Thursday, March 21, 2019

Really Random Thursday, 3/21/19

Last Friday night, Mark did his presentation on fused glass. He nailed it. He was very prepared and I think all those who attended learned quite a bit. With the overhead mirror, he was actually able to demonstrate how he cuts glass, which is quite interesting.
One of our good friends had shown him a picture in a magazine and requested a custom piece. It is about 18" in length and absolutely stunning.
Here are some close-ups. Dichroic glass is really remarkable. If you are curious about the little shapes, he places clear glass on top of the dichroic. It kind of sinks into the dichroic glass during the firing phase and it's like looking through a window. Very cool.



The next morning, Janice and I went to a High Tea, a fun event to raise awareness for Central Valley Justice Coalition, the organization that Christa works for.
Yummy food.


Christa gave part of the presentation, and did a wonderful job, as always. The student art project was fascinating. Students made pottery containers. Then they were dropped and shattered. The pieces had to be picked up and put together, demonstrating how something broken can become beautiful, a wonderful tangible example for those lives affected by abuse and trafficking.
After that, I took Gabe to his baseball game. He batted once, and was in the outfield every other inning, like the rest of his teammates.
The time on the bench is not the most exciting thing in the world, as the last picture demonstrates.



What is it with boys and gruesome faces??

Haha, number 1:

Sunday we drove to Reedley to see my dad. The fruit trees are in bloom, although it was hard to get a good picture while driving. And this year with all the water, the wildflowers and poppies are in "super bloom" status. We hope to take another ride into the foothills to see them.
The mountains are stunning. I love this picture of the palm tree with the snow-capped peaks right behind it.
Recent conversation with the above-mentioned 7-year-old (as we walked to the car when I picked him up from school):
Gabe: Can I do something to earn money?
Me: It's nice outside. You can clean the furnitue on Periwinkle Cottage.
Gabe: You mean the shed?
Me: No, I mean the cottage.
Gabe: Grandma, you see that yellow cone on the playground? Just because you call it a banana doesn't make it a banana. Just because you give an object a new name doesn't make it something different....it's a shed.

His vocabulary is way too advanced for a 7-year-old.

*Sigh* The "cottage" in question... Yes, we use the inside for storage. But I still call it a cottage because of the porch and furniture. It even has a sign with its designated name. Whose side are you on? Is it a shed or a cottage?
This arrived in the mail from Sarah--I have been eyeing this fabric in her instagram feed (@cedarforksarah) and she sent me some scraps, and the very cute pin--Orange You Gonna Make Something. Why yes I am.

I am excited to knit something with this gorgeous hand-dyed yarn from Diane. You should check out her Etsy shop--so many beautiful yarns are available.
And a good friend, Janice Porter, dropped this off on Tuesday--because she also knows I love orange. I guess that's no secret...Anyway, it's a tagua nut, which is a rainforest nut known as vegetable ivory for its likeness to animal ivory. Isn't it cool?

The other morning my phone rang, and this is what showed up on my screen? Um, what?? It kind of freaked me out, so I took a screen shot, which disconnected the call (which I had not intended on answering anyway). Has this ever happened to you?
When Mark and I were at the store the other day, we saw this--snickerdoodle and brownie batter hummus. It didn't sound appealing. But it was so intriguing that we bought the snickerdoodle flavor. Verdict? Not appealing in reality...
More baseball. Levi is at an age where the games are quite competitive and fun to watch.

Haha, number 2, the way I feel every.single.morning.

7 comments:

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Anne / Springleaf Studios said... #

Glad to hear Mark's presentation went well. The mirror is an interesting way to do a demo. And all those yummy looking tea party treats are making me hungry. We used to have tea parties all the time when the kids were little. We'd dress up silly and have marshmallows and chocolate chips and other little items.

Doris said... #

OMG the yellow cone comment! That kid is going places, I tell you....

DianeY said... #

Definitely a cottage! It has a porch with chairs!

Mary said... #

Definitely a cottage but - furniture cleaning at a shed might be a better deal than at a cottage. Thanks for sharing!

FlourishingPalms said... #

What a nice assortment of observations and reviews. I find Mark's talent with glass to be quite admirable. You know, I think that dichroic glass is the stuff that local gals use to make beautiful earrings. They tell me that the process to make this glass was learned accidentally, when NASA attempted to make different types of clear windows that would withstand heat. This was a "happy" failure. I'm envious of you getting to spend time with your grandchildren. My twice or three times-a-year visits aren't enough, though I know that I too would be sitting at baseball games, or soccer games.

OPQuilt said... #

Fun to see all these random thoughts, and to partake in a slice of your life once again. Congratulations to Mark on his successful class! I love High Teas, but I always want to go back for seconds. Or thirds, as everything is so pretty (but I don't). I'd keep with the cottage. Absolutely hilarious cartoon about senior moments--loved the whole post!

Robby said... #

I'm Team Cottage. Your stuff, you get to name it. Mark's work is always something I have to stop and spend a few minutes looking at, it must be an interesting presentation to learn more about how he actually makes it. Not that any of us need a reason to spend more time on Instagram, but I've seen some great Super Bloom pictures on there. They've made me wish I could justify zipping out there for at least a day just to take it in. Alas, my calendar is full so IG, it is.