Monday recap

Another good weekend here. Mr W got a new computer game, and is crazy about it in a way that is fun to see. I did get some work out of him, though. We got the rest of the flowers planted that he picked out a couple of weeks ago, and he cut the grass. That last one is a job that I'm thrilled to pass on to the next generation. He had a friend over yesterday, and they walked downtown to get ice cream. By themselves. This was a big deal (for me!). The first time he's done that with a buddy. They were more than ready for the adventure. No big deal for them.

I did get a chance to see the eclipse. A glimpse of it anyway. I made a pinhole in a piece of paper and projected it on another piece of paper. Still pretty cool. I saw a picture of my cousin's set up in Las Vegas, where they could see the whole thing. She set up a pair of binoculars backwards towards the sun, set in a piece of cardboard and on a tripod. A really good set up. They the image was projected on a black piece of paper they had taped on a fence about 2 feet away. Cool.

On Saturday, the group of people I play banjo with was doing a jam downtown as part of the city's street art program. The city sets up areas around downtown and brings in performers, visual artists and the like, and people get to watch and ask questions. Sorry for the blurry picture. We played music and got a good response. This music is perfect for square dancing, and there are a couple of people in the group who know how to call dances. This is so very cool. When enough people were gathered around watching us play, the callers got them together, gave them quick instructions and got down to it. We played relatively simple songs, so it was good practice for me. This being the first time I played outside like this, I found myself easily distracted and lost my place several times.

This dancing stuff is one of the things I really like about old-time music. It's simple enough so a beginner like me can jump in, and one can learn the melodies and have fun with that. And, people can dance to it. There were lots and lots of smiles when people danced. That community aspect of it is very appealing to me, too. 

I talked to S, the woman who wants 800 buttons, on Friday and am excited about the project. I've ordered the clay cutters and met someone last night who might be able to make a holder for them so I can cut more at one time. At the moment my process is very labor intensive, with each button cut out by hand and each hole poked by hand. This will be a good opportunity for me to streamline things so I can more easily do bigger quantities. She's going to send me samples of the embroidery floss that goes in the kits and I'll match the colors. Did I mention this project is for making buttons for cross stitch kits? How cool is that? 

And, finally, here's something else I've been working on. It's the first CVB necklace I put up for sale on Etsy. Friend C, to whom I sent a prototype, worked out the last bit of the design, so I'm using her initials in the name. I like these.