The rain stopped and the skies cleared, just in time to take the door to the gas kiln down.
Overall we are happy with the results. Jeff is starting to produce tiles again. A wood fired version of these are in the 500 Tiles book. This one was made with our 505 Main clay, glaze is Jeff’s ash glaze, applied with a sprayer.
One of my carved bowls. White slip over STARworks, East Fork clay. The exterior was dipped in tenmokku, interior is the sprayed, ash glaze.
As always, there were piggy banks and vessel sinks in this firing. Most were orders, but I also have a few “ready to ship” pigs that you can find in my Etsy shop.
If my mother were still with us, her and Dad would be celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary today. My paternal grandmother gave them a boudoir chair as a wedding gift. I have always loved that chair. Over the years my parents reupholstered it themselves and repaired the spring system in the seat cushion. Last winter the springs gave out again my Dad decided he wanted a new chair. He was going to throw away the old one. I couldn’t bear to see it thrown out and asked if I could have it. We made sure there was room in the trailer to bring it back to North Carolina after the show in August.
So now I have a 63 year old chair that I am going to attempt to reupholster! I clearly remember the three different fabrics that have adorned this chair. I also remember a photo my mother took of me sitting in it when I was a toddler. Now I have to decide if I want to update it with a modern print or find a fabric that is fitting to 1954. I think I better watch some youtube video about upholstery projects before I tackle the job!
It’s been a weird time for me since returning from our August trip to New Hampshire. I feel like I have lost my rhythm in work and everything else in life. I am trying hard to kick my ass back into shape and be more productive. I can find lots of excuses for this state of disarray… weather, politics, aches and pains, the list could get quite long!
Last week I lost probably two days of work because of a stubbed toe! It wasn’t an ordinary stubbed toe, it was a twisted around stubbed toe that when looking at it, made me break out into a sweat and nearly pass out. Eventually I was able to massage it back into the right place. It wasn’t dislocated and I doubt it is broken… just a bad sprain. Needless to say my toe has looked like a fat little purple sausage and the top and bottom of my foot is swollen and bruised. A week later and I am still limping around.
I spent another afternoon watching the weather on television and making preparations for a tornado. We were under a tornado warning for much of the afternoon. Nothing materialized, but I was ready if it did. Next we have to worry about hurricane Irma. At least I have a plan already in place.
I have managed some accomplishments… piggy banks are made and glazing has commenced. I carved some new mug designs but glazed them before I could take photos. Today I will finish up a couple of pigs and help Jeff glaze sink orders.
How have I spent the rest of my days? Reading, watching the hummingbirds, experimenting with a cold ferment pizza dough, and enjoying our moon flowers. The vacuuming will have to wait.
August started out with a whirlwind of activity. We fired the kiln twice in one week and quickly sanded, priced, and packed it all for the road trip to New Hampshire and the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair. The good friend that we have always stayed with during the fair moved to Connecticut in the Spring, which meant we had to make a decision on accommodations. We settled on renting a tiny cabin at a campground in nearby Newport, NH.
We had a half bath for convenience, and the campground showers were nearby and clean. It worked out well for us. Renting a place to stay was an added expense, but thankfully we did well at the show and covered the cost. It was sort of fun to come back to at night, grill some dinner, and eat on the little porch.
On the road between the campground and the fair is a pick your own blueberry farm. Jeff and I took some time one evening and picked four pounds of blueberries. The branches were heavy with berries and it took us about fifteen minutes to fill our pail.
The weather has been great, just one rainy day. Nights in the 50’s and most days hovered around 70. The show is over and we are now in Wolfeboro, NH, visiting my sister and her family for a few days. It was nice to have a day off today. I think it’s the first on in over a month!
I wanted to try growing something different. These are heirloom yellow pear tomatoes. They are about the size of grape tomatoes. I have to say, they are good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Very soon we should have some “big boys”… a great tomato for a BLT. Our plants are HUGE. Taller then me. I really think that everything grows bigger in North Carolina.
The bowl that holds the tomatoes is one that Jeff salvaged a few weeks ago. It’s one his that was wood fired and had cracked in two pieces. He repaired it with stone epoxy and now we have great bowl to use for ourselves. I don’t even mind the crack. I think it adds character.
One week from today we will be in New Hampshire, setting up our booth for the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair. Tomorrow we unload the kiln, and load it up again. One last firing before we hit the road.
I haven’t checked in for awhile. We are still here and working hard for the final push to get to our biggest show of the year next month. Jeff threw fifty mugs the other night. He decided that I would pull the handles on all of the straight sided mugs and he would do the altered mugs. I was very hesitant about putting my handles on his mugs. He wasn’t concerned a bit. I tried my best to make them look more like his. In the end they were a combination of the two!
Aside from pottery work, we are really enjoying our land this year. We have quite a few tomato plants that are just starting to give us fruit, and along with the herbs and flowers, we feel like we are super fortunate. Most of our gardening is still happening in the front yard, but Jeff has spent many evenings reclaiming the over grown back acre. Last evening Jeff took me out back to show me the maypops that are blooming out there.
This is a southern climbing vine that I was not familiar with until we moved to this house. It’s also known as purple passion flower. It produces a small egg sized fruit… Jeff says it tastes like bubblegum!
We (especially Jeff) are working hard to get the pots we need done for the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair next month. This is Jeff’s gig. It’s his work at this show. I become the assistant during the month of July. We usually have a good idea of what will sell. Bowls are always a winner. Big bowls often go first.
It’s been hot the last couple of days and we are really appreciative of working in an air conditioned studio. It sure makes life easier.
Loads of them! The original owner of our home planted them many years ago. They were all over grown in the back portion of our land. Jeff has gone out and whacked the weeds and brush a number of times over the past two years. This season they have really taken off.
We went out during the sweltering heat on the Fourth of July and picked a good size bowl full. There will be plenty more in the days to come. The downside of blackberries are thorns and bugs. I pretty much suited up in long pants, tall boots, and bug spray. The boots were my “snake protection”. I will admit to being a little afraid of snakes, more so the poisonous variety.
Jeff has planted a couple blueberry bushes this year. It will be a few years before we have enough to really do some picking, and we are really looking forward to it. Our goal for next year is to be able to have our vegetable garden out there too.
A couple of months ago I had an order for a personalized piggy bank with a couple of stars stamped on the side. I didn’t have a star stamp, so I made one for the order figuring I may eventually use it again. Last week when I was finished making pigs for orders I decided to have some fun with the star stamp. Since the 4th of July holiday was just around the corner…
The star spangled, patriotic piggy bank came into being!
