July 10-26, Fort Collins, Colorado

We are still waiting for the delivery of a new microwave convection oven for the bus. Our old one died right before we came home. It was supposed to be in late June, then early July, then the 12th, now the 21st. Ok, I can still work on glass.

My brother Jerry came up and had dinner with us, it was fun to see him. We had the carpets cleaned. John says they have not been cleaned since before he met me 11 years ago. We moved all the stuff off the floor and John vacuumed before. The carpets look great now.

Still working on jewels too. Some one requested cat pendants and some one else thought pot leaf jewels might sell. We will see. A fisherman at McMurray ponds on my bike ride.

Backlit grasses on my bike ride. I am working on another desert to go with this cactus stand. Spend the last three days, hopefully get it to a point I can put it in the kiln soon. 

I saw this  swallow nest inside a tunnel on the bike path, it is full of baby birds. Below is a purple flower I don't know what is. We had a yummy dinner at Mandy and John's house of ribs John smoked. Mandy, John, Dave, Christine and John.

I have been busy making jewels-these have horses on them, someone requested horses. The Sonoran 

 Fire is done. Of course it looks terrible with the cactus stand I was making it for. I am exploring other stand options. I changed the clouds to match the rest of it better. 

I went kayaking on Long Lake in Fort Collins with my friend Jane. it was lovely. It has been very hot, in the 90's so the water felt very nice.

My newest project is a redo of a peacock I did years ago. I was not happy with the first version so I started another one, then the glass store was out of the green dichroic glass I used in it. I bought the glass the next year but did not get motivated to finish it. This year I am finishing it.  Jerry came back up for dinner with us and brought a highschool friend Cecil we both knew in Cody and his son Charles and girlfriend Grace. We ate at the same restaurant. It was fun to see them all.

Our microwave did come in on the 21st and John had it installed on the 24th. He wants to clean the only carpet left in the bus, a strip in front of the closet. It is filthy. He got an estimate of $85 to have it cleaned, and it costs $60 to rent a carpet cleaner, so he bought a small carpet spot cleaner for $90 and started cleaning it. Soon the bus will be ready to go. 

I finished the peacock. It came out very nice. It is pictured here on the left, next to the previous one I made. The last one had way too many mistakes in it, took about twice as long as it should have to make and I did not like the border. I am happier with the second one.  John meanwhile is fixing some water damage on the side of our sticks and bricks house. He set up shop in the garage, which used to be his workshop. Now a good portion is my studio. I can't park or work on my glass while he is sawing and hammering.  He reminded me it was his workshop first and now he can't even find his tools. . .

July 25, 2015 American Basin hike, Colorado

Mandy and I hiked up to American Basin. We rode our mountain bikes 2.5 miles along the canal dirt road, then hiked up 2.5 miles to the lake. The flowers were fabulous.

Mandy walking though colorful flowers. The stream coming from American Lake, way above tree line.

So many wildflowers. Hemlock, aster, whipple's penstemon and geraniums. Bog orchids, paintbrush and columbines.

Campions, field of elephant heads and a lousewort. White flowers, sedum and larkspurs. 

Queens Crown, globe flowers, bittercress, and salmon colored paintbrush. Bistort, alpine clover and pussy willows.

Field of multicolored flowers.

S curved stream bed and lots of marsh marigolds just below a snowfield.

Bright pink Parry's primrose, maybe young sedums and moss. A field of flowers where we had lunch.

Fields of paintbrush

Colorful mix, senecio, gone by globe flower, unknown. Pika, jacob's ladder, multicolored mix, marsh marigolds and parry's primrose. 

Noku Crags over the lake and meadow. Mandy in waist deep flowers.

Flowerful views.

Another view, columbines, mix, mushroom in the trail and yet another mix.

Butterfly on a bistort, fringed gentians and a moose.

July 6-9 , 2017 Fort Collins, Colorado

John's sister Nora and her son Sean came to visit. They had breakfast with us at the Silver Grill this morning. Then they toured CSU, Sean is looking at colleges now. Here is the Solarium at the hostel they are staying at.

John chauffeured them in his van, Sean rode in John's kayak that lives there during boating season. We had dinner at Austins.

During dinner we were serenaded by a Willie Nelson look alike on the sidewalk outside the patio where we had dinner. The desert masterpiece is coming along. Here it is before the first firing over the mold and in the kiln.

This mirror mosaic is on one of the bridge abutments along the bike path. It supposed to represent the river.

We drove down to Denver and had a family BBQ with some of John's family. Nora, Jack (who was baptised today), Theresa, Kristen and Pat. Jennie's new addition to her house is in the background. Katie, Bridget and Dean.

Ben, John and Patrick. Michael BBQing  dinner.

Bridget spinning Dean and John upending nephew Levi. Nora doing her sweet face. It was fun to see family tonight.

My friend Pam make this basket from a glass center I made. She taught me volumes about basket making so far. Her baskets are so intricate. McMurray pond on my bike ride.

North Shields lakes on my bike ride.

Lake signs-well done, an animal carcass with like a mohawk of hair. I think it might have been a badger, it had lighter brown hair with a black stripe down the back, and a prickly poppy.  Cows on the bike path tonight.