"Some days are for living. Others are for getting through." ~ Malcolm S Forbes

Today are you are going to get the short jist of it and that is it... I suppose I won't be able to help ranting a little and you will find out why in a few pictures.

In the mean time here is what I made yesterday... which was a regular Monday... difficult. Then I went to evening class, cursed too loudly unknowingly because I had my ipod in and then the gym.  In general a relatively productive day for a Monday I would say.

 This one below is really nice but I accidentally broke it today... good job me.

 And then Vegard drew this very pretty shape on the floor with straight shoulders and a nice neck.  We struggled all afternoon and I finally made this pink monster-piece....

 "They're creepy and they're kooky,

 Mysterious and spooky,

They're all together ooky..." (The Addams fammmm-i-ly    of glass!)

Today I had a nice morning of yoga.  It was a beautiful walk to school and a nice session.  Yesterday I had complained to Vegard about pain my fore-arms and wrists and I could tell he had said something to Sigrid because today she did some movements to help circulation and joint usage which was really nice.  They even worked (!!) my arms felt much better today!!!

 And as you can see, Fall is in the air...

 Today we worked more on this shape that Vegard drew yesterday.  It was INSANELY difficult.  Also, I was be pms-y and in general not in the best mood.  Needless to say, today was probably one of my worst days in the whole time I have been here.... This shape was hard, nothing worked, my teacher kept criticizing EVERYTHING and I had cramps... not a pretty combination...

Right before lunch I got really close to the right shape but as Vegard said I couldn't look more fed-up with the whole thing.  I was ready to explode on Marianne and pretty much ready to kill someone with my glass.  When she made me redo my punty today I wanted to scream but I held it together.  I guess not as well as I thought I had because it was obvious to my teachers and Vegard that I was having a really hard time.  I don't know what it was but it was horrible.  After lunch Micke tried to cheer me up and that helped some, well a lot but it was still a bit rough.  I made a fairly good vase, in a pretty good shape and that helped also.  I finished the day with a plate.. not my best plate but not my worst... but it helped.  I finished with something I could do!

After school we had our second day of evening class, I decided I was not in the mood.  I had manged to keep it together all day... no crying or freaking out but I didn't know if I could make it through deep cutting.  So, instead I cut up some canes that Kirsten left me last year.  First they were super long sticks of color inside clear glass like this: 

 Then I cut them with this device.  You put one end against the right part, and then hit it with a sharp knife on the left part which is also a sharp edge.  This makes them all the same size and break pretty straight!  Very nifty and a little therapeutic, getting to break some glass after my day...

 Anyway, I cut up all the above long canes, organized them and put this in this great box I found! It looks so nice and tidy!!! 

 Here are some random pieces that didn't match in color to others but you can see the colored glass in the center in the clear glass.  You line them all up and then put them together, hot and make a cool piece! 

So, tomorrow will hopefully be awesome and colorful!!! I am excited and hopefully I won't suck it up!!!  I am going to go back to drinking my wine and watching pointless TV to get in a better mood.  I am sure tomorrow will be better, most of the students have the day off so it will be nice and relaxing and chill tomorrow in the school! Now, I am going to bed for a nice looooong night of school before "hump day"! 

"Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"

As I said on Thursday we made these vases with a blown foot!  They are called "pointy vases" or something I think... maybe I just made that up... you will never know! mauahahaha! Oh god, I am loosing it.

 See blown foot with a turned in lip:

 I think I made 4... thats how many I found on Friday at least.

 They are all very similar... slightly crooked but in general pretty good.

 I think I like this one best... since it really stands out from the others (sarcasm) but really haha.

 In general as a class we made quit a few!

Friday morning I woke up with a killer head ache... It hurt to move my eyes around much less open them.  So, I stayed home in the morning, took a few pain pills and slept.  I went to school after lunch at 11 to the cold shop.  I knew it would be more quit there and if I felt too bad I could leave and not leave anyone stranded without a partner.  I worked on some wine glasses and pig feet bowls which we are going to sell at the Harvest Festival in Öland at the end of the month.  I was very productive which made me feel better and moving around helped too.  Sometimes, if you can do it, the best thing for my headaches is to get my blood flowing... its just super hard to take those first few steps!  After school I rested, ate more pain pills and finally decided that I did want to go the barn... Pia told me hopefully it would be jumping right?  I thought it might make me feel better... I get there and see my name next to Hilma...

