I can hardly wait to show this to Robin. After the Autumn Lights Festival this weekend, I'll install it in her garden!

And now, just to show you where my idea came from, below is the image that inspired my glass fern (and the little blue flowers among the fern leaves).  This is a photo we took in our Canadian garden over 20 years ago. I love how the forget-me-nots are encircled by the fern leaves - an image of spring that I've never forgotten!

We worked late into the night - Barry finishing Bumble Bird's eye sockets and me, grouting the base for the Fern - the last step in the process after sand-blasting all the blown glass leaves, setting the tiles on the base and preparing the wiring. I bought some green grout colorant on-line and mixed it in with the grout only to see an insipid mint green appear in the grout bucket. We tried adding some yellow and then some blue and then some more green... to no avail! I grouted it anyway and today I'm going to try staining the grout with a slurry of charcoal-colored grout that I had left from the peacock. Fingers crossed and latex gloves on... Set-up starts tomorrow with laying down all the electrical cables. And today I finish wiring the birdhouses - Alphabet Coup and Pear Palace. I hope bumble bird doesn't try to sit on these... Maybe next year I'll make him a bird-hive!

Still life with Neighbour's Fig. The fig was part of yesterday's lunch. Yummy!

Well, now the Bumble Bird is in my studio getting his skin on (and taking up its fair share of space, I might add - but I don't what to sound churlish!). Barry just stayed up half the night adding more sections of paper and he took this photo before he came to bed. Bumble Bird is going to be marvelous flying overhead in the garden - or at least rotating on a ball-bearing mechanism he has made!

As I write though, I just heard the saddest cry.... Barry punched a hole in Bumble Bird by mistake... The paper is so very fragile, even after several coats of "dope" to make it waterproof. Fortunately, Barry has time to do repairs! Poor guy.

But isn't it fabulous? Barry's English friend Dik Quarrell asked Barry this morning what the creature's name is. Barry replied, "It is Bumble Bird", to which Dik said, I know that! What's his first name?" And Barry replied, "Jolly." So "Jolly Bumble Bird" it is - except when he gets a hole!

A couple of months ago, Pamela Phippin invited me over to look at photos of my pieces and she decided to purchase the Pyro Plant for her second home in Tucson. I made a new lightweight mosaic base for the piece and as I packed up the glass, I felt like I was getting little Pyro ready to go to camp. Today amid the flurry of getting ready for the Autumn Lights Festival, I got these photos from Pamela. Pyro looks so happy!
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