A Little Fused Glass

My BFF takes up hobbies.  She researches and perseverates over them until she has it all figured out, then she moves on to the next obsession.  I truly love her.

She called last week and said she found a fused glass class at a shop in Houston.  She wanted to drive down for the holiday early and attend the class.  I said, "do it, I'll go with you."

We drove to Tomball, Texas to Hot Glass Houston where we met the proprietor and course instructor, Bob.

Bob was a chatty guy, an excellent teacher and vastly patient with us both.  We asked endless questions and interrupted his prepared speech several times.  He was genuinely helpful and enthusiastic with a couple of beginners.

BFF has fused glass before.  She's taken several classes in Texas and North Carolina.  The phrase "enough knowledge to be dangerous" comes to mind.  I was mostly fascinated with making something out of 'recycled' glass.  I am always fascinated by making something from discards.

The glass we used was Tempered Glass (not laminated like car windshields) and once it is raised to temperature, it cannot be cut again.  So when they make window glass for commercial windows, they often make more than one pane for each opening, to cover the vagaries of construction.  These extra panels were what we used.

The fun part was breaking the glass.  We used one of these--you see them all the time in commercials for safe egress from wrecked cars.  The fun part was the 'laying on of hands'.  Bob invited us to come over and watch as he helped the first student wrap their glass panel up in a tarp.  Then we all laid our hands on the tarp wrapped glass and the student gently tapped the glass in a single place.  The glass shattered out from the point of impact.  You could feel it rippling through the pane under your palms.  The rest of the day, it continued to crackle and pop, like Rice Krispies.  Truly impressive.  We all wrapped our glass in the tarp and then shattered it with a single strike.  Then we started to layer up our broken glass on our kiln shelf.

We chose either a round or square shape and marked the paper.  Then we started moving the glass pieces around until we filled up the shape for the first two layers.  The top layer is more decorative.  That profile stays with the bowl during the two firings.  The first fuses the piece, the second slumps it into a bowl shape.  The glass is in the kiln for over a 100 hours!  I find that just amazing.

The finished product is very pretty.  I chose not to put any colored glass frit into my bowl.  The only color is the original tempered glass.  This picture is not great but you can see how the glass on the top layer kept its irregular shape and gives texture to the finished product.

I could fill this bowl with lemons and keep it on my kitchen table, but I chose to buy a stand and display it like an art piece.  I really enjoyed taking this class and learning how to do this fused glass bowl.  I'm thinking I might sign up for another class soon.  Hot Glass Houston has quite a few offerings that look really interesting to me.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Downside to Outsourcing Customer Service

Full Disclosure, for four years I was that voice on the phone you got when your computer started smoking and you thought, "I gotta call Support!"  I've been in the trenches and I comprehend what a difficult job it is.  I also know that when companies make the decision to move call centers out of the US and into foreign countries, that sometimes, the quality of support received by the consumer is impacted.

Case in point.  Shutterfly.  I'm not sure that I'm emailing back and forth with someone in a foreign land, but the lack of understanding that I'm receiving leads me to believe that English is a second language for the many MANY folks I'm chatting with.

Shutterfly is a site where you can upload photos from your digital camera and create photo books and albums.  It's pretty easy  to use and the product you receive is very good quality.  My DIL does an annual book of her favorite photos of the kids and gifts us with one each Christmas.  As I was assembling my photo books, I realized that while I was living overseas, I didn't get the photo books.  It was SO costly to ship everything over there, it was no great surprise.

When I mentioned to my DIL that I was missing the past two years, she immediately 'shared' the photobooks with me so I could order a copy of each.  I was glad to do it!

Both books showed up on my projects page.  I ordered the first book with no problem.  When I tried to order the second book, there was no link to order it.  I can see it.  I can page through it from start to finish, but nowhere on the screen is there a place where a live link or order button will function.

So, I contacted support from the website's link.

It didn't seem really hard to me.  But apparently it was.

Me - "I'm trying to give you money, and your site won't let me order this photo book."
Support - "Which project are you referring to?"
Me - "Here's the link to the exact project (I pasted in a long URL link)"
Support - "We can't see that you have an account, so I created one for you.  Click this link to activate an account."
Me - "That's because my account is under an old email address I had years ago.  I'm logged in as this user (gave them my logon).  The project shows under My Projects as "shared"."
Support - "It appears that this project was created under the old (technical name here) stream.  The only way you can order this project is for it to be converted to the new format.  What is the name of the project?"
Me - "Here's the link to the project again (I pasted in a long URL link again)."
Support - "That project is not a new project."
Me - "Yes, I know.  My DIL did it a couple of years ago and just shared it with me."
Support - "That project will have to be converted for you to be able to order it."
Me - "Yes, you said that.  Will it be converted?  I'd like to order the book.  I'm trying to GIVE YOU MONEY here, it seems like you would want to enable that."
Support - "You'll have to give us the exact name of the project so we can have our technical group convert the project."
Me - "Here is the link again (I pased in a long URL for the third time).  It's under "My Projects" as the latest and the link under it says "shared photo..." before the link cuts off the words."
Support - "In order to convert this project, we will need the name of the project."

and it went on and on.  So far, I've sent them my login name three times.  I've sent the exact link to the project four times.  Today, I included a screen shot of the project page.  I did not put a big red arrow pointing to the ONLY project on the page, but it was hard to hold that back.

