Summer!

And it is passing way too quickly.  Here it is the middle of July and I feel like we have barely begun.  I blame it on the winter that wouldn't quit and the chilly spring.

Meanwhile I have been glazing and making at a slow but steady pace.  Below are two terra cotta planters that I bought and have glazed with spectrum glazes.  I used to these with great success.  I scrubbed the surfaces with a clean scrubby and vinegar and let dry.  Toes crossed that all goes well!   

These are Italian terra cotta which as I recall was far more successful than Mexican terra cotta.  I would say it's the formulation of the clay body than anything else.  We'll see, Grasshopper, we'll see..... 

I finally finished painting the turtle!  I was held up by a disastrous spill of wax across the tree.  I carefully scraped it down to the clay, then sponged and scrubbed (very carefully) with vinegar.  I ten had to dry it, which took forever with the humidity we have been having.  I then had to reglaze with three coats carefully brushed on. When the glaze was dry I could get down to repainting.  I probably would not have spent so much time on what is an experiment if I had not been three-quarters done!

I also managed to break my mermaid mold.  Sculpy breaks if you drop it.  I can't even blame the cats!  So I am making a new clay mermaid so I can make a new mold.  One more thing!

Speaking of Mermaids....Click on the link to see my dear great niece in her mermaid guise. Mermaid On The Beach, scroll down about two thirds of the page! 

Today would be my sister's eightieth birthday!  Here is a very old snapshot, probably taken by our older brother with his Brownie.

We are in the back yard of our house of our house in Hyattsville, MD.
Our father was working on government stuff during the war.  It was all very secret so we never really knew what he did.  My mother always said it was the smallest house we ever lived in, but there was a housing shortage and everybody made do.

The dogs are Duke and the tail end of Duchess, siblings barely out of puppyhood.

Aside from pottery and gardening we are preparing to put the new liner and pump in the pool.  We thought about replacing the whole pool, until we priced a new one.  For less that one third of the cost we can replace everything for less than a third the cost of a new one

Here's to summer days!

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