Beautiful morning in South Central Florida! Low temperatures in the lower 60'sF. Highs today in the upper 70's.F. Winds E/SE at 10mph. I was up at 6AM, and went to foiling. Once the final pieces were completed, I opened up the studio, and got set to solder. Sherry headed over to Ft.Myers for a day shopping. She is trying desperately to solve her IPod problems. She wants to be able to download Talking Books, and listen in the Studio. Her mission is to find someone in Best Buy to show her how to do this.

While Sherry worked out her IPod troubles, I worked on some citrus grafting. Sherry's sister Judy gave us a lemon tree about 5years ago. We had it in the house and on the deck in Maryland for years. We finally transplanted it in Palmdale three years ago. We had the Citrus Extension Agent give it a once over, and the conclusion was unanimous. The scion has died, and the root stock has shot up with a shoot, that has become the tree. I have no idea if this root stock is lemon or sour orange. In either case, the trunk has substantial thorns, so it could well be either. As it seemed after all of this time that the tree would never produce, I suggested we replace it with a sweet lemon or a sweet lime (Sambo would be my choice). Sherry vetoed this suggestion, so, today I began trying to graft a good bud to the trunk. I started with the Sanginelli blood orange, a Honey Bell, and a Satsuma Tangerine. I continued with some grafting on a sour orange back by the grapefruit. The green wood buds are healthy and hardy, and the bark is really slippery on the root stock trees, so maybe we will get lucky. If any of them take, come sprink I will cut back the root stock tree and leave nothing by the budding branch. I would love to see the buds take. I completed Terri S commission "Starz". It really turned out nicely. I took a pic and sent it off to the clients with a note to call and schedule a pick-up. Nothing left by to wax and polish.
I went right to work on a "Comet", as I had foiled most of the glass last evening. With little effort, I had the thing together in no time, with the last bit of cutting and fitting completed before I closed up the studio. I will foil the rest tonight and maybe get the thing completed by tomorrow.
The light plays nicely with this glass. I am putting two silver dichroic tiles in this time. This should add a nice touch. Additionally, I have started a Silver Dichroic "Number 9" in SI100K. I am making the boarder out of 2" this time. It will be big, and hopefully, beautiful.
We ended the day with a nice walk. We bumped into Todd and Gavin, on their way to the fields. They were hauling grain to the feeders. Todd is trying for some boars or bars or bears or bucks. I told Todd about the rifle Beverly brought by today. I think he understood completely.

Tomorrow we take the truck into Randy's to get the RV Break kit installed. We will pick it up on Monday. After the drop off, we go to the market. Also on tap is a clean up of the SCAMP and out to the road it goes with the big "FOR SALE" sign on it. After some PICS, and a listing on Craigs list, Upillar, and eBay Classifieds. Oh Boy! I can't wait to see that little thing head off into the sunset.

Got a great nights sleep, and started the day early. At 6AM the temperature was in the low 60'sF. The High today is predicted to move into the mid to upper s 80'sF. with winds out of the east at 10mph. A very nice spring day in Palmdale.

I began the day with finishing up on the foiling I started last evening. I foiled until I ran out of silver foil. This morning I went out to the Studio and collected the materials I need to continue on with the project. After I had finished all of the foiling I needed to complete the projects I was working on I started straight away on the Number 9 lay-out and the 9-by-9 with a split Blenko Rondell.

Here is the latest Number 9 with silver stained glue chip dichroic bevels and Wissmach Amber Granite boarder, in layout. It turned out to be much better than I thought it would. The silver stain was consistent throughout in color and tone. The dichroic really jumped with the heavy application of dark Amber. The only thing that I will do different on the next one is to utilize a newspaper to dabble the back of the bevels, after the silver stain application, in order to give a different body and texture to the dichroic glass. In either case, I am well pleased with the results of this little research and development project.

I finished up Mr.& Mrs. D's yesterday, and started work on Terri S's panel. I am working through the cutting and grinding and foiling process. Tomorrow this project will be completed and (hopefully) we can have a pick-up by weeks end.

Here The Bluedog is watching the process. She lays underfoot for a few minutes with me, and than into the studio to be next to Sherry.

