The Perfect Edge - Coldworking III

We had our third Coldworking class with the first demonstration being the use of a tile saw. When working with glass and machines, always wear safety glass and closed toed shoes.

A diamond coated saw blade is used with a tile saw. It grinds the glass rather than cutting it. There are several accessories for making perfect angles, and you gently press the glass into the blade rather than forcing it. The blade does the work. I was glad to see that a toothed blade is not used. I had visions of making a mistake that would result in a serious injury. The diamond blade will leave a skinned spot but at least you have all your fingers if your hand slips on the wet glass.

This is a cast iron flat lap. Grit is placed in a funnel, upper right, water drips into the funnel to slowly wash the grit onto the flat lap.




When using the big flat lap, you want to come in at an angle so the piece is not caught and thrown against the wall. I understand when a piece slips and ends up being thrown against a wall, you hear a gnashing of teeth, expletives then sobs. :D

Paul is loading the edge with pumice to polish on the small flat lap.




This 12" lap machine uses magnetic, diamond coated disks in grits ranging from 60 up to 1200. The finish is a lens polish.

The fourth class is devoted entirely to finishing our pieces, and I am taking advantage of Helios' open studio to get caught up so I can finish at least one piece. As you can see, getting the perfect edge takes a lot of work.

Until next time, God bless.

Sol'stice Purchases

While I exerted the most extreme discipline to not purchase everything I wanted at Sol'stice, I relaxed a bit and the next thing I knew I had these items in my car when I got home. Oh well, nothing to do but put them out. :D

This whirly thing goes on the peach tree. Hopefully, its whirling, swinging and twirling will keep the birds away from snacking on the peaches. I don't mind birds snacking if they would limit it to just a few, but it is a little disconcerting when every second or third peach has a peck or two out of it with sugar ants feasting in the peck holes.
How about these ceramic mushrooms? Aren't they cheerful?


This Texas insignia jumped into my grocery cart; and since the garden is in Texas, I couldn't put it back. We Texans like to brand our things. lol

Until next time, God bless.

Happy Mothers Day

May your Mother's Day be as bright, fresh, and beautiful as these roses.

Until next time, God bless.

(If I may brag at bit, my youngest son, Paul, sent these to me. :D)

Sol'stice Garden Expressions, Part III

I had a picnic lunch with a friend of mine at Sol'stice Garden Expressions with the hope that the birds would flock around us. I heard them in the trees but not a one flew close enough for me to photograph. Oh well, when one plan does not work, I always have a Plan B. Plan B was to take photos inside. I love funky and earthy items and Sol'stice is filled to the brim. (See February 25 and February 26 blog entries for outside tour of Sol'stice.)

This display greets you at the front door. Don't you just love the colorful painting above the secretary?

This is to the left as you come in the door. The green and copper object on the right is a lamp!

Excuse the shameless promotion, but the above is a display of my pendants and one of my small trays. You've seen closeups under the Plum Wild photo gadget.

I love these concrete pieces. The one on the left has a swivel mirror in the center. Usually the piece hangs in a tree and the mirror swivels in the wind; the birds go wild over it. The piece looks great on the wall, though.

Isn't the mobile on the upper left wonderful? The funky pottery faces hanging on the wall are really neat, too. I have to exert extreme self-discipline to not buy a zillion things when I come to Sol'stice.

Love this abstract on the left as well as the garden ornaments in the wash tub.

This room is a bit of a mess since Chris is painting another room. However, I also love the green, concrete table on the bottom left. It would be great inside or outdoors!

This is another one of those funky lamps. I need to look for a place in my house for one of these.



BTW, this monarch butterfly was the best picture I could get while eating our picnic lunch. lol And, it isn't very good at that!

Two quick questions before I close: Have you bought anything lately for your house or garden? If so, what?

Until next time, God bless.

Maggie, Guard Dog on Duty

This is Maggie, Luc's lady friend and adopted pound dog. She patrols her territory for intruders.

These pots were originally placed just outside the yard gate, but the cows discovered the plants. So on a hope and a whim that Maggie might allow them to exist, I brought them inside the fence. The pots are back outside the yard gate with the hope that the cows will no longer be interested.

Until next time, God bless.

Glass Fusing - Coldworking # 2

I had my second coldworking class Saturday. Paul of Helios demonstrated two more techniques to get that "perfect edge" on a piece of fused glass.




Paul is using a wet 60 silicon carbide grit to shape the edge of the bowl by hand. A 60 and 120 grit is used to shape the glass, then move up to 220, 400, and 600 grit to refine and finish the edge.

Another finishing technique is working an edge on a wet belt sander as demonstrated above. The same grit progression of 60, 120, 240, 400, and so forth is followed.

