Monday, April 20, 2009

Learning More Glass

This weekend travels brought me to my mom's house, where she and my sister shared the expense of a glass kiln and buco glass supplies. I wanted to make more pieces that I could work on with stained glass, but found that this media was fun in and of itself.

Several pieces of glass were fused in the kiln. They needed to overlap enough to be stable once they "melted" into each other.

The kiln had to be prepped with paper between stone and anything glass.

This piece needed to hang, so I used a piece of fiber that was resistant to high temperatures placed between two pieces of glass to create a "tunnel" to run a string through for hanging.



The firing took about 8 hours through a cycle of super hot and then it needed to cool to room temperature slowly so it wouldn't crack the glass.

Patience pays...

Friday, April 10, 2009

Kids Coming Out

We had a great visit at Johnny Seale's Goat Farm this week. The kids are jumping and bumping, berming and squirming, and looking so cute I could eat them up. Check 'em out!

(Click on a picture to enlarge)





























Thursday, April 9, 2009

Learning Stained Glass

The last few weeks I've been going up to my friend Jill's house to work on a small stained glass project. She has the perfect space for it in a yurt. I bring a six pack of beer, she stokes up the fire, and we work on glass.

Jill and Jen are great teachers, showing me tricks and tips and taking the time to do it right. They have all the "gear" needed, including lots of amazing slabs of glass in hues from marbled violet to bright sky blue.

Last week we made a pattern (right), numbering the areas that would be glass. We then traced over and duplicated it, cutting out the pieces on the second copy and pasting them onto the pieces of glass we wanted to use. We then scored and broke the glass with special pliers (wearing protective eye wear, of course).

This week we used Jill's grinder to make our edges smooth, and then got to apply copper foil. It makes the glass really pop out.

Next time we get out the soldering tool.


Jill demoing copper foiling:

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Quick Birthday Jammie Pants

There is this long legged man,
we got the long term plan.

Pants made fresh just now,
got them hangin' on a bow.


___________________

I pilfered Scott's pants drawer and filched a pair to measure for his birthday present: flannel jammie pants.

He is a tall and skinny dude, so it was necessary to adjust one of my loose pants patterns for longer legs.

We're going camping for his birthday, so this is the pattern I picked (no bike patterned flannel at the store).

It was quick and easy because there are a lot of long seams to zip through, and the waist is just an elastic band, strung through the casing with a safety pin (trick to easily find where the end of the elastic is).

No telling him- it is a surprise!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Seedling Saga

Once upon a time there was a little seed. A quiescent kernel of DNA, cotyledon, protein, and prospective plant perfectly packed into a tiny bundle bursting with potential. Waiting.

Until one day it became warm, and the sun started shining for longer than usual. Water trickled into the seed's dark place of dormancy and something happened.

The seed started going through an amazing transformation. The water penetrated it's seed coat, causing the seed to swell and crack. Inside, the seed embryo was being nourished by sugars produced by hydrolyses of stored starch, maltose and maltase.

The embryo started respiring, dividing, and, according to the carefully laid out plans of the DNA, a radicle grew into a root, and a plumule grew into a shoot.

Once all the sugars and nutrients were used up inside the seed, it started drinking in water, nutrients, and sunlight, and transforming these ingredients into energy for survival.

And then something else happened...

A goat ate it.

How are the seedlings doing?

Glad you asked:

They are taking off and we've planted many to save money on starts this year. This is what works for me:
  • A plant/aquarium light to supplement light these plants get through a south-facing window
  • A heating pad turned to low placed under the water-tight tray
  • A clear top on just-planted seeds to conserve water until sprouts appear. If it isn't removed soon enough, the soil/plants will mold underneath.
  • A conspicuous lack of goats around the house