Sherry took over my inventory replenishment projects today, while I continued on commissions. It is a great help to me when she picks up my project and does the finish work (the hardest part, as far as I am concerned). She also has completed two dragon fly bevel cluster panels, a ton of nautilus shells, bevel clusters, sun catchers and a load of other projects. She is a great partner, a great wife, and a great friend. I love her deeply, and very much appreciate all that she does with and for me.
I stopped briefly this afternoon and did a little citrus grafting. I took a shoot off of a Sanginelli Blood Orange, and grafted it to a wild grapefruit. The Grapefruit root stock will make a hardy foundation, if the tangelo shoot will take. If it does graft successfully, and if it lives to be old enough to produce, and if I live long enough to see it bear fruit, it should be an interesting mix. I do this all the time, take shoots off of my good citrus, and attempt to graft them to the local sour orange and wild grapefruit. If the graft takes, great! Maybe a good fruit will develop. If the graft does not take, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, by next fall, I will check these attempted grafts, and see if any worked or not.
We went for a walk around 5:30PM. This beautiful corn snake (?) was making a run across Broadway when we happened by. I snapped a photo, and off we went. We got home, and no rain this evening. We had a cold supper of chicken salad and garden salad.

My last duties of the day, after closing down the outside studio, was to gather up the dichroic bevels and other glass necessary for my next project, "Comet". I am getting excited about doing this one again. We are really low on inventory, so I could be doing anything, Starry Nights, Starry Night Transoms, Wright Transoms, Number 9 with Dichroic Tiles, etc. etc. etc. The "Comet" is such a beautiful panel, and it sold pretty fast. So I am going to knock out as many large panels as possible, between now and Siesta Fiesta as possible. We are currently working through how we are going to get over to Columbus, Ohio to pick up our new Forest River Work & Play. The heat is coming down now, that we have to pack up. So much to do. So little time. Well, off to work. Time to get back to foiling.

Beautiful day today. Woke up to temperatures in the mid 60'sF. Highs today hit the mid-80'sF. Brisk winds out of the east blew the tent off of the deck. Oh well. No worries. I did complete the Dooley Commission panels. They turned out beautiful. I think that they will like them.

I completed the foil process on the "Number 9" in Amber Silver Stain with Gold Dichroic Glue Chip. I had a call in to Terri S. on the "Starz", and worked on the 9 until Terri called in. After I got the information I needed, I started in earnest on this commission. What I did not do was take any pics. of the panel in progress. Tomorrow....

At about 5PM a water conditioner salesman came by and spent about 30 mins+ here, touting his wares. We need one...bad. However, this is not a good time, seeing that we are about to leave soon. This year (since Jan.1) I have switched out a total of $200.00 in filters, or about $70.00/month. That is big bucks. At that rate, I could have a system paid for in four years. We worry after our appliances, and air conditioning system. Maybe next year.

The other big news today was the purchase of our new Forest River Work & Play RV. We have been looking for one of these for the past two years. We have found them before, but the deal was not just right, so we have been waiting. This unit is in Columbus, Ohio. We received a "out-the-door" bid proposal from the Dealer "Rock's Trailer Sales" yesterday, accepted it and sent our deposit. Today we priced out our options and placed our order for the add-on's. We will close the deal within the next two weeks. Rocks will hold the unit until the second week in May. Once we get home (April 28/29), I will unload the truck, turn around and drive over to Ohio to make the pick-up. I have to get back by Tuesday/Wednesday to turn around on Friday and drive over to Portsmouth, Va. for the Gosport Art Festival. At least that is the plan...

Up at 7am this morning, and continued work on the Dooley Project. Beautiful day today. Highs in the mid to upper 80's with a nice breeze out of the east. Lows last night in the high 60's. The weather has really turned. Mother Nature is jumping out of her skin! Everything, everywhere is blooming. The air is thick with pollen. It does not bother me, and so I do not mind the trees doing the work that must be done during this time of year. "To everything, there is a season". How so.

I completed foiling at around 3AM. Milton Long came by to visit (Milton was in a pretty bad horse accident a while back. We went to visit him in Hospital up in Seabring. He was broken up pretty bad, and needed his hip replaced as a result of the fall, and getting mashed by his steed). He seems none the worst for wear, and is bound and determined to get back on the horse. For the life of me, I can not determine whose head is harder, Miltons' or the Horses'!

I went back straight away to soldering the panel. I no sooner had the first one soldered when I got a call from Mr.D. I thought that this was going to be another one of those "...I am leaving and I want the thing yesterday..." deals. Quite the contrary. Mr. D. instructed me to not rush the project. He indicated that he and Mrs. D. would be coming back to town next week, and they would be happy to collect the panels than. Additionally, Mr.D. stated that the window replacement had not gone well, and the new units had leaked badly during the Sunday deluge, therefore, they were in the throws of having this disaster corrected. He was wonderfully optimistic and up beat about the whole thing. I don't think that I have ever met two kinder or gentler people in my life. I imagine that, if I were fortunate enough to ever get to heaven, Mr. & Mrs. D would be official Greeters at The Gate. I believe they would be a calming influence, certainly. A pity all of my clients are not just exactly like The "D's".

