Stories of life.

We've been gone up to Virginia to visit family.
I needed to check in with my mother who just turned 86, see my kids and pinch a few babies.
You know the drill.
It went way to fast.
Then I came home and needed to sleep.
I went to bed the first night home, woke up at 7, looked at Mark and went back to bed only to get up the second round at 9.
I never sleep that much unless I have been out all night or up helping with babies.

this is one of our places that we go grab a beer and just let the water wash our sorrows away.

 
On the school front.
I am going back.
I told them I would stay until they hired the right person for the job. It seems that applications will open again and hopefully this round will give them who they want.
Meanwhile, in 2 weeks I will be back to 3 days a week. They asked if I wanted 5 and I laughed.
Instead I called the person who had taught part time in the past and we worked out the week together. I'll take MTW while she does the Thursday/Friday students.
There will be an overlap with first year and second year students mixed into one class.
I am interested to see how the overflow works.
I am up for the challenge of both.
Then again by December; I could be singing another tune.

The the view as the sun headed down.

 Today was my morning back in the kitchen.
I was making granola, bread and breakfast all at the same time.
Multitasking like a fool.
The granola came out great. I made cooked oatmeal for breakfast and it was good.
But, when I went to check the bread maker after the 2 hours set to make the dough I found this mid-size lump in the machine.
The brain goes,water,sugar, oil, salt, oats, whole wheat flour, bread flour, oats, and....and...darn, yeast.
Yeast, no yeast.
I looked up saving my bread on line and read what folks tried and thought at this point, why not. ( we love whynot... because that is what we are all about.)
I stretched out the bread and sprinkled 1 tsp. of yeast inside. I then folded it and added another tsp., then I folded and tossed in 1 more.
 I then rolled this all up and placed it in a bread bowl with some oil. I then covered the bowl and placed it in the oven for an hour and 45 minutes.
When I came back it was doing something.
I tossed it on the counter, rolled, punched and put it back.
I did it again.
At about 4 I took it out, cut a third off of it and rolled out a pizza.
We brushed it with oil, added cheese, fresh slices of tomatoes, red pepper,olives,salt, pepper, oregano, basil and tossed it in a 500 degree oven for about 8 minutes.
It was fabulous!
A save!
We added some rats and sauce for the side.
Delicious   
Just in case you don't read me on facebook here is the short story on the rats and sauce:
Oma and mommy to 4 year old, do you want to try the eggplant?
4 year old, no, I don't like eggplant.
Mommy, do you want to taste the sauce?
4 year old, no, I don't like sauce.
Opa, I'm eating rat-a- tooolaa.
4 year old, with interest, real rats?
Opa, yes.
4 year old, I want to taste.
Oma and mommy watch as 4 year old jumps with joy and asks for her own rats, on her own plate. I like rat-at-toooolaaa.
But we can't eat the tails.
The end.
M

Water, water everywhere

When Mark and I go to Norfolk we like to slip away from everything and find a place on a long pier to sit, have a beverage and take in the bay.

On the Ocean View end of Norfolk, close to where Mark lived as a teen, is a pier that he use to slip off to in the middle of the night to fish. 

This pier has been repaired a time or two when a storm has seen fit to wash it away.

There is a bit of a walk out to the middle where you can buy bait, beer and some food or, just enjoy looking at the water.

There are some steps, up to the top deck, where you can find a tall chair and just sit.

And, stare.

And, have a drink.

We took some time while the granddaughter was napping to just take this in.

What is it about water that is so healing?

I hope when you see this picture you know why the pond on the farm is so much a part of our lives. We both spent the better part of our youth around the rivers, bays and ocean of the Tidewater area.

 There is another part of Norfolk called Ghent that tugs at my heart strings.

I love walking around the old neighborhood where I lived when I was a teen.

Also, this is where we lived when we first married.

The first morning we were there it had rained cats and dogs from about 3 am until mid-morning.

When it finally stopped, we had  just enough time to grab a walk through the streets before heading off to the birthday party.

taking a right from my mother's house.

Look at all the green and red cars.

heading back.

Norfolk has a tendency to flood when there is rain and we found ourselves taking some detours in order to keep our feet dry.

If you are ever in Norfolk spend some time in the Ghent area it is a wonderful walking neighborhood.

It also has great shops and some decently good food. We both still miss some of the old bars, where everyone knew your name, but time moves on.

When we got home yesterday we discovered it had rained a few cats and dogs here while we were gone.

Mark checked the studio and found it had flooded and there was still water standing inside.

Ugh.

He used the shop vacuum to suck out the water and today, we are using the dehumidifier to dry out the places that are still wet.

Makes me think of the quote:

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

There is some sun out there now and I am ready to get some of the daily wetness gone.

