Why is it that every time I get really grooving on a stained glass project, every client I've ever had comes out of the woodwork needing me to write code for them?

For the last week, I've been sneaking down to the basement to do ten minutes at a time of leading. "Oh, I have to, uh... check the laundry. Right! Down to the basement I go, la di da..." You can get a decent amount accomplished this way. Denial is your friend.

I now have approximately 28% of the first panel leaded. Fitting in that big red-purple diamond in the middle felt good, let me tell you.

Notes to self: never ever again buy Spectrum 100K crackle glass. The ripply veins of texture are so pronounced that they make the glass thicker, in places, than you can fit into a lead came channel. So I've been having to use my grinder in ways that this particular grinder was never meant to be used. I always wondered what was the point of a disc grinder. Now I know.

Also, the mystery Wissmach glass I'm using for my flower petals has a texture problem all its own. Both sides are very finely stippled, as opposed to the mirror-smooth finish on the "cutting side" of Spectrum glass. This makes cutting slightly tougher on the Wissmach, but not enough to be a big pain. No, the big pain is trying to get spray adhesive off the Wissmach, an experience that I imagine is similar to trying to get bubble gum off of concrete.

I don't know how much time I'll have left to steal for the rest of this month. For every item I cross off my to-do list, two more arise to take its place. As for Christmas, I'm pretending it doesn't exist. I don't have time for so much as a bah humbug. Although we did break out the red-velvet-and-white-fake-fur Christmas jingle collars for the dogs the other day, and watching Polar spin alertly in circles, wearing his collar and trying to figure out where the noise was coming from was, I'll admit, pretty darned festive.