We did fire last month!

Oh, I forgot to let you all know, the kiln was loaded and fired.
Seems we need to do that again since we sold all those wee juice cups last week.
More later, I promise.
M

Did you

 write it down?
I tell the students all the time to write down what they are doing.
Write it down I say as I work with them or pass by them in the glaze room.
Because, you will not remember what you did.
A few weeks back or more Mark sold one of my tiles  with the possibility of doing more for a bathroom. Cool, I said, which one I said?, and he showed me a picture, hummm, okay.

Yes, they wanted  more. I went to my notebook to see my notes.....
I have this one, I have that one, I wrote down that one.
No notes on this tile- none at all.
I went for the picture that Mark took and it looked very blue.
I started testing by the picture and going more blue and more blue and in the wrong direction.
Time to try something else.
I had them send me the tile.
OH!
Okay!
Now, we can get this party started!
Write it down, even if you are just playing with glazes and stains.....

Later!
M

October brings color

 I was looking out the back window that faces the hill behind us and noticed the bits of color in the trees. I can see the season of fall is here.
This is the time of year that I tell myself to look at the trees everyday.
It doesn't take long for those bits of color to blow into burst of color.

The kiln is out and has been sorted. Here, there and everywhere.
We have filled the shop,set some aside and sent some off to Southern Pines.
We are tossing them out there like fallen leaves to land in new homes.

 One of these birdhouses has left the coop already to fly to Texas to join the iron red birdhouse from the firing before this one. The birdhouses have been a fun addition to the other pots.
I think that Mark has settled on this loop as a good way to hang them. We  found that some of the ways we finished the tops made for some interesting and clever way to fix them for hanging. 

 There are always mugs.

We did get some rain last weekend and more this weekend.
From the rain came all sorts of fungus coming up in the yard or planters.
This one  was covered with rain drops making the drops look like they were beads.

We are back at work making tiles, soap dishes, and maybe more birdhouses.
More to come.

 

Cheers!
M

Saturday at the end of May

 Here we are, it's Saturday and May is running out on me. May is a month  filled with everything from anniversary to birthdays and a lot of things in between.

I did have break between semesters and one of those weeks I worked in our studio. Oh, yeah, this is nice.
The next week we were off to push out the final days of cleaning out the house that my mother lived in for 50 years. A lovely house  filled with many great memories.
A house that is now ready to be filled with a new family and friends.

With that done, thanks to my fabulous husband, sister and brother, we can now move back to not spending every spare minute cleaning, sorting and deciding. This Saturday is going to be spent looking at my own back door.

 I am sitting with the windows open listening to the day make its way. The birds are talking. I think they are planning their day as well.
I found that there are birds in the city that start planning their days around 3 am.......or maybe they are just signing off for the night. It had me awake a few nights when we were up there trying to decide if it was time to rise.

On the left is a birdhouse that I made for the salt kiln at school.
I was so tempted to keep one or two. Then I realized that I have two bird houses out in the front of my house and there are two birds that have made a nest, one is tucked under a towel on the deck. She has added eggs... no reasons to move her now.
The other nest is built up in the rafters of the carport.  
My birds have there own idea of living space.

My plan is to only teach 2 days this summer in hope that I can get some pottery work done.
We will see.
Mark is making bigger birdhouses.

Cheers!

Fillers or tuckers

 When filling up a kiln we all think about the many pots that it takes to fill the space. There is always a space that you can tuck a piece of pottery.
  These small juice cups have become a favorite of many of our customers that they have become part of the plan anytime we are firing.

It is funny how they have gone from extra to a must have.
Mark probably makes 30 to 40 of these per kiln load.

 They are just the right size for the corners at the end of shelves, between the kiln bricks. They are also good between some of the larger pieces.

We glaze them in a variety of glazes and have found that many of our customers like to mix and match them,
rather than have them all match, they will look for 6-8 that don't match.

 I love that the buying public has caught up with me.
I don't like everything to match and I go out of my way to be sure that some things don't match.

Of course that does not mean you can not have 6-8 of the same things, by all means please do.

I also find it fun to hear how these are used, water, wine, milk, a shot of your favorite hard stuff.

Mark made some new tumblers for Ms. B and we both ended  up keeping a second to drink from.

Mine has become my favorite for now. It feels really good in the hand and drinks well.

