Love the Soldering, Hate the Torch

I bought my torch from an old retired jeweler here in Montana, and I'm now wondering how long I'm going to get on it before I need to replace it. It's an old Smith mini-torch, and everything's a little worn. The hoses are stiff, and I'm a little scared of them being brittle. The hand piece gets hot while I'm using it, too. It's never gotten so hot that it hurts, but I've never used it for extended periods or at high temps, either. The most irritating thing, though, is that it won't keep its levels. I think the oxygen nozzle is worn out. It won't keep at the level I want, it keeps backing off till my cone is gone, and when I back it off to turn off the torch it increases and pops out the flame-every single time! The noise doesn't surprise me anymore, but it's starting to hurt my ears! I'm going to try going to a smaller tip, since I'm using a very low flame, and maybe it will want to work with me at a lower take of oxygen.

In other news, I'm going to be participating in an arts, crafts, and consulting show in Great Falls, about an hour south of here. I talked to the organizer and it's a long running show, with other high-end jewelers, and it will be inside the mall, so I will definitely have some customers. I'm a little nervous about getting stuff together for a show that's only 2 months away (May 1st-3rd) but it seemed like too good of an opportunity to miss! The booth is cheap, and I need something to work towards. The woman I work for at the flower shop said I can borrow any furniture she has, so tables and chair are covered, and another guy I work with that decorates all the weddings around here has lots of displays and decorations I can use. Now I'm designing, which I am having SO MUCH FUN doing, and where the torch troubles come in. Next after that are displays and packaging.

I sold an order on ETSY.com, and that money is just begging to be spent on a tumbler, so I'm off to call Rio!

Thanks if you're reading!

New House!

Hugh, the cats, and I are moving out of my parents' vacation home and into a nearby house. We're replacing the carpet and painting the walls and then we'll be in! The living room has three different colors of wood paneling, and bright orange shag carpet, the kitchen has matching orange countertops and super rad green and orange linoleum, which cuts off and meets up with a DIFFERENT type of green and orange linoleum in the hallway, that connects to the Lisa Frank and Barbie lovechild purple and fuschia carpet in the bedroom. To really bring out the subtle colors in the carpet, though, the paneling in the bedroom is white with pink tinted woodgrain. The whole thing is a piece of art, and I kind of feel bad dismantling it. I don't think I can live with shag, though. And it smells like old people. There's a second bedroom that I'm leaving intact, where I'm putting my studio. It has light blue shag with gold-tinted paneling, and I kind of like it in there. I put a piece of remnant linoleum down so I can make myself feel better about the fire hazard of shag, and so I can still use my rolley chair. I found an old plank table in the basement that I scrubbed and hosed off, put a couple more braces and screws in, and will use as my soldering station. Can't wait to get it all set up and working! Before and After pictures soon.