More Up-and-down Weather

On  Monday, January 6 and Tuesday, January 7th,  the parks were closed. The newscaster reported that Charleston Falls was frozen solid. On the 6th, there were over 300 school and business closings because of cold and windy conditions.  

We never have many days around zero but on Monday, it was 8 degrees F (-13.33C) and growing colder as the day progressed.  On Tuesday morning  our electronic thermometer read -8F (-22.22C) but the day was supposed to improve so many schools and businesses were on two or three hour delays. 

But by Friday afternoon, temperatures were back up in the forties.  40F equals 4.44C.

I checked out the trails to the falls in the afternoon  because Jeanne was wondering if they would be clear enough for us to walk the next day.  The trails were slushy, there were obvious icy spots, but the slush was not slippery.  That was what covered most of the trails.  The falls were frozen but water was running.  The temperature was 40 degrees.  There was a mist hanging in the air from the evaporating water, also from the come and go light showers.  Since the temperatures were to remain the same or rise on Saturday, I felt a walk would be easily doable.

As I walked through the woods to Octagon Prairie, I saw this little snowman.  It is about 2 feet tall. (61 cm)  You can see the snow cover on the trail in front of it.  There was more snow than slush in the woods.

On Saturday morning when Jeanne, her dogs and I headed into the park, I was surprised to see that the entrance to the woods was completely clear.  All the ice was gone.  That was partly because we had had a hard rain during the night and also because the temperature had already risen to 45F (7.22C)

The trail inside the woods was a different story.  The trail looked fairly clear though there were standing pools of water.  It was what was under the pools that was dangerous.  Over the  gravel which was clearly visible beneath the water puddles were thin clear coatings of ice which were not visible..

We elected to walk along the sides of the trail which were snow and slush covered but not icy.  As we neared the falls, the trail cleared.  The maintenance staff had deiced that area and spread gravel.  The falls was awesome.  It roared as though it was twice as big as it actually is.  The water was falling with such force that it was landing in the pond beyond the foot of the falls, not on the rocks below the falls where it normally lands.

The trail through the woods to Octagon Prairie was completely clear of all snow, slush and ice.  Even the little snowman had melted away.

But winter is not over.  Though we are expected to have a high of 48 degrees today, the temperatures will be in the twenties ( - 6.66C and a bit higher) all day on Tuesday.  There is snow in the forecast, too.  That's winter weather around here.

Projects to Finish, No. 2...Take a Seat Chair

Tom and I bought two chairs in 1963, shortly after we bought our first house.  This is one of them.  The chair was already fifty years old.  We bought it from a couple who had been married fifty years and were moving to a smaller home.

We have used both chairs a lot over the years.  They are a bit more narrow than a standard chair so they are useful if one more chair needs to be added to a crowded table.

The chairs are sturdy so Tom and I decided one of them would be fine for the Take a Seat Auction planned as a fund raiser by the Tipp City Area Arts Council.  I agreed to donate a chair last spring and  now it is due by March 1.

However, the finished chairs are to be creations...creative, whimsical, unique, fun.  They can be "functional and for display" or "for display only".  They also are to be designated "outdoor use" or "indoor use".

Tom has done his part, rubbed the chair down with a liquid that acts like sanding to remove the gloss and then given the chair two coats of spray primer.

Now it's my turn.  The thinking process has begun.

Number 1...The background color.  White?  Turquoise?

  Something paler?

I am using Jasc Shop Pro 8.  to make my thumbnail sketches.  This is old software, no longer available but it works fine.

Project One Finished...Polymer Fern Cane

This is the way the fern looked when I posted yesterday.  The individual canes are about 3 inches long.

I inserted a stem between the two rows of graduated leaves and filled in the empty areas with translucent clay.  I then reduced the cane by alternating gentle squeezing and gentle stretching.  It is important to do this little by little so the design of the fern is not distorted.  I continued until the cane was about 5 and  1/2 inches long.  The ends are larger than the middle because I wanted ferns of different sizes.   I could also have squeezed and stretched until the cane was long on one end and short on the other.

The fern cane is about 2 and 1/2 inches long on either end.  The section in the middle is about 1 and  1/2 inches long.

Below is the longest fern on the left.  The fern from the center section is on the right.

 Below is an example of how the design sometimes is distorted.  The fern on the left is the original fern from one side of the cut when I cut through the center.  You can see that the main stem has some curious angles in it.  On the right is the fern from the other side  of the cut after I did a bit more reducing, squeezing and stretching until the stem straightened up.

Goal for 2014...Do some of the things on my To Do List

In the fall of 2013, Lilian showed us how to make a fern cane.  This is not mine.  As sometimes happens, I left out a few steps.  Below is what I made instead.  I intended to make one like the one above.  I THOUGHT I knew exactly how to do it.

It's not bad if I were trying to make a Lombardy Poplar.  Also, my block isn't very thick.  I won't be able to slice many trees off it.  Still I like it.  But I promised myself I would try again.

I went back to the directions on Thursday.  That is one of the really nice things about Lilian Nichols's classes.  She nearly always gives us written directions so we can go back to them and remake the projects she has shown us.  It is amazing how quickly I forget the details of projects (even if I HAVE followed the directions).

