Manatee Monday

It doesn't always have to be Mugs on Monday.  Here are two manatee whistles waiting to be glazed and decorated.

The Stegosaurus started out as a dragon maquette and morphed into this.  I guess I wasn't paying attention!  

 
My favorite pie plate has developed a crack so I had to use a Pyrex plate to make

Banoffee Pie........ IT WAS DELICIOUS!

We woke up to snow this morning.  A few heavy, wet inches fell; nothing like what our local weather mavens have been having so much fun predicting!  Snow in March is not unusual here.

It's mostly melted now.

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

We've Come To Bring Stella Home

Four years ago today we drove to Connecticut to look at a little white half corgi that had been rescued along with her rambunctious brothers.  We took one look at her and said, "We've come to bring Stella home." She was a very shy pup and obviously needed a home away from her brothers.

In the car we decided to rename her Winter (an homage to Game of Thrones).  We knew we would change her name as the idea of walking around in the woods calling "STELLA" did not appeal!

Below is her annual birthday portrait.

This one I took the day she came home.  The daffodils were in full bloom.  As I recall it was in the 70's, and stayed that way for several days.  This year we are not going to have as many blooms.  We had warm days in January which made them come up.  Then it got cold which led to a lot of winter burn and killed the budding.  I should take them up and separate them this summer.
 

The crocuses are in full bloom.  I find their flowers so hopeful......yes, spring and summer will come!

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

Too Much Mucha?

Another experimental mug.  This time I am testing one of Spectrum's Low Fire Metallics on the base.  No, I don't remember which this is.  It's a surprise!

 This is three views of the same mug. I'm using my old Three Graces theme.  As I said in the post title, I think I have been looking at entirely too much Mucha!

It's warming up outside.  We are starting the yard clean up to get rid of all the winter debris that always seems to accumulate!

The daffodils are raising their heads again.  I'm hoping for flowers in a week or so.  Time will tell!

Enjoy the week.  Toes crossed that Grandfather Frosty has gone home to the North Pole!

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

Finished

Finished the little teapot/cruet and put it in the kiln.

These are shots I took for my own records so they are not the best.  Some of the colors look dark  because they are waxed.

I'm almost finished with glazing.  Now I want to make mugs and stuff to bisque.  

We are expecting weather tonight and tomorrow.  By the weekend I'm going to start opening the pool.  Not for swimming, obviously, but do enjoy looking out my window at the pool area ready for swimming!

The daffodils are up and showing buds.  They look a little shocked due to the variegated winter weather, but they should be fine!

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

Another Monday....Mug

Two views of yet another mug that has gone into my very slow kiln loading process. 

This one is a little different from a lot of my other work.  As all the mugs that I have posted lately are tests I made for shrinkage I'm enjoying the freedom to experiment a little.

It's breezy but the sun is out and the days are definitely getting warmer.  Morning yard walks have become pleasurable again!

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

I'm a Little Tea Pot!

Interesting things happen when you sort and clean.  Yet another piece that was lost and then found on the back of a shelf that I now use for towels and pet blankets.

It's quite small; I think I would call it a cruet rather than a teapot.

It's thrown and altered in white earth with a white base glaze that I put on  before I forgot about it.  From the way the stains are going on, I'm guessing that it's a shiny glaze rather than matte. The mermaids and fish are done and outlined.  Next I will wax them and lay down a sea blue/green wash.  When that dries I will blend it to get rid of brush marks and put in various seaweeds and plants.

One of the hardest thing for me to do is to let each step dry before going on to the next.  I usually work on something else to keep my hands off and my mind on something else! 

I had my four month follow up with my doctor yesterday.  I had not been paying very good attention to my diet so my Alc numbers had been climbing over the last year.  I had agreed that if I did not lower it from 6.7 to 6.3 I would consider medication.  It is now at 6.2!  Needless to say I am very happy.  Having something work is a great incentive to continue, especially in these days of the winter doldrums.

 I have to give a huge thank you to Mariette at http://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com for teaching me about palm sugar.  I don't eat a lot of sugar, but when I do I want the real stuff.  I can't eat artificial sweeteners as they give me migraine's.  (So far Stevia seems to be okay.) So THANK YOU, MARIETTE! 



As usual with the weather it has gone through another drastic change.  It's now 45F. and sunny! My daffodils are up about three inches!   I am going to clean up the deck a bit more now that the snow is gone!

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

Valentine's Day

A mug for Valentine's Day.

Wishing all a happy day!  I haven't really celebrated since 1997.  But there are a lot of happy memories I like to revisit.

This is a design I came up with many years ago.  I have only resurrected it in the last year or so.  It is is a test piece.  The bottom is glazed in one of the Spectrum low fire metallics.  The rest in majolica base Spectrum #799 with my own mixed stains.

I am still practicing building tripod mugs.  It's not quite as easy as it looks!

I should learn how to use the movie function on my camera.  Then I would not have to post four photos for one mug!

I may make some fish today in honor of the fish in the pond who are snuggled down in the depths of the pond.

It's sunny and cold the temp has fallen since earlier this morning.  It's now about -2F.  Toes crossed that it really does warm up later in the week.

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