Gotta Truck!

Our wonderfull friend Terance loaned us his truck!!!! Sooo many things to do when you have a truck!!!
1) Buy a tonne of heavy groceries
2) Buy large bags of cat food and kitty litter
3) bring recycling to depot
4) IKEA!
5) Farmers Market
And oodles of other things we just can't do without a vehicle!
I made more earrings the other day: Citrine brios, handmade stirling chain and hooks
Now I must go dissect a chicken...

Going to Mexico!

Well, not until October... But Yay! Mexico in October!!! I am going to an Ornithology (Bird) conference. Click on the title and it will link you to the homepage. Why a bird conference in Mexico in October you ask?? Well at that very time of the year all of the birds are migrating south to warm South America, and the larger birds (eagles, cranes, owls) must travel along the mountain ranges to use the thermal updrafts to lighten their load (small birds just fly right across the Caribbean) So, apparently, on any given day in Veracruz in October, You can see hundreds of golden eagles, bald eagles, ect, flying overhead... all traveling south. I guess I will have to get some binoculars!

Ahh... But to be a cat...

Another Pair!

These were made of hammered stirling rings, little copper beads, and hand made hooks. They seem to weigh nothing, which is awesome in my opinion...and they're very shiny!

Earring obsession

I'm going to try and make more earrings. I like them, I can wear them to work, it's spring... and earrings seem to be a great way to feel more springy. I've always found earrings to be a challenge, there are a lot of constraints with shape, size, and material... plus I tend to like long and dangly earrings so that's what I tend to make. So I am going to force myself to make a new pair of earrings every day (when I can) to explore the world of earrings... and hipefully come up with some new styles. These are my first pair. Carnelian brios, silver chain, and silver hooks.

I made this piece for a monthly challenge. The challenge was to make something Industrial looking. I went for weathered copper and rivets. So this is two layers of copper, sandwich together by silver rivets. The bottom layer has been patina'd to a aqua green/blue, and sealed with wax. I like how streamline and clean it turned out.

Meal Worm Madness!!

We are starting a meal worm colony to feed the turtle and any future lizards we aquire. Sal and Inertia LOVE the meal worm bin. They keep pulling it out of the cupboard and trying to get at the beetles. The added bonus of meal worms is that they eat a lot of your compost (see apple core in bin).

That's one Big Neckalce

It sure is.....
I made this out of a lot of copper and a lot of silver. But I am so proud, because I made 'most' of the componants all by myself. I made the 2 silver beads, all of the caps, the chain (Jen's Pind weave) and the clasp! I did not make the 2 large copper beads (but I sure do like them) the lampwork central bead, the 2 jasper discs, or the 4 Thai silver washers. This looks great on, it's not as heavy as it looks because most of the beads are hallow.
Hope you like it!

MMMMMMM.....cookies!

I made some cookies last night from a recipet I got of of this website http://baking.wordpress.com/2005/10/09/toffee-chip-cookies/ they are fantastic, and I bet they would be even better with a little milk-chocolait drizzeled on them. They are making my teeth hurt tho

Pretty Green Stones

I am so very proud of this piece! The green quartz stone is wraped in sterling silver, tiny Thai silver beads, and tiny green quartz beads using a style founded by Eni Oken. The chain is Viking knit (also in silver), and the silver wrapping on the stone also acts as a clasp. It wears really nicely and is easy to put on since the clasp is on the front.

Talk = Lesson

I got some fantastic news today: 2 things
1) Warren (lab coordinator and zoo museum curator extraordinare - and my boss) asked if I could turn my talk into a lesson for the birds and mammals course! No, I won't get paid, but dang it makes me feel good
2) Somehow I won 2 ski passes to Sunshine (Large ski resort outside of Banff)? How, I must have entered my name somewhere? Now I get to go skiing (with Renato, of course)!!!

Done and Done

Sigh, It's nice to have that over with. I think my talk went well, some people said I looked very relaxed, others said it was really good. The final remarks will come from my advisor this Thursday, and my evaluations from the audience. Tonight Ren and I are going for supper at a friend's house. We are going to meet their 2 dogs, and see if we are a good match for dog-sitting...Horay!!! I am so excited!

Be calm, my shakey nerves!

Every friday our division (Zoology) has a public talk. Usually only people from the division come, but students tend to show up and that is the best thing. This week I have to give a talk... 20min or so... On a subject other than my research, to broaden the minds of everone else in the division. I choose to present findings on flight kinematics, and to relate it to my research in the end. The good thing is flight kinematics is really interesting. The bad thing is I only gave myself a week to write the talk. I'm now getting nervous, and doubtful that the talk is any good. We shall see. I finished it at 12am last night, and will soon read it over a million times or so - with cue cards!!! Tomorrow's the day... finally! I can get this dang talk over with and sleep a full night again.

Feeling Blue?

I found the best website for cheering me up. Now, whenever I feel sad, I go to stuffonmycat.com, and all that sadness melts away....

VanGo

This is VanGo, our red-eared slider who lives on the dissection lab. He's probably less than a year old, but growing fast because everyone who sees him can't help but feed him!

Hollie Buys a Book!

I splurged today and a bought a Big Book of Parrots. Named: Parrots of the World by Joseph M. Forshaw. (http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/8024.html) I will probably spend all of today looking at beautiful Parrots and discovering where they come from

Glad I don't Live in Texas

I cannot believe it's 33 degrees where Kris lives, that's INSANE! When I left for work his morning it was flurrying again. Love the flurries, not too fond of the ice hiding undernieth. I can live with it tho!

More and More

As long as it keeps snowing I keep taking pictures of the snow! Wagon wheels kick ass!