I worked on the fern cane Thursday and today.  And now I have a  triangle of rolled leaves which looks like it will make a fern, not a tree.  I still have the vein to put between the two sections but I think I have the technique down better this time.  I discovered it takes more clay than I had thought it would.  The stack is between 3 and 4 inches long.

The leaves are made by rolling a Skinner Blend into a Bull's eye, then slicing the bull's eye lengthwise and inserting a center vein.  Directions on how to make Skinner Blends and Bull's eyes are in nearly every polymer clay beginner's guide.  I wasn't thinking about a blog when I was  working on this project so I didn't take photos as I went along.

I hope to have a fern to show you before the end of next week.

Playing With Polymer Clay, 2013

I have learned enough from Lilian Nichols to venture out on my own.  I made the votive candle holders and the small vase by baking the polymer clay designs to the glass.

The orange butterfly is one I made in Lilian's butterfly class but the blue one on the vase is one I made on my own.

I made the simple lily leaves by layering two or three shades of green, then encasing the layers in another green.  I squeezed the ends to points and sliced off thin layers of leaf.

The flowers on the candle holders were one of the several different flowers I made following Lilian's directions for making one type of flower from canes.

Lilian Nichols has been a wonderful teacher.  She constantly adds new information about using polymer clay and comes up with interesting ways we can use it.  I plan to continue going to her classes once a month classes at Studio 14 in Tipp City.

Charleston Falls, December of 2013

Our December has been different from the average for our area.  That is not unusual.  Every December is different from the average.

Rarely, December has been so warm that I have had flowers blooming.  Some years we have rain, or sleet, or snow or all three.  This year we have had all three.

The snow was the most noticeable this year, almost three times the average of about 4 inches.

Schools have already been closed twice, as much because of the ice that arrived before the snow as because of the snow itself.

Last Saturday, December 21, this is the way the falls looked.  The temperature was cold, 26 degrees F but we had had a few days of between 25 and 35 degrees F so much of the snow had melted.  The roar of the water was wonderful to hear.

But next came flash floods. None of the overflowing streams and rivers affected us retirees because we stayed home.  Our daughter said people had a terrible time getting to Kroger's where she works part-time. Major state roads and even the interstate were closed because of high water.

As Tom and I drove beside the bike trail today, Tom noticed debris from the flood still clinging to this sign.  The road we were driving on was one of those flooded a few days ago.

Jeanne and I had already enjoyed a hike to the falls.  The temperature was 33 degrees F and this afternoon, it rose to 52 degrees.  Very nice breather before winter returns.

A 1940's Radio Christmas Carol Presented by The Drama Workshop at the Glenmore Playhouse

I have never seen a play quite like this one.  I've seen plays within plays.  I've seen audience participation plays.  A 1940's Radio Christmas Carol is both plus it has an intermission that leaves the audience wondering if the intermission is real or part of the play.  In addition, it is a comedy, a drama and a musical. The director, Dennis Murphy, and Producer, Elaine Volker, did a great job.

As usual, the lobby was decorated to reflect the theater's presentation.

Kent Smith plays Clifton Feddington, the announcer and general manager of WOV Air Theatre.  Bill Keeton plays William St. Clair, the special guest who appears as Scrooge.  Here they are during the intermission.

Others in the cast are Clint Brankamp, Karen Wiebe, Joe Penno, Ian Tinney, Morgan Carter Woodring, Joel Lind, Ramona Toussaint, Matthew Bross, Tobie Braverman, Dennis Betz and Chimere Egesi.

When the performers passed out a flyer complete with biographies of Cliffton Feddington, William St. Clair and the other members of WOV Air Theatre, we, the audience, realized we were part of the play, too.  At the back of the set, lights lit up to show when  the performance was On Air and to remind us when Applause was to be our response.  You can see those rectangular signs under the WOV logo to the  left of  the sound effects booth.  "Little" Jackie Sparks (Matthew Bross) and Buzz Crenshaw (Ian Tinney) are standing behind the  booth during intermission.  On it and in front are various tools of the sound effects trade. Toots Navarre, composer, musical and vocal arranger,(played by Dennis Betz),  is standing at the left with a coffee cup in his hand.

The play reminded me of programs my dad listened to on radio when I was a child. The spot ads were a fun spoof of the ads I remember. The WOV signature song brought back memories, too as did the various 1940's style harmonized songs sung by a lead vocalist backed by  the ensemble of all the performers  and interspersed throughout the radio production.  As I recall the play, there were several lead vocalists depending on what the radio production suddenly needed because the production did not go smoothly.  Even that was typical of some of the programs my dad listened to.

There is a recognizable version of Dicken's A Christmas Carol at the heart of this play.  How the players react to it is an important part of the play.

Like many of the movies of the 40's, there is  wry humor as well as slapstick humor but the serious business of the World War II always looming in the background.  Patriotism and faith in the troops is the order of the day.  Here is the back page of the WOV program flyer.

The play has been well received with several sell-out performances.  If this play is presented in your area next Christmas season, make an effort to see it.