Blanks, babies and collards

This week we are finishing up our throwing cycle which we will follow next week with glazing.
Mark has been working on "crown" pots.
Here you see the blanks all freshly thrown.
They were covered and let set up enough to stamp, carve and add handles.

Then I did some what can you do with 10 ounces of clay pots.
Wee bottles nice and fat.
This wee bottle is really nice for those wee flowers that kids pick for you.
You know the ones with no stem.
Grubby faced, smiling and excited kids who shove a flower at you and say "here" then quickly run off....ah, another dandelion from the yard.
You have to have a place to display them and these are perfect size for those stemless beauties.

Then what is fall in the south without collards.
Lord have mercy these were so tasty!
They were so beautiful when I brought them home that I wanted to put them in a vase, but I could not find one big enough to hold them.
I thought of placing them in a bowl to admire, but, why admire when you can eat.
And eat them we did.
Got to have your greens, with some sharp vinegar...
and cornbread- did I even tell you about the cornbread?
It was good as well.

When I was shooting this picture I must have reset my camera wrong and this is what it was doing.
Just like me to only know how to shoot a picture set on auto...
Here is another one it took before I reset it back to auto.

 Have a great weekend!
M

Saturday night pizza with the master Pizza maker of Whynot/Seagrove

My father use to tell people," Never miss an opportunity to eat at the table of Anna Henderson."
Of course Anna was my mother and a very experimental and excellent cook.
This rings in my head when someone like Tom Gray invites us over to share a meal at his house.
He was by last week and talking about his new wood-fired oven he has built.
"I tell you what, he says, Come over Saturday night and we will fire it up and make pizza".
You did not have to twist our arms.
Like I said never miss an opportunity.......
I made salad,a blueberry buckle and we packed a 6 pack of good beer.
But I did not pack a camera.

How could that be- but Tom handed his over and I took some shots that I am stealing from FB.
These are wee shoots,but you get the picture.
The oven was quite hot, good temperature, when the pizzas went in and they took all of 3-4 minutes to cook.

Tom declared them the best he had ever eaten or made, and folks they were fine pies.
As I said never miss...
The beer was cold, the pizza divine, salad good and fresh and the blueberry buckle rounded it all up nicely.
We eat better than Kings around here.
In fact my father use to tell me it is better to eat like a peasant.
He said that royalty ate refined foods and that peasants were stuck with what they grew or made themselves.
Peasant food is good fare. 

I  was also so bold as to show up with two loaves of rising bread to shove in after the kiln, whoops, oven cooled down a bit.
We put those in a bit above 500 degrees and checked them just over 15 minutes and they seemed done enough, good reduction on the crust. We plan to cut one today and see the results.
Tom then put in a pan of tomatoes and bricked the door to let them roast over night.
We have been interested in a brick oven for awhile and now we will have to see if we go the distance and make one..
But I know a place just down the road I might have to slip back over to with more bread in tow.
Meanwhile- never miss an opportunity to eat good food with good people.
Cheers,

M

Sweet gift from over the seas, birds and dreams

When Doug, Hannah and Angela were here last month they brought over some great gifts for many of us and I was presented with three very lovely gifts.
The tile of the bird was from Doug- marvelous and goes perfect in the kitchen.

Then from Ang- this sweet tile goes perfect in the front room of the house- how did she know?

And just look at this sweet creamer (jug) from Hannah- it is keeping company on the mantle

On mother's day we went and meet up with our son and his wife.
Later I noticed there was more then the usual poop from the birds who are nesting on the carport.
I snapped a picture to get a closer look and when I looked at it on the computer I noticed not the usual 3 babies we have had the last two years but 5!
Now that is a load of babies to feed.
One has been pushed out of the nest and I think we will see some flight soon.
But goodness the mess.
I have some clean up to do.
Food in- food out.

After my dream about Lee I decided to do an embroidery piece using the colors from the dream.
I have about 5 of these small pieces done and now I have to do something with them.
Hummmm
But- today pots!
Work is calling.
M

Black Friday

The day after filling your self with food people go shopping.
And you know what I mean, they go shopping at 4 am!
I am, for one,am not much of a shopper.
I never have been.
I just don't shop unless I need something.
And even then I would rather buy books or art.
I use to go out as a teen for clothes and come back with a book.
It made sense to me.
So going out with the masses to shop on black Friday!?
No, I will be right here with the pottery shop open.
We hope to see some of those like minded folks who are not big box or mall shoppers.

On another note we had hoped to spend thanksgiving with our daughter and her husband.
A case of the crud kept them home.
We were taken in by our friends David and Nancy for a wonderful afternoon of Turkey Frying and lots of good food and conversation.
I have never had fried turkey.
It was pretty darn good.

The Turkey Master- Adam

















I took some shots of David's new kiln he is building.
I would love to give you all the low down on the kiln but rather then show my ignorance on the subject I will just post pictures in hopes you will find your way to one of his kiln openings and then you can ask all the questions I failed to ask.

A visit from Tracey and Wes Broome

Well- sometimes you need a day to sit back relax, have some lunch and just chat.
That is what I did today when Tracey Broome and her delightful daughter, Wes, came over for a visit.
I have been askingTracey to let me know when she could take a day off and was in the area that I would be happy to fix lunch.
And that is what we did.
Some pizza and salad fixings on my end.
Tracey and Wes brought the best ice cream and pound cake for a sweet treat.
It was fun to kick back and talk about pottery, families and life.
I am amazed at the relationships that we bloggers are forming.
It reminds me of the days of "pen pals."
You would chose a person to write with back and forth and next thing you knew a friendship had formed. I feel that way with the bloggers. There are many of us who cross many miles daily to check in on one another, cheer each other along, pick up spirits for one another .
And on a special day like today just take some time to " break bread" and get to know each other a little more.

