What a nice weekend! DH and I went to Asheville for a nice getaway weekend without the children. Ahhh heaven! To me, I just fit in there. Lots of vegetarian restaurants, lots of walking, art everywhere….*sigh*
Then, Sunday came and it’s back to reality! The kids did a good job of keeping Bentley from having accidents in the house and cleaned up after themselves pretty well. One rather annoying yet somewhat amusing thing was to come home and find out Travis (SS14) ate 1/2lb block of cheese by himself in 3 days. He might need a little fiber to help him out. Hehehehe
The culprit…
If I could do anything I wanted and still be able to live comfortably I would say that I would be an animal trainer. A whisperer type.
I have been told by trainers that I was born with the ability to communicate with animals and I do see that as a gift. So, my fantasy job would be working with all manner of animals. Equine, dogs, cats, birds, etc. Maybe I could be the next Caesar Milan! LOL
These are my puppies…Bogey (lab mutt) is 16 weeks and Bentley (sheltie) is 10 months. This past year brought us the loss of both of our long-term pets and we have been given the opportunity to watch two new lights grow in our family…
The topic on Flaming Hot this week is “Being Proactive” in this changing economy. I have been taking steps in my non-jewelry life to be proactive. For example, my husband is now carpooling to work most days with 4 other people. It is saving us a bunch of gas! We also try to make more of an effort to walk to the grocery store. It is about 3 miles round trip, so it is good exercise too.
As far as my glass, I am trying to set aside time to update my website. That seems to be a constant struggle for me. Time is sparse when you work full-time, care for 6 parrots, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2.5 children (the .5 is a college aged step-daughter who is living at home for the summer).
I did list a number of sets in both soft glass and boro:
Here’s a few pics:
My beads sold within a short time, so that was nice. So people actually read? Yay! Of course it might have been the fact I posted on LampworkEtc and said “Read my blog!” LOL!
I always worry that I am boring and no one would really want to hear what I have to say, but I guess I could just treat this as my little diary.
Tonight I went to a “Passion Party”. That was a hoot! Things that make you go…Hmmmmm. 
Got a set up for sale:
I am curious. Does anyone read my posts? Well, here is a chance for me to see.
I am offering a set of beads for $17.00 . You get 5 of my 22mm tablet beads.
If you are interested, click HERE
Like everyone, our family is seeing the economy buckling around them. We see our gas prices going up, the cost of food going up, stores going under, homes being vacated. It is sad.
I do have hope though. I am optimistic that things will turn around. I don’t think it will happen until after the elections and a new administration is in place though.
In the meantime, it just means I just need to be more creative in marketing and showing my work to keep it out there.
Keep watching. Tomorrow I am going to offer a set of beads here to see if anyone actually reads here!
Ohhhh boy. Well, I guess I’ll know in a few hours. I can’t help but go outside though. It is so beautiful. I just planted 7 butterfly bushes and have many more to go.
This is my yard right now:
This house has some fantastic landscaping so I am very lucky. We tried so hard to have a nice yard at our other house. It just never really took hold. That home was in a new subdivision where the mentality is “Clearcut everything and then plant 3 bartlett pears”. It was like being in the Sahara in the summer. You would literally burn your feet if you walked on the deck midday.
I’ll keep you posted on the poison ivy….
I went to the Pluto Gallery today. I love stopping in because there is always something new. And because it’s all done in GLASS!
Here’s a series that Avery is working on:
One of their cool fused mirrors:
This is their kiln. It is an old piano!
This is the front of the stained glass showroom:
Isn’t a cool looking place?
Today’s topic on Flaming Hot is diversifying your business. That is definitely something I need to work on. With two 13 yr old boys and a husband who works every weekend I find it nearly impossible to do shows. Someone needs to chauffeur the kids to activities and frankly, leaving two 13 yr olds home along all day isn’t appealing either. (I like my house to remain standing.)
I do sell my work at The Pluto Gallery here in Greensboro. They are awesome. George and Avery have the most awesome kiln! It is made from a grand piano! I need to get over there and take some pics. Sometimes I set up outside of the gallery on the street and torch. It brings people in like moths to a flame, so to speak.
I need to get better about updating my website. It is hard. I am trying to train my son to photograph for me. He wants my Digital SLR to use, so this might be his way of earning it!
I am a long time vegetarian with a desire to live green. This year we installed 4 rain barrels so that I can water my garden without using city water. In one storm we filled them with 240 gallons of water!
I am also “fertilizing” my yard by using liquid Worm Poop! Check it out: TerraCycle
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