I'm trying not to be upset, but it does beg a question... if it is so hard to order something off their website, how much money in revenue are they losing from people who won't continue the inane email thread with folks who don't speak good English?

I get that this problem is 'off script' for what they are used to handling, but any website that has an issue which keeps a consumer from placing an order and giving them money, needs to be escalated.  At least, in my day, it did.

Shutterfly needs to up its game.  There are way too many competitors out there.  Next time, my DIL could use Mpix, Mixbook, LuLu, or Mypublisher.  No company can afford to tick off the folks who pay the bills.  Just sayin'.

--  Sandee Wagner

Pleasant Weekends

My #2 son and his family live outside of Minneapolis, MN in a suburb on the edge of farmland.  It's a lovely neighborhood and a great house in which to raise a family.  They love the area.  We've taken to referring to them as the SnoWagners because of the weather up there.

This weekend, my son texted me a message including a picture.  He said they were about halfway through their first blizzard of the season and the snow was almost a foot deep.

Great for sledding.  I'm sure.  But, brrr.  It just looks cold, doesn't it?

My DH and I were sitting on our back patio, enjoying the 80 degree weather.  So, I took a picture of my husband firing up the grill for dinner.

I emailed it to my son, telling him this is how the blizzard looked in Houston.  We were actually expecting some rain to push through and drop our temperature about 20 or 30 degrees.

It does get cold here, just not that often.

Well, my son has a great sense of humor.  He saw the picture of his shorts-clad  dad standing by the grill with a spatula in hand.  And he had his lovely wife take a picture of him in the same pose.

The contrast is pretty amazing.  I love the fact that he pulled a pair of khaki shorts over his long pants so he could have the 'shorts-clad by the grill holding a spatula' pose down perfectly.

I laughed until I cried.  These guys crack me up.

It's all about perspective, isn't it?  We all thought we were having a pleasant weekend.  My son and his family loved watching the snow dump onto their deck and couldn't wait to go sledding.  My husband and I loved sitting in the hot tub and grilling some burgers outside.  You know, we both enjoyed our weekends.

I will say that I am glad to be in the 50 degree temps instead of covered in snow.  I know you just have to have the right clothing, but really, I don't like to be cold.

Probably while they are enjoying a "White Christmas" I will feel a little misty and wish we could have cooler weather, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

--  Sandee Wagner

A Delicate Flower of Nature

When I was a kid, my dad used to refer to himself as "a delicate flower of nature" whenever he got a sunburn or hurt himself in any way.  It was tongue in cheek, of course, because he was a big, tough Marine.  But I've adopted that phrase and said it for years.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I proved it true to my family.  I cut myself on a marshmallow.

That's right.  Let that one settle in for a while.

I CUT myself on a marshmallow.  Opened up my skin and bled.

It takes a little setup, so, here's how this works.  First, my DIL made a wonderful holiday meal complete with sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows.  Now, full disclosure, I love a sweet potato but when you smear marshmallows on it, it kind of ruins it for me.  I like them a lot of ways, but not with the traditional marshmallow topping.  But everyone else loves that!  They were cleaned out.

And that's where the harm to my delicate nature came in.  I did the dishes.  I washed up since someone else was doing all the cooking (Yeah!).  When I reached my hand down into the soapy water the casserole dish was soaking it, I ran a sponge around the crusted on, melted sugar that is marshmallow topping and cut myself on a shard of glass-like leftovers.

When you explain that the marshmallows were melted into sheets of molten glass around the edges of the dish, it's not as impressive as when you say, "I cut myself on a marshmallow".

But that's the kind of delicate flower of nature I am.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Biltmore Estate

We drove out this morning to check out Lake Lure, NC.  It was pretty and the city of Lake Lure looked very nice.  We stopped and had a hot drink and were surprised by snow falling from the sky.  The Frankenstorm Sandy caused a very early snowfall in the higher altitudes and the border of Tennessee and North Carolina got quite a bit of snowfall overnight.

Since we were so close, we decided to drive to Ashville, NC and visit the Biltmore Estate.  If you haven't seen it, put it on your bucket list.  It's amazing.

There are 8,000 acres of Appalachian Mountains that make up this gorgeous estate.  It was built by a bachelor George Vanderbilt over a six year period starting in 1895.   It's an American castle, filled to the brim with interesting labor saving devices and leading edge technology; this home was a showplace in 1900.

