“Don’t be defeatist, dear. It’s very middle class.”

Wes, age 9, running after gigantic snow clumps.
Photo taken by Heather Kuhlken of Pedernales Cellars.

I had a fantastic weekend camping. Yes, there were freezing temps plus the hassle factor of packing and unpacking, oh, and the sleeping on the ground part, but we were with a bunch of fun people and it made it all worth it. On the tail end of our trip the 4 of us went on a final hike which was probably my highlight. How nice to cap the weekend with a hike while it was snowing! (It was also a great opportunity to check in with the one another, since when the group was around we were off in 4 different directions.)

To make my day even more complete, Downton Abbey came on at 8 pm. (The quote in the title of this post was spoken by the Dowager Countess played by Dame Maggie Smith. If you are not watching this Masterpiece Classic program on PBS, you must start.)

So, today instead of printing, which I am desperate to do since I want to test out the Tesla patents that I recently laser etched into chip board, I will be whipping the house back into shape. In the frenzy of departure and arrival, the place is in shambles. Before I sign off to work on our smoky laundry, here's a piece anodized aluminum that was given to MAKEatx as a sample. It's about the size of a credit card, but thinner--so thin it doesn't need to be beveled when printing intaglio.

About a week ago I inked, wiped and printed the plate using Akua inks and was surprised the image held up. The etch is so subtle my fingers could barely register the image on the plate, so I'm thinking with a deeper etch the print will look even better. I was given a blank sample, so I'll know soon enough.