My Muse returned from vacation today!

I just had to pop in here and say that I finally got to torch for real tonight. I have only been on the torch once since my surgery, but I didn't have any bead release and the donut I made cracked anyway.
Today I was able to sit there for a couple of hours and actually create some beads that I'm excited to see tomorrow (they're annealing in the kiln until the morning). Usually when i take a long break, I just turn out crap for a while until I get back into the groove. I'll post pictures tomorrow when I get them all cleaned out. I used the new "all the rage Kronos" glass and I maybe got it to do its thing. That would be cool!
See ya tomorrow :)

Lake Pleasant Pictures

I've been having TONS of trouble getting on here, so I'm vastly out of date.
First I wanted to post a couple of pictures that accompanied my last post - Lake Pleasant on the border of Michigan and Indiana.
These were taken at sunset from one of the docks in the front of the house. They are the last house on the lake and there is wetlands that extend from the property around to the other side of the lake. It's beautiful!!

AHHH.....a little getaway will do you good!

I know I haven't written in the blog for awhile, but I have been dealing with some sensitive family issues and just haven't been too motivated to write. This weekend's little getaway gave me a breath of fresh air , so....

I just returned home from a little mini vacation with my husband and daughter and it was wonderful. It was my only little excursion this summer, but it was worth the extra knee pain I'm having now. We visited my husband's family in Indiana at their lake cottage. I haven't been there in 2 or 3 years, and it was nice to return. His family are just really wonderful, extremely hospitable, genuinely good people and it's always nice to hang out there because you just instantly feel like one of the family the second you walk in the door. Their cottage is located on Lake Pleasant which shares shores with Michigan and Indiana. Theirs is the last cottage on that side of the lake before the wetland area so there is only one neighbor and it is so secluded and peaceful. During the day, everyone just hangs out in the sun, plays in the water, goes on boat and jet ski rides, and EATS. There are always at least 3 meals or desserts cooking or being prepared at almost all times, and before you even digest breakfast, a huge lunch is laid out, and the same thing happens with dinner.
After dinner, and the evening winds down, we have a fire and sit outside and enjoy the beautiful evening and most often times, at least one person on the lake has a fireworks display. On Saturday night, we looked for meteors. On the way home, we stopped at a roadside stand, met an adorable elderly couple and their grandchildren, and their huge old bassett hound named Sammy. We bought fresh sweet corn (they crossed the road and picked the corn just for us - can't get any fresher!!), homemade cherry-rhubarb jam and blackberry jelly, and also a large jar of honey collected from the bees that pollinated the corn we bought. I know, I'm a geek, but I love farm stands and fresh veggies and honey. I am VERY pro local produce and small farmers. All of my uncles are small farmers and I know firsthand how difficult of a life that is, so I support them as much as I can.

I could go on and on, but I think really I was just so thrilled to get out of this recovery room for a few days and breathe some fresh air and do some summer things that I love to do. Nothing I love more than hanging out by the fire on a gorgeous summer night and farm stands. (Laugh all you want
As summer is coming to an end quickly, I want to remind you to take some time doing some summertime things that you love to do and slow down and enjoy those things before they're gone for another year. Have a fire and roast hot dogs or make s'mores. Have a few friends over to do those things with you! Take a walk in a local park and stay to watch the sunset - take a picnic along and make it a date. Just do something that you'll miss in the winter. Being laid up this whole summer has made me appreciate these things so much more and I feel like I had to say something. It's so easy to forget about all of those things when school is beginning soon and parents schedules are heating up for the year.
Just enjoy the short time we have left until most of us are locked in our house for about 6 months.!
Here are some pictures of the lake from this weekend. Saturday night sunset.