Brother Jay March 12, 1949 - October 9, 2010

My brother Jay was the oldest of the 5 kids.
My parents had 5 kids in under 6 years.
Our nickname was the frantic five.
A house full of legs, arms, heads and friends.
Jay did everything first as it should be and was the keeper of stories about the family and things that we did not always remember.

Jay was a father of two- and is survived by a son James Rutledge Henderson who lives in Norfolk Va.
and a Daughter Gabrielle Felicia De Courey of Tazewell Va .
He was a lawyer by trade and a pottery lover and collector.
He is survived by his wife Leslie Carol Henderson, her sons and a granddaughter.
Three cats and his faithful companion Jax.


The family will miss him deeply.
I want to thank so many of you for the thoughts, prayers and well wishes over the past months.
And as Jay would say-
Peace,
M

March 12, 1949 - October 9, 2010

Sunday

Sunday:
Many people look at Sunday as the end of the week.
Others look at Sunday as the start of a new week.
I am one of those who look at it as the end of the week.
I like Sundays, if for no other reason then it gives me a full day to do nothing.
Or it gives me a full day to chip away at all those things I put off during the week.
Since Mark and I have a full time business here Sundays can be one of the few days we can spend some time doing something that might not be business related.

Whoa- you are thinking- how do they stay married for all those years, work together and want to spend time together.
Whoa - I say back - crazy huh?



Now on to some of the hard parts.
If you came here for your fun and to see what great lives we have now is the time to go elsewhere.
I talked with Brother Jay yesterday.
He is home and doing as well as he possible can.
He has been back into the hospital for another round of "hydration".
His body has to adjust to all the things the doctors had to do to bypass the small bowel.
He no longer gets nutrition from food but through an IV feeding tube.
Through this all his family is staying strong and folks are visiting.
We are planning to go soon.

If you are inclined to keep up with him stop over at his blog and post up a comment of encouragement.
The next several months promise to be hard ones.
So hey- go hug a loved one- tell someone you care about them.
Be kind- be generous, be there for others.

So as I wrap up this week and look into the weeks coming I hope to be able to hold my own as well as brother Jay- he is an example to us all.

Peace,
M

Some stamping, flowers and a little love

Sometimes things just take you over.
When Mark was working on teapots the other day he did not like this shape for a teapot and instead it just stayed a jar.
As he was fluting and stamping the jar just took over.
Sometimes it is that old in for a penny in for a pound.
But as you can see the panel in the jar has a lot of detail.
The star pattern is made with a stamp Mark made that does an x first then you turn if slightly, stamp again and you get  one of these* .
That means this jar was stamped about 140 times.............
He was laughing at him self- and yet there is that good old OCD thing that just takes over and since you started well- it just has to be done.

The Magnolia trees are in full swing here.
This is the time of year they really shine and the bees love them.
We have to be quick sometime to catch a customer as they drift over and grab one, close their eyes to smell.
I am always a little horrified that one day a bee will be sucked up a nostril.
We love to pull them back to reality, pick one  for them, shake out the bees and tell them to take and enjoy.
Better for the nose that way.
And speaking of the nose... what would my season be if I did not get some moon flowers going?
I saved seeds from last year and have started them in damp paper towels. I looked today and I have at least 12 sprouted, with a nice root going.
I have been know to wait until the first leaves pop out before I plant.
So, yea, you can expect pictures of moon flowers, again.
I do think I will get these in the ground by Monday. 

 Update:
Baby Green is growing and a delight to all!
Brother Jay is safely tucked in at home thanks to his wonderful daughter who stayed with him at the hospital, checked him out and drove him home. She is one super kid and I once was along in the car with her and her Dad and just dank in their chatter of life and music.
It warmed me as knowing she was there for him does now.
We had text messages along the route until the last one late last night.
He amd been seen by a home heath nurse and was all tucked in.
Sweet dreams.
Peace

Come go with us.

First, thank you all so much for your well wishes for my brother.
He will be heading home today.
Our thoughts are with him and his family as he settles in.
We all live in different places so we are all planning to go see him as soon as we can.
Remember to take some time with family when you can.
Hug a love one  today for me okay!

Mark is heading up to Blowing Rock this weekend.
I hope you will stop in the booth if you are there.
He will be in booth number 12.
I have all the pots packed up and ready for him to go up the mountain.

This week I have been doing some work on the Clay and Blogs show.
I sent information to Tom Starland for Carolina Unleashed along with digitals of work sent to me.
Well, gosh I just remember I did not send any for Mark and I.
Sometimes I get so busy working on this I forget we are in it as well!
I have been playing tag team with Chris over at the Arts council shoring up some of the details there.
This show has a lot of promise.
And fall will be here before we know it.
I can't tell you where May went and June is slipping by quickly.


As my brother Jay says.
Peace

Pottery Article by Jay Henderson

My brother has written another great article on Pottery.
Take some time, get a cup of coffee, and read this one:
The Treasure Chest of Asheville, North Carolina, and its successor firm, Three Mountaineers, Inc., was a well-known seller of "mountain pottery" from the mid-1920s through the mid-1930s. So how much of this "mountain pottery" was actually made in the mountains of North Carolina? 
Go ahead, what else do you have to do?

Brother Jay and Phil Graves

I am going to send you right over to read an article posted on my brother's blog.
Brother Jay is the oldest of my 4 siblings and has done some of the best articles on NC Pottery.
Get a cup of coffee or a spot of tea and go over and take a read.
http://www.backcountrynotes.com/north-carolina-pottery/2010/1/23/remembering-phil-graves.html

M