07.02.2024 It's been a minute

It had been my intention to write a blog post every month for 2024, but since that didn't happen there's no time like the present to get caught up.  

Spring in Austin - which was lovely, by the way - is long gone and we are now firmly planted in summer with weeks of 100+ degree days and little rain.  Fortunately, we have air conditioning.

Here's what's been going on...

40+ MPG in my new car

When I last posted, in March, among other things my car (still waiting for repairs from hail the previous September) had just been in a fender bender.  That was the end for my 2019 CRV. I am now the proud owner of a 2024 CRV Hybrid...wasn't planning on replacing my car, but having the hybrid is really nice...

I didn't manage to write anything in April  - which was filled with celestial wonders, visits with friends and celebrations.

Watching the eclipse in Austin

Austin was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse. Lot of folks - including a childhood friend who now lives in Amsterdam - came into town to see it, which meant a wonderful opportunity to visit in person. We spent an afternoon catching up on the past 30 years.

As for the big event, there were a lot of clouds that day, but they parted long enough for us to observe the strange, quiet darkness that occurred when the moon passed directly between the sun and earth.

At the end of the month I celebrated my 61st birthday and attended not one, not two, but three Passover seders (first, second and last nights) more than making up for last year when I missed out entirely because I was recovering from emergency gall bladder surgery.

All of sudden, it was May. I finished up at ACC with a collection of new pendants, including two - a tourmalinated quartz and an opal - set with gold.

Just after my semester finished, we took off for California to watch our daughter receive her PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of California at Berkeley.  

We had an absolutely wonderful week. 

Having a very proud mama moment

The weather was spectacular, we had friends and family with us, we did some sightseeing, and of course, saw our daughter recognized for years of scholarship and hard work.

We returned home with just enough time to do laundry, clear the desk and fill the fridge before I started summer school at ACC, in June, with my longtime friend and teacher, De Pastel. 

I'm registered - once again - for Jewelry Techniques 1, which is the course I took with Steve Kriechbaum in the spring, but every instructor brings their own flavor to a class, so even with the same curriculum, I am learning new things.

In the first week De took us through a series of basic exercises - with a 2x2 inch square of copper - that demonstrated sawing, soldering, riveting and using the flex shaft.  

It was an amazing set of lessons with a minimal amount of metal.  Even though I've done all of these things before, it was a great refresher before diving back in.  

Designing and prototyping

I made a relatively simple chain last semester, but really wanted to focus on basket settings for faceted stones.

This session I want to work on a larger and more complex chain.  I've been eyeing vintage trombone chains (so called because their long, oval links look like trombone slides) and decided that rather than buy one - I'm going make one in silver and gold.

Given the cost of the metals, De suggested - and I accepted - that I should make a prototype in copper before placing any orders.  I did, and that process helped me determine not only how much metal to buy, but also what size wire to use for the links.  

Making the chain has been an incredible learning process - and definitely deserves its own post.  You can check out the progress pictures on my Instagram, and come back in August, for the whole story.

Until next time.