More Snow

Yes, we did have a goodly amount of snow all day yesterday into the early hours of this morning.  So of course Aloysius had  to go out for his yearly snow expedition!  It was a lot deeper on the deck than he thought it would be.  I wish I had been able to catch the expression on his face when he landed in the snow bank!

The picture below was taken mid afternoon.  This is what it looked like until I went to bed.

And this is what the deck looked like when I went out around 9:30 this morning to clear a path to the bird feeder.  They are flocking to eat.  It is so important to keep feeders filled when the ground is covered.

We got between eight and ten inches.  Fortunately it's very light and fluffy so it should be easy to get out the driveway.

I've been hearing snow plows out on the road.  This is definitely a good thing.

Today is going to an indoor day.  If I can warm my studio up I want ti make some more forms for handbuilding.  I recommend indoors to one and all.

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

Winter?

It's warm enough for a bunch of little moths to be stuck to the windows at night.  'm glad they aren't inside as the cats go crazy trying to catch them!

Meanwhile, Aloysius had to see how well he would fit into the wreath I was decorating to go outside.  He seems to think he's just swell in it!

My amaryllis are starting to bloom.  I got the bulbs at the market which means that they may or may not last to bloom another year.  I pay so little for them that It;s not a worry.  It certainly is pretty to have more flowers blooming in December.

Enjoy the week.

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

Falling Into Fall

We are enjoying a run of warm fall days.  Temps have been in the sixties, seventies in the sun.  It's so much more pleasant to work outside in the sun, than cold blowing rain and mist, which is what we had last week.  Petunias, snap dragons, calibrochia and passion flowers are happily blooming away.  I'll probably bring them in next weekend.

Aloysius is always yawning to show how bored he is with the whole notion of fall and winter.  Now is the time to snuggle in down quilts and warm windowsills.  When we start the wood stove all will be under it. 

I have started practicing with the brushes I bought at NCECA.  I did this one with the brush on the left. It's an entirely new feeling, but I am very happy with the variety of marks I can make.

Somewhere, probably on Ceramic Arts Daily, I read about practicing making marks on paper plates.  Chinet plates provide something very close to the glaze surfaces I work on.  The problem with paper is that its surface is so different from a glaze surface.

I may do some black and white plates, once I become more confident.  There's no room for mistakes with this kind of brush work.

These are the trees in the yard just before the wind and rain began last week.  Most of the maples have lost their leaves.  The oaks and beech are really changing quickly now.  The oaks are particularly lovely  this year.  Their colors are ranging from pale golds to deep garnet reds.  Some years they just turn brown and drop.  There don't seem to be as many acorns this year.  That may have something to do with our fairly dry summer.

And last, because today is Halloween my little witches have come out once again to wish everyone a BOOtiful day!

Enjoy the fall, or spring.

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

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*

A Fishy Friday

Over on Facebook on Clay Buddies we are posting photos of fish that we have made.  Since I missed my Whistlin' Wednesday this week, I am killing two birds with one stone.  These are three fairly small fish whistles that I made last December.  They started out as Pufferfish and morphed into their own thing.  I fired them on stilts.  If you look closely you can see some of the whistle holes.

Here is Aloysius sleeping on the new bed under the wood stove.  Yes, that really is his favorite sleeping position.  I guess he likes a warm belly!

I don't  think it went above twenty today.  But the sun was out so the sunroom and my studio were quite toasty!  It's going to get cold tonight, but nothing like it was earlier in the week.

Many regrets upon hearing of the death of Leonard Nimoy!  His acting was only a small part of what he accomplished, pointy ears and all!

Enjoy the week end.  Stay warm and dry!

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

Nobody Loves My

Terra Cotta Santa!

I made this guy two years ago and he has always been left behind by customers.  He's about six or seven inches tall and will hang off a sturdy branch.  All the pink Santas sell like the proverbial hot cakes!

Do people think Santa needs to be pale?  I have yet to understand the buying public.  When I made a white Rudolf that was considered pretty odd too!

If Santa doesn't sell this year, I'm keeping him!

Aloysius will sleep anywhere.  This is the crate I put over my computer when I am away from it.  I stuck it over Aloysius yesterday when he was bound and possessed to go out in the cold.  I kind of forgot about him and found him fast asleep.  He didn't stir when I took the photos and the crate away!

We have had an absolutely amazingly gorgeous day.  The temps were well over 60 F.  Rain tomorrow (still always welcome) and another beauty forecast for Tuesday!

Enjoy the week ahead!

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

It's All About MEEEEEE!!!

Or so Aloysius would have us believe!

Many thanks for the many and varied comments about Aloysius. He looks like a tiger with the personality of a bengal.  He's not a bad cat just what the guy on My Cat From Hell calls a Dennis the Menace type.  Yes, Gary, I think Spike and Aloysius are indeed cousins!

