Lampworking Projects

On Thursday night B goes to the Toledo Glass Pavillion to play with a torch. Sounds funny doesn't it? But he is continuing to hone his skills in lampworking. So far this semester he has learned many new techniques, including working with a different kind of glass - Borosilicate glass, which is a hard glass (B's preferred media at this point). Right now he is learning to make icicles, which come home in many sizes and will hang beautifully on our Christmas tree. He has also learned to work with not only rods (which is how he started learning), but also has been working with tubes. Plus he's made some wonderful presents for family and friends. And all of this is before taking a special techniques workshop that will just focus on ornaments, which happens the first week of December.

first step, making the candy cane - second step (still to be learned) sand blasting

and naturally, for B, no creation session is complete if it doesn't involve a fish

or a variety of fish

Pups Day 3 and Day 4

Husbandry continues.....part of today was spent on the animals and part of the day was spent on formulating the ads for sales. Also, it's the first time B will have his own email to conduct 'business transactions.' This kind of project does require a lot of reading, the homeschool teacher/mom celebrates!!! Hint, hint - if you have a child who is reading resistent - get him/her interested in a project and see if their motivation changes.
4 day old pup (photos above and below)

3 day old pup (photos below)pups are not born with whiskers, they grow quickly because their eyes are undeveloped, you can just see the ears starting to form
by day 3 the pups weigh more than a penny

Mice Husbandry Project

B has decided to combine his love of animals with becoming an entrepreneur. He has started a mice breeding business for feeder mice. Below is the set up in the garage. The big tank on the left is where the pregnant female is housed. The stack of tanks on the right is where, once able to be weaned the young are separated by gender (yes, he is doing controlled breeding). He has already had one litter and the details of his second litter are below.

nesting area for the mother

pregnant mother, 2 days before giving birth - gestation period is 19-21 days

10/30 litter of 12 pups (average litter is 6-8 pups)

within 12 hours of birth, Bennett weighs them - as you can see they weigh less than a penny

2nd day - still less than a penny

2 days old, just longer than a penny

Tubing Fun

What fun would summer be without time on the water?! Today, it was tubing fun. Ready? Set, Go!

No so tricky :)

shishi-odoshi

What exactly is a shishi-odoshi? Otherwise known as a deer scare? It is a Japanese ornament designed to keep animals away from rice paddies ad other cultivated areas. Also called a water hammer, a deer scare's simiple form and operation make it a popular water garden feature. B made one of his own out of bamboo. We aren't sure it will scare the deer, but it sure does look and work nice. Enjoy!

Mosaic Creation

B has spent the past 3 saturday mornings learned another art form using glass. He has learned how to do glass mosaic. It should be no surprise that his first project was a koi!!
The process included picking a design (or drawing, but B took one off the computer). Chosing glass colors and cutting the pieces of glass, using a handheld glass cutting wheel. Second week the glass pieces were glued onto a piece of wood. It has to be a substantial backing in order to hold the weight of the project and keep everything secure. The last week the grout is added. The piece than dries for 24 hours and is cleaned. Finished! We now need to figure out how and where we are going to hang it.

Pond Inhabitants Move In

B started to populate his pond today. His first two residents (if you don't count the tester goldfish) are a pair of butterfly koi. Yes, they are in there. One is orange and the other a silverish/white. You float the bag on the water to get the temps about the same before releasing the fish.
Video of the big release.