JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 2hTest pieces after fire using all four sizes of frit and four techniques. Final 8” square using three sizes of frit (powder, fine and medium) with sifting and displacement techniques pre fire. 000
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Storm is acoming tomorrow early morning. Sky was red too. Got a glass class this AM, Painting with frit and powder, Day II. We made test pieces last week and fired them. Have an idea of how to pull all four techniques of painting with frit together. Have seen beautiful art made this way in Ireland. 030
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Saw one of these gold colored Tesla Cyber cabs (Robotaxi) on my walk with Sóla at noon today and did not know what I was looking at. Honestly thought it was a gold-colored cyber truck with the bed chopped off. Just stared at it as it drove past. Absolutely hideous design, IMO. 000
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Been listening to Alaniss Morissette, unplugged, a lot, and singing out loud like no one is listening. Sóla is deaf and does not mind. Made a nice roasted cauliflower soup yesterday. M loved it. Been busy with glass projects. Hope to have at least one finished during Sunday’s last class. 130
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Today is brought to you by the color red and by Fibonacci’s sequence. A little bit of fog, in the air this morning. Side effects from the Covid 2026 vax yesterday has made this morning’s walk difficult. Normal for me to have fatigue from a vax. Will be fully recovered tomorrow. Will solder today. 040
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Not sure about the cowboy skeleton riding a flamingo. Is it a unit or what. Another neighborhood house is going under the chop. Two pictures of the same thing taken at the same time: one with artificial light, the other without to show how dark it is at the start of our walk- we use a headlamp. 030
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Read a WAPO article this AM about wind-testing mobile homes in FL. Reminded me of our trip in 2014 to Tory Island, Ireland, Co Donegal, in the N. Atlantic, a place subjected to sustained gales where we saw mobile homes reinforced with cinder block walls. Don’t think you could do that in the US. 030
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Got a lot done yesterday with the extreme glass project. Soldered five pieces. Work today: Foil two additional pieces. One is a clock and the other is a continuation of the same theme. We walk in the dark now and it is chilly. Sóla loves the cooler temperatures and is full of the joys of life. 040
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 06/10/2026We tried a new gin, Lundey, when we were in Myvatn, Iceland. When tonic water is added to the blue gin, the pH is changed and the color turns from blue to pink. A bartender in Porto, Portugal showed us this trick using Sharish Blue Magic gin. We like Sharish but overtime, the color fades. 1/2 110
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Some mornings are like this. We were walking along in the dark with moon overhead when Sóla began to growl and pull. Out on the dark field, reflected in my headlamp, two little green eyes glowed. It was a fox and she was pretty close by but not for long. She ran off pretty quick. Quiet walk today. 031
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 04/10/2026New glass class this PM, Strip Cutting. Discussions today: The Ondt and the Gracehoper; the sky is falling, chicken little; taking the high road; RUS; the new resident; Sóla met her pal Rod, our neighbor, beside the field. She did a collie belly crawl, she was so happy to see him. Drizzle felt good. 010
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The four test pieces made in Fusing with Frits and Powders glass class are going into the kiln tonight. Techniques: mix of medium and fine frit; cold comb using medium frit w/Glytac gel; displacement; powder. Selected colors: Tomato Red, Black, Orange, Yellow, Spring green and French vanilla. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Today’s glass class- Fusing with frit and powder. I’m calling it “fusing with grits and black powder”. Actually using black glass has been disappointing for me because it the color absorbs too much heat & has taken over the composition. Worked on the projects yesterday until 1800. Trying to finish. 000
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Worked hours yesterday on design a stained glass clock. Loads to do today, with 3 additional pieces to build. Must have everything ready for soldering on Sunday. Not sure where these individual pieces will end up- mobile maybe? 050
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Heading into the vortex this morning. Nice ride parked at the curb. From a distance, it looked like a paper wasp. 100
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Collecting ideas for the project. Do not want to waste time and materials throwing something together just for the class. Been playing with scrap glass, shards and rings. If I would not like it in my own home, I don’t want to make it. This is a class about glass sculpture, the way I see it, 3-D art. 011
