.  This one was just under 5 feet.  Bret thought he would like to take this one home, but Amanda thought better of it.  This one was very mean.  The one night before last was rather docile, but this sucker was wanting to eat some one and I did not want it to be me.  I do not think this was the great big one and I am hoping it does not come back. 
I will keep you posted and in the meantime know that I do not like killing a snake, but this is getting plum ridiculous.  I ought to be able to walk in my own yard without them scaring me.  And when I throw a pebble I would very much appreciate them slithering off and leaving me in peace.

Well, we are starting this week off right!

This is Jimmy at my house doing the same thing he was over here doing 4 days ago, only this time the snake was much smaller.  Now I have no idea what I have done to attract all these snakes, but I am here to tell you that I may be moving into town and into a high rise.
I seriously think that the first snake was the father snake.  I think he came out from under my patio.  I think this one was the mother and she just woke up.  I fully expect to walk out there in the morning and find the babies headed for the goose house.  How many babies does a snake have for crying out loud.
The only thing that would make my life perfect at this point is for a great big tarantula to crawl in through the doggie door.  I may be getting too old for this farm life.
 

Finally made that hike I was looking forward to for so long.

Check out the scenery in this slide show.  Last Tuesday I finally got the chance to hike in the high country.  I forget what the name of this place is but it is out of Canon City.  Beautiful scenery.  This is the bluest sky in the world.  Almost as blue as Kenny's eyes.
I even wore hiking boots, back pack and everything.  I went with a friend who does this on a regular basis and I want to go on record as saying he was very understanding that this was my first trip doing anything like this.  You all know that I am a city girl at heart and my favorite things in life are hot and cold running water, electricity, a firm mattress and indoor plumbing.  Sad to say that there were none of my favorite things there in the wilderness, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  No doubt he chose the easiest trail he could find, and for that I am eternally grateful.
So enjoy the slide show and I am going to go post to Long Ago and Not Very Far Away.

I have passed a milestone and it only inspired me to set another.

See, I have had over 30,000 reads on my blog!  To me it  is very exciting to know that at different points over the last several years 30,000 people have actually clicked on my site and hopefully read what I had written there. I do know that on occasions I have had a note from someone telling me "good job".  Got to tell you, that really makes my world light up.  I know my sister Mary is a regular reader or I should say listener since one of the girls reads it to her.  They say she smiles and laughs because she remembers the story I am telling, especially our early marriages and attempts at mothering our off spring.  Sister Dorothy just doesn't read that much and Sister Donna is pretty busy, but you will find me gearing my words to dear sister Mary.
I know I have my regular readers, my sporadic readers, a few land on my site by complete accident, some because they type in a "tag" that matches one of my tags.  For whatever reason you find yourself reading this blog, be sure I appreciate you dropping in and staying awhile.  Sign up over under the followers link and I promise that very soon I will write something worth reading.  I have had several new adventures this week, one of which scared me so bad I forgot I had a camera.  One broke my heart.  So stick around, this old lady is not done yet!

The May meeting of the Handweavers Guild of Pueblo!

I you click on the square in the lower left corner, the captions will show up.

Kind of amazing, this little slide show.  First you see the orchid Bret and Amanda gave me for Mother's Day.  Isn't that pretty?  And all I have to do is put 3 ice cubes per week in the pot.  I can put an extra one in sometimes if I feel like it.

Then it was off to the monthly Handweavers Guild meeting.  Dona Marie had give me the teal scarf for Mother's Day and I was wearing it for a belt.  No, that would not do.  Joanne Caldwell and Carol Salas ( Yes!  I used their full names.  They are the culprits.)  decided that it should be on my head because that is where the hippies wore them.  As I recall the "Flappers" also wore things like that, so I thought, "What the hey!"  So Joanne tied it on my head and Carol took the pictures.  Then I decided everyone else should be on camera too. 

So enjoy the little slide show.  See you in a few!