projects

 Here are a few of the projects I've been working on this summer.  I made the mask at one of my ceramics classes.  Unfortunately, it did something weird in the firing and pieces of the red glaze flaked off and the rest didn't turn very bright red.  Anyway, I pulled off the loose pieces of glaze and painted it bright red with acrylics, then sprayed sealer on it.  It'll hang inside, so it doesn't need to be waterproof, but I wanted it shiny.  If you look closely, you can see that he has some sort of skin disease.  Maybe that's why he is scowling!  LOL

The lighthouse bird houses are some I bought unfinished at a craft store.  I don't know where I will put them.  I'm considering using the tree out front, but it's on common property, not my yard.  Not that the bird houses would hurt the tree, but the home owners' assoc. might be upset.  I really don't have any more room for birdhouses on my deck or hanging from the soffit out back.  (How is that word spelled?  I know what it is, but not how it's spelled!)

 Our weather has been incredibly HOT for several weeks now.  About once a week, it's cool enough in the evening for sitting outside.  The rest of the time, I try to stay in the house.  I do have to be outside briefly every evening to water my plants.  Thunderstorms are predicted every day, but we don't get any rain.   At this rate, it's gonna be a hot, dry summer.

I have to get two new tires on my van next week.  It's going to be very expensive.  I keep telling myself that it's cheaper to keep this car going than to buy a new one, but if I continue to spend hundreds every month, I might as well be spending it on a new car.  I'm trying to get one more year out of this one.  It's 10 years old, but only has a bit over 100,000 miles on it.  I keep wondering what will go next.  My mechanic says it's in good shape for its age.  Of course, he's making money on servicing it, so his opinion isn't exactly unbiased. 

The fire truck is another unfinished birdhouse from Michael's.  I wish my grandson could have painted it, but it wasn't worth hauling it to England just for that.  Anyway, Alex would probably have wanted to keep it, and I rather imagine his mother thinks he has enough junk like that.  So it stays here, if I can just find a place to put it!  I have far more junk that all the grandchildren put together!