Monday, August 4, 2014

Majolica Monday or Time Flies

I can't believe a whole week has passed since my last post.  I have been caught up in trying to make little dippers to go in some honey pots I want to make.  If I continue to make them at the pace I have been, the price of the honey pots will more than double!  NOT a practical idea!  These each hold between a teaspoon and tablespoon of honey.  Of course they will be smaller once they are fired.

I don't have the patience to put them though a bisque and glaze firing so I will glaze them with my oh so reliable Spectrum White #799 and once fire them.  The handles are particularly fragile so a delicate touch is in order here.  The middle dipper with the coil is an experimental mend.  Long ago I learned in an Elsbeth Woody workshop that if you can't hide a seam, emphasize it and make it part of the design.

We'll see, grasshopper.........we'll see.......



My day lilies are glorious this year.  I was a little concerned because our winter was so rough, but they have come through better than ever.  My camera is still not doing well taking pictures outdoors.  This was a bud I knocked off so I brought it in to enjoy.  It's in one of my little Delft cow creamers.


We have a new, slightly unwelcome resident!  A woodchuck is living under the shed.  He/she is quite bold and comes out in the middle of the day and stands on the ramp into the shed quite happily surveying all in sight.  Winter barks when she knows he/she is out there but her run doesn't go over to the shed.  We've been walking her around the ared and encouraging her to do her doggy business there.

If the crittur would remain happy with the violets it would be fine.  Unfortunately there seems to be a developing taste for petunias!

One of the pool hoses developed a leak.  It was a very slow drip so I wasn't too concerned, but did go buy a new hose.  On Friday I noticed the leak was getting worse.  Then before my eyes a nice little stream appeared with a hiss.  I grabbed a screwdriver to undo the clamps, got the hoses tied up so no more water leaked out and had the skies open up.  It finally seems to have stopped raining, so repairs can be done.  Just in the nick of time as the water is getting a pretty green glow to it.

My toes are crossed that all our little disasters stay just that.  Small and easily solved!

The sun is finally coming out; hope all is well across the world!

As always, thanks for stopping by.........*s*


15 comments:

  1. It's probably an old Chinese proverb, may all your disasters be little ones. I also wish that for you. I made one sugar scoop once. One.

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  2. Hi Barb....Thanks. Much better than living in interesting times! There must be some secret to making spoons, scoops and ladles I haven't discovered, or else these are being given away!

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  3. Hi Cheri...I agree! Save the petunias and the marigolds if I can. I'm thinking of planting a special garden of cheap petunias, marigolds and violets by the hole. Woodchucks appear to be fussy eaters! I have marigolds eaten to stems and dahlias next to them in fine shape. I'll be really annoyed if my dahlias get eaten!
    Glad you like the dippers. Of course I will show them glazed and decorated!

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    1. Hi Lori...It's probably the answer. I just want to be sure it's not a 'she-chuck' with babies!

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  5. Dearest Suzi,
    Just now I notice that I have been writing Suzy so many times... SORRY!
    Well, you keep me amazed with your trials and artistic production. Those honey dippers look very nice and I like the one with the coil. Is it not amazing that for thousands of years people have been producing pottery and passing on little tricks and such and still, new ideas are being born as we write... It is lovely and only too bad that with our time we can only do one thing at a time.
    Oh my, a hungry woodchuck that is snacking on your annuals. Hope he will behave but one never can control wild critters.
    Your problems were indeed minor... Pieter discovered a bigger problem. Due to all the rain we got this spring and summer, he has not been using the hose for sprinkling the lawn. But when he wanted to clean up the pipes and running the pump briefly, he noticed that the pipes that lie under the new concrete and tiled patio in front of the house must be broken or whatever. No more water is coming through. BIG problem as nobody ever can get to them... The faucet is sticking up through the tiles, built into the concrete and tiled around but not working. Too bad, guess they somehow ruined the pipes with the heavy concrete, wheelbarrows and several men working on top of them... What can we do?
    The airconditioning had quit working in our car, I noticed it already quite a while ago, like lack of fresh air too. So today after some $ 400 bill it got repaired, together with a tune up. Nice surprises and we never know what will be next. But still, it could be a lot worse.
    We've been goofing off on the balcony, reading, drinking tea, talking... Feels like having vacation. Not true when you stay home as there's always lots to do! But this was good, we had sunshine and so far no rain today.
    Sending you hugs and best wishes for summer.
    Mariette

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    1. Hi Mariette...Thanks for the encouraging words. One of the things I love about working with clay is the endless possibility of variety. I have often felt I will never have another creative thought. Then something jogs an idea loose and I am off and running!
      Your water pipe problem sounds truly awful after all the work you did to make such a lovely area. Hopefully there will be some way to solve the problem!
      How relieved you must have been to find the AC could be easily fixed. It's a true essential in your part of the country!
      I never had a car with air conditioning until ten years ago when It came with the second hand vehicle I was buying. I was working then and spending a lot of time driving. I quickly found that my allergy problems were noticeably less! My fan is on it's last legs so I will have to replace it before winter. No fan for heat in winter is impossible!
      We have been consciously doing vacation hours. Morning beverage on the deck or by the pond, afternoon hours by the pool. As you say sometimes it's hard to slow down at home.
      Take care and enjoy the summer days,

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    1. Hi Gary....As long as they don't become BIG DISASTERS!!!

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  7. That is one gorgeous lily! We've had our share of pool disasters this year too. The AC repairman just left. Pool guy comes back tomorrow. Ugh. Hope your disasters clear up quickly!

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  8. Hi Claudia....My lilies have been wonderful this year. Hope that the pool is an easy fix, with no more disasters!

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  9. Those little dippers are very sweet... I have a weak spot for spoons.
    I hope mister woodchuck decides to either relocate or stay out of the petunias!

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    1. Hi Michele....Thanks; I'm still experimenting!
      Woody is a bold fellow. Yesterday afternoon he was out eating violets without a care in the world.

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  10. we don't have woodchucks here but that sounds a nuisance.. we do have possums that run races on the roof at night just as I'm nodding off.. ha not appreciated.Looking forward to seeing your dippers glazed. Handy to be able to single fire...

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  11. Hi Anna....We don'r have many possums here, but when we lived by a salt pond we had possums that would eat with the barn cats. We said the cats thought they were just very ugly cats! We do have squirrels that love to jump off overhanging branches onto the roof. As you say....Not appreciated!
    We have two days of rain predicted; good time to stay inside!

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