Everything has that sticky feeling to it that you get with great amounts of rain.

Note: check for mold behind your ears.

We fired a bisque today and took stock of pots left to make for the upcoming firing.

It seems we are short on the stock of big pots for the top or crown shelves.

This puts us back on the wheels tomorrow.

just one more...

Cheers,

M

who wouldn't love

A girl with her own tools!
In Norfolk the theme is Mermaids and every where you drive you will spot them outside of businesses or homes.
This one is pretty simple compared to some of the others, but who would not love this one with her hard hat and cordless drill!
I might have pictures of others, I will have to look, but believe me when I tell you they are all pretty sepctacular.
Well you know I had to look and there is a Blog for the Mermaids.
Go take a peek!

What are the chances

A few months back Mark had some customers in the store who were from Norfolk.
They were a Mother and her son.
The mother really captured Mark's attention since she knew some of the old Norfolk folks we had know growing up there and through my father.
While talking with the mother her son asked Mark if he would make him a travel mug to fit in his cup holder for his van.
Mark, who usually does not do special orders made two.
They were made like tall slender tumblers with the handles pulled and attached very high so they would drop in the cup holder, but you could still use the handle to lift them up to drink out of.
They came out of the last kiln and he tucked them away.
Me, "what are you going to do with those mugs"
Him, "take them when Anna has the baby."
Me, thinking- yea we have time for that.
When we packed to go Mark tossed them in a box in the trunk.
The first evening we had the new mother and baby tucked safely at home with them all fed and us out in the city we headed over to Ghent to find a place to just sit, have a glass of wine and some dinner.


We decided we would go to the Orapax down in West Ghent.
The Orapax  serves Greek food and is located just around the corner from where we lived in our early married life. We lived in a third floor walk up, one bedroom, small kitchen and bath, but with three main rooms that were pretty large.Living room, to dinning room to bedroom with the kitchen off one side and the bath off the other.
It was a great time and hold lots of great memories for us.
The building had coal heat but no AC. In fact, very few of us had AC in those days. You just lived through it.
Our bedroom window opened to the parking lot, but behind the parking lot was the practice board for the tennis courts. We woke many Sunday mornings to the rhythm of the tennis ball against that practice board.
Thwack over and over. It never bother us and now thinking about it is similar to the same rhythm of pots being thrown on a wheel.....
Beyond us were the coals yards and many nights we fell asleep listening to the clack of the trains and the long slow whistles. These are sounds I greatly miss and to me a train whistle takes me right back to those days.

The Orapax was the corner bar back in the day. It had a pool table and a bar, that was it. The owner bought the buildings behind it and turned it into a restaurant with 3 dining areas and a patio.
We have not been there to eat in 30 years and thought hey- why not?
As we were seated we both realized I had forgotten to pick up some money before we left his mother's house where we were camped out.We counted our changed and decided if we were careful we could pull this off and leave a tip.  The Greek food was priced well and hey- vino was only 3.50 for a glass!
We were enjoying a glass and I was doing my usual wifely gab.
Blah, Blah, Blah.
When Mark's head did one of those 90 degree turns.
At first I thought I had bored him to death when he looked at me and said, " that is the guy's mother."
Me, "what guy?'
Him, "the guy who wants the mugs!"
Me, "go see!"
Mark jumped up and took off and sure enough it was his mother and he was with her.
He reminded them who he was and after the guy remembered he told him he had his mugs.
Yes, the guy wanted to see.
Yes, they fit in his cup holder
Yes, he wanted them both.
Yes, he was parked RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR CAR.


Mark came back in grinning and said,"order what you want, I have dinner."
I had a second glass of vino!
Then to add to this story.
My food was delayed because of a mishap in the kitchen, the manager and the waitress both came over to let us know and tell us that there were new people in the kitchen and our food would be out soon.
When we got the bill the second drinks were not charged for.
We could have made it without Mark's sale, but hey- who else sells pottery right out of the trunk of their car while they are 500 miles away from their gallery, eating in a place they have not been in 30 years?
We are wondering if we should just go this route.
Hey mister, do I have a mug for you!

Dream with me a little

Hi,
This is from the Ocean View area of Norfolk , Va.
Both Mark and I spent a  number of years in Norfolk.
I grew up there and mark moved there when he was in his teens.
It is where we met and lived before we moved to the center of North Carolina.
This is one of the things I miss most about the Tidewater area.
Water, water every where.

So dream with me a little.

I have been making some fillers for the kiln while Mark is mixing glazes.
We have been piling up the bisque ware and now it is time to get serious about firing.

But first a little delay for me while I spend tomorrow having some fun with the dentist.
I'll  think about this picture while they are playing with my tooth.

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