Like a museum, you can't take any photos inside, but I took quite a few snaps in the gardens and outside the manse.  I gotta say, I wish I'd known the guy who built this great house.  He had a full sized portrait painted of the architect and the landscape designer.  Both men toiled for years to make George's vision a reality.

He wanted a castle like many he'd visited in Europe so he set about designing this home as a mountain retreat for his family.

Once it was completed, he found and married his wife and brought her to the estate she would manage until her death years later.  During their lives, they hosted myriad famous people, gave parties and entertained in style at this gorgeous home.

Vanderbilt is credited with forming one of the first forestry conservation efforts.  Biltmore was a self sustaining, working farm and dairy at its heyday.  Today, the entire property is open to the public and provides recreation and educational opportunities for the surrounding area.

The gardens are extensive and provide seasonal foliage to make any fall tour complete.  Their geometric planting of mums was colorful and expansive.  All I could think was, "I've killed one that color!"

The Biltmore was an amazing tour.  I highly recommend it for anyone with a few pennies to spend.  It's pricey, but the ticket prices go toward their conservation efforts, so I guess it's money well spent.

--  Sandee Wagner

Carving Pumpkins!!

In an attempt to avoid Hurricane Sandy, we abandoned our Outer Banks trip and went to Huntersville, NC to stay with family.  We got there in time to carve pumpkins with the grands.

First, we had to go back out to the corner farmer's market and buy some more pumpkins.  Everyone had to do their own pumpkins.  The kids had fun kits with 'stick in' parts to create Captain America, Elmo and the Angry Bird and Pig from the game.

We also had some stencils to do designs on the other pumpkins.

The cutouts and stick on designs have the added benefit of not requiring you to 'gut' the pumpkin.

I did pick a stencil design that required me to stick my arm into the pumpkin and scrape out the insides. I made a huge mess.  Stuff was flying everywhere.

The hardest part of the whole thing was waiting until dark to see how the pumpkins looked all lit up!  We loaded them with electric votives and set them outside.  Then had dinner and just waited and waited until full dark.

All the pumpkins turned out great.  We had a scary one.  We had the cute ones.  We had ones that were carved but not cut out.  All of them turned out fine.

My DIL even saw pictures of small pumpkins that had vampire teeth inserted making them fun.  We had to do that too.

All the decor turned out great.  We had fun helping do the Halloween decorating.

For being an unplanned side trip, we sure made a lot of memories on our little Huntersville stop.

So, fleeing a hurricane is not necessarily a good time.  But, if you have to change your plans, this is a good way to do it.

Find your family, carve a few pumpkins and enjoy the grands!!

--  Sandee Wagner

Weather Delays

Well, after watching extensive coverage of the "Frankenstorm" headed toward the east coast, we cancelled our beach reservations and are rearranging our plans for the Fall Foliage Tour.  If the winds are what they are saying to expect, most of the leaves will be blown off the trees this weekend anyway.

We had planned a little trip down memory lane.  A couple days in Morehead City and a review of our roots.  I was born in Cherry Point, NC and Gini remembers it fondly.  It would have been nice to eat a meal at the Sanitary Fish Market.  I was going to copy down the hush puppy recipe off the sampler on the wall...

But--best laid plans and all that.

Instead, we will go back to Lake Gaston and Roanoke Rapids Lake.  We had only scheduled half a day to see them both and they were so lovely, I think the possibilities are endless.  We will map a few properties and do a circuit of the lakes to see if there's enough 'blue water' to suit everyone.

Then we will head back west to my son's house.  Hopefully, this will keep us out of most of the bad weather.  There are three or four lakes we can day trip out from Charlotte to view.  They were not on our original inventory, but they come highly recommended by the locals, so we'll be off.

I don't have any pictures yet today.  It's foggy outside and appears to be a lousy day for both driving and foliage.  If we see anything spectacular, I'll post it later.

-- Sandee Wagner

Murphy's Law in Effect

The 2012 Fall Foliage Tour is specifically to allow my sister to shop retirement property in TN, VA and NC.  She plotted the route and booked all the hotels.  One of the things that my sister knows about me is that I don't have the same love of freshwater lakes as she does.  Give me a beach and the ocean any day!

Because she thinks that this road trip is somehow a sacrifice on my part, she planned this weekend for me.  Tomorrow, we are supposed to drive to Elizabeth City and spend the weekend near the beach.

Cue Hurricane Sandy.

As we watch the Weather Channel and its coverage of this weather system, I've got to wonder... "should we head east toward the coastline?"

As the experts talk more and more about it, it is clear that NC will miss the worst of this storm.  It is going to hit FL and then spin up and threaten the northeast next week.

But still, do we head to the beach when weather like this is threatening?  At best, we will be driving through rain and holing up in a hotel room with our feet propped up.  At worst, we will be stuck somewhere without electricity, heat and/or air, and other amenities.

