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cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Play Ball and Fight Fascists
@cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
38 followers 10 following 2.3K posts
Cats, Coffee, Whiskey & Writing. And Padres baseball. And the O's, too. GMU alum. I cuss a lot. She/her Anti Fascist. Mid-Atlantic, USA.

Also, it's not […]

[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@cafechatnoir on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Good morning pocket friends!

Cold but bright out there this morning and I’m trying to plot out my day so I’m not zig zagging all over south county.

And the vendor I wanted to look at again from yesterday will be at another market next weekend, so that’s one […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A fired circle of clear glass, with a mosaic sunflower on it. The center of the sunflower is opaque and transparent brown bits, and the sunflower petals are opaque yellow, and opaque orange. It got a tack fuse so the texture of the mosaic pieces is still there. It was flat and has now gotten a slump firing in a mold, so it is a bowl now.
December 7, 2025 at 3:59 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
And one more @eclectech - this is Lizzie, she belongs to our friends Will and Amy. They got her earlier this year and this was when I got to dogsit - it was very exciting when she decided to get on the couch with me.

I think there is enough hat space here. 🐶🎅🐶

#xmashatting
Lizzie, a brown and black mixed breed dog. She is hunkered down on the sofa next to me. She was rescued earlier this year and it was a Big Deal that she felt OK to sit with me on the couch.
December 6, 2025 at 3:21 AM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Hi @eclectech - my friend Bonnie has a void kitty, Van. He's a foster fail, cause he knew a good thing when he found it.

Not sure which photo is better for hatting, so take your pick!

#xmashatting
Van, a solid black young cat with green-gold eyes, lounging on a cat tree. Van, a solid black young cat with green-gold eyes, laying on the carpet. He has a fish toy nearby, and a black cat cave behind him. The cat cave has big golden eyes on it and one ear showing at the top.
December 6, 2025 at 3:12 AM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
And at least this is one of the few times I can't get in trouble for blowing off a management suggestion.

Oh no, I tested too hard and caught something that could have gone out to all our clients using the quarterly service pack and been a mess.

Oh no.
December 6, 2025 at 2:26 AM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Sean break!!

Look at that sweet face. 😻
Sean, a grey and white fluffy cat, sitting on his little cat bed from Ikea.
December 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Went to fold laundry, and they both took my spot on the couch...
Sean, a grey and white fluffy cat in the foreground, with Jorge, a solid grey cat behind him. They are both snoozing in my spot on the sofa, back to back of each other.
November 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
A takeaway chopstick, some pipe cleaners, and a LOT of help from the cats, we have a stable owl on top of the tree!
The top of the same artificial tree from the last post. I took a chopstick and wrapped it in green pipe cleaners, and then used additional pipe cleaners to attach it to the top branch and then put the owl on top. It is now straight and stable.
November 30, 2025 at 5:41 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
So, the two mini trees needed tree toppers and I found some adorable ceramic owls at one of the holiday markets - they’re perfect. But a touch heavy and made the treetops a bit bendy, LOL.

Here is the before:
The top of an artificial Christmas tree with a small ceramic owl on top. The weight of the owl is causing the top branch to bend over rather precariously - a bit like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
November 30, 2025 at 5:39 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
It’s cheese, meats and mimosas time!!!!

I don't have a lot of "holiday specific" tableware, but I am glad I got these platters when I saw them on clearance at the grocery store right after turkey day one year.

I only use them couple times a year, but they […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Two Fall/Thanksgiving themed platters with meats and cheeses on them. Left platter is the meats, left to right, top to bottom: Pepperoni Summer sausage Italian Dry Salami Calabrese Soppressatta Milano Salami Prosciutto Right platter is the cheeses, left to right, top to bottom: Brie Pizza Gouda Garlic Herb Bellavitano Smoked Cheddar Smoked Gouda Black Pepper Bellavitano Garlic Herb Goat Cheese Bruschetta Goat Cheese
November 27, 2025 at 7:42 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
OK, cheeses and sausages are all sliced up, and the dip is made.

