Miscellany

Wow, a thunderstorm. With the temperature hovering just a few degrees above zero today, my mind is having trouble reconciling thunder with the cold temperatures. Thunderstorms are a summer event. In spring, rain tends to be soft.

There's some small hail too, and the forecast says the rain will switch to snow overnight.

My back is mostly better today. Mom said that instead of resting, I should be using gentle movement to keep it from seizing up. So, yesterday, I walked over to the thrift shop just on the other side of the river.

The river is quite high:

That turbulent bit where the logs are caught is where the giant concrete icebreaker block is. The river looks deceptively slow where the water is deep... but you can really see it's power where it churns around the block. it's rather hypnotic, watching it.

At the thrift store, I bought two pretty 25 cent glasses, two 25 cent sewing patterns, and a 50 cent card of snaps. Here are the glasses:

I was hoping the little one would be small enough to hold an easter egg for display, but it's a bit on the big size. I tried to polish it using the baking soda, aluminum foil, and boiling water method... but although it is less tarnished now, it still isn't shiny, and some of the silver flaked off. Whoops. I wish I had left it the way it was. Most of the design is still there, but it definitely looked better before. (The photo is a before shot.) Since I don't drink shots, I'm thinking of making it into a candle. (When I get time to melt some wax.) Do you think I should use parafin wax, or beeswax? (I have both.)

DiFranza Designs has *awesome* customer service! I sent them an e-mail to find out how much it would cost (including shipping) to order the strips I needed to finish my design, and they offered to send them for free! Yay! I like to spread the word when I receive awesome customer service. :)