August Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Well, most of the blooms on my 4'x6' patio have turned from flowers to fruit, so I thought I'd showcase my tomatoes this month! I have 2 tomato plants in full production, and 4 smaller plants that will hopefully bring me some late season heirloom tomatoes.

The patio is a crowded mess of tomatoes that thanks to sometimes twice daily watering, have yielded a great crop so far.



This batch of tomatoes was turned into 1/2 a jar of BBQ glaze, and 7 Pints of tomato juice seasoned to be the base for Bloody Mary's.


Football season is right around the corner, and I can't wait to make homemade Bloody Mary's and watch College Gameday. Seriously. I can't tell you how excited this makes me. College football season is my favorite time of year, and the thought of adding homemade Bloody Mary's pretty much makes me giddy :)

Sorry for the lack of 'blooms' this month, but in my garden, the tomatoes have stolen the show! To see what's blooming around the world, visit Garden Blogger's Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens for links!

Chappelear Window

One of the first stained glass gifts I ever gave was a wedding present to one of the girls I danced with at Civic Ballet of Chattanooga. It's her new monogram, and I never took a picture of it for my portfolio. Beth Leigh and I became "Facebook Friends" this summer, and she sent me this picture this week. One of my favorite things about stained glass is it's permanence. I love that after quite a few years they are still enjoying this window :)

Happy Saturday!

Artists Block

I feel like I've been working on this one window for over a month now, and I've made no progress. Maybe because a more accurate statement is I've been not working on this window for over a month now. Maybe it's because it's not my window, its one I'm finishing for one of my students. Maybe because I don't have a good studio space set up. Maybe it's because I miss working at Backstreets with all of the people, music, and liquid incentives. Either way, its not getting done.

But I always work better under a deadline, and I finally have one. I'm going to Clemson next weekend, and since this window is for Backstreets, it has to be finished so it can be installed before school starts.

This is where I was about 2 weeks ago:


I've finished fitting the left 1/2 of the butterfly, and the bottom section of the right wing. My goal this weekend is to finish fitting, and maybe even solder. Then comes sealing, patina and cleaning. If I get this finished early enough in the week, I have another window in a box, that is in similar condition (but with fewer pieces) that I could take to Clemson as well.

Wish me luck!

TN Tax Free Holiday

When I lived in SC, I always would give the State of South Carolina a hard time for having laws that made no sense. You can't by liquor after 7pm, but you can buy a keg at the grocery store until 2am. You can't get your bailey's, but here, go binge drink on beer. That makes NO sense.

Well I've got a new one that makes no sense, this time courtesy of the State of Tennessee. This weekend is the back-to-school tax free weekend. It's designed to give families a break when they're making all of the purchases geared towards getting the kids ready for school again. That makes sense. The state requires the kids to have certain school supplies, and it gives them a sales tax break to purchase them. Gottcha. They even discount clothes (items under $100) as well as school supplies. This makes sense too, gotta have clothes to wear to school.

We all take advantage of the tax free holiday. Computers fall in the tax free bracket, and since they don't discriminate if you're in school or not, anyone can take advantage of this 'discount.' Thanks, State of Tennessee.

Here's what doesn't make sense. Some of the NAMED exclusions and inclusions on the tax free list. I'll start with the silly ones, and end with the most outrageous. (full list here)

• Belts are tax free, but belt buckles sold individually are not. This separates a 'fashion' purchase from a necessary one. A little nit picky, but I won't get too upset.
• Computers are tax free, but unbundled software is not. Sorry, you can't get that learn to type program for your kids without paying taxes.
• Remote data storage (CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, portable disk drives) is not tax exempt. Sorry kids that paper you wrote last night, can't print it out at school, better buy a printer to keep at home. This REALLY irks me. Do they even understand what the kids need to be successful in school? Or is technology just not a priority?
• BRIDAL GOWNS ARE TAX EXEMPT but bridesmaid dresses & accessories are not. Seriously?!?!
  

OK Tennessee, if this is where your 'Back-to-School' priorities lay, then we really need to have a sit down talk.

I didn't get the sofa but....

I went to The Chattanooga Auction House over the weekend , and while the vintage Chesterfield sofa I mentioned in my last post sold for way out of my price range (I tend to have expensive taste), I did walk away with a few good purchases for my next move.

Here's your first clue about my next move: the bathroom is tiny. There is no en suite master bath in my near future, haha. The first purchase I made at the auction is for a project I have in mind.

I bought an ornate frame and will paint it to match my next bath. Since I will have no counter space, magnets seem like a good way to deal with what little makeup I have. What I like about this, is when you have guests over you can take your makeup down, and it looks like you just have a picture in your bathroom....sneaky huh.

My big auction purchase is this sideboard!


I love it, but bidding on it was stressful! I was lucky it was painted this color, and I only had to bid against one other person, or I probably never would have gotten it!

I'd been toying with the idea of building a sideboard that could double as storage for my stained glass. After trying to live in an apartment where the dining room doubles as my studio, I've decided that in my next move I need to have a dedicated space, and scrapped the project.

I love the circles on this sideboard, and the fact that it is two tone. I think the colors are going to work great, and if not, I got it for such a steal I don't mind painting it black! It's Henredon; I don't know much about the company, but quick search showed me that they are a 65 year old company out of NC. Sounds good to me. The two drawers are lined with the silver anti-tarnish fabric, and all of the hinges and rails are in really good shape. The surprise is the whole cabinet is on casters. You can literally move it with two fingers. It's not very tall, but has room for adjustable shelves under each drawer. I love it and it is just the size I was looking for. Yay for auction buys!