A couple of photos from my garden.

I haven't been near the torch for over a month. It was so hot for a long time and then we spent a wonderful week at Flathead Lake in Montana. Since coming home I just haven't been motivated, but maybe will get something done next week.

I went to the Intergem bead show last weekend and got a few things. I've been making bracelets and listing things on Etsy, trying to get my inventory up to 100 which will take awhile. I love making things but am the world's worst procrastinator when it comes to taking and editing photos and getting listings done.

Riding light rail

What an exciting weekend, the light rail finally opened in Seattle. The train runs from downtown to the last stop near the airport, to be expanded to SeaTac in Dec. The opening weekend was free so we waited until today to avoid the crowd. There were still a lot of people riding and the ticket line was long, but that shouldn't be a problem once the novelty wears off. It is a fast way to get downtown and avoid the traffic and parking problems that always involves. My granddaughter was dissappointed that it didn't travel at the speed of sound since it is called "sound transit".

There is a stop at Columbia City and I thought about taking a ride there and a stopping to look at the galleries and book shop.

HEAT WAVE

It was in the 90's yesterday which is a total shock to your system living in this cool grey climate. We spent the entire day at the pool until they closed at 7pm. Both of the grandkids are getting to be good swimmers so they don't require constant hands on. I woke up early this morning and went for a walk, it was so beautiful.

Too hot for torching but I have a bunch of ideas going around in my head that I can't wait to explore. Last week I did a couple of focals with Chalcedony and goldstone with clear encasing that turned out great.

The hummingbirds are keeping us entertained right out the front window. I put a water bath in the back for them, but the only one using it so far is the neighbor's cat.

Organics

This set of organics I just finished.

More Chalcedony

More Chalcedony, I am having such fun with this glass. Surprising how fast I used up a 1/2 kilo !!!

New Chalcedony beads

I experimented with Gaffer chalcedony and lots of other colors. They are all interesting, but I think the best color comes out when the Chalcedony is used all by itself.

Chalcedony again

I tried some Chalcedony combined with Jade Green and black. I like the effect, but it wasn't at all what I expected. The black sort of bled over the other colors. There is a little frit on top.