I Was Looking For Old Santas

Instead I found 

Three Little Witches

I made these many years ago when I was teaching developmentally delayed adults.

I still haven't found the Santas!  Maybe I gave them away!

Happy Halloween!

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

Monday Mug

This is the prototype mug I made back when I became slightly nauseated at the mawkish sayings that were appearing on mugs and other items.  This one reads Scratch One Sweet Bird of Youth!  Yes, that is a bird in his/her mouth.  I don't think I have any Catch the Bluebird of Happiness around.  You can use your imagination for that one!

Reactions were always at the extreme, either people thought it was hysterical or that I was a severely cynical person for making these!

A Happy Birthday shout out to Meesh (a.k.a. Michele Hastings)!  Have a great day or week, because birthdays should be celebrated over several days!

Enjoy your day.

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

Another Dahlia

Just because it's pretty!

We live in what could be called an odd mini microclimate.  The house is in a wood consisting of beech, oak and maple.  We don't have a lot of space cleared so the trees tend to keep cold off the ground.  I still have morning glories and other flowers happily blooming.  Hopefully the frost will stay away for a few more weeks.

It's stuck in an old mug. Not the best color choice, but it was at hand.   I often save them for various uses.

It looks like we are having a sunny week end with temps in the sixties.  Toes crossed that all have equally enjoyable days.

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

Lost Stuff Found

The dahlias toes that I found at the beginning of August have begun to bloom.  The toes were in a bucket of dry peat and cat litter that I thought I had emptied.  All I really wanted to do was give them enough growing time to get strong enough to make it through the winter.  The blooms are a real bonus. These is also a lavender and purple that is starting to open.  Toes crossed that it makes it through the oncoming rain.  Mr Harrelson had a find old time chewing up a bunch of them that blew over in some wind a few weeks ago, so we moved them up close to the house.  Even the gnawed ones are showing signs of buds.  Maybe frost will hold off for a few more weeks!

I made the pigs and garlic pots back in the fall of 2011.  The garlic pots dried so fast that I never cut the air holes in them.  The pigs were supposed to be banks.  I cut the slits but never made the cork holes on their bellies.  Then their feet fell off and were glued back on with spooze.  I saved them for glaze tests and experiments.  I went digging for them yesterday because I was thinking about making a bunch of test bowls; remembered these guys; it only took me an hour to find them!

I may make a few of a better size for our upcoming Christmas Sale.....we'll see, grasshopper....we'll see!

We are expecting a couple of days of rain to start soon.  Toes crossed we get some heavy showers.  Things are not dire....but rain is good.  It's amazing how the garden has picked up with the few inches we have had.  Plants are much happier with rain than with hand watering!

BTW to see how dogs are celebrated with their own holiday in Nepal go to Jenny Mendes's blog!

We've had warm days and cool nights; I hope everyone is enjoying good weather too.

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

Monday Comes And.....

So do mugs.

I've been experimenting a bit.  These are handbuilt in white earth.  The interiors are glazed with Spectrum #700 clear.  The exteriors have a bit of Mason Red-Brown added to the clear.  The designs are done with Mason Stains in paste (1:1 Frit 3124 @ Gerstley Borate).  I'll brush a coat of clear over the exteriors when they are good and dry!

These are the last of the bunch.  I forgot to take any photographs of the others.  Documenting work goes out the window when I get into a deep work mode.  These stayed on the shelf overnight so I took a few shots.

We actually started the wood stove last night.  This may be the earliest we have lit it in several years.  We still haven't had any frost!  It's warming up a bit .  Seventies are predicted for tomorrow.

Enjoy the week and the changing season.

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

If It's Tuesday It Must Be......

TEAPOTS!

I finally found the little raku teapot I made many years ago when a group of us from the SCAA Potters Coop were firing with Tom Ladd at his studio.  We became a pretty efficient crew.  I think one day we did fourteen pulls.  And we always managed to bring a lot of good food too!

I pinched this from a either a raku clay or a ^6-8 white.  It holds about twenty-four ounces of tea.  Being raku, I have never actually brewed tea in it.  However, it pours very nicely indeed.

Perhaps it's because I have drunk so much tea in my like but making dripless spouts has never been a huge problem for me.  Those are words I may come to regret, so I am knocking a lot of wood!

The lid was fired separately.  The little drip of glaze at the end is pure serendipity!

I was listening to the Berlin Philharmonic and Anna Sophie Mutter playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major this morning and it struck me once again how much I miss my big AR speakers.  I have top quality Bose speakers for my computer but they cannot match the room filling sound and nuance the big speakers had.  Alas they died of old age this past winter.  Meanwhile we are saving our pennies!

It's a strange, warmish, mostly cloudy day today with rain expected later on and into tomorrow morning.  We still welcome rain.  Toes crossed that we will catch up after our very dry September!  Meanwhile I am starting to bring plants in, a sure sign of the changing seasons!

Enjoy the day.  As always, thanks for stopping by............*s*

More Spoons

I found two of the plastic spoons that used to come with Chinese take out.  I like the shape so I used them as molds.  The funny little one is an experiment to make it sit upright.  I think I will make future spoons of this type with a little wedge of clay at the base to make them stand.  The back one is made from the same larger spoon but with a long handle.  It's meant to be a 'tasting spoon'.  Does anyone remember these?  You put the soup in the spoon and tilt it down the handle so you can taste without burning your mouth.  Both my mother and Nanu had these in wood.

I'll make a few more of these to get the feel of them.  I think I'll make the tasting spoon with it's own spoon rest.  Who wants soup all over their stove or counter?

I hear rumors of it going down to the thirties tomorrow night.  Today I'm getting out all my old blankets and covers,  just in case!  I'll bring in a bunch of plants, but I want to keep the morning glories and dahlias going.  We could have a few nights of light frost, then great weather until Thanksgiving!


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

Enjoy the coming week.

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