Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Yes, we are working--- thanks for asking!


Regardless of the rumors that we do nothing but jet set and eat seafood around here we are working.
Here it is Wednesday and we have fixed the bisque kiln and fired it today.
( just before we left we did one of those long.........firing..we blow out a switch about every 3rd firing- well maybe 4 but the kiln is old!)
And we both worked on the wheel Monday and Tuesday.
Although I think I was sleep walking Monday.
Monday Mark rolled out more tiles for the back splash. I have all the bottom tiles finished and now I am heading up.
I wanted to get all the giraffe in and not go across and worry that some thing would be out of whack .







Here he/she is.
I will have to ask Lee if this is a male or a female.
Never thought to ask.
I wonder how you tell the difference? 
I think I will have one more round of large tiles and then on to the boarder.
I am so nervous with no good place to store these.
I keep boxing them up and taking them out to refer to and boxing them up again.
There must be a better way.
I am like a mother hen clucking and checking these things.
Oh, vay!











Last night we had rain.
The rain will help to bring what is left  of the blueberries out. They were begging for water.
I am fighting with a pair of nesting birds who decided to hatch babies while we were gone. They just looked at me before the babies hatched. Now they flank me and follow me and try to evil eye stare me down. Yesterday one flew in and tried to nip my finger. I am trying to see if we can work things out but after the finger incident Mark brought me a squirt bottle and when the birds get too close I hit them with a stream of water.
Hey! I am willing to leave your babies alone so back off bud!
They also taunt me by eating the best berries as I am picking.
Next year the nest goes.
I mean I am willing to share but no finger nipping!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Amazing jars! I have no good advice about the giraffe project... can only stand back and be in awe~

What a creative pair you are!

-Kathy

Laurie said...

A bit more aggressive now, are they? Your blueberry pie was so good, I've got another in the oven! Black & Blue this time.

ang design said...

I find all new tile projects like that its a massive task it seems to keep all of those pieces together in your head...but checking is necessary the brain does play tricks on you!! :P wouldn't it be great to have a space big enough, (ooh a warehouse) to spread the whole piece out,.. looking great, how far along is it now?

Linda Starr said...

Oh your tiles are looking so good; boy no matter how much space one has there is never enough, but with a massive project like the tiles I can't even imagine the predicament, constantly check the drying, potential for warping, etc. not an easy task that's for sure.

One week vacation, that isn't even enough to wet the relaxation appetite. I heard Austalians get a minimum of a month, now that's a vacation.

I'm wondering why there isn't enough electrical current to fire without direct wiring? Are your kilns single phase or three phase? I know nothing about electricity, but when you mentioned this to me I thought to myself, what if I want (have) to move my kiln (to a location in the mountains) or god forbid have to sell it how would that work out.

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

Hello to you seafood-eatin' jet-setter potter! I'm glad you finally got back to work!

Wow, the tiles are amazing. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Your bird story reminded me of a restaurant here at the beach that has squirt bottles on every table. It's quite entertaining to watch all the diners have fun keeping the fat seagulls at bay.

Anonymous said...

no finger nipping indeed. surely there's other berries around. the giraffe tiles are lovely, good to see someone's being really productive.

Gary's third pottery blog said...

and the SNAKES? are they on vacation?

togeii said...

Interesting blog.
In Japan here the rainy season is about to come to an end. It has rained the past week non-stop. Day and night, rain so hard you can't hear if the window is open.
Dave