So, I know the suspense has just been killing you...

The adventure my daughters took me on was a trip to Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, NY.

(More about Chihuly's Fern Green Tower here and here.)

 We saw fascinating exhibits and dazzling demonstrations.  Stop and think a moment about how much glass there is in your life, from window panes to wineglasses, from prisms to pyrex.  Glass is an amazing medium, spanning the strictly utilitarian to the breathtakingly beautiful.  If you're ever in upstate NY, don't miss an opportunity to visit the museum.

But wait, there's more.  Because they also treated me to classes. 
And that's where the superhero costume comes into the story.  Because glass is HOT...

 Here I'm getting a taste of glassblowing.

The nice young man does all the ya-gotta-know-what-you're-doing work.  My job is just to puff on the blowpipe and make a bubble in the glass.

Reheating to keep the glass soft.

 Hey, look!  I made a bubble!  And don't be fooled by the red and orange - that's just the heat talking.  The actual colors of the glass are blue and purple.  (And clear.  Clear is a color, as I learned that day.)

Now for a little more knowing-what-you're-doing stuff by the nice young man (and I did ask him his name at the time, but I didn't think to write it down, so I've forgotten it.  He told me he'd been working with glass for 6 years, and had been with the museum for about 3 months.)  He's making a flat base on my bubble, and pulling a decorative top.

Tada.  That's a glass ball full of my breath.

Cool, hunh?

And there's more!

While I only needed goggles for the glassblowing, since there wasn't any 'hand-on' stuff, for this part I needed to be all geared up with safety stuff.  Sleeves, gloves, and goggles.  They even had foot protectors available for people who had showed up in sandals or flipflops.

This time I get to do some actual shaping...

 pinching...

 and more pinching...

and pulling...

and twisting...

And when it was all cooled off, it looked like this:

 For the third and final class of the day, we all got to play:  My two daughters, my granddaughter, and I all made glass beads, using a torch.  This was the biggest decision process of the day.  I'd picked a couple of colors each time for the previous projects, but this time, we had to choose 3 colors, a shape, a size, and a pattern for our bead.  The decisions were almost impossible - there were tons of gorgeous colors to choose from, several patterns which were all appealing, and round? Square?  Triangular?  So hard...

In this photo, you can see some of the colors we had available.  That's my oldest girl on the left, being assisted by her designated Redshirt.  And I was very glad that each of us had someone right at hand, as we fiddled with molten glass, playing with a torch that was burning at 1000's of degrees F.  (And all the Redshirts survived the mission!  Must be a first...)

 There's my youngest girl (in orange) and my granddaughter on the extreme right.  I had to stand behind a railing out of the way while I waited for my turn, so couldn't get any pictures of their beadwork in action.

And here's an out-of-focus picture of my bead.  (Sorry, that's the best of a sad lot.)  I chose white for my background, and purple and green for my accents, round, medium, and swirly.

 Here's a photo with my hand for scale.  (And yes, I have a boo-boo on my thumb.  Though it was a kitchen injury, not a glassblowing injury.)

Then, as if the workshops weren't enough, we visited the galleries and saw 3500 years of glass.  From ancient Egyptian glass (where a couple of guys playing with melting sand Changed the World Forever) to Roman glass to Medieval glass to Renaissance glass to Modern glass, and every age in between, with examples from every region of the world.  Glass!  Beautiful glass!  Mindblowing glass!

Makes me want to take up some new hobbies.  I'm sure Madman wouldn't mind if I put a glass furnace in the kitchen, right?


 ..

Gotta share some seasonal joy

This may be the best 12 Days ever...



Happy Ho Ho to one and all!

Travel-Addled or Work-Addled... Addled is Addled

And it's kind of fun to say. Addled addled addled...

But, in a effort to get my brain settled and back on track, here's a few highlights from my sorely-needed mini-vacation:

First, after waaaaaay too much of this crap:

my color-and-flower-starved soul got to feast on this:

Azaleas were in bloom. Everywhere. Glorious mounds of honest-to-goodness flowers waving in the sunshine. I gaped, slack-jawed, in every direction. Of course, there were dogwoods and other things blooming, too, but azaleas... Bliss.

One of the things to love about Florida is a general quirkiness that pops up in businesses. (I guess when you're not wasting a huge portion of your life shoveling snow and battling ice, you have time to put a little whimsy into practice.)
There was the little eatery with a handpainted sign defining the levels of spiciness you could order - starting with 0 for no spice, 1- A little, 2 - A little more, and ranging up to 9 - Don't order this, and 10 - No refunds.
There was the pizza place with a funky art gallery on the walls, all manner of crazy stuff suspended from the ceiling, and an outdoor seating area that was a recycled VW microbus with a picnic table in the open rear cargo area. (The pizza was very good, btw.)
And there was the salvage store with tons of vintage toys and oddities for sale, that was decorated all over with everything imaginable glued or cemented to every available flat surface. The really fun parts were out in the parking lot, however. Like this fountain:

Trickling water spins the bicycle wheels with plastic cups and tin cans fastened to them, while the base is covered with every plastic/wood/metal object you can imagine.

