Mother May I?

 We have jumped right back in and started the next 2 kiln loads.
I will need the cups for the cone 6 electric firing, while Mark will need the cruets that I am making for the gas firing.

We were very pleased with the pots that came out of Ms. B, makes me think we are getting a hang of this small gas kiln. We spent a lot of years firing the old work horse kiln, but those days are behind us, think working smarter.

We took advantage of the last two days to cut the grass, cut back some bushes and move the pots over to the gallery. I think we are all ready for the sunshine and no rain. The flowers in the yard are all blooming at one time after the cold weather delay. I am happy to see them.

 Below you will find our favorite picks from the kiln.
A jug, 2 jars and a crock. The glaze on the crock and jar in the front are something new Mark has been working with, it will fast become a keeper. I do like how well it works with the ash glazes.

 Here's one of the flowers for you, can you smell it?
These always amaze me, so pretty.
Cheers for now.
M

Tiles and those crazy small items.

 I was pretty pleased with the firing for the last bit of tiles. I am always trying something new because that is just how the brain works.
And, I am always trying something new because I don't pay attention to the glazes and pick up the wrong glaze. The wings on the dragonfly below were in one glaze, and, then, just like magic, I picked up the wrong glaze and covered it with another glaze.
Well, let's just see what it does.
I like it. Can I repeat it? Maybe.

 The reason I take so many pictures is to remind me to remember what I did.
I can't remember why I walked into a room any more. When I go to glaze I start thinking again, maybe thinking too much. There are times you just need that inner voice to go silent.

The small tiles below I have made and glazed in the past usually using several glazes. This time I was under a time limit and just tossed them in a single glaze. I like them as well and I think they would be great as an accent in a bath or kitchen.

Here are more of those bits.
Buttons, and things that hang.
I just make them, you need to come do something with them.

More soon!
M

Playing with new idea

I am working on some new sizes in the tiles and I really like the way they are coming out.
Never stop thinking has become my new motto.
You just never know when something might stick.
Have a great week! Spring is a beauty this year!

More

spring

 flowers

 because

today we have decided to go back in time.

What do we want? Spring!
When do we want it? Now!

How come 68 feels cold in the house today?
Stay tune, it is coming.....
M

Here's your 10 minutes of spring

Enjoy.

You're welcome.
M

A Friday in April

Oh, Mark you do make lovely vases that are rich with color.

The plan this week was to make this a non-clay week. With the exception of pricing, lugging and delivering finished pots, we accomplished our goal.
No raw clay was used or even looked at this week.
It was a week to work outside moving plants, work on the book keeping, go sit at a friends house, grill out and then sit in the dark and watch the flames of a bonfire lick at the night sky.
It was a week to go to a beer tasting, to deliver pots early in the morning, and then go have savory crepes for breakfast as a reward.

It was a week for tossing out papers and filling up the trash can.

A note here: I love trash pick-up.
We lived for years here without it and had to haul all the trash to the dump ourselves.  I am here to tell you that having someone come and get that trash can and take the things inside it away is a luxury. It is one of the bills that I really do not mind paying.

A night for a Pink full moon, that is not really pink but, the full moon of the month of April.

 It has been a busy, yet, lazy week and I could use another one.

How about you?
How are things going at your house?
M

The Kiln Firing in April

I have to go get some real clothes on and open the store.
Chow for now!
M

There will be cookies or other ways to skin a cat.

As you all know the oven died the other day before I could bake all the cookies for the kiln opening.
I had made up 2 batches of the sesame seed cookies to be baked and it occurred  to me that there could be other ways to "bake" these cookies.

I took my cast iron skillet and heated it up and then I placed the cut cookies into the pan and cooked them.
Yes, I did.
And, they came out pretty darn good.
I was surprised at how well this worked.
I did one whole batch this way.
I did think that the sesame seed cookies worked well but, I was not ready to take the chance on the Cowboy Cookies.
Those were farmed out to my sister to make and bake.
Since she lives in Virginia they will be coming with her along with her peanut butter cookies.

I also sent batch number 2 of the sesame seed cookies off to be baked at Laurie's house.
There will be cookies.
And, there will be pots.

