Happy New Year plus a couple days
It's been a bit chilly down here in sunny Florida these last few nights. We were projected to hit a low of 19 last night/early this morning but seemed not to have. I'm not complaining. It was cold enough. I didn't cover the scented geraniums. The Robers Lemon Rose and the Snowflake (ha!) Rose look okay; the Peppermint looks the worse for wear. I hope it comes back.
I was very popular with the cats last night. Moti, of course, spent most of the night under the blankets with me. Miracle tried again to join her. Moti doesn't seem to be able to accommodate her. It's funny, they cuddle all the time but under covers, Moti gets all snarly. At least I didn't get shredded. I told the monkey-faced girl that I would be quite happy to cuddle her and she slept the better part of the night under the blankets by my left shoulder. It was Moti's loss.
The Fairy Princess and I went out this afternoon. It was sunny and I could pretend it was warm. At least with the windows up and the heater going. Our scheduled trip was to Petsmart where we picked up some wet food for the cats, a couple of calendars (I picked up a beardie one as well as a BC) and Breck got a couple of snacks from the cashier. While driving over to Petsmart I remembered that the Indian restaurant had projected a 1 January re-opening. Curious to see if it were true, I drove down there to take a look. Unless they're going for a very minimalistic look--no tables or chairs--they're still not finished doing whatever. I noticed a pickup truck out front with "stuff" in it--carpenterish/handymanish type stuff.
Class starts next week--woo hoo! I am so ready. I'm going to look at Pat's schedule and possibly go over and intercept her if she has a Monday or Tuesday class and get a studio monitor form signed and turned in before the start of class. Then I can stay Wednesday night after class. It's so convenient to do that. I'll be there, I'll have dragged all my stuff in, the kiln will finally be hot enough and I'll be warmed up myself.
I will probably show off my necklace mandrel to Wonder Pat and the other crazies. Karen will probably appreciate it. And woo hoo, I do have the ingot mold and quartz stirring rod. I haven't even opened them up. I should find out if anyone wants to order anything from Hauser and Miller. I should check with Hauser and Miller to see if they sell gold casting grain by the pennyweight. I believe that Rio does.
I can't even visualize a pennyweight of anything. Trouble is, getting more gold won't do me any good because 24k gold is too soft for much applications. Sigh.
I should probably make sure to have closed toe shoes with me the night I make my ingots. It's at least an effort at safety and somewhat safer than wearing my birkenstock Arizonas. I'll need to get someone in addition to Pat to help with the project. It will take two people to melt and mix the alloy while a third is warming the ingot mold. And maybe a fourth to keep an eye on the three people with torches, crucibles and ingot molds, sort of directing traffic. Just kidding.
I wonder how difficult it will be to get the alloys mixed properly? Will the shibuichi be easier? The amounts are not so skewed (68% to 32% as opposed to 96% to 4%). And how will I know if they are well mixed? Properly mixed? I guess I'll find out soon enough.
I was very popular with the cats last night. Moti, of course, spent most of the night under the blankets with me. Miracle tried again to join her. Moti doesn't seem to be able to accommodate her. It's funny, they cuddle all the time but under covers, Moti gets all snarly. At least I didn't get shredded. I told the monkey-faced girl that I would be quite happy to cuddle her and she slept the better part of the night under the blankets by my left shoulder. It was Moti's loss.
The Fairy Princess and I went out this afternoon. It was sunny and I could pretend it was warm. At least with the windows up and the heater going. Our scheduled trip was to Petsmart where we picked up some wet food for the cats, a couple of calendars (I picked up a beardie one as well as a BC) and Breck got a couple of snacks from the cashier. While driving over to Petsmart I remembered that the Indian restaurant had projected a 1 January re-opening. Curious to see if it were true, I drove down there to take a look. Unless they're going for a very minimalistic look--no tables or chairs--they're still not finished doing whatever. I noticed a pickup truck out front with "stuff" in it--carpenterish/handymanish type stuff.
Class starts next week--woo hoo! I am so ready. I'm going to look at Pat's schedule and possibly go over and intercept her if she has a Monday or Tuesday class and get a studio monitor form signed and turned in before the start of class. Then I can stay Wednesday night after class. It's so convenient to do that. I'll be there, I'll have dragged all my stuff in, the kiln will finally be hot enough and I'll be warmed up myself.
I will probably show off my necklace mandrel to Wonder Pat and the other crazies. Karen will probably appreciate it. And woo hoo, I do have the ingot mold and quartz stirring rod. I haven't even opened them up. I should find out if anyone wants to order anything from Hauser and Miller. I should check with Hauser and Miller to see if they sell gold casting grain by the pennyweight. I believe that Rio does.
I can't even visualize a pennyweight of anything. Trouble is, getting more gold won't do me any good because 24k gold is too soft for much applications. Sigh.
I should probably make sure to have closed toe shoes with me the night I make my ingots. It's at least an effort at safety and somewhat safer than wearing my birkenstock Arizonas. I'll need to get someone in addition to Pat to help with the project. It will take two people to melt and mix the alloy while a third is warming the ingot mold. And maybe a fourth to keep an eye on the three people with torches, crucibles and ingot molds, sort of directing traffic. Just kidding.
I wonder how difficult it will be to get the alloys mixed properly? Will the shibuichi be easier? The amounts are not so skewed (68% to 32% as opposed to 96% to 4%). And how will I know if they are well mixed? Properly mixed? I guess I'll find out soon enough.