I imagine we could cancel our reservations at these hotels, head inland and check out a few more lakes.  I'll have to see what my sister thinks.

--  Sandee Wagner

Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia's Best Kept Secret

After our aborted attempt to locate Smith Mountain Lake yesterday, we started out this morning with a new plan.  My sister spent hours pouring over Zillow last night and she copied lots of the 'for sale' houses on both sides of the lake down in order.  We put the first address into the Hertz RentACar's "NeverLost" system and took off.

She plotted the addresses so that we could go from house to house and see most of the shoreline and all sides of the lake.  It worked like a charm.  The first neighborhood we visited sat on one of the many 'fingers' of land that intersect this lake.  It was beautiful water and in the early morning light, the lake surface looked like glass.  We saw a couple of boaters and fisherman, but it was very placid for all that activity.

Our idea to let the gps get us around the lake by putting in address after address backfired a little.  Who knew the "NeverLost" system considered dirt roads viable alternatives to highway travel?

It was an old fire trail and wound back through the woods for miles and miles.  Had we not seen two other vehicles, we probably would have panicked and backed up or turned around.  We knew the road got to another main road because two vehicles came from the other direction toward us.  It was still a bumpy ride.  But, what the heck!  It was a rental.

After we drove around to several different neighborhoods and checked out some houses, some condos and a few patio homes, we stopped to just enjoy the glorious fall foliage.

I wish my little camera could do justice to the brilliant reds, oranges, yellows and greens we saw all around us.  This part of Virginia is rolling hills and farmland.  Imagine all the fall foliage broken up by fallow brown fields, brilliant green pines and austere trunks of trees already denuded of their leaves.  Quite the visual impact, that's for sure.  I've always thought that fall was my favorite season of the year.  After this drive through Virginia and Tennessee, I'm sure of it.

--  Sandee Wagner

Sandee and Gini's Excellent Adventure

Today we continued our 2012 Fall Foliage Tour with a short trip from TN into VA.  Our destination?  Gretna, VA.  This small town is our jumping off point to explore both Smith Mountain Lake and Lake Leesville.

We've been told that Smith Mountain Lake is the best kept secret of Virginia.  I'm beginning to believe that myself.  We couldn't find it.

We spent at least two hours within five miles of the shore and could never find our way down to the water.

When we finally wound our way to the Smith Mountain Dam--where we were told a lady worked full time handing out maps and giving tours--the aforementioned lady was leaving the offices and locking up.  We stopped long enough to snap one picture off the bridge leading up to the dam.

We did find Lake Leesville.  They are currently in the middle of a building project to add a 60 foot fishing pier and beef up some shore line.  We know this because we toddled down to the lake's edge to see the water quality and were quizzed by the workers and informed that the public lake access was closed to the public for this building project.

The team leader was a little bored, so he chatted with us and told us all about the lake, the water quality and the impact of changing water levels as water was released into the river below.

The foliage was beautiful and we had the picnic area all to ourselves... mostly because it was closed to the public.  Not that there were any signs that told us that.  We just followed the signs to the lake, parked our car and walked down to the water.

Us and the guys in hard hats got to enjoy this glorious scenery.  Tomorrow, we will try to suss out the secret of Smith Mountain Lake again.  But until then, please enjoy our vistas of Leesville Lake.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Fall Foliage Tour 2012

My sister is shopping for a lakefront retirement home.  She asked me earlier this year if I would like to accompany her on a road trip to check out some lakes in Western NC and Eastern TN.  I said yes.

We've been on the road for a couple of days so far and the foliage is perfect in this neck of the woods.

We drove from Charlotte, NC over to Johnson City, TN and the colors were glorious.  Of course, I was driving a rental car up and down twisty two lane mountain roads, so no pics of that, but I do like the view of the recreation area at Boone Lake Dam.

The "Tri-City Area" consists of Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol, TN.  I'm a real fan of the area.  It's temperate, gets all four seasons and has a nice standard of living.  I think my sister has eliminated this as a destination for her husband and herself, but I'm considering getting my DH to take a look at it.  Very nice area indeed.

One of the hidden treasures of the area is Jonesborough, TN.  We made a trip to that historic downtown area and fell in love.  First, they decorated Main Street for fall.  Each street light was flanked with bales of hay, stalks of corn, pumpkins and mums.  So pretty!  All the merchants got in line with their own displays of pretty fall flowers and decor.  Walking down that street was a treat.

But what made the experience for me was discovering the International Storytelling Center.  The Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall was a lovely facility devoted to my favorite pastime.  I walked through the hall, checked out the gift store and was crushed to realize that they didn't have performances on the only days we would be in town.  I'll have to wait for next time I visit.  I know I'll be back.  This place invites storytellers to spend a week here and tell stories.  They have a different storyteller each week from May through October.  What a marvelous entertainment for this idyllic small town.  We are heading to VA tomorrow to check out another lake.  I'll try to take some better pictures of the foliage.

