praseodymium precambrian amy

 The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

Emile Zola

Today I started packing, I cannot believe what I have SQUIRRELED away in my cupboards.  I have one huge dish box completely full of just cups and saucers and espresso cups and mugs and teapots.  It's embarrassing, don't think this will all fit in the cupboard I had specially built for these things.  I have another big box with just the placemats, runners, tablecloths, napkins and those kind of things.  Too much of too much.  I have pulled down all my McCoy collection and the ironstone I have down here and washed it all ready to pack-  it will mostly stay in the box because I don't have a place for that kind of stuff yet.  Cannot spring any more money for something as silly as furniture!  So, I have two boxes ready to seal and I cannot find an empty space in the cupboards where anything is missing!  This will be an ongoing subject this week.  I apologize now and give you permission to simply skit the first paragraph after the squirrel pictures for the next week.  Then the subject will change to WHERE DO I PUT ALL THIS CRAP???  Be warned.

Sunday night, we are going elsewhere for dinner, too much stuff on my working surfaces here-  wish I would have discovered this trick a long time ago.  

A prickly squirrel, some prickly art:

Ukrainian glass artist Nikita Drachuk of Glass Symphony creates all manner of glass spiders, octopi, and other critters by hand. He uses a method called lampworking, where a lamp or torch is used to melt rods of colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass can be formed by blowing and shaping with various tools and small movements. You can see more of their delicate glass critters here.

Art director and prop stylist Jessica Dance (previously) has collaborated again with food photographer David Sykes to bring us another tasty spread of knit dishes and other edibles. Dance makes all of the objects at home using 100% lambswool on a domestic knitting machine. All of the shots here (except the cheese spread) were for the comfort food issue of the latest edition of Stylist.