Heck week

 After all this is a family show.

The days following the kiln opening are busy with us catching up on all the things that we let slide while we are busy in the studio.

I am sorting through the pots and deciding which pots go to the Co-op in Seagrove that we joined last year, which ones go to the store and, which ones I will send to the shop down in the pines.

The ones to the store are simple.
 I just price and walk them over.
The others all have to be marked with a code.
And, I have to look up the last inventory sheet to see where to start.


I know it has to be done, but of all the things I do this is not my favorite thing to do.

 
We would love to jump right back on the wheels, but we have decided we need a work weeks to get the other things taken care of.

Mark gave the studio a major cleaning since we gave tours of the work buildings and kilns through the day on Saturday.
Having an open house gives us a chance to connect with the customers in a different way.
One of us runs the store while the other one walks and talks visitors through our lives.

I had one group, a family out with their teen to college age children,that it was great to spend some time talking with. It was not only the parents but the kids who seemed truly interested in what we do, how we do it and the end results.

What I always hope is that they, the kids, will be interested enough to be the future buyers of handmade items.

While Mark and I are doing what we need to do to run an open house my sister is busy cooking food for all of us, making sure the cookie plate is full and filling in where she is needed.
By the end of the day there is quiche and Jambalaya waiting for us.
We eat good when Leslie comes down.
And, she brought us a toaster oven!
She is the best.
Plus, she worked wonders with that little oven when that quiche came out it was wonderful.

 I did make toast in the oven yesterday.
You have to start somewhere, right?

We have a friend/customer that offered to shoot some pictures of our pots for us and I really like how these mug worked out.
It shows the three main sizes that Mark is making right now.
All of these are my ":favorites" that I love for different reasons.

A mug is that most simple art form that you can love and use everyday.
I went for one of the front ones this morning full of hot coffee and a hit of milk.

Here is some amazing and really good news.
The oven control pannel was fixed and in the mailbox on Monday.
The place I sent it did a fabulous job.
They were great to work with, quick to fix and even quicker to mail it right back to us.
In the age of throw away; I feel I just won a prize.
I really did not want to spend the money for a new oven right now.
This past year we have paid for new elements and now the control panel.
 I think we are good to go for a bit longer.
Go here if you need them.

Back to the grind,
M