 She is small, cute and bites... She is also a faker... I learned this last year because she led me to believe she was young or not very trained... no, she is over 10 and is just a mare... always testing!  I also learned that if you tired to ride her with spurs she would try to buck you off (I watched this happen to someone else)... and on top of all that... DRESSAGE AGAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!! WHY?!??! Kill me now!  But, I pulled myself up by my boot straps so speak and went for it.  I even got the little mare to put her head down on the bit! I also tried to really concentrate on opening up my pelvis area and sit in the saddle.  The good thing was that she is skinnier then Poseidon so my blisters weren't too agitated.  At the end of the lesson Pia said I did really good!!! I was so happy to hear her say it and I felt like I had!  I was sore, my arms ached, back was cramping and my ass hurt but the horse was going around flicking her little toes and her head down, neck rounded and looking pretty damn cute.... you'd never know she bites ;)

I took it easy Friday night and was even in bed by 10:30 I think! I woke up Saturday feeling MUCH better :) I ended up going to Kosta with Sigrid, Vegard and the kids... we walked around the mall, wandered around town, ate at the pizza place and in general just got out of Orrefors for a little while.  The weather was perfect, clear skies, cool air and it really felt like fall.  When I got home I went apple picking with Kresten and picked tons of apples:

 He managed to climb to the top of the tree to get the best ones.  I stopped climbing when I hit my head on a branch so hard that I got a big lump and cut... oops!  That evening I played a few board games and hung out for a while but most importantly... I got to wear my new leather jacket!!!

 It is a funny picture... but I LOVE the jacket! I really want to show it to my dad, he would like it too!

 I also aquired a pair of red wanna be ray bans... Pretty sweet huh? (they are actually Bjorn's and I have to give them back sadly)  That is Bjorn next to me and Phillip the new guy from America, a Swedish hippie, next to him.  We had a small feast of bread with salami cheese on it.  Gotta love the weird cheeses in tubes here!!

Sunday has been a super chill day... I tried to go to the gym but it was closed so I went to the store and got stuff to make chili! Also, we are having a Star Wars Marathon on Bjorn and Krestens... it is super misty and rainy here and a bit cold, so a good day to stay inside watching movies :)

I am excited for school to start back tomorrow! You know you are doing something good when you look forward to the week starting back up :)

"In life as a dance; grace glides on blistered feet." ~ Abigail Van Buren

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday... I was knackered (tired) due to a long day and my first riding lesson since I've been back.  But, more about that later!

Here are some of the pieces that I made Wednesday... A day when not much was going my way in the glass department... which is a pretty big department of my life here.

 These were blown in an optic mold to give them the stripes then I tried to make them into snow men without their heads essentially.  Kind of lame... it looked better in my head.  But! It was fun to make and I was pleased that something turned out after a few days of crap!

Yesterday, Wednesday, was all day in the cold shop! I finally finished my engraving of Justin (officially Just Outta Reach)!  I think it turned out pretty good, really hard to photograph unfortunately.  But you can even tell he has a blaze on his face!! 

 And a round rump and big shoulders...

 And, in general a pretty handsome horse I would say!

 I thought he looked kind of like he was floating in space and thought about writing his name underneath but then I didn't want to mess it up after all that work so I left it the way it is!

 I engraved a heart into a piece of graphite to try to make the heart necklace and this is the relief:

 But it turned out a little weird and may not work in the long run :( I am supposed to be doing more research for good heart necklace ideas right now... oops!

I also finally finished this crystal bowl I have been working on! It is square but the sides come up in a sort of twist making it VERY tricky to cut into!  But I like the final look I think.  

 Now it is waiting for its acid bath to make it all shiny!!

After school I went to the barn.  It is my first time riding in almost a month! I was hoping that I wouldn't have to start with dressage but sadly I did! 

 The good thing was that I got to ride Poseidon who is probably the best dressage horse I get to ride.  He seemed happy to see me, or maybe it was the pear I was holding...