Don't tell but I have favorite coffee mugs as well....
I have one I will hand wash in order to use again. With  cabinet full of cups and mugs this is so silly- but there you go- I am washing this one..

I also look at these and wonder what is my favorite glaze.
Hummmm, that might be another post.
M

Filling in the holes

 This week we are filling in the holes.

We have the kiln load for Mr. Workhorse about finished when we realized that we had some rather large holes to fill. As in 2 of the top (crown) shelves and then small fillers to finish out the load.

Mark pulled out some big pots while I was waxing the bisque.
He uses 6 pounds of clay for these and they are about 14 to 15 inches tall.
He covers them for a day or two before he puts the touches on them.

  While they are drying he places a bag over them to let them dry more even.
Tomorrow he will carve and stamp the ones he made on Monday.

He also made some vases that he trimmed and cut feet on. I stole them right away and use them as a canvas for a show we have been invited to be in.
I was not sure up until that moment that we would be able to pull something out for this show, now that these are underway I think we will have some collaborations to send.
What I wanted to do was some of the same things I have been doing on tiles.
I took some of those same designs and placed them on the vases making them wrap all the way around the pieces. It is interesting to see how they transfer over.
I was feeling my grove as I got to the last one. In fact I think we will do more of these, maybe even in the tile clay.

 How do I plan to finish these you might ask?
To tell you the truth, I am thinking about that now.
Isn't it just like a potter to try something new when there is a deadline.....
What could possible go wrong?

Here are my hole fillers.
I made some half pound bottles to help top off the holes through the kiln.
They are just right.

More later.
M

A rare and wonderful site

 Yesterday we had a rare day of both warmth and sunshine.
It was wonderful.
Is it possible that after the last toss of winter on Friday we could really be heading into spring weather?
Friday the area was hit with ice.
If you have been through ice storms, as we have, you know that they can be more deadly to trees than snow.
We were lucky to have just cold rain and no ice, but just minutes up the road from us the power lines were snapping right and left. From the northern part of Seagrove through, Asheboro, Randleman, and Greensboro power was going off as fast as the tress were snapping. There are neighborhoods that look as if a tornado touched down.
We have friends who cut for 9 hours yesterday just so they could get out of their driveway. 15 of their trees went down between their house and the road. Not one on the house, they are lucky.
I have such admiration for the folks that keep our power on. They are working hard to bring every one the power that we all take for granted. I know it is hard to live without it, we have been there, but at times, such as this, we need to praise the people out there working on the lines.

 I went out yesterday to ship off an order for a customer and the post office was not open yet and I had about 10 minutes to fill. I tucked the package back in the car and headed for a short walk around.

This is something I can not wait for.
A grocery store is coming back to Seagrove. A real mom and pop grocery store. This is not a chain, they will carry local meats, dairy and vegetables, along with some stocked goods. There is one in Asheboro that I shop in. I am excited as a tick on a hound dog to think that I can go buy a banana or an onion 5 minutes from my house. As it is now I drive 20-25 .
This can and will change my life, for the better.
Do you think we will pass beer and wine????

 There are a few older houses still left in Seagrove and this one was just visible from the parking lot at the post office.
I love old house, I grew up in one.
Do I want to own one?
Only for the time I am looking at them.
I would love to go in this house. In fact that is a secret passion of mine. If people would allow me I would rummage through the old houses I see on the roads of North Carolina. I know that they will soon be lost as folks build new and don't repair the old ones. You can see many on the back roads. I want to stop and walk through them.

When we moved to Seagrove many moons ago the town was a thriving community. There were jobs to be had in and around the area. Many of those jobs are gone. As I watch what is going on in our small town I feel like I could put up a sign, buy my town dot com, it would read. This gas station has been closed and for sale for a few years now. Beside it is the old Dairy Breeze, also closed and for sale. Across from that is a building once used as a plastic plant, one end is a business now, but the other end opens and closes often. I see many yard sales. Empty buildings quickly turn into junk shops as people try to make a little money selling their stuff.

The addition of that grocery store is so welcome here.
Let's hope that, like the promise of spring flowers, it opens soon.

I see more sun- I am outta here!
M

No, it's not you.

It's me.

Mark and I loaded the kiln and fired this past week and then we made a decision that we would take a mental vacation.
There are so many things that pull us right back to the studio that there are times that I feel we have to put breathing on our list of things to do.

