yo-yo weather and another feather

Yesterday it was 71˚ and then plunged to 30˚ during the night with a light rain, currently 38˚. Such is our yo-yo winter weather. Once again I gambled and didn't cover anything though I don't generally worry about quick dips between 32˚ and 30˚. I haven't been out yet but the foliage on one of the angel trumpets and the jasmine that I can see from here look fine.

Here's the new heron feather, 7 1/2". Eventually they'll be slumped to have some curve to them.

Overall it came out better than the first one but a little too blue I think. Still shiny even though Marc adjusted the firing schedule so I think that's a function of using transparent powder over the base rather than opaque powder but since I haven't done one with opaque powder I don't know for sure. I'm using the transparent powder for the blue heron feather because I don't have the right blue color in the opaque glass powders and I think I can mitigate the shininess with my finishing process buffing it down. I have two more feathers I want to try which will be done in opaques which is what many of the samples are about, trying to get the right browns.

I had an appointment with the GP Monday. I finally broke down and made the appointment as I've been having almost daily episodes of irregular heartbeat of varying intensity and varying lengths of time, usually minor lasting only an hour or so but it's been going on for a couple of months now. The good news is my blood pressure was fine and while I was talking to the doctor it started up so she was able to hear it...three beats, drop the third beat, skip a beat...she sent me down immediately for an EKG but as usually happens, by the time I was hooked up and relaxed on the table, the little pumper was beating along on a happy rhythm so she referred me to a cardiologist to wear the 24 hour monitor. Still waiting to set the appointment.

It's still raining lightly out there but should stop soon and clear up some this afternoon and then off to yoga this evening.

I'm not even going to comment on the state of the government, the Republican traitors in charge of the continuing shut down and the 30% of the population that still supports them, or the smug little MAGA hat wearing bastard whose rich family hired a PR firm to spin his smirk and of course the MAGAts were invited to the White House or that his school sent a bunch of privileged white boys to protest women's reproductive rights or that Trump's main WH lawyer graduated from Covington. What is there to say that hasn't been said ad infinitum by better writers than me. At this rate there won't be much left of this country by 2020 which is exactly what they want. Putin is celebrating our demise.