“SEAGROVE POTTERS FOR PEACE – 200 CUPS OF TEA”

13 Seagrove Potters have created special drinking vessels as a fundraiser for American Greg Mortenson, whose #1 NY Times Bestseller “Three Cups of Tea – One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time” explains his own efforts for peace.

Mortenson, through his Central Asia Institute (CAI), has built hundreds of schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where illiterate and impoverished children are prey to recruitment by terrorist organizations.

On Saturday, August 15, 200 teacups, mugs and tumblers will be offered for sale, with the full purchase price being donated to CAI. Many items are specially inscribed for this event. Copies of Mortenson’s book in adult, young adult and children’s versions will be for sale at several potteries.

Vessels by Whynot, Thomas, Old Gap, Jugtown, From the Ground Up, Caldwell-Hohl and Ben Owen Potteries will be for sale at the individual shops.

Vessels by Westmoore, Tom Gray, Old Gap, From the Ground Up, Dover, Dean & Martin, Bulldog and Cady Clay Works Potteries will be for sale at Cady Clay Works.

Items will be available exclusively at the shops until August 24, when any remaining vessels can be ordered by email or telephone.

More information about the individual potteries, as well as a request form for a free Seagrove Area map, can be found at www.discoverseagrove.com, or email seagrovepottersforpeace@yahoo.com.

Mortenson, who many believe will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, will be the NC State Convocation speaker on August 17.

After a failed attempt to climb K2, the world’s second-tallest mountain, Mortenson got lost and wandered into a remote mountain village in Pakistan. The impoverished local people shared what little they had and nursed him back to health. He returned to the US, sold most of his belongings, lived in his car and tried to raise money to build the village a school. The skeptical villagers, who had heard promises from foreign climbers before, were astonished when he returned a year later with building materials.

In CAI’s publication, “Journey of Hope”, Karin Ronnow explains:
“Ultimately, most Pakistanis and Afghans want peace. They want working democracy. They want more and better-paying jobs, good roads, clean drinking water and food to eat. They are fed up with violence and they want to get on with living their lives.
And they know a better future for their children starts with education.”

More information can be found at CAI’s website, www.ikat.org, or www.penniesforpeace.org, an educational fundraising program for schoolchildren of all ages.

Potter Beth Gore of Cady Clay Works urges everyone, of all beliefs, to read “Three Cups of Tea”. “It’s obvious that we, as Americans, are woefully uninformed about the people, beliefs and way of life in these areas of military conflict.”

“Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time … (and) proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world.”
- Tom Brokaw, who made the first $100 donation to Mortenson’s effort in 1993.


- Beth Gore, Cady Clay Works, 910-464-5661, seagrovepottersforpeace@yahoo.com.

those pillow pots

I posted these up on facebook the other day.
So apologies if you have already seen them!

I was pleased with how they came out of the kiln.

I had one favorite, the red flowers with yellow background, which ran and stuck to the kiln shelf.
I like it well enough that I just might keep it for awhile.


I have it sitting with some pots and it will hang okay.

I used cone 6 glazes on these and fired to just below a true 6.

This is a highwater clay body, red stone. It does not like to fire all the way to 6 so I keep it around 2185degrees- this hit about 2195 degrees at the top and 2181 at the bottom.
I have some cone 6 glazes which prefer to get a little hotter or soak a bit more.

I might separate those glazes from the tiles and pillow pots. I ended up with several flat bowls and trays which I would like to refire.
This was also the first firing in the new fancy computer kiln.
We both thought it did pretty well for the first glaze fire.
And I know the pictures are not great- so more apologies!
I hope you don't go blind from looking!

A walk in the woods.

Today we went for a walk in the “woods.”
Well truth be told we drove up to the back part of the farm and then took the walk through the woods.
I use the term loosely because for the past several weeks the woods next to us have been under siege.

We have noticed a lot of the woods around us being cut.
Times are hard and folks need money. When this happens they turn to the trees and even though the price is way down they go ahead and cut.
The people who own this land, by the time it was all over, maybe cleared 5,000.00





There is a creek, which feeds our pond, right in the middle of this clear cut. Mark went over and talked with the guy in charge of the crew. He was kind enough to do as little cutting as possible at the creek.
We walked it today and all things considered it seems in good shape.

It always breaks my heart to see large tracks of land cut. It looks like the end of the world.
The only good part here is the person who owns the land plans to replant.
I am keeping my fingers crossed he does.
Of course the plant will be pines, so gone will be the big oaks and other hard woods.



On another note we found a nice cool spot where ferns are growing.
















But I worry a bit about this large grove of running cedar.
It might be too exposed to the amount of sun it is now taking in.




I’ll have to walk back there this fall to see if it makes it through the summer.

Have we been here before?

Back in 1981-1982 we built our first kiln. It was all hard brick and ate gas like a pig. We decided we needed a soft brick kiln for two reasons. One it needed to fire more efficiently and two we wanted to get more pots out at a time- production was the name of the game for us then.
So we built the big kiln- 1986.
Now it is 2009 and I don't know here the years went.
But we have dug out pictures of the first kiln we built and Mark has been reproducing it in soft brick.


