Jeff Lalish was the founder of Northwood Pottery, and in the studio was a Japanese kick wheel that belonged to him. He stopped by during the clean out, and gifted the wheel to Jeff. He is so pleased to be it’s new owner. I am sure he will use it occasionally, but I also think it will make a nice display piece in our gallery.

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 Living the life of a potter often means that you are resourceful by both nature and necessity.

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Call me crazy, but I love to roast a turkey and cook all the sides that go with it. Thanksgiving day was spent with Jeff’s family, so on Saturday we had our second Thanksgiving feast at home. We invited a friend to join us. My grandmother’s platter, which must be over 100 years old, fits in nicely with our handmade dishes. I think the best part of the meal was enjoying it in our dining room, this is the first house that I have owned with a formal dining room!
In between the cooking I was waiting on customers in the gallery, and responding to questions from Etsy buyers. I am almost out of “in stock” piggy banks and it’s getting close to the time that I won’t be able to fill new orders for Christmas. I listed this little peach blossom piggy bank in the Etsy shop this morning. I have a feeling he won’t last too long…

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Colder weather has finally arrived in Seagrove. Jeff and I were able to move our gallery indoors in the nick of time. There is still a lot of work to do, but at least our sales space is out of the elements. Our necks, backs, and hands are so very sore from scraping ceiling paint. The icing on the cake came yesterday when I stumbled off of the driveway and fell on my hands and knees. This is what happens when I walk, wearing clogs, trying to zip my fleece vest, all at the same time! Today I can add knee pain to my list of complaints. Getting older sucks.

Thankfully we have a reprieve from moving our kiln until we fire again in the next week or so. I don’t think our bodies could have done it this week, which was the original plan. We are quite stressed out being kiln-less during this holiday season. Typically we would be making work and firing up until the last minute. The timing of things just didn’t work out for us. The wonderful thing about this community is that we have had many offers to fire gas kilns at other potteries. We just might have to take them up on it.

The Celebration of Seagrove Potters show was down for us this year… we had lots of small sales, the big stuff didn’t sell. Fingers are crossed that we can make up for it in our own gallery. We need some good sales to get through the winter. Luckily, winter isn’t as long here as it is in New Hampshire.
I have to keep looking on the bright side!

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The weather has finally been cooperating and things are moving along here at the pottery. The siding is all up and the last two windows are installed. Jeff got the rest of the insulation stapled in and has begun hanging the remaining two walls of the sheetrock. We are closed in and ready for winter.

 The guy that has taken care of our lawn and land clearing came with his tractor and started preparing our kiln site. Next, we build forms and pour the pad. Right now I feel like we are being pulled in ten different directions at once. We have too many deadlines to meet by the Thanksgiving holiday and some of them aren’t going to happen. Sometimes you have to take a deep breath, keep moving forward, and do the best you can. Everything always falls into place in the end.

If you can’t get to the show, my Etsy shop is open 24-7. That’s where you’ll find these sweet little salt and pepper pigs.

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I feel like I have spent the last two years doing the same things over and over. I have had very little time to work on any new forms. One of the forms that has been bouncing around in my head is the conjoined condiment/dip bowl. Lori Buff, Future Relics Pottery, has made some sweet ones, and I have seen a few others around the interwebs. This week I spent a little time playing with the idea.

 I threw the bowls and flattened one side while still on the wheel. I used the insert to the bat system to do the squishing. It’s a good surface against the clay, it releases without sticking.

 After many, many days of sitting out (the rain and humidity has been horrendous) they were finally ready for assembly. I scored and slipped both pots and mashed them together really well. I have a fear of them cracking and separating. Time will tell. I only committed to three to start with.

I let them set up under loose plastic for another day, then played with handle ideas. In the end I prefer the middle handle. I wish I had decided that before the others sat too long to remove. But these are prototypes and if the design works, I can make better handle decisions.
Definitely a work in progress.

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I hardly ever get out of Seagrove. Once a week or so I head to nearby Asheboro for groceries or Lowe’s, but that doesn’t really count as “getting out”. Yesterday I drove a friend to a doctors appointment in Greensboro. Greensboro is the big city, when you live in Seagrove! When his appointment was over, he was feeling well enough for lunch. We went to an Egyptian restaurant on W. Wendover Ave., “Chef Samir”. It’s a tiny place in a strip mall, and when you walk in it’s like stepping into another world. I knew from the scent of spices in the air, that the food was going to be wonderful. I had the chicken shawarma on pita bread, and it was excellent. I plan to go back soon so that Jeff can experience the flavors.

While I was out and about in the big city, Jeff was at home framing the last wall that needs to be replaced in the new gallery. The sun was finally shining and it was a good day for working outside. Another milestone we reached was setting up our photo shoot area in the office. I hadn’t taken any new photos in months and my Etsy shop was hurting for it. It’s great to have a room to take photos that isn’t in the middle of our living space. Let’s face it, it isn’t a pretty set up. The room still has a lot of boxes piled up, once everything is settled I’ll get some photos of the set up.

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If you have the power, please do it!

The rain has put us behind in construction. Yesterday, despite the drizzle, Jeff went out and worked on the drainage system that he is installing in front of the new gallery space. We were getting water in one corner. To divert it, Jeff cut the asphalt out, dug a trench, and installed a drainage pipe with a grate at the door. Yesterday I helped him install the flashing before he set the drain. This week we hope to have our lawn guy deliver crushed stone to fill in the pipe.
This morning we have a steady rain. I went out to check the gallery and it seems the pipe is doing it’s job. It was good to have a test before it gets filled in, but the test is complete and the rain can stop!

We have to get this space completely closed in and insulated before it gets too cold. The temperatures have been with us these past few weeks, but now it’s November and things can change quickly.

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I have travelled another year around the sun, and what a year it has been! Lots of excitement, plenty of stress, but I have survived and looking forward to this next trip. I had planned to get a lot done yesterday. The birthday girl was not getting a day off. But alas, the electrician came to wire our new studio gallery space and it seemed everything I had planned to do would put me in his way. I finally decided to settle on the sofa for awhile and catch up on some reading. It was a rainy day and I enjoyed it immensely! Once the electrician was gone I decided to head to the grocery store. As I was leaving, Jeff handed me 50 bucks and said, “Get yourself a birthday cake, on me”. I laughed and quickly pocketed the cash. I not only came home with the cake, but a bottle of champagne that I had to buy… because it had my name on it. Well, not quite my name, but a Sharpie marker quickly corrected that.

Today I was back to work. Even though our space is not finished, we have got to make pots. It’s what makes us complete and we have a show coming up next month. We cleared a space amidst the construction and set up our wheels. Today we made the first pots at 505 E Main.
I felt like I was in heaven.

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 It was a huge relief to get it done. All that’s left to move is the kiln. We will fire it once more before the Celebration of Seagrove Potters show and then start deconstruction. It’s a small kiln so it should go quickly.

It’s exciting to see our new space come together. Progress this week should be very big…
stay tuned for updates!

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