On a sadder note I am up here in New Hampshire with my older brother for the next week or so.  His cancer has exhausted him so the family is doing what it can to make things easier for him.

I will try to keep posting as it's the little things that help keep us sane in hard times.

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

Snow

Yes indeed, it did snow here last night into this morning.  Aloysius always wants to get out so I let him onto the partially (enough to get to the wood stack) shoveled deck.  He looked downright insulted and appears to be over his love affair with snow.  He used to go out and roll around in it.  Not anymore!!!

We got about eight inches of very light, powdery stuff with some but not a lot of wind.  Such is not the case further north.  I heard on WGBH this morning that Boxborough MA got the most at about two feet!

I have the heat on in my curtained off studio.  When the sun is out I can get it up to about 62F;  I'm curious to see how it will work out with the temp down around 9F with some wind.  I may not want to throw at 62, but I can certainly handbuild.  Unlike throwing, I stand and move around a lot when I am handbuilding.

Well see, Grasshopper...........we'll see!

Enjoy the snow, or not, and, as always, thanks for stopping by............*s*

Snow and......

IT'S C.C.C.COLD! 

We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning hanging curtains....well, long strips of fabric to block off most of my studio thus creating a small space that I can heat and work in this winter.  I'm am so over having to move stuff upstairs for the winter.  I decided that if I could make it work today.....hasn't gone above 20 F. all day.....it would work over the rest of the winter......which hasn't officially started yet!  The space has started warming up nicely....particularly after we fixed the latch on the window....3/4 of an inch gap open to cold air does not lead to warmth!

I even found room for my tile.  Proge's father gave it to me for my birthday back when I had just come back to clay and we were still together.  It was collected by his grandparents when they went on a grand tour of Europe and other parts of the world around the Mediterranean.  I know very little about it.  I think it's Persian.  Any way I enjoy looking at it.  It tells me stories.

This is Aloysius sitting on the back of the chair watching the birdies.  Kiki was with him until I picked up the camera.  She like to sit by the glass slider and occasionally try try to penetrate the force field that is keeping her from the deck.

Four o'clock and it's getting dark.  I hope no one is getting snowed in too badly or experiencing any of the fires on the west coast.

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

Origins?

I was going through some of my various sketchbooks and notebooks this morning, looking for a croissant recipe.  I came across this sketch in a book dated 7/02 on the spine.   I think it's based on a U-shaped candle...."I burn my candle at both ends..." which I adapted to a holder.  On the other hand I may have seen something along these lines in a catalog.  It was eleven years ago and I made no note of its origins, if indeed there are any.  I suppose it's possible that I dreamt it.  I do note things I have dreamed of, but I have no memory of this one.  If it weren't so obviously done in my style with my writing I might even doubt that I drew it.

I do remember that I had several pairs of hand dipped candles that were this shape.  They were beeswax in soft colors and burned beautifully.  There is nothing like beeswax for a long burning even light.  Plus it has that wonderful scent.

We are a having a spell of cold weather; it hasn't gone above twenty all day.  It generally doesn't get this cold until mid January.....but you never know around here.  It has been snowing softly since mid morning.  I don't think there has been an inch accumulation.  Because it's so cold it sweeps away easily.  I think it's supposed to get heavier and possibly change to rain near morning.  I just hope we are not in for a winter where it starts out snow, turns to rain, then the temperature drops and freezes everything.  Stepping out the door can be treacherous in those conditions.  I can remember at least two winters that we slogged through in that weather pattern.

Meanwhile we have water inside, plenty of wood, a small gas burner and the power inverter if the electricity goes out.

This will probably do in our sales tomorrow.  People in this area tend to stay home even under slightly threatening conditions.  If the roads are bad I'll wait to go over to restock.

Aloysius is sleeping in his favorite box.....he's still in love with the green packing material you sent, Linda.  I think he looks like he was put together without reading the instructions!

I'm going to try to post this to Mud Colony's Facebook page, once I figure out how to do it......that may not happen until tomorrow!

Update:  Did a short post on Facebook....look for Suzi Caswell.  Boy! That thing can really suck you in!

Happy 3rd Advent.  As always, thanks for stopping by..........*s*

Were You Worried?

See how the conquering hero comes!

Sound the trumpets!  Beat the Drums!

Some hero!  Aloysius decided to come home at 4:45 AM this morning.  Winter started barking as though the starship troopers were coming over the hill.  Once we got her calmed down we could hear a certain very vocal kitty out in the yard.  He was sitting under the 4Runner, acting as though we had thrown him out into the cold.  So I gathered him up and and brought him in where Winter proceeded to welcome him by sitting on him.

After breakfast and second breakfast he has slept in his favorite green bubble wrap, which came in the package Linda sent when she was getting ready to sell her house.  I don't know what the love is, but he adopted this particular bubble wrap as soon as I opened the box.

