Sela

Today I drove up to South Jordan in Salt Lake Valley to deliver a birthday gift to Sela and spend a few hours visiting with Mary Jane and her children.  Sela and her sister Heta look as if they were twins although seventeen months separated their births.  Both are lovely girls with looks that reflect their Chinese, Tongan, and European heritage.  Heta looks a bit more Chinese and Sela more Tongan.  Their personalities have become more compatible as they have learned to appreciate their differences.  They are part of the joy that bejewels my life.

Finding Wheels

I have purchased a number of wheels in the years I have lived on Maple Lane.  Renovating and cleaning out my workroom has revealed just how many times I went to the store and purchased more.  Fortunately I have a use for a wheel. 

A Holy LIfe

I am often selfish and today I passed by a beggar when I could have stopped and offered to purchase the diapers and formula his sign indicated that his family needed.  On the other hand I spent about eight hours sorting out my grandson's room.  It was an act of love.  Fortunately, after playing hide and seek for several hours he joined me and although he dumped out some of the toys I had sorted, he also played 'marble chase' with me for a long time.  It was a very wearying but lovely way to spend the day. 

Closing in and Opening up

Just as I though I was nearing the finish of my workroom project I realized that there are  more extensive changes that need to be made.  I consulted with Lucinda who is an expert on floor coverings and she said it would be best to lay sheet vinyl over the carpet instead of ripping up the carpet.  The carpet provides a buffer between the vinyl and the wood floor.  Now the question is should I simply get an 18 ' length of vinyl 12' wide and roll it out as a seamless whole.  That is probably the best way to go.  I decided to extend the lowered ceiling to 8 feet and hang a vapor barrier between the end of the workshop where I use the kiln and the end where I use saws and other dust generators.  Covering the carpet should go someways toward conquering the problem of saw dust.

Today Annie became 21 years old

We went to the Provo City Center Temple together and after we performed an endowment session we joined a sealing session and she participated in sealings for the first time in the lovely north sealing room of the Provo City Center Temple.  I got a donut with sprinkles on it for her breakfast.

Toward a working work room

I decided to enlist Jacqueline and Diana in helping me put my work room in good shape.  Today the kiln arrived and Calvin and Adam helped me move it into the house, helped me get rid of a lot of cardboard at the recycling bin and helped me take a load of trash to the transfer station  I bought them lunch at Arby's.  Things are shaping up and the panel organizer I had thought I would need to disassemble and dismiss turned out to fit almost perfectly under the area that I want to be able to open for ventilation.  We moved the various sets of shelves and made major moves toward the eventual setup.  Planning ahead helps a lot.  Having able helpers is a great boon.  I was also able to have a friendly conversation with the conservator and work things out.

D I

D I is the short form for Deseret Industries, the agency of the Church that includes education, charity, and resale of donated items.  I have been refitting my work area to accommodate a kiln.  I want to store my lumber, plumbing items, electrical items and hardware and also the materials incidental to glass fusing.  Today my visit to DI produced three storage items, each costing $10.  One was a set of shallow metal shelves that I had failed to find at a reasonable price on the internet where 'shallow' is either fancy bamboo or plastic or at least 12" deep. I found two matching sets of wire drawers that are varied in depth and which I intend to use both for hardware and for glass fusing equipment and material.  The difference between the $300 I would have spent to purchase the sets of drawers more than compensates for the steel table I ordered.  My other project which was timely was planting perennials in the planters along my fence.  At this point they look rather nice.