Have Half the Country Lost Their Minds?
We watched a news program this morning with a discussion about the first hundred days and where the country is on certain issues. I had to do a double-take, rewind the DVR and close my gaping mouth. According to one survey nearly half the country now consider torture as an acceptable way to gain information from prisoners such as those held in Guantanamo.
That is a significant change from early in the year. Apparently the debate over the issue, kept alive by key decision-makers from the previous administration, caused some people to rethink the issue. OKAY folks, are you out of your minds or are you simply watching too much 24? In the conflicts and wars that our country has fought we have been able to hold our heads up and stand with those nations who condemned the acts of countries who tortured and abused their prisoners. When our people went too far we disciplined them. Continue reading
Working With Silver Clay – Part II
I continued to explore working with precious metal clay (PMC). totally untutored relying on reading and trying, my preferred learning method. 
There are plenty of detailed instructions both online and in magazines and books. I got some good results with this piece which included setting a cubic zirconia in the silver leaf. Zirconia works beautifully in metal clay. I misjudged the size of the piece and it is probably a bit smaller than it should be in this necklace.
One More Time, Lets Make It Easier For Children!
Okay, so I am rehashing an older post, but my sister and I were talking this morning and the topic turned to family and I was recounting some issues of how some members of our family have adjusted to what is now an interracial extended family. This turned to my experience when Matthew, Lydia, and I were trying to adopt children through the state of Texas, where we lived at the time. It was an awful experience that left us with no more children and a bad taste in our mouths. The natural turn of discussion was to the stupers (for definition see Counterfeit Humans) who pontificate about celebrity adoptions and about those who make the rules that make it difficult for children needing parents to be matched with people wanting to be parents. So I am re-posting a previous rant (April, 14, 2008) about this topic. For those of you who read it then, my apologies for redundancy, (although I added a bit at the end) but then again sometimes we simply need to continue to stand on the roof and shout at the fools in the world. Continue reading
Working With Silver Clay
In the previous post I mentioned metal clay as one of the jewelry media that I like working with. One comment asked about it. This post chronicles my first attempts with precious metal clay (PMC). Metal clay seems to be a mistake when one first hears of it. 
Briefly, it is actual powdered metals, most often silver because of the cost but also gold and most recently bronze, mixed with clay and water. The clay can be molded, shaped, and carved then dried. It is then fired in a kiln or with a handheld torch or small gas fired stove depending on the type of clay. The clay burns away leaving sterling silver or 14k gold. The clay can be combined with wire and with some very hard gemstones. The ring at left, Twisted Twig Ring, is made from sterling silver wire and precious metal clay. The wire formed the basis for the ring and the clay, in the form of a paste, was used to fuse the wire. I polished and shaped and sized the ring with filing.
I Was Asked For Five Reasons I Love Being A Mother
My friend at Eve’s Lungs tagged me to write a post about five reasons I love being a mother. Since I wrote about why I like being a woman, this is a natural sequel. Is there a post on being a wife in the wings?
I will preface this with my philosophy of parenting. Our job is to prepare our children for the world they will live in and to be good people in that world. We need to avoid getting hung up in the minute details, they seem to take care of themselves. Teach them to solve problems and learn how to make decisions which means allowing them to make poor decisions and to fail with a safety net. Teach them to be kind and to stand up for others when they are being mistreated. Hug, kiss, cuddle and laugh with them. Tell them that we love them. Tell them we are sorry when we mess up. Keep our sense of humor. That’s enough! Continue reading
Recent Comments