--  Sandee Wagner

Double Rainbow!!

My BFF came to visit this weekend.  Since she is nothing but sunshine and light, she completely impacts the weather and environment.

This time she brought the rain and with it, a rainbow.  We sat outside under the patio shelter to enjoy the final remnants of the storm and--imagine our surprise--we noticed a second rainbow.

If you look to the right of the rainbow, you can just see the second one.  It was quite a sight!

I tried several times to get a better photo, but my little camera is hardly up to the task.

It lasted for about fifteen minutes.  The light must have been just right.  We wondered over it.  We chatted about other pretty rainbows we'd seen.

My favorites are the perfectly round ones you can see if you get the sun behind you while flying a small plane.  If you line up just right on a cloud, you can see a round rainbow.

Rainbows are a magical blend of water droplets and light.  Obviously both are made more perfect by adding my BFF.

--  Sandee Wagner

It's Shark Week!

It's possible that you don't know what Shark Week refers to... if you live in a cave, or don't get basic cable.  Shark Week is a television celebration of all shark shows, shark attack movies and shark specials.  The channel will program a full week of just those shows.

This week of programming has become so popular that it even has its own drinking game.  I kid you not.

Shark Week is a product of the marketing and programming geniuses at The Discovery Channel.  And in my family, we love it.

My oldest grandson is obsessed by sharks.  He does a countdown waiting for Shark Week, which he watches with his dad.  I found these swimming goggles and I've been told that he keeps them on while they watch the programs.  Very fun.

During my latest visit to my other grands, I found out that grandson #2 is just as wild for sharks.  He insisted on swim trunks with sharks and his beach towel is festooned with the toothy creatures.  Once I learned that, I decided he needed some shark goggles too.

His parents promised him swim goggles when he graduated from his very first round of swim lessons.  I got to watch him at two classes and he loves the water.

I bought him these goggles and he's wearing them around the house.  I'm not sure he knows about Shark Week yet, but I'm sure it will be in his future.

I think the reason that Shark Week programming was adopted by The Discovery Channel is to protect sharks.  People always think when folks are informed, they will be less scared of a predator.  I'm not sure whether or not Shark Week has helped with over fishing of the bigger sharks, but I do know that it has engaged the minds of youngsters and is killing the brain cells of college kids.

--  Sandee Wagner

Tractor and Thresher Show

I spent a week in Minnesota visiting my number two son and his lovely family.  While there, we made a short trip to Jordan, MN to attend the 49th Annual Scott Carver Thresher Association's Harvest Festival.  For a bunch of urban dwellers, this was an eye opening outing.

First and foremost, the Scott Carver Thresher Association are focused on preserving the history of their farming heritage.  Think "antique car show" and then imagine tractors in place of autos.  Really.  Rows and rows of antique but running tractors in all stages of restoration and daily usage.

There were tractors dragging trailers full of benches to ferry people from the car park to the display area of the grounds.  They even had a parade of tractors.  We saw corn being popped off the cobs, then ground into meal.  We saw wheat being threshed.  It was a big operation and very well run.  Vendors sold their wares, lots of fair food available and live music and dancing all day long.

I was quite taken with the juxtaposition of new versus old.  There was someone riding around this show on a Segway.  I walked from a building filled with steam powered antique farm equipment down a short walk to a snack bar and saw it standing parked beside the building.  It made me smile.

Fields filled with 1940's tractors still in working condition... all having been driven to their spots on the line... and still, folks drove around in golf carts labeled "I wanna be an Oliver!"

We wandered around looking at steam equipment, farm implements that run off the tractor engines, and stuff that's pulled behind to harvest all kinds of crops.  They even had a working sawmill set up to show how farmers made their own boards from felled trees using their farm engines to power the milling equipment.

This whole operation was celebrating the working farm and its historical roots.  Great fun!

One of the obvious crowd favorites was the "Priceless 88" a pink Oliver tractor with custom painted lettering proclaiming that she was "pulling for Papa".

While we were admiring this tractor fit for a princess, the owner came up and offered to let us take a picture of our princess aboard.  She even dried the seat off before we set my granddaughter on the seat.

She wanted to drive it, and I got the feeling that she wasn't much younger than the farm kids were when they learned how to drive these things.

Since this festival is a harvest festival, one of the operations that went full time was wheat threshing.  We watched for a while.  I had no idea what was happening, so I asked an older gentleman who was also in the crowd.  He explained the operation and then laughed at us city dwellers.  That long belt is connected to the tractor motor.  Two guys use pitchforks to shovel wheat onto the conveyor belt.  The threshing machine whacks the heads off the wheat stalks, then winnows and filters the wheat berries/seeds into that red hopper while the chaff is shot out into a pile that you can just see at the right of the hopper.  It was really an elegantly simple process.  I guess that is what works long term in farming.  Simple.  Elegant.

