Bread

I have become very lazy about my bread baking lately. I have grown too dependent on my Cuban Bread Recipe.  It’s quick and tasty, but gets a little boring after a while.

Yesterday while going through one of my pottery books I found my old recipe for Oatmeal Bread.  I don’t know how it got into a book on teapots, probably as a book mark.

This is a tasty, only slightly sweet loaf.  I made some of it into hamburger buns, which were very tasty. I haven’t toasted it yet, but I think it will work well.

I baked it in a large, free form loaf, which it isn’t really designed for.  It spread a bit more than I wanted, so I future I will probably bake it in loaf pans.

Meanwhile we are getting ready for the coming winter. Wood has been delivered. I am beginning to bring plants in. Somewhere I mentioned that I am rearranging the sunroom. I spend a lot of time in there in cold weather.

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

 

Rain, Rain Stay A Day

 We need days of slow persistent rain, but this will probably end by tomorrow.

Meanwhile our leaves are turning, probably due to stress since we have not had anything near a freezing temp.  And my morning glories which were planted very late in the summer have tons of buds. If we get a few more weeks of the present weather we may have a blue Halloween!

Blogger and I are not agreeing today, so I will wish all a good week. 

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

Who’s The Culprit?

Yet another one bites the dust!

Walked into my bedroom yesterday and found Kiki, Peach, and Grayby all asleep on my bed and my earbuds in pieces.

 Why on earth would you think we would do such a thing?

Stay well and safe.

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

Trials and All

 My this is fun!  I am learning to use the *new* *improved* Blogger!  I find it difficult to think about new  methods while I am trying to type comprehendable sentences.

ANYWAY:

I have been thinking a lot about glazing and why so many potters appear to loathe the process.  I have feeling part of it is due to the thrill of hands in clay and making something vs. the mechanics needed to learn glazing. I am not talking chemistry here, but the methods of applying and combining glazes.  

Below are two tea canisters glazed in Spectrun #799 Majolica White. The designs are Mason Stains. The luna moths are my own mix.  The interesting thing is that this green on Linda Arbuckle’s majolica white is exactly the color of a luna moth. The difference is most likely in the glaze recipes.

Speaking of luna moths I have only seen a few at the beginning of the summer. Our lack of rain and hot weather may have something to do with that.

The fish canister was more successful.  I like the way the blues and the movement of the fish works with the shape of the pot. Not so thrilled with the other side.           Yellow fish needs more movement.

As I said I have thinking about glazes a lot, but I will go ahead and try to post this is the “new & improved” Blogger will let me.  Yes, there is a tiny bit of snark there.

Toes crossed that all are staying well, both mentally and physically.

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

Mermaid

I haven't done a lot of clay this summer, but I have enjoyed messing around with some paper clay I made.  I added a bunch of mushed up and wrung out toilet paper to some recycled white earth. I beat the whole thing with an immersion blender until it was a smooth consistency, and let it dry to a workable body.

She is actually an awkward size, too big to comfortably hold, too small to work on easily on my stand.  Live and learn!

She is pinched and hollow.  One very nice thing about paper clay is that I can go back to it when it's too dry, moisten it, and continue to work.

The top photo is her more or less finished state.  In the bottom photo I have begun to add various coats of slip.  There's still a lot more to do.

We drained the pool and have been madly scrubbing.  Toes crossed we get water next week so we can enjoy a bit of swimming.  It's been time consuming as I am still building up my stamina but totally worth it.

It doesn't seem possible that we are in the last week of July.  Summer is passing way too quickly.

I do hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

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

Hello? July?

But where did June go?

Finally the daylillies are starting to bloom.  They are a few weeks late this year which is not surprising considering how cold our spring was.  It didn't start to get warm until the middle of June.
Now everything is going like gangbusters to make up for lost time.

I think I bought the double yellow below when my pond guy was going out of business.  Our caterpillar infestation of a few years ago almost did it in.  I am delighted at how well it has come back.

The dark red is one I bought for Proge, again from the pond guy. This one is on the edge of the pond.

And last, one of our many frogs.  Because what is a pond without frogs?  We have at least seven; the croak all night.  It's one of the comforting sounds of summer.

I have been getting back into my studio now and them.  I am trying out paper clay.

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





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

June

Hares and Rabbits

Happy June1, 2020