Instead we decided that we would do some much needed things that we all find mundane.
First on the list was a house cleaning.
I know- yawn, but it was clean the house on just give in and let the spiders take over.

Second was bookwork.
Yawn.... double yawn.
But- if these are in order it will make my life easier at tax time.

Third- lunch with Tracey!
No yawns, we had a blast seeing each other and gabbing away and eating at the new eatery in Asheboro that could become my second home.

Now if you have stayed with me here are the pictures of the kiln.

back

middle

front

Jars, Meredith

a favorite jar....

Picture with a fancy a** handle

I want to thank the many folks that tell me they still come here to read and look at our work.
We will be back to the wheels next week, but not before Mark and our son have taken many of the fish out of the pond today.

Teach a boy to fish and he will come home and take you with him.

M

The Brain

I woke up with a cupcake sitting on the top part of my brain.
I can not tell you where or why but it was a yellow cupcake in the yellow paper like when I was a kid with white icing.
I really could not make it go away.
It was as if I was seeing it out of the corner of my mind's eye.
Why are you here and what do you want?

I told Mark about this and his interpretation of this was biscuits or scones.....
So as I got dressed he pulled out all the ingredients for our favorite Biscones.
The ones I made up a few months back.

Here they are again, you will want to make them tomorrow morning since everyone will have bought all the bread from the store since there is a storm brewing.

Biscones, by Meredith preheat oven to 450
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat
OR
2 cups all purpose
Add:
1/4 cup of oats
1TBS.sugar
1tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp.salt
1TBS. baking powder
1/4 cup currants or raisins -hate them- leave them out
cut in 3/4 stick of cold butter

make a well in the center and add about 1 cup milk- whole or 3/4 of 2% with 1/4 cup of yogurt.
(we love the added yogurt)
The secrets- if it looks to dry add some more milk.
Don't handle the dough too much.
Toss out on the counter and finish folding-in the wet to dry.
Pat down, cut out and bake close together in a pan for 15-18 minutes at 450
Meanwhile, make coffee or tea.
EAT them hot with butter- good lord they are like coming home.
Mark puts no butter on his and will eat these cold later.

My other morning thought is why do we chase hot coffee?
How do we keep it hot?
And, why is coffee made in a coffee pot and tea in a tea pot and if you made your coffee in a teapot would it stay hotter.
Probably not.
So while you are making those biscones heat water, take your coffee cup, handmade please,  and put hot water in it.
Then make your coffee and add to your heated cup.
Oh, yeah- hot coffee, hot out of the oven biscones.
Life is good.

Now- we are off to finish glazing the kiln load of pots and then figure out what day we can fire since we have a storm brewing.
It seems we are always glazing away while the days are calm and then looking for that window of opportunity for firing.
The life of the potter is much as the life of the farmer.
When people ask if I farm I tell them, "No, I found another way to lose money".

Off to the studio- more about those mugs later.

And thank you all for your comments. I do read them and they make me smile.
Yes, Hollis, better me than you on this job.

Cheers!
M

 

and she slipped away through the heat of day thinking

can it really be 103 degrees with a heat index of 111.
111 seems like a number gone wrong.
We are spending so much time keeping things water and shaded that extra time has slipped away from me.

We did go out and share in the celebration of Four Saints last night as the hugs and handshakes went out for a job well done on making goal from their KickStarter  fund raising flurry of the past month.
We are very excited for these young guys to see their dream of opening a tasting room in Asheboro become a reality.
It will be good for all of us.
We were talking with many folks about the changes that are happening so fast in Asheboro, our use to be dry town, and where the vote of alcohol has taken them.
As someone who spent most of my youth in big cities it is puzzling why alcohol should be an issue.
Now that it is not we find more of our customers are staying over in Asheboro instead of driving 45 minutes in another direction.
Just watching the changes in Asheboro tells you that it is making a difference for this town.

We are working on mugs for the "mug" club and we have 10 in this kiln load.
The mug will need to hold 20 ounces and we had to beef up the amount of clay we were using to accommodate.
It needs to hold beer and a bit.
 If you scroll down on the KickStater page you will see the front mug with a swirl, black with  iron red. This goes so well with their colors and logo that we are pretty sure this will be the mug we will make for them.


