At least there are flowers

 It is spring, May, we have been through the winter, April showers, a pandemic that keeps us all at bay. Finding time to fill the hours has become a challenge. We are baking more, back in our gardens more, creating more, trying to fill the hours.
Some days there are still not enough hours, other days the hours lingerer as the days get longer.
I find that most days go very quickly without enough time, as time has become a concentration of how to get the things that we use to take for granted, like just getting in the card to run an errand, go see a friend, pickup this or that.
How are you using your time?

   

 Mark made these bud vases for 2 different kilns.
The white with blue design came from Ms. B, the stain will come out differently depending on what glaze it is used with and how it is fired.
I really like how quiet this pot is, just doing its job, holding some flowers.

This vase, bottle was fired in the electric kiln. Mark uses 2 different glazes, applying the first one, then adding a wax design, letting that dry and then coating with a top glaze.

 It's simple, but not, takes some practice.

It's time for Mark to put these back in the cue.
Seems mugs are still needed. I imagine having a cup of tea, or coffee just gives us those minutes of comfort that we need.

So, friends, be safe, wash your hands, wear a mask.
Don't be stupid, this is not over as folks decided to go out, don't, just don't.
It's not over.
Stay put.

What day is it?

The most common question right now seems to be, "what day is it"?
As we all seem to loose track of the days that are usually marked by work, play, Dr,visits, coffee dates, dinner with friends, trash day. Thing that we usually say, "let me check and get back with you." Are now, how are days filled with your time?
We fill fortunate that we were able to pick back up in the garden. The only snag there has been plants and seeds are hard to come by. Things I ordered in March will not be here until late May, making those a possibility for the fall plantings since summer will pick up quickly for us in late May.
So what has changed, much has changed.
We do miss seeing our friends and family, but we also know that this is serious and staying put is the right thing to do.
So Mark is working on an online store.
Link can be found at  the right side of the page, on our website, through FB.
His plan is to keep plugging away adding things in when I don't have him hauling dirt around for me.
Be safe, there are foolish people out there who are not following simple rules.
We are citizens, who at times must band together for the greater good, this is one of those times.
M

There is so much going on

I am making this quick because I am heading to the kitchen.
It seems that cooking, even for two, takes up a good part of my time.
So what's cooking at your house?
If you have something good to share I am looking forward to that.
Hope you are well,
M

Ms. B just between us

We unloaded the kiln under the late morning sunrise and the amazing moon.
It was a great load, no complaints from either of us.
I am out of here quick to finish up a load of tiles.
Cheers!
M

New raised beds and Ms. B

 In July I was clearing out the raised bed that sat in front of the shop. The bed needed to be dug out and replaced. Mark talked me into trying a tall raised bed there. It was a great idea and rather than plant it with flowers we decided to make it a bed for lettuce, chard and collards.
So far it has worked really well and we have enjoyed eating our greens we are growing.
I think getting those beds up might be a great way to grow more next summer.

 This week we are on to a small gas firing in Ms. B. Most of it is glazed we are just waiting for a bisque to cool that will fill in the gaps.
There are some really wonderful flattened bottles in this load. Mark has also been playing with some new brushes.
We are interested in seeing the results.
I hope many of you are enjoying pleasant weather. I know we are. A/C off and windows open.
Although last night I heard the call of a very loud bird on the pond.
I do love the crickets and the last of the summer bugs as they quiet down for the fall to come.

 Find a little joy where you can.
M

Spring 2019

And, here we are in the middle of spring, with summer coming fast behind us.
Mark is throwing, I am tiling, frogs are looking for love, and we are open most of the week.
Call or email if you think you are heading our way to be sure of hours.
It looks like we will continue with closed on Mondays.
I am looking at Tuesdays as an open day starting in the next few weeks.
Pretty much 10-4 Wednesday-Saturday.
Clear as mud?
Yep.
M

customer choices

 We have a small gallery here that we have sold our work through since 1982. In the past few years sales here have slowed down in numbers. We still have walk in traffic but you need to be more creative in the days of the internet.
We started the blog, then blogs went the way of FB, instagram, and probably things I have no clue of.

We have folks that contact us to fill a space in their house. It helps us greatly to get a picture of the space to be filled.
As soon as I saw the pictures I thought of these soft, satin, green/blue glaze that we have been using for a few years.
A few back and forth pictures and we shipped off the one to the right, which turned out to be a perfect choice.
It is one of our greatest pleasure seeing our work out there being used.

We have a long time customer that sent me a great picture of 4 of our pots last month.
When I see something such as this I think it is so perfect to see how they have come in and pulled our work into a look for their home.
I love the large wall hanging that works so well with those pots.

And here is that mug made for a friend's husband who has a large hand and needed a bigger mug handle.
Perfect fit.
Feels good to make things work.
Cheers,
M

The slow thaw

 It's cold, it is very cold this winter. We have been lucky the past few years to have had some wonderful mild winters, making it easy to get back in the studio to work.
When it is this cold that last thing we want to do is plunge our hands in the water all day long.
We have methods to heat water for throwing, but the water does not stay warm long and the hands protest. Then there is the feet thing. I think I am complaining.
I am gearing myself up this week to spend some time in the studio and think about spring. The carrot on the end of the stick. No matter the weather you still have to make the pots you will need for spring.

A few years back I really enjoyed the flowers that were coming up in the yard.
It made me pull some pottery out and snap a few pictures of the pots with the blooming flowers.
There is nothing better than a vase full of flowers to enjoy. Then there are flowers that don't hold up as well after picking, those just called for the company of a good pot.

