Summer's End

 Halfway through October and we are having Indian Summer.  The garden is thriving in a late summer bloom, which is much appreciated as May and June were so wet that everything rotted as it was planted. We covered the fish pond with the leaf net because the leaves are starting to fall, sassafras in particular, a tree for which I can find little or no use.  At first we worried about the frogs getting caught on top of the net, but they seem to come out for the sun and go back under in the late afternoon.

I am getting the sun room ready for bringing plants inside.  Wintering over so-called 'summer' plants helps me get through the winter.......not my favorite time of year.

I got a new shipment of tea last week.  I love opening the new bags, touching, smelling and tasting the new varieties and old friends I've ordered.  If you drink a lot of it, I totally recommend buying loose tea from a good company.  I would become totally poverty stricken if I were to on quality tea bags from the market!

Two new teapots.

I love to alter forms.  Remember the Gilbert and Sullivan song?  "Things are seldom what they seem.  Skim milk masquerades as cream." These two started life as thrown forms which I start altering as soon as they are set up a little.  Trimming, spouts, lids, handles are all added at a soft leather stage. (Without
getting too hung up in definitions 'soft leather' for me is like the leather in a comfortable pair of shoes, not as pliable as glove leather, but not close to belt leather.)  The first pot is from the idea of Aladdin's lamp.  Could a djinn come out the spout?  Perhaps tea is the djinn.

The second one is based on the goonie birds.  Yes, there they are in the background.

I have all sorts of teapots, some functional, some decorative.  However, there is something in me that has    to make my teapots functional.  These two will not hold much more than a mug full, but they should work.  We'll see, Grasshopper, we'll see....

And a Happy Birthday to Steve Reich.  At seventy-five he is still going strong composing, performing inspiring younger artists to stretch their boundaries.  A nice example to a woman of 'a certain age'!