We had a grand time playing a game with the kids that was a combination of Where's Waldo and I Spy. "Okay, I see a toaster. Who can find it?" and "Does anyone else see the blue squirrel?"

And this charmer of a windchime. Yes, those are hubcaps. Yes, it's honkin' huge...



We spent a wonderful day at Universal visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, wandering around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

(The fake snow on the roofs gave me pause, but I tried not to look at it.)
Lunch was wonderful at the Three Broomsticks - real food cooked in real ways! (Not the typical boiled hamburger we've grown to expect at theme parks. Hopefully it's an idea that will catch on...)

We wandered briefly through other parts of the park (Dr Suess!!) and I snapped this picture for Madman.

(He's a big Wolverine fan.) (And that's a total stranger in the lower right corner. He wandered in just as I hit the button.)

Here's just a small piece of a roller coaster we passed by. We were on a bridge over a stretch of water - the ride went under the bridge, around in whacky loops, and then back over the bridge and disappeared off in the other direction. I tried to get a picture of the cars as they went by, but they were going really fast. And there was a lot of screaming.


And there was yarn. My daughter and I went to her LYS and I oohed and aahed over lots of pretty stuff, and tried to remain firm in my resolve not to buy yarn. (I have yarn. I also have fiber that will be yarn. I don't need yarn.)
But the 4th time I picked this stuff up to look at it, I knew I was a goner. It's Marks and Katten Fame Trend - something I've never seen before. It's a single, and the colors are gorgeous, though this picture doesn't do them justice. (IRL, the colors are much deeper and richer. And apparently impossible to photograph...)


So I bought it. It's souvenir yarn. And it's sock yarn. Totally doesn't count as yarn.

We've brought another one over to the Dark Side...

Check out this blog of a brand new knitter. While you're there, please say something encouraging.
Oh, and tell her Mom sent you and sends her love.

New year, new camera

Madman gave me a new camera for Christmas. Being me, I was resistant. Nothing wrong with the old camera. (Which took me two years to figure out how to use, btw.) No, no, this one is better! New features, new capabilities! (Two years, remember? That was for simple. That means my learning curve on this new camera will be at least five years. Maybe more. By which time he'll probably have bought another new camera...) (sigh) (Don't forget I'm the Luddite who wants a cell phone that only makes phone calls.)

So, I've started playing with the new camera. Here goes nothing. (I'm having nightmares of posting pictures the size of a house...)

First up, a size comparison of the eggs we've gotten lately. (The chickens have started to lay again! Yay! )
This is the largest next to the smallest. The little fella is a 'pullet pellet' - a young hen's first egg. The largest is from one of our older hens. (And makes me cringe just looking at it. Oh, that poor chicken...)


And look! I knit something! And finished it and everything!



First FO of 2011.
Yulie by Grumperina.
Yarn - Lion wool
Mods - only one. I used tubular cast-on, which is my standard start for any 1x1 ribbing.
A quick easy knit. Love the hat, love the pattern, love the spiral that is formed by the knitting. I'll probably make this again - maybe a slouchier version.

Now, off to make egg salad for lunch. (Yay!) (Remind me in a month or so, when I'm whining about "egg salad again?!?", that there was a time when I was happy about that.)

A Madman status report

He had his MRI last week, and saw the orthopedist today. Surgery next week, 2 weeks recuperation , 6 weeks physical therapy.
He's been doing the math - looks like he'll be sufficiently recovered in time to hit the woods with his rifle for at least part of deer season.
The man has priorities, after all...

I can be picky about birthday presents.

Seriously. And here's why...

Big heavy box. Very heavy.
A collaborative gift from Madman and our two daughters.

The only marking on the box was an address in Oklahoma. No help there.
Finally got one end of the box open. I could see wood, but couldn't get the object out of the box.
Did I mention it was heavy?
So I cut open the other end, and pushed.

What the? A coffin for garter snakes?


But wait. Let's get a closer look at the interesting end. I had an inkling at this point. Do you?

Open the latch, lift the lid, and...


It's a handmade wool picker. And not the scary pendulum kind. (You know, the do-it-yourself mastectomy kit.)
Best. Present. Ever.
Now I've just got to go wash some more fleece...