We were then in for a treat. How to work on a lathe which is not a part of the class for several reasons. A lathe is used to carve or cut glass and is a decorating/design technique, not a finishing method. But, Paul has a Lamborghini of lathes and we asked him to demonstrate it.To get this, you do this:

Stay with me on this video -- my first time using the "movie" setting and it took a few seconds to get the focus. However, you get an idea what goes into cutting designs into glass. No one is allowed to work on this machine unless they have taken a class from Jane Bruce. To learn more who she is and what she does, you really should visit her website. Her work is outstanding -- the word outstanding is in itself is a gross understatement when it comes to Ms. Bruce's glass.

All in all, the second class was wonderful, just as expected. I can hardly wait for next week. :D

Until next time, God bless.

Spring in the Texas Hill Country

Having been born and reared in Houston where it is green year around, it took a while for me to truly appreciate the Texas Hill Country. Spring is the most beautiful time here because as summer progresses the landscape slowly turns brown since rain days are weeks and weeks apart. And, the white caliche reflecs the sun back up on you. Texas Hill Country is not a desert, but it is an acquired appreciation if you come from an area that has a lot of rain and stays green even in winter. :D

I decided, though, to capture this loveliest time in the Hill Country when I got sidetracked by Luc wanting me to throw his ball.

Luc's ball bounced into this patch of horehound. Horehound patches are very dense so I walked over to help him find it when I heard the bees. And much to my surprise, I realized horehound has the teeniest blossoms. I'd never noticed because usually I run over it with the riding mower. Ok, I'm kind of heartless at times.

Horehound is an herb and was used in the past in a syrup for chest colds and coughs, asthma, indigestion, and applied externally on minor abrasions and skin rashes.

I think the above is a nightshade, notice the five yellow stamens. It is also known as belladonna. The foliage and berries are very toxic. It has a long history of usage in cosmetics, medicine, poison and was used as a surgery anesthetic before the Middle Ages. I cannot help but wonder how many people made it through the surgery knowing what we know now. I read where several wives of Roman and assorted emperors were acquainted with this plant. :D However, see the agarita next to it? Those leaves are dagger points.

Agarita, though, has the sweetest smelling, yellow flowers in February and early March. By late April, red berries are on the bushes. Early Texans placed an umbrella or sheet under the agarita bush and shook the bush to gather the berries for jelly. Some people still make agarita berry jelly. I'm not one of them; but if I ever have an opportunity to try it, I would.

The above is called antelope horn milkweed which is a food for the monarch butterfly caterpillar. Bees seem to really like it, too, because there were usually two or three on each flower. I could only capture a photo with one bee; they would fly away before my ever-slow Coolpix would snap.

I think milkweed blooms are interestingly beautiful but can be poisonous to cattle and humans.

I do not know the name of the two wild flowers above but both brighten the landscape.

Here is mullein which has been a valued medicinal herb since antiquity. The leaves were used to treat wounds, sprains, were smoked to relive coughs and to treat lung diseases. The dried flower stalks were used as tapers to start a fire.

The above is wild lantana, but the foliage is poisonous to animals -- news to me -- which means I need to remove it from the house side of the yard fence. I can't have either of my two dogs munching on the leaves. I do get a cheery lift when I see the flowers.

Some people call the above johnny jump-ups and others call it a day lily. I like johnny jump-ups; it kind of makes my heart sing when I hear or say the name. Just a few drops of rain brings these babies into bloom. Even though we have had over 10 inches of rain this year, we still have not recovered from the dreadful drought last year. You can tell by the cracks in the ground that we still need rain. I bought some grass seed today to see if we can improve on our lawn which died last year because we only had about 11 1/2 inches of rain for the entire year!

This is a flower on a catalpa tree. Fishermen love this tree because it attracts the catalpa worm, a favorite food with fish. :D

Last, but not least, is the prickly pear cactus blooms. Aren't they magnificent? It has been a food staple in Mexico for centuries and is gaining popularity here as an exotic food. Hmmmm, maybe I should become a prickly pear cactus farmer! We have no shortage of prickly pear around here. After the bloom, a pear like fruit appears -- covered with thinner-than-hair spines, I might add. Jellies are made from the fruit. Again, one of those things I haven't tried, but if I ran across a jar, I'd probably buy it. :D

Where are the bluebonnets, you ask? I've only seen a few along side the road; I think last year's drought may have had some effect on them for this year. However, I have a few pictures taken in 2006. Unfortunately, the photos do not do justice to the magnificence in looking over a field of bluebonnets. The beauty takes your breath away, but give your imagination some freedom when looking at these pics. (Sorry if I mislead you because the prickly pear cactus was not last as stated.)

Until next time, God bless.