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 28/09/2026This morning’s walk with Sóla. Rained overnight so there was a lot of water on the plants and ground. Found one sleeping bee, in the goldenrod. Cooler temps now, better for walking. Thought so much about the glass project yesterday, it made my head hurt. Keep an open mind. Don’t think, just do it. 010
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The worst part of working in glass happens at the start of a new project. I call this “the I don’t know what I’m going to effing do” stage. Extreme Stained Glass, a class where you mix media, begins this AM. Our assignment: bring all the stuff you have been collecting and an open mind. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Sunset over Baltimore last night as we were landing, in the “Fish Express,” Icelandair flight from Reykjavik. This morning’s read with a cup of coffee. Sóla was overjoyed to see her parents return home. She checked on us, touched paws to us, all through the night. She was well-looked after. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Dinner at Sumac. Recommended by M’s Bsky friend @Samer.is, we visited a Lebanese restaurant on Laugavegur last night. It is Michelin “adjacent” and it is pretty good. We got a chef’s tasting menu and it did not disappoint. I could barely eat all of it as it was so filling. 000
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Books bought in Reykjavik, plus a new mystery, “Reykjavik,” by Ragnar Jónasson, co authored by the Icelandic Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir. Aldo bought, “The Little Book of Icelandic People.” We stayed with family who live here and they told us interesting stories about customs and such. 130
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Good things come to ye who wait - a cat waits for a handout at the staff entrance to a fish and chip restaurant in Reykjavik. 030
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Swans and other avian life a swimming on the pond in Reykjavik 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Walked to bookstore to find an updated map of NE Iceland and there are no updates. Saw some nice residential architecture on the way. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Hveravellir, a place with geothermal hot springs we visited once before. Here for lunch. Next o/n stop is Reykjavik. Hoping the strike will break before Friday. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 22/09/2026We left Vopna and are heading back towards Reykjavik. Got lunch in Akureyri at the restaurant in the botanical gardens then drove through Dalvik and Sóla’s valley. Icelandair mechanics are threatening to strike so we may get stuck here or not. Nothing we can do about it. Just keep calm and carry on. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 22/09/2026“Sóla’s valley,” where we met the first Sóla,10 years ago, in Iceland. A farmer was carrying a young black and white border collie. We asked him the name of the dog and he said Sóla. We said if we ever got a dog, it would be a border collie and we would name it Sóla. A year later, we did. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Golden retriever found herself something smelly on Sandvik, near Vop, Iceland. 000
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 18/09/2026On the way back to the farm where we are staying, we drove the old Route 1 road, a gravel road with grades of 12% in places. Speed limit of 80 km with gravel twisty roads. Did not drive that fast. 110
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Patchwork barn with sheep(s), as they say in Iceland. Some Icelandic hotdogs at last. Bacterial biofilm in a stream of many colors. 010
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Canyon known as Stuðlagil - we have visited here before but never in the fall. Nice colors! 010
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 18/09/2026River crossing, one of many, in the Disco on the way to and from Askja. We were told we could maybe try to drive ourselves there in the rented Rav 4 but I said no way. I’m so glad I didn’t go there driving the RAV4. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The dragon’s canyon of Askja is just behind the ranger station, the police house (when they visit) and the buildings of the hostel. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 17/09/2026The trip to Askja and back. We left at 0810 and returned at 1810. It was a long and tiring day and I’m so grateful we found a guide to take us there and to bring us back safely. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 17/09/2026To see Askja by private tour, you need a big vehicle like a Disco and a guide like Oðinn! 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Victoria shot this video of us crossing the lava covered in fall colors. The third rider is the German equestrian who competes in dressage and show jumping with her own horse at home in Frankfurt but she always rides in Iceland. She is a pro and came dressed accordingly. Her form is A+. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 17/09/2026These fumaroles also make a nice sound, located at the hot spot near Myvatn. 020
JBR @jbred56.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Lava horses, video taken by Victoria, our riding guide this trip and on our previous trip three years ago. 020