Tomorrow I will complete the last panel (this will put the Banana Hombre off for a week), and get started on the Tortoise Shell #9 (which turned out to be perfect, if that is possible). Following which, I must move forward with Saus.

Life is Great!

Really late start this morning. We did not get out of the bed until after 9AM. I spent the next two hours closing out the job, while Sherry chored up all that is involved in a return to Studio, ie: laundry, clean out the refrigerator coolers, clean up the trailer, etc, etc, etc. Finally we got into the Studio, and got to work. I on the Dooley Commissions, Sherry on inventory replenishment. Sherry cut out and ground two beveled dragonfly panels, six nautilus shells, four bevel clusters and a half dozen 60mm diamond cut crystals. She is a producer, in deed.

Tom the Cabinet Maker came by at Noon. We talked for about an hour and than he was off to

Stu's for some project or another.

Sonny came by this afternoon on Star. Sherry got out a bag of carrots and gave them to Sonny. She was looking for a place to graze Star this afternoon, as her pasture is currently underwater, due to the excessive rains we have had of late. Often, she will take her down to the community center, and allow her to graze on the ball field.

After Sonny left, we took off for our walk. About two thirds of the way around town, it began to rain, so we ran home and tried to close up the studio, the house, and get in everything that could get damaged. It is now that time of year, rain every afternoon for about thirty minutes. Just enough to cool it down. I should have known better than to leave my work out, but I did. And so I had double work once I returned.

The Dooley panels are coming along nicely. I will have them foiled by tomorrow noon, and they will be soldered up, kame attached, patina applied, waxed and polished by this time tomorrow night. In doing so, I will be able to meet the Dooleys on Wednesday morning in either Clewiston or South Bay. In either case, a trip to the Banana Hombre is in the offing. I am excited! I love fresh bananas. Twenty bucks for 40lbs! Quite the deal. These are the things that I will miss the most, once Florida is in the rear-view mirror.

I started silver staining bevels, glue chip 3"sq bevels, 1.5" sq. glue chip bevels and 1.5" X 3" bevels. I have in mind to make a "Number 9" in silver stain with dichroic accents, and maybe an amber granite boarder. We will see. I have been staining all day. Tomorrow, the last batch will come out of the kiln, and we will be ready to take it to construction. Hopefully, I will maintain consistency in color, tone, and depth. I am trying to get the "tortoise shell" look I am trying for.

Here we start with laying out all of the bevels readying them to receive the silver stain. Once the silver stain is applied and allowed to dry, into the kiln they go.

First batch on it's way to the wash, while the next is preped and ready for silver stain, and than into the fire.

If this works, this will be a spectacular piece of art glass!

Wow. Just got home after a 4 1/2 hour drive down from Gainesville. Tiring. We started load out at 5:30 and completed by 7:00PM. Many, many empty boxes. This aided in pack up in record time. On our way out we say the Greens and the Langfords at a Gas Station. They waived us in and told us that the road ahead was closed for some unknown reason. We detoured around the problem, following them through downtown west to Interstate 75. The trip south was uneventful. We arrived home in really good time.

This show was one of the best we have done all season. The crowds were not so thick that folks would not stop in your booth. However, there was a feeling of excitement in the air, and people were buying, not in the frenzy of days gone by, but still, it could be felt. We would definitely love to be able to do this show again.

Tomorrow, close out the show, and get cracking on the Dooley's.

Here we go! Slept in this morning. I did not arise until after 7AM. The weather is beautiful. Highs today in the mid to upper 80's. Lows last evening in the mid 60's. 20% chance of rain. We have a mid morning set up. The show officially opens at Noon. However, patrons will begin coming in at 10AM, or so the veterans say. We have some early morning pick-ups, so we better get started. Tonight the show closes at 5PM. We should be loaded up by 7PM, which should put us back home by 1AM, if all goes well. This have been and exceptional show. We are hoping we get ZAPPed back in next year. We hope not only that we get ZAPPed back in, but we're hoping that Delray (which we get a free space in 2011) falls on the weekend before, or after.

So, now it is off to the races!