Latest batch of beads and more

Well, the city-wide garage sales were held this past weekend and I actually had time off to go to them for a change. My daughter and I went to quite a few the first morning, then after lunch her SO joined us and the three of us hit several more. That evening we took all our "finds" to the antique mall and priced and displayed them. We had even sold a few items come Sunday. We went back out for a while on Saturday, too, just didn't find much.



Well, the city-wide garage sales were held this past weekend and I actually had time off to go to them for a change. My daughter and I went to quite a few the first morning, then after lunch her SO joined us and the three of us hit several more. That evening we took all our "finds" to the antique mall and priced and displayed them. We had even sold a few items come Sunday. We went back out for a while on Saturday, too, just didn't find much.



Saturday night my dad's lift chair broke. I wasn't at all sure what we were going to do about that, but at 89 not having one was NOT an option.

After my daughter arrived, after her SO had spent hours trying to repair the broken chair to no avail, she said she remembered reading in one of the ads a sale actually had a lift chair for sale. We checked the ads and sure enough there had been one, a one day only sale, Saturday. We took the chance of it being a typo or the people being home. The house was obviously unoccupied, or a vacation home. We found the security patrol and he told us who owned the home or at least who was having the sale. Fortunately we knew him, he still had the chair and would let me make payments. It was $300, which was what it had cost for a repairman the last time the chair had broken. This time the chair wouldn't have been able to be repaired. It had a broken weld in a major frame structure. Darned thing.

Dad has his new lift chair now and is very happy with the easy controller and the comfort. Yea!!! Here are my beads from Sunday. I got interrupted several times and still managed to squeak out four beads. Not bad considering I only had about an hour on the torch. The bead with flowers is based on a color challenge using the initials in your name. I used my maiden name so I would have three colors: red, lavender, and celery green. I also made a bead inspired by something I see on a daily basis, my crazy cat Baby, also known as Baby Bob (by my youngest granddaughter), Robert Kitten (by me), and Bob (by my dad). The bead with the goldstone center is a spin on a bead I made last week. Someone told me I should do several in different shapes and make a necklace or bracelet from them. I really like the idea, and plan more soon. The final bead is one that is a continuation of the exploration of black, raku and goldstone. I like this combination very much, what do you think?

Here are the beads I didn't get uploaded a couple days ago

I don't know if there is much here, but here they are any way. First off are the purple hearts and butterflies I made for Beads of Courage. These are my first attempts at butterflies, so don't laugh.
Okay go ahead and laugh a little, I did, too. I really want to make them more realistic, but I don't think that is in the cards at this point. I will make some more cartoony butterflies this weekend. I know I will find a few hours of torch time in store for me then.

It's Sunday, what's that mean? More BEADS!!!

I spent several hours yesterday and today both creating glass beads. I have no clue what the ones I made today will look like, but the ones I made yesterday are great!!! I am really happy with them all. Check them out and tell me what you think. If you want to see them bigger, just click on the photos. Today I made several beads for Beads of Courage, if you don't know what that is, please click on the name and it will take you to their website. It is a really important program supported in part by fellow glass melters like me. Look through the information there and figure out where you can help out.

I will be back later tonight after the kiln cools and show you what I made today. It is warm and beautiful here today, of course the kitchen area is really warm, the torch has been going for over four hours and the kiln has been on for six.

The cat is trying really hard to drive me crazy. I let him in not more than five minutes ago and now he is crying to go back out. This is a pretty normal activity around our house. I just can't get a cat door because there are too many animals in our neighborhood who would love nothing more than to sneak into our house and go on a scavenger hunt. Not the least of which are raccoons. They got into my daughter's home last summer and destroyed half her kitchen and ate everything that wasn't either canned or in the refrigerator. What a disaster area it was when they were through.

Dad and I both have a cold / flu right now and are trying to get over the cough. It has been an uphill battle and I don't see the end in sight. Hoping a cold is all it is. If so it will be over in another 5-6 days at most.