The 10 blogs- give me a bit more time we are almost finished glazing, we have some pots to pack for shipping and are having out of town company next week. There are some dust bunnies to calm down and some spiders to evacuate.
Then I will be able to think past 103 degrees, 106 degrees, 107...111 degrees..

 And we are still picking berries...come and get some!
later!
M

 

Beep, Beep, Beep

We are in that mode where you just get up and check the list pick some pots that need to be made and get spinning.
It is one of my favorite things about being a studio potter.
I can stand at my wheel throwing and in the background I hear Mark doing the same thing.
I hear his wheel turning, the movement of water, then the air is full of those studio sounds that only potters understand.
The thwack as the ball of clay hits the wheel head.
The whirl of the motor as you center.
The contented sound  as the motor slows while a pot is being made, the wheel stops... the pots comes off and is shelved and then thwack, another pots being made.
I know that many potters post video of them working and I love watching them work, but there is something so deep in my soul on the sounds that are being made in the studio.
Maybe it is the same when you hear bees buzzing, a sound of contentment.
Nothing to see just going about our day.... 

The last few days there is some work going on in the neighborhood and we get the beep,beep,beep of a trucks backing up. It is so foreign to my brain that my brain wants to response- beep, beep, beep.
It becomes a back ground noise that the brain wants to swat away like a fly.
 The sounds carries through the stillness of the day on the wind.
Beep, beep, beep , thwack, whirl, beep,beep,beep, thwack, whirl.....like a dance tune.

 
 What are we making?
Beer mugs/steins for Four Saints Brewery
Here is a sample:

 Cruets for me.
I had swore them off after loosing two rounds to the glaze running too much, but- but I am back, kick me now...I had good luck with the teapots so maybe..maybe.

 And for Julia- pumpkin jars, not crocks, jars.
These are not real big, but are great for many things.
I have a customer that loves to give them to family and friend's daughters who are graduating from high school.
A bit back I did a step by step on this closed form.
They came to me one day while watching Martha, you know which Martha, cut a squash to use for dip.
I thought why not make a pot you could use and it would not rot. And, the great thing about pottery, you could use it for so many other things. Multipurpose I love you!
So they are thrown, then stamped or carved on the top, then cut.

Wee pumpkin jars.
I know I Started making these about 20 years ago- yikes! Where did that time go??

 What's on the wheel for today?
Spouts and handles, and going to carve me some pumpkin jars.
How about you?
Oh, and maybe go beer tasting....
Cheers!
M

June firing and setting the record straight

We were happy with the firing.
 A few bumps, but compared to the last firing in the small gas kiln, Ms. B, this one in our big boy kiln was much better.
Mark wasted no niceties on the turns up and just cranked the kiln up at a pretty quick pace and the glazes responded very well.
A look in at the front stack.
 

a peek into the middle stack.

And the teapots- not glued to the shelf.
Thank goodness we were both getting teapot shy.
They are too much work for the loss we were getting.
I might even go back to making some cruets.

And let me say this.
We did not start the pottery while we lived in the teepee.
It would take a move to Va, and a move to NC, 2 kids, rabbits, dogs, cats, pigs, goats and sheep before we added pottery to the mix.
It has been 30 years since we opened in October of 1982.
Sorry to disappoint.
We did live in a teepee, but it was a life time ago.
It was fun and you would have to stop in and bring wine to get the stories.

Later!
M

you know it's right and yet.....

We are not new to the game of pottery making down here in Whynot and, yet, we feel some days as if we are babes in the woods.
We have been at this just long enough to feel that we are starting over.
Why?
Glad you asked.
In the time we have been making pottery things have changed.
Oh, I don't mean our age, the gray hair, with those things should come a little knowledge.
I say a little no one ever knows it all in this business and if they do, well, don't say it out loud unless you can take the knocks when things go wrong.
My thoughts are we have been here long enough to watch as clay bodies, chemicals for glazes, materials have changed.
And, what happens to us, the little people, is that we don't know about the change until we are knee deep in a glaze that is reacting differently, a clay body that is spitting out bits after it is bisque fired or some other surprise that the powers that be have in store for us.
This past week we ran out of wax resist and thought we would just pick some up at one of the two suppliers we have near us rather than order what we always use, and have used, for years.
We could not get the tried and true so we just grabbed some and we were using it all over the place.
It worked on many of the glazes, but, here is the but, but not on the iron red.
I had glazed a bowl in the red and did three swirls on the inside, went off for lunch and came back to find one of the swirls not only peeled away but sticking up in the air as if to say, "hey there!" look at what I can do." I was able to just lift the whole thing off.
That is when you begin to look at everything.
What was it used on and what else is waving hello?
Let us just say that after choice words, thoughts of getting a job and thoughts of smacking trees with many glazed pots we moved into plan B.
Instead of loading the kiln after lunch as we had planned we pulled  out more pots and went back to glazing and washing.
As we ran across pots with peeling glaze they went in the wash pile.
We replaced those pots and glazed many more.