Animals are strange......No doubt about it!

Needless to say we are overjoyed to have Aloysius back in the house and now can begin to resume something approaching normal.

I think I have gotten more done today that I have in the past several days.  In the center are the three little whistles I posted on Sunday all glazed, painted and ready to fire!

The weather is turning colder, no real frost yet, but definitely time to finish getting the plants in.  I'm  going to winter over petunias, nasturtiums, marigolds, and any others I feel like trying.  Right now it's like jungle in here.

I'm taking a tea break, but will head back to the studio in a few moments.

Enjoy the day, and, as always, thanks for stoping by............*s*

Busy Days

It's been a busy, but here and there sort of week.  The sun has been out so we have been trying to get yard and garden into shape.  Finally it has been warm enough to start putting plants outside.

The last of my daffodils are blooming.  They are minis and are always the last to bloom.  I think I need to move them as a lot of the buds dry our before they open.  

We are in the middle of pollen season.  Everything has a green film over it.  I am so glad for modern allergy medications!

 We recycle everything in this house.  Aloysius was bound and determined to fit into the box Linda sent with goodies in it.  He's still sleeping in it.  Who knows the mind of a cat?  I know I sure don't!

My big thing has been experimenting with monoprinting on a gelli plate.  Linda Germain is a printmaker who has great information on the method, both making and using.  Of course I have to complicate things by trying to do it with clay.  I spent a good part of yesterday figuring out that the process does not work on dry tiles.  I think freshly rolled slabs may be more successful.

I am also exploring my printing mediums.  I am trying a mix of frit, gerstly borate and mason stain in a paste form.  I am also trying various underglazes.  I think the trick will be to keep them fairly thick like regular printing inks.

I could just print on paper and use it as a transfer, but that means thinking in reverse and has a different effect that printing directly.

Iam doing this strictly for my own enjoyment.  I am in the process of cleaning and reconfinguring my studio.  I can work on exploring an idea for an hour or two without much mess.

This is the 11x11 gelli plate I made.  It's a little thicker than it needs to be, but I tend to overbuild when I am starting a new project.

If anyone has any ideas or knows of anything out in the ether I would love to hear them.

Adriana asked on her latest post, "What is the pot you would not part with?" After thinking a bit I realized that this guy, which is the first pot I ever made and kept back in 1966 must be the one.  It has stayed with me over many moves and has always been where I can see it.  It has always been special for me, even when I did not think of it as such!

Little did I know, when I potted for about five months back then, what I would get into twenty years later.  I thought of pottery as something I had explored for a few months and left behind, mostly due to life's little complications rather than a dislike of clay.  Sometimes life does have foreshadowing!

I hope everyone has a sunny, good day....or rain if you are in a drought.

This post will also be over on Mud Colony.  Everyone should click on over and explore clay around the world.

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

Behind The Love

Here's a series of photos of what lead up to the hug in Wordless Wednesday.  It's more of a wrestling match involving teeth, paws, and claws. 

The one photo I missed is when Aloysius makes his reverse wiggle and ends up on top of Winter.

They started doing this when Winter was much closer to Aloysius in size and weight.  At first I was concerned that Aloysius would hurt Winter.  Then as Winter grew I worried about the reverse.  However, they both instigate and seem to enjoy their rough and tumble play.

I've been drawing manatees lately, and other critters that I might add to my design vocabulary.

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

Wordless Wednesday

Because a picture is worth a thousand..............

Bag O' Cat

Happy Birthday.......

Mr. President!  Nothing political here, just a simple wish for a happy day and one more dance round the sun!

Another fish.  I think the mouth needs more work, but I'll probably leave it. I'm happy with the eye spots.  I read somewhere that it's thought that they are to intimidate larger fish.  This one's a rattle rather than a whistle.


Also Percy Bysshe Shelley's birthday....died just before his thirtieth birthday.

"When my cats aren't happy, I'm not happy.  Not because I care about their mood, but because I know they're just sitting there, thinking up ways to get even."

Percy Bysshe Shelley........1792-1822

Aloysius has taken to sleeping on the top of the plant shelves.

It's about time you got rid of those stupid plants!

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

Glazing......Reglazing

Start as usual with the helper cat, Who never gives up in his efforts to assist.  Curiosity does not have any bad affect on this guy.....just makes him more curious.

Aloysius, the helper cat

Even good helper cats get tired

It's difficult to see from the top shelf that the reindeer and birds are all stilted.  I use wire stilts with sharp points that break off easily.  They leave small points that are ground down with a touch of a diamond tip Dremel.  I couldn't fit the reindeer in the rest of the kiln so I tucked it in on top.  If this were anything but a prototype I would have fired it upright, but then I would have had enough of the same animals to load at least half a shelf.

Fired kiln, top shelf