searching and anticipating

Thursday: The kiln is at 830˚ on it's way down. Since I can't make any more progress til it's out I've been going through folder after folder of pictures looking for the oldest/biggest version I can find of waxes and molds in which I have a nicely documented sequence of stages of making a wax model and filling a mold and finished piece. They have to be large format because it's for a possible article about us for a glass art magazine. It would be perfect if I could find both those sequences of one piece. What I have discovered is that my images are not nearly as organized as I thought. Yesterday I spent rummaging for pictures of some of the large scale etched/carved glass installations we've done. I'd love to do the glass in the back bedroom, the old entrance to our shop in Houston, but the only camera I have right now is the one in my phone and etched glass is very hard to photograph because of the light which expands and totally washes out the detail of the design.

As mentioned previously, green pecans have been and continue to fall. The squirrels are doing their part as many have been gnawed on. My neighbor thinks a lot of the ones that are falling are really being knocked off by squirrels when they grab one to test.

We got a little bit of rain yesterday, about half an inch. Not nearly enough but much better than the scant 1/4” last Sunday.

Friday: After I wrote that I decided to try and consolidate and organize my photos of the pate de verre work a little better. So far I'm still sorting images in the iPhoto app, haven't even started on all the folders in the finder.

This morning the kiln is at 121˚ so it may come out this evening, tomorrow for sure. Then the last two pieces go in and I start the grinding off of the excess glass on the box and fine tuning the heron head inlay to fit in the recessed area.

Also this morning it felt like maybe, possibly, the weather is going to break some. I won't go so far as to say it was feeling like fall might be around the corner because, historically, that doesn't usually happen until late September and sometimes not even til October.

But it is that time of year when the grackles swarm through, hundreds of them on the ground, in the trees, lining the edges of the turtle pond and on the top rail of the fence, in the birdbaths, on the roof. They are so loud thumping around on the roof of the house it sounds like something is running around up there. And noisy. Omg, they are so noisy! It's hard to get a good picture that shows just how many there are because as soon as they detect any motion they scatter.

Labor Day weekend, two more months til the holiday season starts. The year is winding down even if the heat isn't. We got word that the open house is on again for this year so I guess I need to get my butt in gear and start making those snowflake christmas ornaments I've got planned as well as a few new high end pieces. Plus I want to come up with a new cheaper way to display some of the work from last year and save those pricey stands for future more expensive work.

Well, the grackles seem to have moved on to the next yard and two hummingbirds are busy trying to chase each other off the feeder to the end that neither is getting to eat. And speaking of eating, it's time for my breakfast.