I have just been in touch with Linda Starr who has sold her house and will be traveling across county to see what she and her husband can see before they settle down somewhere and start their new journey into another phase of life.
I plan to follow Linda on her travels and look forward to the day she rolls in here for a visit.
Then it will be time to sit back again, take a day off.

I am amazed and thankful for the new friends we are finding through clay and these online blogs.


And I know, I know- I am looking at these pictures and wondering when I went so gray.
Is it time to go Red or blonde?

A good week

This has been one of those weeks.
It started out with a visit with a
friend who has been gone from Seagrove for about 12 years.
She has gone on to go to school, go to China and is now teaching art.
Good to see you Anna and catch up on your great life!






We are busy getting ready for the fall trade, we hope!
I had to post these Candle sticks. They are for my mother-in law's church. We started this order the night of the fire. Mark had made the vases and some candlesticks last thing of the day and they were lost in the fire.
Mark then threw two candle sticks months ago which were lost in the bisque.
These are his recent attempts to finish the order.
I think they might work and they go well with the vases, which are finished and sent on to the church.
These are a combination of thrown and extruded.

Fingers crossed, it would be good to have these finished and I know the church will be happy to have them.

Tonight there is an opening for the current show at the NCPC.

I have made some Pesto Cheesecake for the reception.
And tomorrow we have our Potters for Peace sale- all in all a busy week.


Then there was the butterfly, who came out on Wednesday.
I think it was just out. It's wings were folded up tight.
It took a few hours before she started to move around and I was there showing her to Anna, her kids and sister from Starworks when she took off and flew.

It was magical.

Reception North Caroilna Pottery Center May 2009

Nice pot by potter and teacher Dan Finch of Dan Finch pottery Bailey NC.
About Dan:
While studying for his BA in Industrial Arts and Masters in Liberal Studies, Dan Finch was exposed to clay. Having worked the land on the family tobacco farm, it was only natural for him to be attracted to the medium. Continuing his pottery education at the Penland School of Crafts, in the mountains of North Carolina, Dan was influenced by Mary Law, Cynthia Bringle, Don Reitz, Jane Peiser, and Bob Turner.
Extremely diverse, Dan throws miniature pots for children during demonstrations, 10-foot tall pots and 30 pound bowls in stoneware, and delicate pieces of porcelain.
As past Director of the North Carolina Pottery Center and former President of the Village of Yesteryear at the North Carolina State Fair, Dan is continually involved in promoting pottery throughout the state.

This show is to showcase the work of the many potters in the Eastern Part of North Carolina who have learned to make pots by studying with Dan Finch.

If you get to Seagrove stop in and take a look around.


Tonight it was a packed house with folks enjoying some time together while taking in some pots and grabbing a bite to eat.

I walked outside and found fellow potters and friends Jared Zimmer and Mike Mahan.
It was a nice evening to take in a chat with a beer.

Wood Firing

It was a long day for all the crews who came out to fire the wood kiln. Mark and the crew he was on started the kiln at 4 -4:30 am. I was on second crew and went in at 11am- until 4:30 or so.
The kiln just chugged along and the 3rd shift took it up until the last shift came in.
There was food and drinks passing around and in a short time the last chamber was being salted.
Now- it's all in the waiting.
For a whole lot more pictures go over to Bulldog and see what Samantha has posted up.

22nd North Carolina Potters Conference

I think I will sneak a peek at some pots this weekend.















I am heading up there to help serve the Friday night dinner later today.
I might get back to look at some pots- we have company for the weekend so I will not be at the whole conference but a pop in or two to see pots should be good!

Will there be pie?

These are the plaster cast of the wedding magnet tile for May- they are in the drying stage now. I hope to get on these in my "spare" time. I will need about 130 of them as "give aways" for the wedding.

here is the master of the tile before casting-

I did a glaze test and I believe I will use a white clay body to get the right color.

Yes- there will be pie. I made two pies to drag over to the SAPA's annual meeting/pot luck tonight. I figured a couple of Sour Cream ( stolen) Apple Pies would be a hit and they were.

Recipe:

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 well beaten egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

beat egg, add sour cream , vanilla and salt and mix well.

Add:

2Tbs. flour

3/4 cup sugar

mix well and add

2 1/2 cups apples sliced thin- coating the apples well-

Pour into pie crust

Bake 450 degrees for 15 minutes

while baking make a topping of:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1tsp. cinnamon

Bake 325 degrees for 30 minutes

take out of oven and put topping on and place foil over crust ends to keep from burning.

Bake another 20 minutes.

Cool- and eat about 4-6 hours after-good at room temp.

Yummy!

Let's go to lunch....

Once a year all the ladies go to lunch-the first year, 1994, we did this there were only three of us-

-
this year there were 18 of us.

Lunch starts at noon thirty and usually goes until about 3-3:30.

It was a good lunch- make our reservations for 2009- we might need another table.

The Stars come out in Seagrove

It was cold last night in Seagrove, but that did not stop the folks from coming out. We had a great turn out and the crowd had a wonderful time.

The committee and the "curtain" hangers did a beautiful job of transforming the Old Luck's Bean cannery into a wonderful night scene.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. First up our very own Fred Johnston of Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery with Gary Spivey from LA now but formally a local from down the road.
Carol and Gary-


I love this picture Of Donna Craven and her mother. Mom helps Donna fire her woodkiln. Now that's love!
More to come- check out Tom and Bulldog for more.
GOTTAGO!

Opening for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters; Campbell House Exhibition, Southern Pines