Silversmithing

Yesterday I took a silversmith class with my brother-in-law Bob, and here is a picture of the pendant I made. The stone is called Montezuma, sort of a dusty lavender color. I’m pretty pleased with how the piece turned out. Silversmithing is more fun than working with stained glass, but it’s pretty difficult too. I didn’t do so well with the soldering – this time with a torch instead of a soldering iron. I’m going to have another session with Bob to make some earrings. Then I will be able to decide whether to pursue this as a regular hobby. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, it’s very cold here in Tucson. When we got up this morning it was 16 degrees. Today’s high may reach 40. Tonight is predicted to be 15; tomorrow in the 50s. Paddy had to unhook Uncle Joe from the external water here, and we are using water from our internal water tank with the water pump. It’s loud but works because the internal tank and pipes are in an insulated area which receives heat from the furnace. Thank goodness for that! By Monday, it is supposed to be in the 70s. That will be quite an improvement.

At night, Paddy gets cold, even with an extra blanket. I get hot at night and like to turn the thermostat down to about 62 and sleep with a fan which blows a little off to the side of my side of the bed. So a couple of days ago, I went with sister Suzy to Penney's and bought Paddy an electric "throw," which is smaller than a single-bed blanket. I got it at a great sale price. He and Shad are enjoying the extra warmth, especially with our current cold weather. Everyone is happy and sleeping better.