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

No, your other left.

Mark often says this to me if I am driving and he is giving directions.
To say I am challenged when it comes to right or left it to say the sun will rise and the moon will set.
I am challenged when it comes to many things, but especially when it comes to left and right.

When I sit down at the computer on any given morning I have many things I plan to do while I am here like write a press release for the 30th anniversary we have coming up in October on the 13th& 14th here, at Whynot, on the farm, with guest and... well you see I am taking a left.
If I sit down and open FB then I am just mindless in my scrolling to see what has happened while I was sleeping.
And, if I left over to Pintrest- good grief that one will suck out your brain, I can be darn right lost.

I have to take a left back to the reality of paying bills and making pottery.
Because if I don't make pottery the bills do not get paid.
This is simple math, impressed?

In this next kiln firing in Ms. B we have two clay bodies we are testing. One is dark and one is light and if you ask me what they are I have to go out and look- wait! 308 and... something else, taking another left in the brain I see.
We looked yesterday and pots are drying slowly so we are going to throw a few more days before we glaze.

I have a stack of tiles under plastic all carved up.
I found that if I rolled the tiles, placed them on the right size Sheetrock, then layered them in a tomato box that has handles, I could take them to the Co-op with me.
Something to work on while I was there.
It worked really well, as long as I swept up after.

 The green beans are busy making tiny beans and I see lots of them there but I am wondering if this heat is just holding them back. I, we keep watering and hope we get some to eat at some point.
I see baby gourds, that are about the size of young squash right now. I am getting excited to see them get bigger.
See how well I made that left turn from pots to garden? I do know my left from my right.

It's time for tea and thoughts about the day...but maybe...a peek at FB.
M

Christmas? In July?

This weekend has been a busy one in Seagrove as one of the organizations in town puts on the Annual Christmas in July. Now, I will tell you I have never understood the concept of Christmas in July but if it gives folks a reason to get out and come to Seagrove then who am I to argue.
 In fact all I have to do is say yes put us on the list.
Yesterday, if you all remember we joined the Co-op in town, was Co-op day for us as well.
 I ran the Co-op in the morning and Mark came up and traded with me for the afternoon.
Representing the potters in the Co-op means you are also selling others work. This is very interesting to me. There were more first timers in the Co-op yesterday and as they come in I greet them with a question
" Welcome to the Co-op have you even been in before?"
 If they say no, I tell them the Co-op represents 10 local potter shops in the area within driving distance. Please take your time, look around and if you have questions let me know or if I can give you directions to any of the shops I would be happy to do so. A mouthful I know but then I leave them to look only talking with them if they want to.
 Some folks are very talkative while others really just want to look and move on. I find the same goes on in our own shop. You greet, chat a bit and then step back. They are there for the pots. If you are too chatty next thing you know they have not looked but moved to the door.

Pretty Pitchers, or English Jugs

I did have one of those fun moments yesterday when I was back in our shop.
We love to ask folks, "where are you from?"
Yesterday I had 2 ladies when I asked they said Norfolk and Hampton.
"Oh, I grew up there", I said
Then we all go into the where and whys and next thing I know one of the ladies looks at me and asks, "who is your mother-in-law?"  When I tell her Louise Heywood she gets so excited. "I use to work with Louise", she tells me.
Small world.
This has happened to us over and over.
I have meet folks in the shop who knew my father, my mother, a brother, a sister a friend, a friend of a friend............
I have even watched as customers start talking and next thing you know they discover they live in the same area or, this one was good, discovered they were cousins.
Small world.

I enjoy these moments. I feel it is the other benefit to what we do.
We open our lives and world to others in many ways.
I once had a customer and his family meet his parents as they both turned into our driveway.
They jumped out of their cars and there was a love fest in the yard. They came in laughing to tell me that each family gotten up that morning unknown to one another and said, Let's go to Seagrove.
The son drove with his family from one  part of the sate while his parents drove from the other end. They meet at the end of my driveway.
The father was in a few months ago and filled me in on the family letting me know that they are now in Alaska. We still laugh about the chance meeting here.
Small world.

Above you will see some very nice pitchers Mark has been working on. Nice fat bellies, good lips and the handles. The man makes a nice handle.
Handles are one of those things that potters can do either very well or not so very well.
I am in the opposite camp with mine. I feel this is a weak spot for me and I am always amazed at the ease Mark has with handles.

One of the few vegetables that is growing well for me this hot and now this hot/wet summer is climbing spinach.
If you have not tried it it is a good one to add. Thicker leafed than regular spinach but tasty raw or cooked.

The gourds- taking over the world....... and the bees are drunk with happiness.

Time to move into another day.
M

The town of Seagrove or do not blink

A new adventure for Mark and me.

As of the middle of the month we have become members of The Co-Op of Seagrove Potters
 which is located in the "down town" area of Seagorve.
The Co-op is housed in what was the original bank of Seagrove.
I love the old safe and found it a pretty good place to sit the other day.

 

Here is a quick photo of the inside of the building.

A view out the window facing the Seagrove Hardware.

This does not change our hours at Whynot you will still find us hard at work and open to your visits with us here.
Plan to stop in this summer!

Meanwhile- the big vases are out of the bisque tomorrow.
More glazing with loading on Saturday and firing Sunday- give or take a day.
Let's us hope this firing comes off as a good one.
Cheers!
M