Great day, today! We began with a record low, High Temperature, 66F. This is the lowest high temperature on record for today, March 18. The average high is closer to 80F. It was colder here than in Southern Maryland. The low today was 55F, which was pleasant. I started the day by removing the rondells I cooked last night from the kiln, washed them, put them through the grinder, washed them again, selected one, foiled it and soldered it in place. After all solder and touch-up solder, I applied the zinc kame. Then I washed, patinaed, washed again, wax, and polished the piece.

Once this was done, we went into town to pick-up the truck, which is running nicely now. However, I am going to have to get the front end aligned.

Once back home, I loaded Arleen's Door, the door panel and trim and headed over to Easy Street, to collect my frames from Tom the Cabinet Maker, and purhaps get some help with installation of Arleens Panel.
Tom did a great job with the frames. He utilized 8/quarter stock, onto which he cut a cabinet door profile. On the back he rabbited a receiver for the glass panel, followed by a rabbit for the mat-black backing (Masonite). For purposes of hanging, Tom was going to cut two key-holes. I thought this was too restrictive, and so requested a groove be cut along two sides, so the panel could be hung vertical or horizontal. Tom cut a dovetail groove along the two sides, which proved to work wonderfully. My criteria was ease of installation, economy, andan attractive frame in which to display the glass as wall art. Tom did it all! One frame of Ash into which we installed the Starry Night in Blue Ice Dichroic with SI100V Spectrum Iridized Vit surround glass, and one frame of Poplar into which we installed the Starry Night in Pink Gluechip with SI100GC Spectrum Iridized Gluechip.
Very nicely done! This could be a really big part of our inventory from here on out. We did the installs, and than moved our attention to Arleens door.

I built the panel about a quarter inch smaller, so I needed to get an eighth inch shim all the way around. Tom cut this, and than installed the trim. I packed up everything, said my good-bys, and headed home. Tom has the tools and the know-how to get the job done. I am very impressed with his work.

Once back at the studio, I gave Sherry the bill. She immediately took payment over to Tom the Cabinet and paid up the bill. She is really good about getting the little chores done immediately. That way they get out of the way, and we can move on to other, more pressing chores. While this was going on I took the two finished panels into the house, hung them on the walls, and started taking photos. I think they look great, and have no doubt that they will sell.

After all of the photography work was done, I put all of the tools, lighting and props away, and started to work on replacing the RV refrigerator. This was a bit of a chore, but had to be done. Sherry plugged it in, and we were off again with an ice box. Now we have a new microwave and a new ice box in the RV. This will make life easier.

Last, a note on the Palmdale Big Cats. In the town of Palmdale we have two wild animal businesses. One, Gatorama, is located on the south side of The Fisheating Creek. This is an alligator farm, and wild animal preserve (mostly reptiles, and some mammals). On the north side of town is the Vanishing Species Wildlife Preserve. This preserve has mainly mammals and exotic birds. The birds have been moved in town, just down the street from us. The large mammals, are still located north of town. Apparently, the Large Cats are in season. This is suppose to be what is drawing the wild cats out of the wildlife management area along the creek, and to the north of town, to the Vanishing Species Park.