It is still a bit hot in the kiln, we will continue to take bricks out through the evening as the kiln cools.
More later,
M

All in

The kiln is loaded.
The control panel for the oven has been mailed away to be refurbished, expect no oven for at least 2 weeks, I will be playing with how to cook without an oven.

It can be done.

The mower is at the shop.
The grass is growing as we speak.

the back

The middle

The front

Firing the kiln tomorrow.
 Thinking of Boston and the world today, any of the problems I have seems so small.
M

Gifts of Spring or not all things I touch break.

Or, it's been one of those weeks.

Yesterday I broke a bowl in the shop.
I knew as well as I know my name, and yours, that I was going to break something.
My hand flipped a bowl and it went flying up, then it went crashing down, it hit hard, breaking into several pieces.
When it happened, I thought, thank goodness that is over and let's move on with the day.

Why did I think I was going to break something?
It has been one of those weeks.
Mark went out to mow a small patch of grass on Wednesday and the mower worked for 15 minutes and stopped.
No amount of pleading, begging, stomping of feet or crying could get it to work again.
It just refuses.
Like a stubborn mule.
It will have to go to the shop.

The day before that the tractor had run all day just fine.
Right before Mark went to put it to bed it would not start.
( starting to see the pattern here.....?)

The next day it did start and is now put away.
But, the mower is a no go.

Today, yep, there is more woe.
Today, I broke the oven.
Maybe it gave it up all on its on, but since I was using it, I think it is me.
(Really, I have cookies to bake.) 
I had bread in there with a pan of water and I think that I let the water vent towards the control panel.
By the time I saw it the thing was going wacky and then quit.
I was able to get the oven back on enough to bake the bread and as soon as it was done all lights went out.
I broke the oven.
I have two batches of cookies measured out and no way to bake them.
There might be no cookies for the kiln opening.... this can not be.
I know, sad....

Now on to better things and gifts of spring.
You all know I have had my feet on this property since I was a young girl, spending many summers here with the brothers and sisters.
In 1976 I moved here and I thought I had seen everything there is to see here.
But, today I drove past where the old house use to be and noticed a stand of white flowers that I have never seen before.
I stopped and walked out to look at them.
Below is what I found.
Just look at these beautiful daffodils.
I found two patches of them, our plan is to move some up to the house as soon as we can.

bottle by Mark, decorated by Charlotte Wilt (Fenburg)  of Humble Mill Pottery.

I hope you can see them.
They also have the most amazing smell, somewhere between honeysuckle and gardenia.

Then there is the sassafras tree. 

.

 And what did I learn about native redbuds?

Uses
Ethnobotanic: The Alabama, Cherokee, Delaware, Kiowa, and Oklahoma were among the Native American tribes that used eastern redbud for various purposes.
 The bark was made into a tea to treat whooping cough. Taking cold infusions of the roots and inner bark treated fevers and congestion.
 An infusion of the bark was used to treat vomiting and fever.
 During winters, the plants were used for firewood.
Because it is one of the first plants to flower in the spring, the blossoming branches were brought into the homes to “drive winter out.” Children were “fond of eating the blossoms” of eastern redbud.

Wildlife/Livestock: Many birds, including bobwhite quails, eat the seeds. White-tailed deer are among the animals that browse the foliage. Honeybees visit the blossoms.
Livestock will browse on Eastern redbud.
I did not know!
I just thought they were pretty, turns out they are pretty and useful.
I like that in a tree.

The plan is to load the kiln tomorrow.
Look into fixing the oven and the mower.
Beg one of my friends for the use of their oven.
And try not to break anything...

I'll let you know how that works out.
M

Is it possible

to fall in love every spring with this tree?

Last summer something hit the leaves and they all spotted.
This year we hit it with some composed cow tea in hope that it would hold its leaves better through the summer.
Just in case that is not possible I thought I needed to pay more attention to the tree as the leaves open.
It is so easy to walk through the day and not notice what is surrounding you.

I try to remind myself to look.

and if I am looking you are too.

What a love those leaves are.