I really recommend this festival (the first weekend in August is glorious in Minnesota) for anyone.  It was a fun family outing filled with interesting gadgetry, antique equipment and lots of educational opportunities.

--  Sandee Wagner

For Marilyn, the biggest Tractor I've Ever Seen!

Just for a reference point, my son is six foot two inches tall and my grandkids are GORGEOUS!!

Seeing Double

It's been a while since I posted... been a while since I sat down with my laptop.  It's been a while since I read a book in print or on my iPad.  And the reason is pretty simple.  My eyes are giving me trouble.

I noticed I was getting headaches.  My eyes were watering, my right eye was squinting and blinking more often than usual.  Extreme eyestrain with just a little reading.  So.  Time to get 'em checked, right?

But I was in Dubai and I knew we were headed home to Houston.  So I put it off until we returned to the states.  We finally got settled (got new insurance cards!) and I took myself to the eye doctor.  Turns out this type of double vision is not that uncommon and they can correct for it.

That's right.  They are going to grind a lens for me with a prism in it.  I can only imagine.

Once again, I'm thankful for the time I live in.  For medical science and for all inventors who think of ways to solve problems for human beings.  I can't wait to get my new glasses.  Because I'm having a hard time concentrating on this.  If I've missed any typos, Mea Culpa Maxima!  

--Sandee Wagner

Memorial Day

We had a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend!  Our bosom buddies, the Burgess', have a house right on Lake Houston.  When we called and invited ourselves over for the weekend, then included some extended family in the invite, they didn't miss a beat.  Like I said, true friends.

DH's sister and her husband and daughter joined in all the fun.  There was a double kayak.  They proved to be good synchronized paddlers.  I guess all that ocean outrigger canoeing was good experience for them.

DH took out the single kayak and ALMOST kept up with the two of them.

In addition to these two boats, the Burgess' also have a 'sailing kayak' which was pretty cool.  It included a foot treadle driven paddle system and seemed to be pretty slick.

Why I didn't manage to capture a picture of that one, I'll never know.  Suffice it to say, it looked pretty cool for a one man sail driven contraption.  I think, if I knew a single thing about handling a sail, that that would have been the boat for me.

What kept everyone entertained for a long, LONG time was the jet ski.

This time last year, almost the whole lake was a dry mud flat.  There's still a lot of growth in previously passable areas.  The jet ski is such a shallow draft that it can skip along the lake and get to most of the areas without worry of getting stranded.  If you know where the sand bars are, you can get around and see quite a bit of the local area.  The main lake was pretty choppy, so we kept to the side inlets.

Of course, no weekend would be complete without lots of good food, companionship and drinking.  We did all of that, too.

We played in the pool.  Enjoyed all the water sports.  Sat around enjoying the view of the lake.  Watched a Texas sunset with a glass of wine in our hands.

On our last night, we lit a fire and sat around it while some of the previous year's fallen limbs were burned to ashes.

Overall, an idyllic experience gifted to us by some very dear friends.  When I count my blessings, the Burgess' count double!!

--  Sandee Wagner

Love and Hate the Internet

I have a love and hate relationship with the Internet.

On one hand you can find anything!  On the other hand, it might not be in English.

This morning, I found a "no waste" pattern for a hoodie.  In case you have never done any sewing, one of the biggest problems I have with it is the waste of fabric between pieces you cut out.  I even took up quilting just to use up my scraps.

So, the brass ring for me has always been no waste patterns.  There are quite a few for children's clothing and they tend to be blocky, timeless designs.

Today, when I came across a post about a no waste pattern for a hoodie, I was very excited.  When I clicked on the link, the site came up and it included lovely photography, lean clean graphics and a pleasing color scheme.  Unfortunately, it was not in English.  Not only was it not in English, the web browser could not even figure out what language it was to offer a translation.

For the most part, my sewing skills are 'Rambo class'.  I throw myself at a pattern and hack my way through the instructions with a machete between my teeth.  It's not always a pretty sight.  I am not one for whom it all comes easy, and makes sense.  I do not have a chance of taking a pattern in a foreign language and 'figuring it out' on my own.

Which is why I love and hate the Internet.  On the one hand, there's a pattern out there I'm very interested in.  On the other hand, I'll never be able to use it.

--  Sandee Wagner

Art and Life

I love the graphic expressions of artists.  I love how photographers see the world through their cameras.  I love how painters can take a white canvas and a hundred dollars worth of paint and create a masterpiece.

It all fascinates me.

Possibly because I have so little artistic ability myself.  Oh, I paint.  My children hang the canvases.  I figure they'll all end up in the Goodwill box some day, but each time I put a canvas on the easel, I am charmed.  It lightens up my mood to slap paint on canvas.