After an hour long lesson my teacher laughed at me and said "you are not going to be able to sit tomorrow" and I replied with "or stand!"  She said she could tell I hadn't properly sat on a horse all summer... apparently American riders don't sit properly... we hoover.  I like to hoover... I currently am nursing blisters on the inside of my thighs due to sitting.  I didn't realize how bad it was until I took off my pants and pulled off skin with them! I don't know how I am going to be able to do this again on Friday! I asked her if that lesson would also be dressage and she said it is supposed to be but maybe she can change it! I hope so or I may be dead come Saturday!

 It was nice though to be back, back with the fat cats (like below) and the horses and the hard work!

This morning I had another morning session of yoga with Sigrid and I was much stiffer then two days before!  I can feel I am getting more sore as the day goes on... But today it went much better with the blowing!!

"I just like to take it as it comes, go where the wind blows me. I'm not going to plan." ~ Matthew McGrory

Today was incredibly windy.  What is even more incredible to me is that supposedly this is left over wind from the hurricane in The States!  I knew wind traveled all the way around the world... but doesn't it get diffused and can you really trace it back to the storm that gathered it all?  It is all very scientific I suppose but it also seems a bit philosophical to me, but maybe I am just in a thoughtful mood.  The autumn is coming, I am dreading the coming snow and though I normally get happy and stomp in piles of leaves I am currently confused by them.  In one way I am happy to be done with the scorching hot summer (but I had left that already when I came here) and it means time is passing and I will sooner be home again.  But it also means time is passing, my time here is numbered and it will soon be freakin' freezing! And now in Sweden we have leftover hurricane wind... wtf?!

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.  ~Elizabeth Lawrence

Yesterday I started with some wineglasses.  It didn't go so hot but I did get to use my new jacks! I love them! I made a few glasses like this but I am not sure how many turned out. 

 Also, I am not entirely sure what you would drink from them... I will have to ask Stig-Allan.

In the afternoon Sigrid, Vegard and I made some half circle bowls.  They are so frustrating because they look so easy but is SO HARD to make them a half circle... mine almost never are... more wonky bowls with pointy bottoms.  Worthless, really since they don't even sit.  So, as you might imagine yesterday this also didn't go so hot.  Here is the only one I made which was worth a damn.  It was hardly even that, but the beginning and the middle where such crap that I was a bit impressed with how it is a bowl and it is sort of round: 

Sigrid said when I finished I could write "Dear Blog, Today Sigrid told me the bowl I made was 'pretty good for being crap!' Hahaha!" With that being said, at this point I would like to thank my wonderful assistants for their constant support and words of inspiration ;) haha.  It's nice to work with people who see the humor in the trials and tribulations of glass... and also constantly make fun of me.  :-P

After school I went to Kalmar, I had to pay for my hair cut since I had forgotten my wallet on Saturday.  I also did a little bit of retail therapy :)  I got a sweet, new leather, brown, biker jacket from H&M.  Some socks with funny skulls on them, a blue shirt and hair band from Indiska, which is sadly going out of business. It is one of my favorite stores, all the stuff is super soft and pretty and neat designs in the fabrics.  Anyway, its leaving Kalmar and I am sad for it.  Then I got a plate of sushi, 12 pieces and ate it all! It was so good and surprisingly spicy (hidden wasabi between the fish and rice, yum) and I was comfortably full for hours!  I looked for this adorable old cafe that I went to last year, its on the second floor of a building and they have THE BEST pie, but I couldn't find it.  I searched and searched... ok I walked down a few blocks but I tried a few doors and couldn't get in any of them.  After a while I was beginning to get concerned someone would call the cops thinking I was a robber or something! Next time I go though I will find the cafe and have wonderful pie! I guess it is incentive to go back again... maybe when I get my hair blonder?  

As one of the things I am supposed to do for the trip to Venice is make some heart necklaces.  I have one, though I can't remember exactly what it looks like, and thought they may sell well at  the fairs we are going to.  The problem is I don't know how to make one... which is a pretty small but significant detail!  With some help from Vegard (who really didn't want to help) I made this... since I have told you it is supposed to be a heart you can tell that's what it is... but I am not sure you could if I hadn't told you before hand.

Stig-Allan gave me a piece of graphite which I will engrave tomorrow to make a small mold for the heart.  Hopefully this will work better.  I want to be able to pour some glass in, flip it out and attach a quick loop on it.  So, cross your fingers please!

