life goes on

I've been trying to catch up with everybody's blogs today as I've been a little preoccupied lately. I hate it when I get obsessed with the train wreck we call our political system. I've got one more bone to pick (not today though) and then I'll put my head back in the sand.

Railing against the machine isn't all I've been doing though. I've been trying to get my marketing efforts back on track, looking for data bases and adding new names to my newsletter email list every day.

I've also started to write my book about our pate de verre work and technique. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about the idea, so outline completed, I'm trying to work on the text every day.

The weather is finally starting to cool off some to the point that it's downright pleasant in the mornings and evenings even though it is still getting into the 90s every day. But the 90s is not triple digits and so the molds I filled last week are now in the kiln (currently at 1025˚). And I've started on the models for the next group of three 4” square 'botanica erotica' pieces.

It's very windy today and hazy, almost overcast even; the only effect we're getting from tropical storm Lee. Would that some of that rain would fall on us. It's like there is some kind of huge invisible deflector out there that is pushing every hope of rain away from us.

It's been an exceptionally windy summer this year and while we always get nice breezes from the open fields around us, this summer it's been a near constant hot dry desert wind which sucks out every drop of moisture that the unrelenting sun may have left behind.

Can you guess where the drain field to our septic system is?

I have the door to the little back yard open today. It has one of those glass storm doors with a panel that can be raised so that it functions as a screen as well. It's the first day in about two months that I've been able to have it open (the door, not the screen panel) without having the heat radiating in through it. I have sorely missed the daily show that centers around the turtle pond and birdbath.

I looked out earlier today to see that the red shouldered hawk was perched on the gate to the little back yard and peering intently into the turtle pond. I got my camera and tried to get close enough to the door to take a picture but as soon as I got within 3 feet of it, he snapped his head around and looked straight at me. I froze until he looked back at the turtle pond and then tried to creep a little closer. Snap! That head came around and he looked right at me again. Then he gave a little leap, spread his wings and flew off to the tree line.

That's the second time I have seen him on the fence near the turtle pond. I'm thinking maybe he's interested in having some goldfish for dinner. Yesterday he was in the pine tree in my neighbor's back yard calling loudly.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I'm still doing this.