Well, my friend, Julie, and I enrolled in a short stained glass class at our local community college. I think we'll meet a total of six nights and complete a project, while learning the basics of the art. Now, I don't know the least little thing about stained glass, but I have always appreciated its beauty. Especially, on Sunday mornings. And I thought it might be just a notch or two more sophisticated sounding than my paint by number hobby, so I talked Julie into coming with me. She's very artsy and this is just the kind of thing we can do now with our nests being empty.

Last week, we just went over our supply list and picked out the patterns we wanted to use. The instructor, BJ, is a friend of mine and she suggested not doing anything too detailed for our first attempt. I took that to mean that the transfiguration of Jesus or His triumphal entry into Jerusalem would be off the table. So, I looked over all the simpler patterns provided and selected a cross. Not too ornate or curlicued or anything. Just straight lines and clean edges as I'm always drawn to the angular as opposed to curves and arches. I'm not sure what that would indicate on a personality test.
Anyway, I'd gone to the glass store, last week, and plopped down in the floor to choose the different colors for my cross. Because it wasn't a large project, I was able to go through the scrap piles to find what I needed. After finding a lot of the required tools on Amazon, I was ready to take my first step into the brilliant world of stained glassdom.

Last night, we actually got to start cutting our patterns and, once BJ got me started, I was off to the races. Trace. Score. Tap. Break. Trace. Score. Tap. Break. With only straight lines in my pattern, I was able to cut my pieces out pretty fast. Of course, they're not perfect, you understand. They'll need a lot of grinding to get them right, but they're cut out, at least. I'm one of those kind of impatient people, who likes to get things done. You might even say I can be impetuous, at times. But, the good thing about stained glass, which I've already learned, is that you have the grinder and solder to cover your shortcomings. I am partial to hobbies that provide multiple layers of coverage for my ineptness.
Meanwhile, my friend, Julie, is next to me working on something that looks like she's been commissioned by Sainte-Chapelle. She selected a large, ornate pattern that will be just beautiful, but with so many turns and twists and curves. I'm over there- Trace. Score. Tap. Break. Like nobody's business. And she's sitting in deep contemplation, trying to decide which way she wants the design in her glass to run; nowhere near ready to commit to much cutting. She's a school teacher and artistically inclined and, whatever she does, well, it's done to perfection.
I estimate Julie will be done with her breathtaking stained glass project sometime around Memorial Day after next, but it will be a show piece when she's finally finished and likely will merit a special place in her new house plans. Mine is liable to be finished in two or three weeks and will prop in my kitchen window, subject to forever being mistaken for a Vacation Bible School project. 
Next week, I learn about the grinder and wrapping the glass pieces in copper, while Julie embarks on her tracing. I'll keep you posted on further developments on this riveting story.

This evening, we plan to welcome my niece's first baby, Noah, and, on Thursday, I'm going to dogsit the granddog, while Blair and John Samuel celebrate their second anniversary in NYC, so there's a lot going on, this week. Since we last talked, I was involved in a fender bender, almost died twice of heat-related illness for the cause of college football, and discovered that our Ruby can open the door to our neighbors' house and, without so much as knocking first, let's herself in to unwind out of the heat and catch up on their latest news.

Obviously, I have a lot to address when I get home.

We'll talk, next week.