getsuyōbi, Feb 15

Busy weekend... always is when Alex is off .... two trips to Agway, one to grocery store, gathered old books and sent them to book bin at landfill... ditto with old metal items, only they went to recycle pile. I wish we could pick over the metal goodies, but it isn't allowed by the city. Darn it. Went for an icy walk down by the Ashuelot River yesterday. The decision to walk back home via sidestreets and sidewalks was a good one. Finally  got a chance to meet and talk to the guy who has all the huge felled tree trunks in his yard. Nice guy... culls his wood from surrounding area ... knows a guy, etc. etc. etc. Cleans up after the tree guys go in ... takes the wood back to his place and chops it up for firewood. Has a mystery wood chunk in his yard. We were stumped (ha, ha) too.

Spent saturday afternoon at the torch. Armed with tutorials, silver glass stash and a renewed ambition to try some new techniques... some measured success...

This is a practice piece following a wonderful tutorial by Chrissy called Champagne Balls. It does take some steady hands, and patience. Oh - just don't get the brass in the flame ...  the reaction will wake you right up, if not cause you to throw the mandrel with the hot glass over your shoulder and across the room... luckily it just increased my heart beat a little bit. This has possibilities...

These are my wart beads, as Alex calls them. I'm undecided. I think that they have potential, but will need some more experimentation with colors and combinations. Thanks Amy for a great Stormy tutorial!

I also started a bracelet for a class that was canceled. Oh, well. Its going well, I like the color combination, and the selection of beads, but right now it is too tight, but I can fix that. The photograph just doesn't do it justice... I can't get the colors to sing this morning... I think we need a tad more sunshine.

It's a mixture of my lampworked boro beads, faceted jade, green turquoise, some colored stone and seed beads. I can't wait to try it on...

Am enjoying the Olympics. I usually watch the skating and downhill skiing. I love watching Apolo Ohno in his competition. I think the motion and speed is amazing. Found it hard to sleep the following night though. It's hard to sit through and watch the action without moving along with the skaters. I think latent images and feelings must have carried over well into the night. No particular dreams though... that I can remember. I really wish I could see the Olympics the way the rest of the world does. Or at least I wish there was an international TV coverage that did not focus just on one country, or a small handful. The US just does not do justice to all the atheletes that participate. Looking forward to more Nordic competitions... though I do think the biathlon is a pretty crazy sport.

We started our tax return preparation. Thank goodness for Turbo Tax!

Now, I think I'll go and buy a new mattress. We are looking at a Spaldin Soy Foam Memory mattress. I hope this is the last mattress we need to buy for a long, long time.

Have a good week!