Like It Never Happened

 Ya'll will have to excuse me for doin' a little braggin' but, since I had shown ya'll the beginnings of that restoration project, I wanted to show the final results as well.  I was quite pleased with the way things turned out.  The first image is a before and after collage of a couple of areas and then the finished pieces on the end.  The individual photos are just larger versions of those in the collage.

 I do have to admit though, unglazed ceramic is probably one of the easiest materials to repair.  The non-shiny surface is easily matched with paint and so repairs become virtually undetectable.  It still requires good attention to detail though.

This is the only restoration job I've ever done where the artist was still alive and I was able to communicate with them.  That was cool.  I emailed these images to Mr. Fleming with a little note and he replied with a very sweet response.  He said he was amazed at the quality of the repairs and forever grateful that I took the time to do such a good job.  That was really nice and I'm glad he seemed pleased.

The school also seemed very happy with the work and quickly accepted my second bid on another broken sculpture when I got it sent in.  This next one though is going to really test my mettle.  It's a large chunk of cast glass, something I've rarely worked on, and has to be done just so, or else the repair can be easily seen.

When I was still in construction I joked often that I could fix anything from a busted ass to a broken heart and there were a couple of times that I was really sweating bullets to pull some repairs off.  Ha!  But I always managed to do it.  This is gonna be one of those times too, I think.  But I enjoy it.  It's a challenge to restore these objects to their original appearance.  Jobs like this pay pretty good too and I think I may treat myself to one or two modern textbooks I found on restoration.  I have several books on the subject but most of them are quite old and many of the materials and techniques are not used anymore.  I may not be able to attend a school for restoration but I can certainly buy their books and keep myself up to date.

So, not much going on around the house right now.  We are trying to get the garden cleaned up for fall and maybe plant some stuff.  I am way, way behind on fall crops but I might get something before winter.  I hate to not have something growing at all times.  Even salad greens can add a good zip to meals.

The little Buff Orps are not so little anymore and we are letting them out into the yard now to try to get integrated with the big girls.  The youngsters are still pretty shy but they are doing good and really having a blast being out free-ranging.

We are finally getting some rain now so maybe I won't lose any of my dogwoods.  I've got to get my flower beds cleaned up too.  I've just let everything go to poop lately.  Oh well, needing to get everything cleaned up is just a good reason for me not to sit around, which is still incredibly painful to do.  Hopefully everything will be resolved by winter.
Hope things are cooling a little where you are.  I walked outside this morning and it was almost like fall.  I admit, I really hate to see summer go, but the cooler weather is delicious.