But I know the difference between what I do, and what real artists do.  I can take a coloring book picture and put a stylized design of it on canvas.  And when my grandson's favorite color is orange, I can make sure that painting has a LOT of orange in it to make him happy.

This is not art that lasts.  I wish it would, but I know my limitations.  I use a pallet knife, I don't even know how to use brushes.  What I do isn't art.

I saw something on the internet today that IS art.  It's art in a free form, BIG way.  There's a commercial art guy named Stefan G Bucher (used to do CD covers, now he does mostly books) who has a website called www.dailymonster.comhttp://www.dailymonster.com/.  On this website, the drops ink on the page of a paper and then 'blows' it with a tube of air.  The resulting ink smear is the basis for the 'daily monster'.

Each one of these videos is a short fascinating ride seeing through the eyes of a real artist.  He takes that wild, wingy smear of ink and envisions a monster.  Then he colors it in and we can see it too.  He's published a CD of his first hundred monsters, the videos of their creation.

He even has some short films on YouTube where he talks about being creative, drawing and knowing when you're finished (he suggests signing your name with a stamp, like the old Chinese custom).  He is an artist.  He sees the world through a creative lens.

What Stefan sees proves that his imagination is open and percolating.  I just wish I could put myself in a category with someone like that!

Stefan G Bucher, my hat is off to you and to any other person who doodles on napkins with black ink.  You make my world a better place.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Heard Museum

We flew to Phoenix, AZ last weekend to attend my niece Janet's wedding.  I love weddings.  I love when family gathers for a celebration of love.  And this one was truly a love story.

A side benefit to attending this wedding?  Being introduced to the venue, Arizona's Heard Museum.

This museum is a 'living museum' dedicated to the heritage, culture and arts of native Americans.  Not so much a history museum as an educated display of art, artifacts and culture.  Really nice.  I recommend it.

One of my favorite items in the collection was a fence built by Tony Jojola with Isleta and Rosemary Lonewolf.  This installation of poles, glass and clay was representative of the Southwestern fences built with organic materials.

It started with dark blue and black and the color morphed along the length of the piece going lighter and lighter.  A truly lovely variety of shapes, textures and colors.  Photos don't do it justice.

There was an entire gallery of modern art and sculpture, which is not generally well represented in facilities that display native American art.

I wish my pictures could convey the COLOR used in some of these pieces.  Although many of the fiber rugs and cloths were muted tones, lots of the canvases had bright, vibrant colors and tones.  The juxtaposition of this energetic style alongside some of the ancient, traditional artworks was compelling.

A lot of local artisans were featured.  Some even had videos of them creating their works along with explanations of the symbolism and meaning behind each piece of art.

This gallery had a soaring ceiling that featured a cross hatching pattern of wrought iron braces.  I couldn't tell if it was structural or just decorative but either way, it was fascinating.

We were allowed to view the gallery, but it was after normal hours so the lights went off on a timer and our movements through the museum caused them to turn on as we approached.  This huge, white space filled with modern sculpture and paintings was especially affecting.

A traditional surprise in The Heard Museum was an enormous collection of kachina dolls.  All my life, I have seen examples of Hopi kachinas.  My oldest sister has a few really interesting ones in her home.

But I've never seen this many in any one place before.

I tried to capture the number of figures in this case, but my camera was not up to the challenge.  And this room went on and on.  There were cases and cases this size, all filled with kachinas.

I'm not sure who collected these--if they were donated them to the Heard--or if this collection was amassed by the curators, but either way, it was a charming aggregation of spiritual objects.  It represented hours and hours of painstaking work on the part of the artists.

The final surprise offered by the gorgeous Heard Museum was a fun gallery filled with a bolo tie collection.  Since 2005, Chicagoan Norman L. Sandfield has acquired an amazing variety of bolo ties and has allowed his collection to be displayed at the Heard.

I was enchanted with the breadth of this display.  All tribes of native craftsman had boards filled with examples of their stylized work.  Pictures of actors and singers were displayed alongside bolos worn in film and on screen.

There were semi precious stones and a variety of materials all worked into neckware for cowboys.  There were even a few that were made to look like flattened silver neckties.

So much fun.  There were so many great examples, it was impossible to pick a single one that outshone the rest.

I've always liked bolo ties.  I liked the idea of guys who lived in hot environments finding a way to replace three or four layers of fabric with a small lightweight leather strap.  It just makes sense.  But like so many other items of gear that have a common sense birth, the final products represent a vast array of artistic and creative jewelry that anyone would love.

From simple slides for boy scout scarves to highly intricate silver carvings that I couldn't imagine a man wearing for any length of time, this collection of bolo ties stunned the eye and warmed the heart.

It made me want to go out and buy one for DH.  I wonder if he'd wear it with aplomb?

