Feet

 I have been looking at my feet a lot as I am walking. Why? Because I feel that I need to see where I am stepping.
When you look down you can see that there is another world that is going on just under our feet.

The hole on the right is a rabbit nest. Mom dug a hole that she could squeeze into and had two babies.
Yesterday Mom and the babies hid very quietly outside the nest while Mark fired the kiln.
You could just barley see them tucked up next to the kiln shed being very still, not moving an inch until he finished firing.

On the trail I saw this log covered with fresh mushrooms. I took a class with one of my friends on mushrooms back in the fall, but I will have to look these up, or have Laurie tell me what they are.
I do love the colors.

 Speaking of walking, as we walk down the driveway there are some very friendly cows that come running to greet us. You might think how wonderful it is to be greeted by the cows, but really, they are just looking for a hand out. They are saying, do you have any hay, we would love some hay, why are you walking past us?
Don't make eye contact keep moving.

On the pottery front.
Gas kiln fired yesterday, unloading tomorrow.
Pictures to come.
How about you?
Staying busy?

A Tuesday in October

First off , as I resurface, I want to thank Tom Starland of Carolina Arts Unleashed who was our media sponsor for the show Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story.
Tom went recently to view the show and did a very nice write up with some great pictures.
You should go read the article here. 
Tom and his wife Linda are those people who work very hard behind the scenes.
They in many ways make our lives easier.
If you get the information to them in a timely manner- they do all they can to get the word out there.
Thank you Tom and Linda!

There was a service for Jay tonight and we could not get there.
Instead my sister Leslie went to represent the family.
Instead we raised a glass to brother Jay tonight and had our own memorial service.
Safe passage......

And today we just worked.
We did what most potters do daily.
We took balls of clay and they hit the wheel heads.
I spun out on sugar jars and bowls.
While Mark worked on big bowls, Mugs and Pitchers.

There were moments when all you heard were the wheels and the thwack!
music.....

I walked by the mushroom logs on my way into the house and guess what ended up on the stove.

 All in all a good fall day.
I am looking forward to another one tomorrow.
Cheers,
M

A long day-

Yesterday was a busy one for us- after unloading what was a great kiln load of pots we headed down to Starworks to help throw flowerpots.
I am heading back there today to attend a workshop on growing mushrooms.
So enjoy the pictures and for more information go to Starworks Ceramics
or Bulldog for the skinny on the flowerpots.

David Stuempfle

Micheal Mahan- from the ground up

Hitomi

Anne- Starworks gardens-

Mushrooms Berkley:

1 pound fresh mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half
2 medium peppers, red and yellow or orange, cut in 1 inch chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs. butter and some olive oil in a non-stick pan
Sauce:
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbs. brown sugar
3/4 cup mellow red wine
salt & pepper
Sauté Onion, add mushrooms and peppers.
Mix sauce in small bowl wisking well.
add as mushrooms begin to cook down.
Simmer45 min.
This is one of Mark's favorite recipes and one I have made for most of our married life.
It is full of good memories and we have served it alone or with beef or chicken.
If you are a mushroom fan like we are- this is the best!
Can be doubled- is good leftover-