Cleaning and Doors

We have had our second weekend at the house. This weekend it seemed a little more like it was our house. Every time we are at the house we find out one more cool fact about the house. When we cleaned out the basement we discovered a trench that was 3 feet wide and ran from the wall to the furnace. We had no idea what this was until I talked with a friend of mine, who suggested that it was where the conveyor belt went for the cool that feed the furnace. The history of this house is so very interesting, I need to write it all down at some point. 

Today was spent trying to put the doors back together. This is a frustrating task. I really hate the people that stole all the hardware from this wonderful house. We also went on the hunt for the the entry door  hardware. This is going to be a very hard task.

Andy's New Toy

Well the Mini Cooper is off to live in Forest Grove. She was a great car, but I really wanted my Land Rover back and Andy didn’t love driving her. Andy is now in love with his new Mazda Speed 3. If you can believe it, it goes 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. My Rover goes 0-60 in 10.5. Hum who is going to get the speeding ticket? (okay it will be me driving the Mazda.)

The Artist in Me...

This summer was the first summer in a long time that I was not either teaching, taking classes or doing home remodeling, so I found myself with some time on my hands. To keep my hands and mind busy I broke out the knitting needles and thought that I would get a jump on my winter projects. I'm currently working on a sweater coat, winter shawl, ruffled scarf, sparkly scarf and best of all a sires of veggie/fruit baby hats. I love knitting hats and have found that baby hats are even better (quicker) than adult hats.

The other summer fun has been my continued obsession of fused glass. I took my birthday present in the form of a trip to Bullseye Glass for their summer sale. I added to my glass collection. My dear friend Shelley has offered her services of firing of my pieces. Now all I have to do is create some art. I'm working on a plate for a friend of mine and hopefully some Christmas gifts. I will share some photos as soon as I have something to share.

Trip to the Oregon Coast

Well we braved the Labor Day crowds and had a great day at the coast. It was clear and in the 70s. For the Oregon coast that is great weather. (the day before it was an amazing 80˚) The dogs had a great time playing and chasing in the sand. Sophie really wanted to go after those Seagulls, but I wouldn’t let her this time.

The video is of Cooper herding us on our way back to the car. It is said that a a Border Collie can run 100 miles a day. Well we discovered that yes they can do this, however they are running in circles, so really that only make it two miles down the road. Cooper makes our family laugh so much. Ya gotta love those dogs.

I just made a little video of our photos from our day in the sunshine.

Tiki Gods

Here are some of the photos from the Morrow family and Heidi Jens goodbye party. I hope that you enjoy. It was really wonderful to have all of you to our home. Andy and I love to host.

Construction

My Amazing husband built this beautiful fence in a weekend. He had a some help from his wonderful brother, Danny and myself. It looks really wonderful and has cut down on the road noise. We have now created a cozy little oasis on our side yard.

When Andy was finished with the fence he moved right onto the water feature. While I was busy doing homework, he was busy building the pond in two afternoon.

Debra's Glass

Working at OES has some great benefits, one being that the Lower School Art teacher holds a fused glass class in the spring. I truly enjoy the medium and I’m hoping that I can continue working with it. Currently I’m looking into taking a class at Bullseye here in Portland, however it is turning out to be a very expensive “hobby” and I'm not sure how I'm going to fund it. Now I understand why Shelley sells as many of her pieces as possible.

This was my third year taking the class from her and had a great time. I ventured into the jewelry making aspect of glass, but I was not very successful. I discovered that when you go small you need to be very precise. Precise I am not. I think that I will stick to plates and bowels.

Below is my latest plate. I just love it. I reminds me of sushi or little fish floating in a sea of milk.