August 24- September 1, 2025 Fort Collins, Colorado

 High of 72, cloudy and gloomy. It was supposed to rain, but only got a drizzle.

10 pounds of pine needles, ready to dye for baskets.  John presenting his baked peaches dessert, and Mandy who brought ice cream. Yummy.

We went to Denver to visit John's nieces and family. Sue, Jennie, Claire and John. Jennie with two of her boys. 

Levi getting his 16th birthday cake. Raining in Denver. 

Couple of recent sunsets. 

I had a booth at  the Artisans Market on Saturday. Ended up with one in the front, no one on either side of me, so had to scramble to cover the backs of the tables. Was lots of work and fun. Did ok. There was a bubble machine right next to my booth. The kids loved it. Everything in my booth probably got covered  with soap from the bubbles. Kind of magical having bubbles floating through. 

Huge thunder storm, they closed the market 30 minutes early and everything got soaked. At least it likely washed out all the soap from the bubbles. I finished this murrine bowl. Took hours to place all the little murrine. 6 1/2 x 7 x 1 inches. It came out cute. 

Sunset. John serving John and Mandy smoked ribs. Yum yum.

I sandblasted some pieces of slate to make into basket centers. I met some friends in Evergreen for lunch, then we hiked at Elk Ridge park. The sign says there were aggressive elk, but we didn't see any. 

Some flowers we saw. Katy, Rosie and Toni hiking, 

Toni, Katy and Rosie. Some more flowers. 

 Suep, Toni, Rosie and Katy. We had a great time and it was good to see them all. Katy and Rosie on the trail. 

Sunset from dinner on the deck when I got home. 

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August 8-23, 2025 Fort Collins, Colorado

 It was a cool 85 and sunny today.

Poudre River Festival on Sat at New Belgium Brewing.  High 90's and too hot! Sunday I went to the Glass Artists of Colorado monthly meeting at Deb's house. It was fun to see everyone. After our business meeting we had a white elephant plant swap. Those are always hilarious. 

I finished this aspen piece. I pulled white cane for the tree trunks. They came out pretty nice. 7 x 12 inches. Sunset. 

Another nice sunset on my bike ride.  John's sister Katie and her friend Mo met us for lunch in Erie this week. Nice to see them. 

We stopped at Bucee's on the way back from Erie, we had not been and wanted to see it.  It was a packed tourist trap. A mural from Erie. Sunset.

A few new murrine and some twisted canes. 

My garden is going wild. The grasshoppers were eating my basil, so I put nets over them and they are now huge. We are already harvesting tomatoes, even though I didn't even plant till mid June. I bought a garage door opener for my side of the garage. It is a huge industrial door, so it was a weight lifting challenge each time I had to open it before. 

Pre sunset, the clouds obscured the actual sunset. 

We watched the New Belgium's Tour De Fat parade. People dress up in costume and ride in a loop on Mountain Ave. The Tour ends up at New Belgium Brewery for an all day celebration. 

The costumes and floats  are amazing. 

I finished this masterpiece. It is fused, painted with copper luster, fired, then sandblasted, then I added the murine and dichroic glass, fired it again, painted gold paint on it and slumped it into a 10 inch plate. Very flashy.

August 1-9, 2025 Fort Collins, Colorado

 Yikes, in the 90's. And we are getting a little smoke from the Grand Canyon fire.

Hawk in our back yard. Sunset over Old Town Fort Collins, reflected in the fountain.

Kids running through the fountain. Sunset on Linden St. They do a great job  with flowers in Old Town.

These are what I am working on. I am using the murrine I have been making for the flowers and leaves. Finished aspen pieces. 

The finished flower pieces. I made some white canes to try as aspen in some pieces. It is really hard to cut small enough tree trunks. They expand when fired, so these skinny things may work. 

Our renter in the front house got this cool tear drop trailer. She is parking it in front of our garage overnight so she can pack up for a road trip. It has a very fancy kitchen in the back with running rater and a microwave. Almost 100 today and smokey. The sun was orange this afternoon and red at sunset. 

Moon with the smokey air.  John and my brother 

Ray.

Joan and Sue. My brother Ray and Joan bought us dinner at the Blue Agave. Yum. Great seeing them.

Sunset. Joan and my brother Ray after dinner at our place. 

Sue and Joan. I pulled some new cane. 

Saw this buck on my bike ride tonight. Brief sunset, clouds blocking most of it. 

Full Sturgeon moon. Not as much smoke as earlier, but still a hint of orange.