Home Is The Hunter

After three days of wandering around in the woods Aloysius came home.  Well actually, he was sitting under the truck and meowing.  Proge managed to grab him and brought him in.  Aloysius, of course, has an attitude of "What's the big deal?"

Eating and sleeping appear to be the agenda for today at least. 

We are relieved and pleased that he is back, but at the same time there is an urge to strangle him for scaring us so!

Enjoy the day.

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

Spring at Last?

I started this entry several days ago.  Then Aloysius managed to get a door open and escape in the middle of the night.  (There's nothing like stumbling around making tea in the morning and finding a wide open door to wake you up quickly!)  He started hanging around, still outside, last night, but we weren't up for a merry chase through the woods at midnight.  This seems to be something Aloysius needs to do every once in a while.  The problem is that we have too many predators that like to eat cats.

He's near the house so I'm sure we'll get him in today.  Ah the joys of being a pet owner!

Meanwhile, we really are seeing signs of spring.  The daffodils are in full bloom.  Even the little minis that I barely remember planting (They were a little pot of bulb that I stuck in the ground after they finished blooming.) are coming along.  By next week between violets and vinca we should have a purple carpet covering most of the yard.

In honor of spring I have changed my photo to my little bird.  He's fairly old and one of the first birds I ever made.  He's glazed in Spectrum Satin Matte with my own Mason Stain mixed colors.  I think he even made it into a show.  I liked him so much that I have kept him as a symbol of good fortune.

Below are two mermaid whistle prototypes.  I've made these as ornaments and magnets, but never tried them as whistles until now. I made a basic mold out of Sculpy.  Once I take the form out of the mold I can individualize it.  The faces are penciled in for reference.  I'll use paint to do the faces after they are fired.  This is only the base glaze.  There are scales and such to come.

Whistles are something I do when I feel like I have no ideas left.  They usually get me moving in a new direction.  I now have a list of stuff I want to make!  Of course the warmer weather adds to my creative juices!

These are the mini daffs I wrote or earlier, with what looks like some sort of  bulb.  I have no idea where it came from!

Even the flamingoes have come out of hiding!

It's a cloudy and drizzly morning with promises of warmer sun later in the day.  It's hard to believe that April is almost gone,  Tempus fugit!

Enjoy the coming week

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

Sliders

 I got my Giffen Grip for my birthday many years ago.  Since we share the same day I bought new sliders to refresh an old friend.  Each slider is individually adjustable which should make working on the bases of square mugs and bowls a lot easier.

The sun is shining and the daffodils by the house are in full bloom.  Usually by this time the border bed has passed and the flowers out in the yard are blooming away.  Those are just beginning to show buds!

I can't complain!  We are enjoying more that two sunny days in a row.  Yesterday it was so warm that I hung my laundry outside and it dried!  Oh Happy Day!

Sadly, our swimming pool liner has bitten the dust.  Again, no complaints as it outlasted its warranty by fifteen years.  From what we read replacement is fairly straightforward and easy.

I'm cleaning my studio.  I still ask myself how I manage to accumulate all this stuff with such regularity!

Enjoy Spring!

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

P.S.   Meesh and Jeff have closed on their new house and studio.  They're still accepting order for Mugs For Moving.  Take a look!............*s*

Spring? Really?

Mother Nature woke up last Friday and appears to have banished Grandfather Frosty!  

We are enjoying sunny days.  It may go up to seventy today!  We are so ready for this.  The ground is still pretty solid so no real digging yet, but a lot of raking is in order.

The crocuses bloomed on Friday, but yesterday, on my birthday, one daffodil bloomed.  I feel like I was given a most special gift

The fish are up from the bottom and swimming around.  They come over to where we are standing, expecting to be fed.  We did lose five fish this year.  We think it was a combination of old age and the ice and snow being too thick so that no light or oxygen got through.  We still have about two dozen plus some babies.  I swear they have all grown, although I don't see how they could.  We're going to but in a small heat ring next winter to keep a small area open.

We will keep the net on until the trees leaf out a bit.  We took it off too early last year and almost became a feeding area for hawks and animals!

Lastly, this is the mug I bought at the NCECA Cup Sale.  I know nothing about the maker, but I think the yellow is a cheerful color.  It's also pleasant to drink from!
 

Here's to a sunny week, with perhaps a little rain!

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

Memories

I was going through more old photos yesterday and found this one.  I can remember my big brother, Bob taking these. I think it was our last spring in Dearborn, Michigan.  That summer we moved permanently to Rhode Island.

  My younger brother Jonathan and I are in outfits that our Mother made for us.  She used to make most of my clothes because she did not like the quality of what she found in stores.

 Easter ca.1950

Enjoy day what ever holiday you do or don't celebrate.  But I think we could all make a toast to the coming sunny days.

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

Brushes and Mugs

Yes, I did go a little mad buying mugs and brushes.  But I only bought stuff that really appealed to me.

I have always had a liking for Posey Bacopoulos's work.  This is the second mug of hers that I have bought.  I had never seen Roberta Shapiro's work.  I was so drawn to her sense of design, her use of color and line, that I had to buy this mug.

Both were purchased from the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York.  It has always been a special place to me because it's where I did my first long (ish) workshop with Elsbeth Woody.  A group of us went there for a one day workshop.  We then invited her to come to Kingston and jury our Earthworks show.  She was one of the best jurors we have ever had.  I am going to have to go through old photos and see if I have any pictures of the one week workshop I took the next year.  It was all about building big with little wads of clay.  She was one of the inspirations that made me return to college and finish my degree.

I can't exactly remember where I bought my brushes. The top three are from Chinese brush makers.  The two lower sets came from two different companies.  When I have time to become a bit more proficient I will post some photos of the marks I make with them.

I could look up the receipts and figure out what I bought where......maybe tomorrow!

P.S.  For more thoughts about NCECA go over to Lori Watts.  She just did a post today with lots of pictures.

We are finally enjoying many sunny days in a row.  Toes crossed that the snow will all be melted by my birthday on April 12......but I'm not really counting on it!

Enjoy the week ahead and, as always, thanks for stopping by...........*s*

POW!!!

  

Pottery on Wheels was one of the real highlights of NCECA.  It was great to see the finished interior (and exterior) of the van after watching the progress on line. 

 Unknown on left   Hayne Bayless on right

 Intrepid POW People!

 Some of the stuff for sale.

 More stuff!

 I enjoyed the entire NCECA process.  Lots to do and see.  Saw old friends and met some online friends.  The crowds were not as bad as I thought they might be.  If I started getting overwhelmed I found a quiet spot to sit for a few minutes.

I'll post more of my loot in the coming days.  I overindulged in BRUSHES!

We are finally getting consistently warmer weather.  It may even reach, shhhhh, sixty by the weekend!

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