Every year, I seem to find one strange cheese and get it - this year it is Pizza Gouda. It's interesting - tomato & olives and italian seasoning. I'm not sure I'd seek it out again, but I'm […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A piece of "pizza gouda" cheese - it has bits of tomato and olives and seasonings in it, and there is a spot where there are olive bits that look like cat ears, seasonings that could be a nose, and on the side that could be whiskers, more olive bits for a body and a bit of tomato that is the tail.
November 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
@nora !!!!

My wreath arrived and it's SO pretty and I love it!
A fused glass wreath Christmas ornament. It is made with chunks of varying colors of green glass that are fused together for a bumpy effect, then magenta dots were added as decoration and then fired again.
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Trapped by Sean, holiday prep on hold. 😻
Headshot of Sean, a grey and white fluffy cat. He's in my lap, looking over his shoulder.
November 26, 2025 at 5:32 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Thanksgiving dessert arrived today!

(When you like pie but you know you will never get through an entire pie...and you LOVE See's candies)
Three small boxes of See’s Candies truffles. The boxes are as follows: Pumpkin Pie Truffles - Pumpkin, allspice, and cinnamon soft center, covered in milk chocolate Pecan Pie Truffles - Brown sugar center with pecans, covered in white chocolate Apple Pie Truffles - Granny Smith apples with cinnamon soft center, covered in white chocolate.
November 25, 2025 at 1:15 AM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
After some paint, then assembled for layering:

#fusedglass
3 fired glass rectangular plates that will be layered. Top sheet that will be the top layer is amber & light bronze frit along the bottom for beach sand, with white large frit that will be the white wave foam. The white frit is very visible, the sand portion is again, very, very pale - I have sponge painted tan glass paint on it. Middle sheet is a sun also done with fine frit, and then grey seagulls painted on. The seagulls are visible, but the sun is so pale it’s almost invisible - the sun has gold/yellow paint on it now. Bottom sheet will be the bottom of the layer. It has varying shades of blue fine frit (fine ground glass) for ocean and sky - it’s rather pale, but you can see most of the blues, but I did add a little more sponge painted paint to it. The three plates from the previous photo, stacked and ready to fire. The sand is in the foreground, sun and gulls in the middle ground, and ocean and sky in the background.
November 23, 2025 at 7:31 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Pride spider got a second coat of paint and I forgot to take a shot of it, but we’ll see how it went soon enough.

My layered piece came out VERY pale. So I added some paint to it. Not sure if the paleness was just my color choices or not enough frit or maybe […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
3 fired glass rectangular plates that will be layered. Top sheet will be the bottom of the layer. It has varying shades of blue fine frit (fine ground glass) for ocean and sky - it’s rather pale, but you can see most of the blues. Middle sheet is a sun also done with fine frit, and then grey seagulls painted on. The seagulls are visible, but the sun is so pale it’s almost invisible. Bottom sheet that will be the top layer is amber & light bronze frit along the bottom for beach sand, with white large frit that will be the white wave foam. The white frit is very visible, the sand portion is again, very, very pale.
November 23, 2025 at 7:31 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Added trees and leaves and a bit of frit on the upper background trees to give them a touch more depth.

The big leaves at the bottom are the freeze and fuse we did a few weeks back, and the little ones around the trees are from Wilderness Glass.

We did a […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
The same piece of fern green glass. It has trees added in the foreground with brown glass. At the bottom are several large glass leaves in varying fall colors. Around the trees and scattering down are small leaves also in varying fall colors made from murrine (cane glass) from Wilderness Glass.
November 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Fun day today at class!

