Author Archives: Maggie C

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About Maggie C

Stained glass artist, writer, respecter of life.

Weekend Coffee Share 4/30/16

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If we were having coffee, I’d offer you some cold brew, a cold coffee concentrate that is intended to be diluted 4 to 1 with water. I drink mine straight. And then have the jitters all day. Good stuff!

I’d tell you that it’s the final day of the A to Z blogging challenge that I’ve been participating in on my other blog, Glass Manifestations. Frankly, I’m feeling a bit “blogged out” for the moment. Or maybe it’s more of an overall creativity tank. So maybe I’ll take a bit of a break from blogging and let the tank refill.

Or maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow with more creative ideas than you can shake a stick at. Maybe I’ll write a blog about the origins and meaning of the phrase “more than you can shake a stick at.” Hmmm.

If we were having coffee, I’d show off my yard as you came in the house. It’s very green and lush right now. With clover, that is, not grass. The beautiful yellow flowers (dandelions) have now turned to beautiful white puff balls (seed heads) that will soon be propagating a whole new batch of pretty yellow flowers.

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I can feel the glares emanating from my neighbors as they watch the uninhibited progression of a yard run amok. Maybe I’ll work on getting it under better control this week. Glaring neighbors can be such a nuisance.

That being said, I’d better go find the lawn mower now. Thanks for stopping by for coffee, and watch your step as you proceed through the jungle… er, I mean the yard. Feel free to pick some flowers on your way out.

When in Rome

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The letter X is a toughy for the A to Z Challenge. Even Sue Grafton, in her alphabet detective novel series, “A is for Alibi…” etcetera, had a challenge when it came to X. Instead of following the pattern of titles, and having an “X is for ___,” the book title for the X installment is “X.” Simple. Succinct.

Works for me. And I really didn’t want to read a detective novel titled “X is for Xylophone.”

So what does one do with a blog post based on the letter X?

Here are 10 ideas (or X ideas):

1. X is the Roman numeral ten.
2. X-Acto knives: They do have their uses in stained glass work. I could have pulled it off.
3. X marks the spot. Maybe too obvious?
4. Sign your X on the line. Yes, a line from the song, “Santa Baby.”
5. Ex… ex-spouse, ex-employee. That sort of thing.
6. Ex as the sound in the beginning of a word: eXactly, eXcellent…
7. X out something, as in draw a line through a word. I guess an X would actually be two lines.
8. X. Just X. If Sue Grafton can do it, so could I. Or so could X.
9. X as the 24th letter in the alphabet. I don’t know… there must be some fascinating details about the letter X.
10. Malcolm X. The activist or the movie. It’s kinda scary that when I did a Bing search on Malcolm X, the first six entries were about the movie, not the person.

So many blogging options, after all. Too many, in fact. I guess I just won’t write a post about the letter X.

Oh, wait! I just did!

Xquisite!

X  X is for X.

U Came, U Sawed, U Conquered!

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You know about Tiffany and his lamps, and how the lamps are put together with copper foil? Well, before Tiffany came along and foiled everything, there was came. Here’s a little description of came. Came 101, if you will.

Came
(noun)
1. a slender, grooved bar of lead for holding together the pieces of glass in windows of latticework or stained glass.

Close, Dictionary.com, but not quite. Came now comes not only in lead, but also in zinc, brass and copper. Maybe other metals, too. I’m not sure. But yes, came has grooves – or channels – that hold pieces of glass together. Or, as in the case of U-came, it can be used as a border to frame stained glass panels.

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Came comes in an assortment of styles. There is H came that has two channels and thus looks like an H when viewed from the end. The exterior (face) surfaces can be either be flat or rounded.

U came has one groove and thus looks like a U when viewed from the end. Both H and U came come in varying sizes to allow for different thicknesses of glass, and for different face widths, depending on how you want your seams to appear, and on how much support your glass needs in the case of larger, heavier panels or windows.

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Lead came can be cut with nippers, but more rigid material, like zinc, needs something stronger to cut it. I use a hack saw. The panel is soldered together at the joints where one length of came meets another.

Okay, that’s all I came here to explain. I hope U got what U came for.

U  U is for U came.

Weekend Coffee Share 4/23/16

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If we were having coffee, I would tell you it’s been a bit of a hectic week. And a furry one. I was dog-sitting my eldest daughter’s mini dachshund Finni at the start of the week, and then my youngest daughter’s cat showed up after a two month absence looking like she’d been through hell.

After a vet visit to treat a large gash in the kitty’s throat and the removal of massive hair mats, I am keeping her with me so I can watch out for her while she heals.

And now I’m dog sitting for my youngest daughter, with her dog Bella. These canine visits are really good for my dog Chules. Gives him some buddies to play with for a while. I often consider getting a second dog, but I think that would maybe be too much ongoing excitement around here. Especially for my cat Sebastian. And too much fur.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my house painting project is progressing well, albeit slowly. I went for the red front door after all, and I really like it. It still needs another coat of paint, but that will have to wait for another stint of dry weather.

Bella is snoring on the couch. Chules is pretending to sleep in his rocker chair, but his eyes peek open now and again, so I know he is still alert. Or maybe just being kept awake by Bella’s snoring. Sebastian is holed up somewhere down the hall, and my injured kitty patient Thursday is gated off in my spare bedroom, hiding in the closet behind a box of books.

All is well in my furry little abode. If you’d like a second cup of coffee, I’ll pour. There’s no rush today, and I’m enjoying the non-hairball-producing company.