Shibby gets Kitty Crack (aka Cat Nip) from Summersea

I hate to admit it, but my little kitty is a Nip-Ho! Now, my daughter's cat, Jasmine, is far too refined to behave like this. She will wait until no one is around, then she will start rolling in it! This fine blend of Cat Nip came from Tracy who has an ETSY site at http://www.summersea.etsy.com/ Thanks Tracy! Shibby (named after the appropriate movie Dude Where's My Car) and Jasmine thank you as well!

The Old Shed is All Gone!

Well, as of Monday (Labor Day) the Old Shed is all gone! It has been re-assembled on the back side of our property and all of our storage boxes have been moved in. This Saturday, we are going to buy the wood to make the floor platform for the new studio/shop. In the picture where the toolbox stands with the tarp over it is where our well and pump is. So the new structure has to go over it to protect and keep it warm in the winter. But it is coming along!

Having a bad day...

What get's me through my day? Well, depends on the day... But today it's Etsy and a 32oz Iced White Chocoloate Cherry 5 shot Cappo from my favorite Coffee Shack (Villagio Espresso in Sunriver Oregon).

Thunder and Lightening!

Believe it or not, this picture was taken at about 11:30pm! We had quite a lightening storm last night. I went out with my camera and just started clicking shots at the sky to try to catch the lightening and this is what I caught... It looks like daylight! As a contrast, look at yesterdays post with the picture of the blue sky and clouds which was shot earlier in the day from when I shot this. In Central Oregon, we always say "enjoy the weather now, because it can change in 5 minutes", now I photographic proof!

Here is a picture of the Goddess bead I made yesterday. She is very pretty and I am pleased with how she turned out.

This is a look at the glorious sky today! Isn't it wonderful??? I could watch these clouds all day. This shot was taken about 2:00pm, it is now 5:30pm and it is raining and thundering. The thunder is just rolling and rolling, it is spectacular. We haven't had much rain this summer, so I LOVE it when we get a shower and it is even better with thunder and lightening. The only bad part is that it is 91 degrees out there, so it's very humid.

I did manage to get quite a few beads made today. I made a Sunflower Goddess bead that (if she makes it out of the kiln ok) is stunning. Making Goddess beads is difficult because I like to use Bullseye glass, which is a harder and stiffer glass. This means I have to make even more effort to keep the bead a consistant heat to make sure it doesn't crack while I'm creating it. Each Goddess takes me 30-45 minutes depending on the detail of the bead.

And, for those interested in how my studio is coming along... Here is this weekend's progress:

The only thing left now is the back half of the shed. What we figured out while dismantling it is that the original shed was added on to at a later date. The picture of my hubby on the top shows the front half, the bottom picture shows the back half after we removed the front half. My dad came and hauled away the majority of the wood for fire wood in his garage, so that was nice to not have to haul to the dump!

Fall is coming...

It's getting darker, faster now... I know this because we left last night to take the canoe out at the same time we always do, aroung 7:00pm and it was getting dark 1/2 way home and was totally dark by the time we rowed into the boat launch. But wow! I got some really cool pictures. We are going out again tonight, since the moon is nearly full to get some more moon shots.

The mountain is Mt. Bachelor, which is a huge tourist attraction here. In the winter time, the skier/snowboarders come and the rest of the year the biker/hikers come. Sunriver, where we live, is a resort town where the tourists come to stay and play. Great for business - but sucks when you need a quick gallon of milk!

OK - Don't Laugh! Here is my Studio...

Yep, it's a 1960's Prowler travel trailer. You can stop laughing now, and the answer is "NO!" I am not going to change my name from Dragyn's Fyre to Trailer Trash Beads!

My husband tore out the cook stove and sink inside and set my torch up under the hood vent. And, all you lampworkers out there, I know this isn't proper ventilation. I am painfully aware of it when my chest starts burning and I get light headed after a couple hours at the torch! Actually, in the day time, with nice weather, it's pretty well ventilated when I open all the windows and leave the door open. I have a tiny fan above my head that blows the air around and I open the little crank vent in the ceiling.

You can see my little kitty, Shibby, in the first picture sitting on the chair outside the trailer. I didn't realize she was there until I was checking out the pictures.

But the good news for me is that we are in the process of tearing down the old shed in the back yard to build a new studio. We just bought this house last year and it doesn't have a garage, just a car port. My hubby has no place to put his tools, and I have no place to torch. So we are building a 12x24 building. I get 12x12 and he gets 12x12. The main problem with my trailer is that it is WAY to freakin cold in the winter to make beads. So, we are fighting time to get the new building done before the weather turns. But this is a picture of the old shed - which is where the new one is going: