A month or so ago, I had breakfast at the Skills Center which is less than a quarter mile from my house.  For 23 years, I traveled 15 miles to work...to a vocational center.  Every time I pass the Skills Center, I dream about how simple life would have been if I'd been here, working at this Skills Center.  I wouldn't have had to drive through snow; I wouldn't have had to drive past open farm fields...with the snow blowing from the fields onto the roads.  I could have walked to work!  But I digress.

The Skills Center has a culinary and restaurant program.  They're open for breakfast and lunch. 







My friend had oatmeal.



I opted for eggs and bacon.  And by the way....  For years, I'd order eggs "over easy," and they were like sunny side up eggs, just the tops were a little thicker.  But here, "over easy" is interpreted to mean runny.  Yuck!  So I've learned to order "over medium."  But sometimes that's interpreted at meaning, "Well done."  It's not easy.  <sigh>

Look at those beautiful place settings!



The "restaurant" is open for walk ins three mornings a week.  There's also a banquet room, and numerous organizations have their meetings there every month.



I love the cute little uniforms the kids wear.



Shiny kitchen!

At this Skills Center, there's also a diesel automotive program, and a banking program.  There's actually a credit union on the campus, and the students work there.  The cosmetology program is held in a beauty school elsewhere.  Many other vocational classes are also taught in tandem with regular businesses.

It's a beautiful thing.  But I'm still awfully glad I'm retired!

I apologize for the quality of the photos.  My camera is on its last legs.

A blogger shared this fun web site, and I've been having lots of giggles with it.

Isn't Paulette beautiful?  Isn't Scott adorable??





Speaking of adorable...heeeeeeere's Donnie!

This piece is on display at Bullseye Glass.  The artist's name is not given.

I made a huge mistake here...I should have taken the photo from an angle so you can see the depth of the piece.  I'd guess it's about 1" deep.  The "mountain" to the right is one of the lowest layers.  The "mountain" on the left is a higher layer.  Then there are some layers of clear glass.  Next the teensy telephone pole to the right is on a layer, with the "lines" painted.  On the next layer up is the second pole, and more painted lines; same for the next two poles and lines...each is a separate layer.  You really get a sense of depth!

I already know I can't do this.  I won't be allowed...unless I'm willing to pay to run a kiln with nothing but my piece....for several days.  I'm not.  Not willing, not able.  But it's fun to dream!

We went out to dinner on Sunday, and the restaurant had a beautiful koi pond.  Donnie and Grandma spent a lot of time hanging out around the pond.



I think the fish expected to be fed.  They followed him like puppies!



As for Donnie, I think he'd have liked to get into the water with the fish.



This window was between the dining room and the area where the koi pond is.  It's beautiful, but I was disappointed that it's painted, not fused or stained glass.  I'm such a glass snob!

You may remember that I've shown you some of Tom's work before.  If you don't, you can refresh your memory here.

Tom has really outdone himself this time!



He's made a track for marbles.  (The marbles he uses were made by another Aquila glass torcher, Elaine.)



He sets all the marbles at the top, then gives the first one a push to get it started.  When it reaches a point on the way down the track, it hits a lever which hits another lever...and gets the next marble started!



Every single part of this---the track, the frame and the marbles....all of it is made of glass.  It's always so much fun to watch Tom's work evolve!

As usual with glass, it's hard to get the whole story from a photo.  What's going on here is that the glass is indented, like a bas relief.  This is sooooooooo much fun to do!

The pattern is traced onto 1/8" thick fiber paper, then carefully cut out and put under a piece or two of 3 mm art glass.  The glass is fused, the fiber paper is removed....and you have a bas relief!

My next goal with this is to try to get more dimension to the graphic.

The liberty bell is my favorite of the ones I've done, but here are photos of the others:













 

This is the restaurant where we had brunch yesterday.  It has a Pacific Northwest theme.  (Go figure!)



I grew up in New Jersey.  Then I moved to western New York.  There are forts in both areas.  And those forts are remnants of the Revolutionary War.  But here?  This is all relatively "new country."  Lewis and Clark didn't even set out on their expedition until 1804.  (I realize that doesn't sound recent to most people, but I'm old.  And beyond that, I've spent a lot of time researching my New Jersey ancestors as far back as the mid-1600s.)

When I moved to this area, I saw that there was a fort nearby, Fort Vancouver,  and I just assumed that it was a fort left over from the Revolution.  Ooooops!  Nope...it was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company.  It was a commercial fort!  Every day I'm confronted by the fact that a lot of what I read in history books really happened!  (It just didn't happen anywhere near where I lived.)

We live and learn.

There are commercials on TV these days.  I think it's for Comcast...it's for some speedy internet service provider, if not Comcast.  The "stars" of the commercials are two turtles who like things slow, and so they like DSL.  In one commercial, they're having their pictures taken, and they say a slow, long drawn-out  "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese."   

Donnie, our TV hound, has seen those commercials.  And now, when he gets his picture taken, he says "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese."  He's such a ham!

Here he's standing in front of a statue of a Chinook Indian.  The brave is sending praise upward...probably to the gods...but since half the plaque at its base was broken, I can't say for sure.

I am NOT complaining about his TV watching.  I worried about how much TV my kids watched.  And now one of them is a TV editor, for whom all that TV watching was practice for his future!

Happy Valentine's Day!

For those of you who don't know the rest of the story, let me explain.

After my husband, Don, died, I had to cut the grass.  Not the largest yard in the world, about 60' x 60' in the back, and a lot less in the front.  However, between my arthritis, heel spurs and allergies, it was a nightmare for me.  So I bought a lawn tractor.  Now, my neighbor Joann had a beautiful yard, with flowers all over the place.  I would have loved to put a planter full of annuals in the middle of my front yard, but it would mean extra work weed whacking around it, since the tractor couldn't get close.

Sooooo...someone gave me an old, beat up wagon.  I spray painted it white, drilled holes in the bottom for drainage, filled it with potting soil, and I planted my little heart out.  When I cut the grass, all I had to do was roll the wagon out of the way.

AND THE NEIGHBORS LAUGHED AT ME.

Yesterday I bought Issue #99 of Small Gardens magazine.  And the above photo and text was on page 66.

I feel sooooooooooooooo vindicated.  But I still miss my Tonawanda neighbors.