Hooray for the Phillies!

Congratulations to the Phillies and to MVP Cole Hamels. If you're a Phillies fan, go to www.sportspropaganda.com and check out the most awesome Phillies prints.

A Rebus for Rebecca

Becky,
me so that we can go to the


store!


-Ellen

How to put up a cupola

My old studio and packing glass

I haven't posted this view since the patio was finished. Here's the bead cottage from the back yard.


In case you don't know what my present studio looks like, here it is. It's a mess right now, but this is the little corner of the garage I'm moving from. So you can see why I cannot wait to get into the bead cottage. Plus there's heat there. That's a huge bonus in NH in January. I can't wait until the first day it snows and the cars are tucked into the garage and I go out into the warm studio and make beads all day, while looking out at the birds at their feeders in the snow.



So our project for today is packing up my glass, so it can be moved. This is my glass storage for my 104 coe glass. Each triangular section holds 2 lbs or so of glass. I've emptied out the Effetre on the left. Robert worked on the Vetrofond on the right. We'll finish it up tomorrow.


We've filled up one big box and have started on a second. This is the awful part of moving into that fabulous space.

Join the Ranks!

(photos used with permission www.sportspropaganda.com)

Here are a few examples of the prints I was talking about yesterday. The Ellsbury print is going in the bead cottage and the Pedroia and Lowell posters are in the garage. Robert doesn't want as much Red Sox stuff in the house as I do, so we compromise. I just love this art and its propaganda-poster themes.

This one's for Martha

This morning Charlie and John finished up the forge ceiling. Martha has been bugging me to post a picture, so here it is. I absolutely adore this room; it is just gorgeous.


Here is another picture of my workstation, along with the pendant lights and the ventilation system. We're getting close to being finished.


And just in time for the off-season, my copy of Dirty Water: A Red Sox Mystery came today. I can't wait to dig in.

I also want to plug the awesome art of Chris Speakman. I just got another of his silk-screened prints yesterday. He's got Red Sox mainly, but also Phillies (go Phillies!), Mets, Cubs and other players. I have 6 of his prints and they're going to be hung in the bead cottage, above the windows on either side of the room.

I have to admit

I have to admit that when I turned on the ballgame last night I felt an immediate pang, seeing the excitement of the first game of the World Series happening at the Trop. I thought I was totally OK with the Red Sox not making it, and I am, but there was this initial puzzling reaction in me. I think it was jealousy. And because of this feeling, I really really liked it when the Phillies pulled out in front by a 2-run homer in the first inning. I felt "HA! Now you know what it feels like". I think it was a genuine case of schadenfreude. And then when the Phillies won 3-2, I was feeling very satisfied. I was telling Robert this this morning on the way home from the gym and he said "I think you're officially rooting for the Phillies!" So I guess I am. I really felt I could go either way until I actually saw the game being played in Tampa. That really bugged me.

Ventilation

Here's a shot of my ultra-modern 21st century ventilation system. It's pretty cool the way it works. We smoke-tested it last night and it really sucks air. That's a good thing.



The cupola is painted and is in the main room waiting to be installed:

Season Over

I'm not sad. I'm not going to mourn or wallow in pity. The Red Sox gave it their best shot and were plain and simple outplayed by a (slightly) better team. I don't feel like I've been robbed. I felt the losses much worse back in 1978, 1986 and 2003. I am a little ticked that those cowbell-ringing fans get to celebrate, but that's as far as it goes. They irritate me. We are lucky that the Sox were playing ball this long. When they were almost defeated, they made a record-breaking comeback in Game 5. I'm going to concentrate on the positive and all the good things about the 2008 season, rather than the unfortunate ending last night.

So congratulations to the Rays. I haven't decided whom I'll root for in the World Series yet. Probably the Rays, because they're American League. Bloggers are going both ways: for the Rays, because they're American League and for the Phillies so they can see them beat the Rays. May the best team win. Well, second best.

First I have to say how awesome it was to wake up to find out that the Red Sox won last night. I tried to stay awake, honestly I tried. I hope that falling asleep in the 7th inning isn't the same as leaving the park in the 7th because we're losing. I wanted to watch the whole thing, I just could not. I continued to believe and hold faith in them, though. I knew they could do it. And games like that are exactly why I watch baseball. I'm just sorry I missed it.

But what's more exciting than the Red Sox win is that the granite is in on my workstations! It looks fabulous. I've got some pictures.

This is my workstation:


This is a better view of the whole workstation:


Here are my red doors and a view of the patio partially completed:


And another view of the patio in process:

Separated at Birth?

Joe Maddon and Spencer Tracy?


or




Joe Maddon and Spongebob Squarepants?

Kirk the tile guy came and put in the tile. Here's the best picture I could get at the time. It's going to look really nice with the paint color I picked. I want the colors of the studio to give me a great big hug every time I walk in - I know that doesn't make much sense - and these colors do it for me. I need it to feel warm and inviting and not cold and sterile I guess is what I'm trying to say.


Eddie the mason started his work this week, too. Here are the granite steps in the process of being installed.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy Birthday to my awesome sister Sarah! I hope you have many happy returns of the day.

Now that I have gotten that ranting out of my system, here's a couple of videos to put a smile on our faces:

I'm pissed

I'm pissed because:

• The Red Sox lost last night.
• My doors haven't been painted red.
• The cupola hasn't been painted.
• The cupola hasn't been put up.
  
• There are dents in the storage room door from the forge door hitting it.
  
• No one has told me how much the floor is going to cost.
  
• No one has given me a price for my rug going up the stairs.
  
• No one is here working on my bead cottage.
• The economy sucks.
• Beckett sucked.
• The Angels suck.
• I'm in a bad mood.
  

Update! About 20 minutes after posting this rant, I heard from the contractor about the prices I was missing. When I tried to tell him about the dents in the door, he already knew, so there's not much that he misses. So I'm no longer pissed about anything having to do with my bead cottage. I'm in good hands. I should know that by now.

I'm still pissed about the Red Sox, though.

In Living Color

The first of two coats of paint is on my studio walls. It's a warm yellowy-goldy-browny color called gingerbread man. It's going to look so cool.

The outside has been painted but it's not finished. The cupola is here and needs to be painted still. I saw the weathervane for the first time the other day and it's totally awesome.