The Eagle Has Landed

   Cleaning up after a project always presents a dilemma. Which scrap do I keep and what do I throw away? It kills me to throw any of it away, but what do I do with it? How small is too small? I'm thinking of getting a rock vibrator....like a rock tumbler, but different. I can throw the scrap into it to make nuggets for mosaics. I could also put sand in it with the glass and make beach glass.

 
 Last week, I finished the eagle transom. Ed cut some wood stops to set it in place, and started the installation. I have to admit it made me nervous to have him hammering brads so near to the glass surface. I should know by now that he knows what he's doing.

   We've been building this home for the last two years, and I've had this transom on my mind for longer than that. I was a little nervous that we'd get it up and then wouldn't like it, but I'm happy with it. The front door is on the north side of the house, however, and has a deep front porch. This limits the amount of sunlight that comes through these windows. My original plan was to make coordinated sidelights, but now that the transom is up, I think sidelight stained glass would cut out too much light into the foyer. I'll think about it.

The Glass Diet

   After a very long glass drought, caused by construction and moving, I am finally able to get back at it. I have a whole basket full of ideas for projects. They'll have to wait just a bit longer, because the first project is for the new house.
   I wanted to do a window for the front door transom. We have bald eagles here. No matter how many times I see them, they give me a thrill. I designed the transom and sidelights to include the Columbia River and a GST soaring eagle bevel cluster.
   Our new home has a designated craft room, which is wonderful, but during the final phase of construction it had become the receptacle for every tool, extra plumbing fittings, jars of screws, paint buckets...you get the picture.
   With a look of dread, Ed asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Shopping is not an activity he enjoys.
   "I'd like my craft room." I suggested.  He beamed! That was something he could easily do. It took almost a whole day to move out the tools and construction debris, but it's mine!

   In between errands, Thanksgiving and life in general I managed to get on one more solid day of glass cutting. Since I hadn't done any for a long time, there were a few bandaids associated with the memory curve. The glass for the gray mountains in the background and brown mountains in the foreground is Uroboros granite, which is textured. That means I have to reverse the pattern pieces, trace them with a silver magic marker, and cut them. There may be a better way to do that but I don't know what it is. Uroboros is rich, delicious glass, but it seems to me that it's also grainier, and a bit thicker than some other brands. All that makes it harder for me to cut.

   But I did have a good glass day. When I get in the glass groove, I forget about everything else. The fire dies out, the dog is ignored. I forget to eat, which for me is a big deal. It's all about cutting just one more piece before I stop for the evening. It really does feel good to be back to cutting glass. And now I have a beautiful room to do it in. Once this project is up off the board, we will order stainless steel countertops and I can get organized.