Then we contact our friend and glaze Guru John Britt for a bit of advice.
Mark and John, who is the nicest most sharing person you ever want to meet, had a great chat while I looked up and read about  the difference in wax  resist.
There is great information out there on the web.
This was a good reminder, a kick in the pants, as to the old saying we have here at Whynot.
Do not make changes in the middle of anything.
When you know something works do not bring in an unknown into the mix.
It is the same with glazes, we try to have glazes mixed before we start and when we are being really smart we mix ahead to test the new batch.

Last night a glass, or two, of wine smooth some feathers.
Today is a new day, pots are glazed, we are heading out to load the kiln.
Now where is that application for Wally World?

 ( no pots were harmed in the making of this blog)

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

Sweet smells of summer

I'm here recovering from a busy weekend with a lot going on.
The Open House was really nice with a steady stream of folks coming down.
Even Sunday had some real highlights.
Monday we saw a few folks but mainly we were sleep walking through the studio trying to gear our brains back to glazing.
We did load up Mark's big bottles and managed a long,slow bisque. It is always a worry when you are bisque firing big boys. We did a preheat of 5 hours the day before and then programed the kiln for the long fire, about 12 hours. I did not breath until they were unloaded this morning.
Oh, yea that step is done.
Mark has the rest plus 3 big vases preheating today.
It will be another long bisque with fingers crossed.

While getting ready for the open house I was in and out of our local Slowe's store to buy some plants.
It has been awhile since I grew or bought flowers and discovering their "mark down" area was too much to pass up.I found many plants that just wanted some love, good dirt and water. They are working away in planters now.
Then I spotted a small gardenia and it was all over.I had to have this one even at the full price of 6.00, a splurge on my part but this should grow and give me many years of sweet flowers.
We dug a good hole on Sunday and put her in the ground only to find her undug the next morning....
Darn critters.
I replanted and then circled the plant with bricks to keep her safe from said critters.

I guess the sweet smell and soft dirt were too much for whoever was wandering through the yard.

I also bought this plant that was about half dead and put it in a planter. It has a sweet yellow flower but in my haste to be tidy I tossed out the tag. It has been blooming everynight and then the flower last about a day before it gives up. Now, is this a night blooming plant? Does anyone know what it is?

If not I guess it will give me an excuse to go back and buy more plants.
Really I had better get on some tomatoes plants soon.
Maybe some eggplant as well.

Those pots for glaze are calling more pictures of pots soon.
Cheers!
M

Kicking off the weekend with a little fun

Mark and I kicked off the weekend last night by hosting a beer tasting party at our place last night.
There are a couple of really nice guys, Joel McClosky and Andrew Deming ,who have been on the path of beer making and that path is taking them to actually opening a beer tasting room in the Asheboro area. They are in the process of looking for space now in or around the downtown area.
They approached the local potters to help them in their Kickstarter program  by having us make beer mugs for them to use. Mark and I are happy to be a part of this new adventure and kicked off with a tasting party last night so that potters who were interested could taste the product.

I have planned to get some pictures and was too busy tasting and enjoying one of those nights outside with good food, great beer and good conversation.
For the most part I liked just about all the beers I tasted . The first Potter's Clay was my favorite and some of the others grew on me. All in all they have a very good start to a what I am sure will be a successful business.
We hope to see them all again.
Plus how could I not have a soft spot for another Joel?

While Mark and I were cleaning up and getting ready Mark noticed that something had been in the utility room that is attached to the carport. In the past we have had possums get in our buildings and they can make a mess. I figured it was just a baby one and we could leave the door open for it to leave. Later Mark went in for something and then noticed this head looking at him.
(Gary- do not read or look I know how you feel about these lizards with no legs!)
I hear Mark calling me in a voice that tells me it is no possum but something else and I have to come see.
Do I want to?
Well, noway out now.
Here is the animal and yes he did grab it and pull it out of some pipe...ewwww....

