Stained glass shop, firewood, and bread

My favorite season in Tsukahara is autumn. The days are cool, clear, and no insects…perfect for working outdoors. One of the projects I’ve been wanting to complete is the stained glass shop. I made some extra room in the garage by adding a storage area in the rafters. Next, I made two work benches for stained glass and intarsia. I then added wiring for lights and outlets. All I needed was a view of the mountains. Inagakisan helped with the measurements and I did all the cutting. Thank you, Inagakisan! The windows were part of my original plans to build an observatory with a roll-off roof. Those plans were cancelled and I purchased a ScopeDome instead…yeah!! Instead of wasting the brand new windows, I decided to use them for the stained glass shop. The windows look great and they let in all kinds of light. Plus, I now have a great view to daydream as I work on some stained glass projects I have planned in the near future (more on those projects in a future post).

We’re all ready for a cold winter. Erika sawed, split, and stacked all the wood. She’s amazing! 

It’s been a while since I baked a loaf of sourdough French bread. I decided to use a different recipe since I’m using an oven. The oven has a dough proofing setting and a setting just for baking loaves of bread. As you can see, the bread was a success! The sourdough starter is over a hundred years old and was given to me from a friend (Debbie) as a going away present. The starter originally came from Alaska. The bread is delicious and the texture is light and airy with plenty of air pockets (crumb). What really makes this bread special is the crust. The oven pulses heat from above and below the loaf as it bakes. This created a crust that is crunchy, flaky, and golden brown…yummmm. 

I'll end this post by writing that the weather has been clear (mostly) and that means...imaging! I'll be posting a narrowband image of the Elephant Trunk Nebula soon. I've also been collecting photons of the Pacman Nebula, Wizard Nebula, and the Crescent Nebula. Stay tuned...