Then there is the redbud tree that was planted several years ago.
Every year it has bloomed more until this year it is going to really show off.
I have to make myself walk out a different door of the studio so I can see this tree.
 Just pay attention.

We are working some extra hours trying to finish off the glazing before Monday so we can load the kiln.
We don't like to push this hard any more preferring to be ahead of the deadline if we can.
But, this one is going to be a close one for us.
Who knows, we really might be unloading the pots on Saturday morning.
It could happen.
 

Meanwhile, the trees and the greens of spring are holding me together.



M

I have been hanging out with thugs.

This is just not working out for me.
I have spent too many hours hanging out with thugs and I find that when I do this nothing gets taken care of.
The paperwork piles higher on my desk.
The mice take over the spare room and call in friends for a love fest.
The spiders build multiplex condos in all the corners and there I am hanging with thugs.
Just one more page, don't tell me Mark put another book on the reader...
I am going to have to quit something.
Maybe quit making pots and just take up reading.
My confession is I love a good trashy novel.
I know, I know I am suppose to be reading things to enlighten  and bring me to a place of zen, but no I want to read about thugs and the guys that go after them.
Toss in some humor and I am done.

It is not as if things are not happening around here with  getting ready for the spring kiln opening. We have pots in the bisque kiln, pots that are drying, pots that are being glazed and all I can think about is getting the bad guys taken care of. 
If the books are not bad enough we discovered Justified and just finished up the 3rd season.
I love streaming.
We have our raised beds ready for spring planting, lettuce and potatoes are in and we are talking about what other things to plant.
What is more important than the thugs is this weekend  that is coming up fast!

Mark and Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery and Acacia Tile are pleased to invite you to their spring event: Mud and Suds on Saturday April 20, from 9-5pm & Sunday the 21^st, from 11-4pm

Mark and Meredith have been busy restocking the shelves and will have your favorite “hand crafted, homemade”, kiln cookies on hand for a quick munch.

Joining in the fun on Saturday and sharing her talents is Laurie Abela of Abela Bodycare.

Laurie is a long time soap maker and will bring her knowledge of soaps and bodycare to the show on Saturday.

This event coincides with:

 The Annual Seagrove Potters “Celebration of Spring Kiln Opening & Studio Tour”.

To check in with the local potters:

https://www.facebook.com/CelebrationOfSeagrovePotters
or I try to keep us updated at:
https://www.facebook.com/whynotpotterywhynotnc
go over here and download a map and get the information on who is participating in the Open house
http://www.celebrationofseagrovepotters.com/news.html
 
So you see the place I have put myself in.
There are cookies to bake and pots to be finish.
It's going to be showtime soon.
Put the book down.

Seriously,
M

Spring without sunshine

As I was walking across the yard after lunch today it was spitting rain and there was a smell in the air to the rain.
Took me a minute to realize that it smelled like spring.
I was smelling it every time I walked outside today.
Spring- it smells like spring, earthy and lusty and full of promise.
Promise of all those things that come after a long winter.
promise of better things ahead.
Inhale deeply and let it hit the nose and go through the bones and down to the soul, spring.

Today I discovered that when I am working on the wheel my brother Jay seems to pop into my head. Maybe because we would talk about thrown pots.
I had several questions for him today so it was nice to have him with me.
It made me realize that he will always be with me, like a little bird on my shoulder, when I am on the wheel.
And, I realized that Lee seems more with me when I am working on tiles and glazing tiles.
This can not be a bad thing to have them perched inside my soul while I am working.
I just hope they don't want to give me too much advice since I can be a bit hard headed.

Spring- seems like the past month has moved past me so very quickly.
I have many things to accomplish and not all the hours I need to get them done, such is life.
Then again I look at fired pots and pots being made and I know we will work it all out if not at the fast pace we use to at a slower and steady pace.

Spring will soon turn into summer.
But meanwhile I will take some time to notice all the different shades of green that are appearing around me.
When I look out the studio window I can catch the color of the  Japanese red maple against the green of another tree just behind it.
There is no way to get a picture of just what I see but the combination of the two colors is just food for the soul and eye. It makes me smile on this cold wet day.
Spring- go get some it's out there.