I have always enjoyed the details that Mark adds to his work. The mark of the potter to me is what you do with your work after you have figure out the skills.
As we work through the list I hope to see a few of these on the list. Those pots that call for just the right spot in someone's home.

Below is a walk in the woods. It was my plan to try and walk everyday the weather was good this month. I am here to say that walking in 6 degree weather is not pulling me out the door so fast.  Maybe this week we can warm up enough to get out.
Stay warm , be safe and think warm thoughts.
Spring will be here before we know it.

Last week it was

 HOT!
It was so hot that all you want to do is move from one building to the other. You need a lot of water to drink, and there is not enough water that you can put on a plant to make it happy.
The flowers I planted  have gone from grand to miniatures. I have these tiny flowers instead of the large ones I planted.

 Then today we only reached the 80's. Thank you!

Mark has been making many mugs, beer mugs, coffee mugs, mugs, mugs and more mugs. Just in case there is a run on mugs we are ready.

 The end of he day picture.
We still maintain the habit of cleaning up before we walk out for the evening. It is the ritual of putting it all to bed. It also makes for a nice beginning to come in and have a clean space to work.
I spent one day last week cleaning the gallery. Dusting and rearranging the pottery, fluffing things up a bit.
It makes me feel better...
I don't have a lot to say this week, I am just trying to work while I have a few weeks off. I am working on more tiles while Mark is working pots.

Stop in, it's cool inside, we have a/c in the store.
We don't want folks running out the door because they are too hot to think.
How are things going in you neck of the world, hot, cold, just right...

We are working

 We are working on a wholesale order this month and it is all in the iron red glaze. We feel lucky that it is in a glaze that Ms. B seems to like.

The iron red has stayed, but we are changing up the wood ash for one that works in Ms. B. We both would prefer to work with the old wood ash glaze but it is not as happy in this kiln- things need to be worked out and we may do that as time allows.

I hope you are all having a great start to our new year. We had the most wonderful weather this past weekend and I made sure to go walk over at the NC Zoo.
It has paid  to have a membership for us, and, if I want to walk alone, it is a safe place to be. Also, what a great place to people watch while I shake off the winter blues.
I am a fan of the two legged critters as well as the four. I am that person who tries to nod and say hello to everyone.

Be safe, be happy.
M

Yes, it's wet

 Top to bottom, Front, Middle, Back.
Overall good firing, a little crawling on a few pieces.

Some gems, flattened bottles by Mark.

What Moon?

 And, away we go.
We have been working on the latest load of pots for the big gas kiln. It use to be that we could knock this out in 5 days.
Now that I am gone for a few of those days it takes longer.

We also had to make a trip up to Virginia to remove the last of the items from my mother's house. It has sold and the closing is coming up.
We walked all the rooms on each floor, taking in the memories that were so much a part of any house that has belonged in a family such as ours.
 The weather was nice enough to walk to lunch, something we don't get to do here, unless you count the walk across the yard. We stopped in for cups of coffee on the way back and did what we loved to do the most at my mother's house, we porch sat.
 We just sat on the top step of the porch while we watched the world pass us by.
This trip we were not in a hurry, we had nowhere to be, we could just sit and watch.

  I always find a new story to tell Mark as we sit there. You would think after all these years there would be nothing left to tell.

We moved to this house when I was 12. I built my teenage years there along with my 2 brothers and 2 sisters. If those walls could talk.

After coffee, as the afternoon started to head into late afternoon, I said my good-bye.

I talked to my sister that night and she asked was Mom there. No, she is gone. She loved that house, loved her life there, loved growing old there, but she is not hanging around. That was not her style. My mother always told me that life was for the living. So get out there and do some of that. Oh, and if you have a shot of good bourbon, raise a glass to my mother.

 You know the drill.
Top to bottom:
Back stack.
Middle stack.
Front stack.
Fire tomorrow, cool down on Wednesday and Thursday, unload is Friday.

Oh, yeah, about that moon.
I don't want to talk about it.

See you on Friday.
M

Hops and Pots

 The last two weeks for me have been the rush of getting things done before I have to pack myself off to the school. I could feel the breath of the dragons breathing down my neck as I worked on tiles last week. I finally loaded my kiln on Sunday and fired Monday. Whew, one thing done.
 Monday I figured out that I still know how to toss clay at a wheel and get it to turn into something.
There is the familiarity of working in my own space. My wheel, my tools, mine, mine, mine. It's like being two. This is all mine and I am not sharing with anyone.

It felt so good to just be here and work.
 I have been thinking about out how to be here and be back at the school. Maybe I can take long breaks.....    be right back......

 Mark took a break to go and strip off the hops from his vines.
Hop on Pop.

They look great. He is mulling over how best to use them in his beer making. I'll be interested to see what unfolds. He has been making some really good beer over the last few years.
Thanks Joel for leading him back to something he really enjoys doing.

I am throwing some of those production pots. I was very aware of how much more it takes to fill the kiln when I am not throwing here as much as I use to. Mark is doing the largest share of filling the kiln. I need to figure out how I can use my days off from the school best to get my share done.
Fall is in the air.
Better get cracking on the pots for gift season.

 I counted that it took me 33 tiles to fill my kiln.
That too is something to work out.
nothing is easy or quick here.

This time I am making some details notes. I forget some of the things I have done between loads. It occurs to me that not only do I need to write down what works, but I need to read what I write as well.

They are all waiting for the last step before heading over for sale.

Hope you are happy and well.
I have to get back over to the studio.
Cheers!