  This snake was the biggest we have had around the house for awhile.
At least 5 foot.
Don't ask me where he is now.
I don't want to know.
This is about the size that got in the house a few years back.
 We have since put different doors on the house and that seems to have stopped them from getting in.
Really, we don't keep these things in the house if we can help it.

Kiln Opening:
Cookies are made, pots are unloaded just come on out for a southern minute.
Tom what time will you be here?!
Cheers,
M

Making pots

As most of you know if you had been reading this blog we live in the country.
We live on what was my grandparents farm smack in the middle of an area which is know for it's history of clay and clay making.
Or in layman's terms.
It is well know for it's pottery.
Seagrove is rich in its tradition of pottery.
We don't even come close to touching places like China, Japan or Korea when it comes to making pottery, but for the USA and it's youth we are pretty strong with a tradition which dates back to the late 1600's.
We live among potters with names such as, Cole, Auman, Craven, Teague, Owen, Owens, Fox, Chriscoe, Chrisco, and others I am sure I have left off.
When we moved here In 1976 many of these families still had running pottery shops, but many of them had gone on to work at different jobs.
Good paying mill jobs in surrounding towns allowed for someone to make a good living.
By the time we moved here there were only about a six working pottery shops.
Seagrove Pottery run by Walter and Dot Auman.
JB Cole, run by Nell Cole Graves and brother Waymon Cole.
Jugtown Pottery, run by Nancy Sweezy
Joe Owens- Joe Owens.
Teagues over in Robbins.
Old Gap Pottery, Phil Pollet
The new kids on the block back then were Westmoore Pottery, run by David and Mary Farrel.
I am sure there may have been a few more but it escapes me at the moment.
When we opened our pottery shop in 1982 we brought those numbers up to a round dozen.
12 pottery shops, which you could easily go and see in one day.
The next year a few more opened and then the year after that a few more.
By the late 80's and through the 90's the number grew to somewhere close to 80 shops.
Some will say 100, but I think right in the area it was more like 80.
That is a lot of pottery!
Like all things it has it's ups and downs and with a faulty economy we have watched as shops have closed.
Now the numbers in the area have gone down, but by no means are there just a few shops.
I have not made a recent count but I would say our numbers are still strong.
What can you find if you come to Seagrove to see pottery?
You can still find potters with the family backgrounds where pottery was past down from one generation to the next.
You will find potters like us who learned at a community college and through the absorption of the older potters who were still making pots in the late 70's and early 80's.
You will find potters who moved here bringing their skills with them
You will find potters with college backgrounds well schooled and trained in glaze and clay.
But my thoughts are you will find a wide variety of pottery being made here.
Earthenware, stoneware, Raku, gas fired, low fired, wood fired, and so on.
As you travel from shop to shop you will find that if you give 100 potters a piece of clay they will all made something different.
Amazing stuff this clay.
So here we are ready to finish up our 27th year making pots in Seagrove and
I am still amazed that this is how we make our living.
I am still amazed at the potters who were here before us, the ones who are here now and the ones who will follow behind us.
It has been interesting to watch an area change as this one has the last 27 years.
But what new things are in store for Seagrove as we move into another year.
It will be interesting to watch.

Just a few more

It is Monday and time to get right back to glazing tiles.
Below are a two trays and some oil lamps from the last kiln.
If you live where we do you need an oil lamp for those times when the lights go out.
Two and you can still play a game of cards.

Here comes the sun

When you work for your self and live 20 minutes form the nearest gym you have to have your own exercise program.

We walk.
We have discovered our local Seagrove Town Park which has trails and some good up and downs.
There is one area which is straight up. We call it; heart rate trail, because it will get you heart rate going.
When we are there most days the sun is just coming over the hills in the background. On a clear day you can get a nice view.
Today it is hazy, but we thought we'd share a few anyway.


When we come back I take a walk through the garden to see what is going on.
This nice orange flower has been bringing in the Hummingbirds.
I have never had a hummingbird feeder, but prefer to have things near the house which attract their attention.
There are a few who have been stopping by to check this flower out.



We are glazing...... back to work!