Silversmith Day!

Several weeks back, soon after we arrived at Valle del Oro, we signed up to take the Silversmith class. This all-day class is a requirement for using the very nice jewelry-making shop here at the resort. So at 8:30 this morning, we were opening this door --

It was a full class -- they have room for eight --

This morning, all of the places were set up with mandrels, soldering irons, knives and other tools --

In the afternoon, we each had a flat piece of silver, a scalloped silver bezel piece and a silver beaded strip along with both soft and hard silver solder.

This is Jim, one of the instructors demonstrating in the afternoon --

This is today's work product. On the left are the two rings made in the morning by the lost wax method; on the right are the ones with stones made by silver-smithing.

Forry's ring on the left has a rope design while mine has entwined hearts --

It doesn't show up very well in the picture, but my ring on the left is a very pale translucent green with a dark spot in it while Forry's is more of a tiger-eye.

It was a long day today! It was the first day we have been out and about since we got those nasty  colds. We had a hour break after the afternoon class and went across the freeway to McDonalds for some dinner before we had to go back this evening to watch the silver pour into our wax molds.

A Jaunt to Freeport

I think it's one of those necessary things. You cannot visit Maine without a trip to Freeport and L.L. Bean.

We decided to take the back roads instead of the freeway so that we could see more of the country-side. As we were driving by one of the farms, we saw something rather large, but not as large as a deer in the field. So, birders that we are, we turned around to take another look.

We have seen several hen turkeys during out travels, but this is the first time we've spotted a wild Tom Turkey --

He was absolutely gorgeous in his breeding colors. I was hoping he would spread his tail feathers, but no such luck --

Then just as we were getting ready to drive off, another one popped out of the grass. They were totally ignoring each other, so no rivalry display...

This is another thing we have seen a lot of, both here and in Vermont --

There are lots of these low rock fences with the stones piled up without the use of mortar --

The first thing we noticed when we got to Freeport was all of the blooming flowers. Instead of the usual hanging baskets, there were planter after planter of flowers along the sidewalks.

This is the entryway to the L.L. Bean Flagship store --

Which is ringed around by stands full of colorful kayaks --

L.L. Bean is "Celebrating 100 years of Roughing It in Comfort!" The store has been open 24 hours per day, 365 days a year for 100 years! The original Mr. Bean kept it open all hours to accommodate hunters and fishermen. We were successful in finding two short-sleeved shirts for Forry with a pocket. (Not easy to find!)

After that we needed a break before we went to the Rockport store to look for shoes for him. Even though they had a deal where if you bought two pair, the second pair was half-price, we were lucky to find him one pair of sandals. (You remember the cartoons with the lady in the shoe store that has the shoe boxes piled as high as the salesman's head? That's Forry trying to find a pair of shoes that he likes, that fit him!) But, there was a Starbucks on the way to the shoe store, so we were able to gain some sustenance ahead of time.

We did stroll around the downtown area a bit after the shoe store. I have never seen so many high-end
discount and factory stores. Many of the original buildings and houses have been converted into unique shops and new construction conforms to the architecture of a century ago. Even McDonalds!

I tried hard to think of something we needed to buy in some of those shops, but I guess our life style is a bit too casual for most of the wares offered for sale. We ended up going over to Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen for lobster rolls. The toasted roll was absolutely stuffed with chunks of lobster!

A VERY nice way to end our visit!