"Picasso had his pink period and his blue period. I am in my blonde period right now." ~ Hugh Hefner

Here is the glass that I made on Friday.  It doesn't seem like much but then I reminded myself that half the day was spent in the cold shop!  So, here is an example of the "pig bowl" because the legs look like pig tails:

 The hole you can see through this one is in the top not the bottom I promise!

And here is the kind of weird green colored plate I made.  Vegard started it then had to leave to do something with Stig-Allan so I finished it.  That is not a hole in the middle but a "safety clak" so when I took the punty off I wouldn't break a piece out of the plate, instead out of the safety foot.  Anyway, its pretty big and pretty good, I might have to try to make something cool out of it :)

 I didn't make this but it somehow ended up in this group... glass I suppose is the common theme?  Anyway, I am a sucker for a pretty label.  This vodka was not just "limited edition" and flavored of ginger and apple but it is a pretty painted bottle! There is even pretty painting on the back to see through the vodka when the bottle has been chilled previously! It was delicious.  I mixed it with a little bit of ginger ale and a lime wedge and it was SOOO good! I am glad that my weakness for pretty bottles didn't lead me astray this time!

So, Saturday went something like this:

 Woke up and went to Kalmar with brown hair... ok, kind of light brown hair.

It seems more brown in real life...

 Went to hair dresser where I tried to explain that even though I have a Swedish name I could not describe to her the hair I wanted in Swedish... so, we decided to get started and we built a custom made helmet to keep the aliens from hearing our plans.

 Or maybe it was to better transmit them?  Like I said the communication wasn't the best between the two humans present :)  When we first took off all the crazy foil and etc I had really streaked hair and not so good. So, we did it again.  So, after over 2 hours at the hair place (I felt a bit like a celebrity) I got this hair:

 At first I loved it, then thought it was kind of lame but now I like it more and more.  Also, it seems each day it  is less streaked and more all over which is what I wanted.  Next month I will get more and maybe go slowly blonder and blonder! 

Afterwards I went to Max, got an Original Meal to go and went and sat in the sun across the moat (yes moat!) from the castle! I live in Europe, we have castles :)  It was perfect, light sweater weather and the ducks were quaking and children laughing and there was an old lady coughing constantly.  Very cozy, especially after the old woman left.

 Right after I took this some kids and their dad's started playing frisbee.  Almost enough to get my bio clock ticking... kids and cute dads... but then I got distracted by the ducks!

 Who were under this pier that I sat on.  I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of them.  I even saw swans, but they are kind of scary since they are so big!  

 Here is a view out into the ocean from the Kalmar Castle:

 Pretty castle:

On the way home I stopped by Transjö to see what was going on in that little world.  I talked to one of the apprentices,  I feel bad I don't know his name, different from the one I talked to with Val and Jenny.  He said they hadn't started blowing again (they stop for the summer) because something was wrong with the furnace.  They should start not this week but the next! So, I said I would def come by and watch some :)  It was amazing he remembered me even though I didn't talk to him, maybe they don't have much to talk about there. I don't know, but I am not sure if Martin and I will go pub night tomorrow or not or if I will just go watch the masters blow some in a couple of weeks.  We will see.  Then he embarrassingly called me out for not being able to unlock my car from the driver's side.  I thought it was easier to just climb through then walk around and no one would notice... NOT! I totally got called out : P My wonderful car is a piece of poop! haha!

Then I went home and played with my hair and decided I like it again.  This was decided after a little bit of that amazing vodka... and so I took some better pictures for you!

Sunday, MAMA'S BIRTHDAY! I went to the lake, Orranäsajön, for an end of the season swim.  I figure it pretty much the beginning of fall (the leaves are starting to change) and I better get one last swim in!  By swim I mean I jumped in, came up screaming and swam as fast as I could the 15 feet to the ladder to get out as quickly as possible!  But, it sure looked pretty there!

 Doesn't that water look cold!?  

 The answer is: YES! Freezing!

Then I went home and called Mama for her birthday like a good girl! She is a few weeks into her new gallery and Papa was taking her to a birthday brunch.  I bought her a card... it is still sitting on my table.  It is all written in and the address is on it... I dont know why its still here! Sorry Mama!

I will tell you about today tomorrow.  I am "le tired" and ready for bed and maybe it will be better with pictures!  Anyway, happy Monday!