Thursday Sept. 16th ~ 2010

Can't believe how time just gets away from me. Right after I got back from Tacoma I had to actually try to finish unpacking and get my house into some sense of order. Adding to that insanity, I had to get my submissions for Bead & Button 2011 made and photographed and submitted.

To accomplish this, the last week of August and into the beginning of September I actually got to run away and hide from the internet and from email and distractions so I could hunker down and get my submissions done.

We escaped the dry-ish heat of New Mexico south, to the 100º plus humidity & heatwave in Texas for a week. I  got back into the groove and back to my AZ routine of getting up amazingly early, working for several hours while downing an entire pot of coffee, grab a snack and dive into the pool for an hour swim and then get back to work till dinner time.

I found a good rhythm and I think I got some really nice new classes stepped out and it felt really excellent to get the creative juices going as well as the "fix it" & problem solving part of my work that I so truly love.

At Bead Fest Philly,  Gail Crosman Moore & I taught our last session of Color & Patina on Metals with Cold Joining Techniques. We had a blast  but we did not get nearly enough time together since she had to leave the next morning to teach up in Maine.

The remainder of my classes went great, but I had my most embarrassing teaching moment. I got to the classroom nice and early on Friday I could get all of my wire cut, handouts passed around, tools redistributed, my teaching bench cleaned and organized. It was 20 minutes before class was to begin, all of the students were sitting in their seats, I was TOTALLY prepped to teach a full day of Low Tech™ Metalsmithing. The problem with this was that I needed to be set up to teach Hand Forged Cuff. Glad I got in early and had that extra 20 minutes.

Almost the moment I got home from Bead Fest Philly, Terri & I left for a real vacation in Toronto for 10 days. I know… what a luxury… and it truly was.

A good part of these days was spent at Shadow Lake about 2.5 hours out of Toronto. Listening to the loons in the morning mist and kayaking on a clear and calm lake, cooking excellent dinners, reading for hours in the sun and just relaxing. It was just amazing.

View of Shadow Lake from our cabin

While in Toronto, we got to go to a Blue Jays game and visited the  Royal Ontario Museum to see a wonderful exhibit of the Terra Cotta Warriors from China, got to go up to the top of the CN tower and see all of the city laid before us. 

View of CN Tower form our seats at the ball park

View of Toronto from the top of CN Tower

View of Toronto from Center Island

But the best day in the city is when we took the ferry out to Center Island and road bikes around the connecting islands all day long. My best discovery of that day was this collection of toys arranged and hidden in some bushes. The only reason that I found this delightful display of dinosaur combat was that I wanted a picture of the house across the way and I happened to look down. I love the child's mind that created this little scene but what I love even more is that is was left for others to discover and enjoy.

A wonderful discovery of Dinosaur Combat

We need more of these things in the world, small discoveries of joy that make you smile and stop for just a moment.