Painted background for my big piece came out just the way I wanted:

#fusedglass
A fired piece of fern green glass. It has three trees stenciled on in brown paint. Along the "ground" is sponged on splotches in various fall colors - red, orange, yellow, brown. On the trees are smaller sponged on "leaves" also in the fall colors. The colors are somewhat muted, which is great since it will be the background.
November 23, 2025 at 7:28 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
There is a lady on Instagram, Sam Capaldi and she is a sommelier and her whole attitude is that wine should be fun & approachable. (She’s 100% right.)

She does “couch crusher” pairings where she has a wine & snack from Trader Joe’s and explains why it works […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Wine bottle label of La Bourgondie Cremante de Bourgogne sparkling wine from France. The label is red with black & white lettering and a rather abstract drawing of a soldier on a horse. (The illustration reminds me of something either by Picasso or Early Modern South American artists. It’s weird but cool.) A package of Trader Joe’s English Champagne Cheddar Cheese. The cheese is a light buttery yellow and the package has little champagne bottles drawn on it.
November 23, 2025 at 3:27 AM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Oh, he has shifted and I was able to get a snap of his sweet snoozy face. 😻

#caturday
Head and shoulders shot of Jorge, a solid grey cat with green eyes. He is snoozing on my lap, with his head resting on my knee.
November 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
It is a grey and rather uninspiring day, good for being on the couch with a kitty, and Jorge has decided to take on the challenge and is lounging on my lap with a sweet, squeaky purr.
Back of the head photo of Jorge, a solid grey cat with green eyes. He's lounging on my lap and watching some TV with me.
November 22, 2025 at 4:24 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Good morning my lovelies! We somehow made to another weekend!

Last farmers market of the season this morning. 😭

I’m sad that it’s over for the season, but all my favorite folks are coming back next year, yay!

My poundcake hookup had turkey cookies!
Her […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A turkey shaped sugar cookie with chocolate jimmies on the head and chest, and fall colored nonpareils on the tail, and orange sugar for the feet.
November 22, 2025 at 3:24 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Thanksgiving shop is done, and I still have a week to figure out and buy whatever I forgot. (And hopefully find some of the spicy plum chutney I usually get.)

Go me!

I was gone for all of an hour, and Sean immediately decided to take over my shoes so I couldn't leave again.
Sean, a grey and white fluffy cat, laying on one of my shoes with his front paw in the other one.
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 AM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
And the painted background for the final project. The trees are from a stencil, everything else was just sponged on.

#fusedglass
An unfired piece of fern green glass. It has three trees stenciled on in brown paint. Along the "ground" is sponged on splotches in various fall colors - red, orange, yellow, brown. On the trees are smaller sponged on "leaves" also in the fall colors. Once it is fired, the paint will likely be very muted, which is fine, as this will be the background and there will be bigger pieces added to the foreground in the next class.
November 16, 2025 at 10:03 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I forgot to take pics of the stencil plates & "tie dye" mini plates and they're still at the arts center, but I'll get snaps before I make changes.

But here is the 3 plate layer - I can't tell if the photo is in focus but the frit makes it look blurry or if […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
3 unfired glass plates that will be fired and then layered. Top sheet will be the bottom of the layer. It has varying shades of blue fine frit (fine ground glass) for ocean and sky. Middle sheet is a sun also done with fine frit, and then grey seagulls painted on. Bottom sheet that will be the top layer is amber & light bronze frit along the bottom for beach sand, with white large frit that will be the white wave foam.
November 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
cafechatnoir.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I think I have a solid transportable solution for getting all my bits & bobs back and forth to glass classes!

The Container Store came through! They make a BIG rolling tote bag (that rolls wonderfully!) and one of their sweater boxes (tall or short) + a deep […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A large Hulken rolling tote bag from the Container Store. It is about a foot and a half wide and two feet tall, with straps on top and a side strap to pull it about. It is a very shiny purple. The interior of the same bag, with a sweater box that is about 16 by 13 inches and a bin that is 6 by 16 inches. They fit perfectly in the bottom of the bag to give it more structure.
November 14, 2025 at 9:36 PM