The Heard Museum--whether given a private viewing during a wedding reception, or surrounded by a teeming mass of school children on a field trip--would never disappoint.  I feel the need to put it on my list and make a return visit next time I get out to Arizona.  I'm sure I didn't see it all.  How could I?

--  Sandee Wagner

So Far Behind...

There are a lot of things I have missed out on in my life.  I have not always been fashion forward.  I've missed out on many social trends.  There are plenty of technological advancements that left me in the dust.

I find myself fascinated with the 'catch up'.

I have logged into Pinterest.  Seems like everyone I know (or know on Facebook) has been doing this for months or years.  I'm very behind the times.

I like the idea of 'saving' links by pinning them.  When you need to find a website that you liked, you can just go back to your 'board' and find the image you pinned.  Easy.

Each time I peruse the website, I look at folks's pinned items in a relative few categories.  I look at gardening, architecture and home decor.  I guess you can tell I'm in the process of buying a home.

Total strangers' pins will show what they have marked as interesting and I see a lot of trends that I might not otherwise identify.  Lots of home decor is based on white spaces or white furniture.  I'm not sure who lives that way.  I'm sure if I put in a white slipcovered couch, it would be grease and dirt smeared in no time.

Lots of people pin pictures of things for their 'dream home', posting it to a board with that name.  As I skim over things, I find myself drawn to other people's aesthetics.  You can click on their pins, go back to their boards and look at all their items pinned to 'dream home'.  Some I like and repin, some (like the white sofas) I can do without.

Today, I was gobsmacked by a post on a 'dream home' board.  The very lovely photo showed built in bunk beds, which are very hot right now.  If it had been a picture of a set, I would never have hesitated, I would have just glossed right by it.  However, the picture was a shot of four sets of built in bunkbeds all decorated in a modern lodge style.  So, eight people in one room is a dream house?  I just don't get that.

I think my dream house would have eight separate bedrooms with en suite baths for each.  I was raised in a large family.  I know what a pain it is to share bedrooms--I did it for seventeen years.  In no way or fashion does a room with four sets of bunk beds feature in my 'dream house'.

It just goes to show that it takes all kinds.  I'm envisioning an only child who wanted brothers and sisters pining for a house full of commotion.  It's the only thing that makes sense.

--  Sandee Wagner

Back Home

This is the first time that I've ever moved BACK to a place I lived before.  There is a certain amount of relief in knowing things about a location.  We remember the roads, the directions.  Not every trip requires a map and a prayer.

Another bonus?  We already know some of the best places to eat.

On Sunday, we went out to breakfast at the Humble City Cafe.  An old favorite of ours.

This hometown cafe is one of the hidden treasures of Humble, Texas.  The homemade waffles, omelets and the skillet cornbread with cinnamon butter are just as good as we remembered.

It's nice to have some old haunts to return to, some memories to relive.  We moved away in 2000, so the town has changed quite a bit.  It still retains a lot of its small town charm, though.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to like living in Humble again.

--Sandee Wagner

Packaged for Delivery

The Santa Fe Relocation company is now my favorite moving team ever.  And those of you who know me, know I've moved a lot.  I have opinions about movers.  But they made the move easy.  It said so right on all their boxes.

They did a pre move survey and determined that we would fit into a 40 ft container.  When the packers showed up on Sunday morning, they looked around and said, "It's going to be tight."  The team leader had a very intense discussion with the guys in a language that I could only guess at, and they started packing.

During a container move, all the furniture is padded and wrapped up.  In essence, they custom make a box for every piece of furniture.  During this process, we realized what this team of packers was doing... they were utilizing every single square inch of interior space to transport 'soft' objects.  The shelves of each bookcase were stuffed with stacks of towels, blankets and pillows.  All negative space was filled with soft, fluffy things.

And it's a good thing we didn't have boxes and boxes filled with towels, blankets or pillows.  There would not have been room.

We FILLED the 40 ft container.  I don't know if you can tell in this photo but those two guys hardly have room for their feet to fit on the small edge left.  They crammed all our household goods into it, saving our king sized mattress for the end.  Then they powered that last box in.

During the last hour and a half they packed the truck, they tore one box apart and repackaged the contents into three smaller boxes.  One oddly shaped box had a corner purposefully crushed so it could be pushed up into the top of the shipment.  And two boxes were repackaged into a single one.  All out on the curb.  In an attempt to get it all to fit.

When they finally got the door to close and lock, they laughed, high fived and then opened the door to show how stuffed the container was and all stood around taking pictures with their cell phones.

They were a really good natured lot.

I am so thankful that they took the time to make it all fit.  In the overall scheme of things, crammed in equals safer and less damage due to shifting around.  So, I'll take a tightly packed container.

Now, the countdown to arrival in the US begins.  Thank you, Santa Fe Relocation!

--  Sandee Wagner