So in July i went up to Campbell CA to purchase Julie's casting equipment... the scariest thing about that was I was going to have to learn how to USE the freaky scarey centrifuge casting machine... i mean come on what is the point of buying it if I'm AFRAID to use it...
Julie was a super teacher. She planned on us doing 6 castings flasks so the kiln would be full for the burn out and there were 6 times the centrifuge would be loaded and let go... it's the letting go so it spins the 1675 degree silver or the 1945 degree bronze....MOLTEN METAL as in melted liquid BURNING HOT... yikes
Julie was kind enough to light and adjust her torch to the proper flame. She had me load the casting flasks in place and she torched/melted the first silver castings. After lunch (when my brain had FORGOTTEN what she'd taught me in the morning..) was my turn. We did one as a 'team'...I was too afraid to hold the centrifuge machine with it torqued up and brake off as I wasn't sure my left hand was strong enough but I did melt the metal..and jump back when the machine spun the metal into the burned out investment.
Then the last two were my 'babies'. After the 1000 degree flask was in position and the metal loaded in the crucible Julie lit the torch and handed it to MOI, gulp....i can't quite recall if she helped hold the centrifuge on this firing but the last one I did on my own after she lit the torch... It was an amazing feeling to do all the steps by myself SAFELY. I was exhausted at that point after very little sleep for 4 nites plus 2.5 days of instruction.. all 6 of the castings turned out... what a GREAT teacher.. i wish her well in her creative endeavors in Slovenia...thankful we can still stay in touch through the internet.
The other freaky scarey thing i did this summer was adopting an F2 Savannah male. he seemed HUGE to me when i first met him and i had no experience around any F2 savannahs just my F3 so i didn't know how WILD he might be. I know they aren't mean cats but they do get startled and react like a wild Serval...It helped that he has golden eyes, when he is EXCITED they turn a luscious ORANGEY AMBER color so i just think calming thoughts about JEWELRY hahaha
Today is 6 wks exactly since i learned he was available for adoption...Friday he will have lived with us 6 wks...pushing my comfort zone out with the casting MELTED metal has helped me trust i can handle this HUGE cat who can seem freaky scarey, not really for what he is doing but what my mind imagines...
some might recall i picked him up for the first time on day 11... a high point in my life forever...
Sunday i thought i'd give a try to trimming his nails by myself. that went well while he was laying beside me on the bed...
yesterday he got loose in rest of house and met our F3 and whippet nose to nose. that brief meeting was positive on all sides. today i let him loose in hallway, his room and our master bedroom while the whippet was in there. they met nose to nose in the hallway, neither one reacted. then whippet jumped up on our king size bed, Squeak cautiously approached and then POP POP struck through the metal footboard openings and struck the whippet on the nose... whippet just gave a little whine then i shut the bedroom door... that left me with realisation that all cat nails needed to be trimmed shorter before any further meet ups.... gulppp
could i do it on my own?
well this great big cat that i thought was so freaky scarey on July 18 laid calmly on his side on the floor while i trimmed his hind feet w/ the nail clippers... i tell you he was the easist cat to trim of ANY we have ever had in our family... i finished off the front nails while he was beside me on the bed...
so i could have just lived with my fear, imagining awful scenario and taken him to the vet for a trimming but instead i decided to calmly attempt a trimming on my own... HOORAY the success of this coupled with the conquering of my fear of the freaky scarey centrifuge will encourage me to try other new things that are out of my normal comfort zone... like the marathon i plan to run when i turn 60... now that is freaky scarey. i've let my fear of that stop me from even starting my weight loss efforts... but now that I'm done getting our house/yard ready for Ray's reunion party I can switch my energies over to fall/winter veggie planting, jewelry production and exercising..(anybody know where i can find a few more hours in the day?)
So if you have something you are too timid to attempt i encourage you to safely cautiously push your comfort zone out to a wider range... it is so 'free-ing' in all areas of your life when you do that. I remember how training and running a half marathon opened my horizons...
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