Mark, being the great pack rat that he is, had stored the steel away in one of the out buildings.

He is now reproducing an arch,that is long gone, and cleaning burners.

Our thoughts on this kiln are, we will be able to fire more glaze test along with smaller turn around of the old glazes.
The large kiln does not allow quick turn around.
And- the work and we have changed. When I look at filling the old kiln I have to take a breath.
In fact I take that breath today- 80 cubic feet is a lot of pottery.
The small kiln is about 20 cubic feet. A baby compared to the big bad boy!


We hope to have this baby out for a test drive in the next month.

July 9th- Happy New Year!

If you have been following our Blog you know that last year on July the 8Th we lost our work studio to fire.
Yesterday I had planned to post just to mark the passing of the year.
There were several ways I thought about how to post and then the day and night got completely away from me.
As I was going to bed around midnight I thought, " life has returned to normal." There was no time to sit and reflect on the fire of last year.
The time of the fire came and went and we were busy.
Busy glazing.
Busy with customers.
Busy loading a kiln.
Busy building the new kiln.
Busy with the garden.
Busy with family and friends...
It was a hard walk last year, but guess what, we did it and life has resumed.
I like it.

A quick trip over the fourth-

Chirp, chirp, twitter, twitter..........insert birds calls here--- it's 4 am and birds don't sleep in the city like they do at my house.
Beep, beep, beep...bam, bam, bam...insert the sounds of a big construction crew building a big parking garage here.......it's 5 am and they are fast at work.
I took the sleep mask, I took the ear plugs........
Oh- the fire engine just went out and an ambulance is coming in.
Insert those here it's 5:45 am.....

Sigh- yes we are spoiled and if we did live her I think we would adjust to the noise.
But sleeping in the city has become a challenge for me.

It never gets dark in cities and cities never sleep.
We made a quick trip over to see the son's new house over the 4Th.

Then up to see my mother and Penny the cat.
Who, as you can see, is still living the high life and taking her daily rides with Mom back and forth throughout the house.




The weekend, despite some rain, was very pleasant.
Being July you can not always say that about Norfolk. It can be hot and muggy.
We left today and it was still a wonderful cool morning.
The view down the block.


Don't you want to live here?

I love the area of Norfolk- near downtown. The houses are old turn of the century mixed with some new and old apartment buildings. The apartment's, gone condo now, are as big as some houses I have been in. High ceilings, big rooms,beautiful woodwork, large windows, and tree lined streets.
One of those "walking neighborhoods."



But we hit the road home















Stopped for lunch.

And now we are thinking about going to work tomorrow!
But first- I am going to sleep in my own bed while I listen to the crickets and frogs.... my birds get up about 6am and that is okay by me!

Happy 4th of July

I think of July as a time of passing.

Celebration and Family.

My father left on the 4th of July, happy to have made it to the party.

So sweet sorrows and life does go on.

The best to all and may your 4th be a good one- take some time for family.

Some of our crew........

No, you go first....

"After you", they both seemed to be saying.
Yesterday was the day.
The babies were out of he nest.
The mother bird was back and forth back and forth.
Fussing every time we were around.
I came in about 5 and Mark came in 20 minutes later and they were gone. I thought I might be able to catch the flight but I missed it.
Now the question is, "who's going to clean up the mess?"
The other question is what type of bird was this one.
This was not our usual nesting birds for around the house.
I still have not looked them up.
You would think I would be a better birder with so many birds around us.
The trees here are just full of them.
We have Yellow Finch, Bluebirds, Cardinals, Wrens, Indigo Bunting, Carolina Chickadee, Humming Birds, Red-winged Blackbird, Hawks, Wood peckers, Ospreys and the list goes on....... but this was I am still looking for any ideas?
Now, I just found this bird Eastern Kingbird, which is what a customer thought it might be.
Now that I have look it up, I think maybe he is right.

Happy 4th of July to all!

Baby Birds and Pottery

For weeks we have been watching a nest which is sitting up in the eves of the carport.
The parent birds keep a close watch on us as we come in and out. They will fly away to distract us from the babies.
We "pretend" not to see the nest, but keep a close eye on the progression of the babies.
Yesterday Mark comes to the house for lunch and there on the carport is one of the babies. It is just sitting there slightly stunned. It looks as if it would be happier in the nest....
We eat lunch and go back to find it being coaxed by the parents. They fly down hop and chirp and then quickly fly away. The baby hops and tries its wings.....hop, hop, hop, flutter, flutter-
But it is not getting off the ground yet.
It hops out into the driveway when we, of course, worry it will be run over before it gets off the ground.
Mark goes and moves the truck to block customers from the area.
We take a look at the nest and there is another baby up out of the nest and just looking over the edge. Then back he hops in the nest- out again and back in the nest.
Last I saw the baby out of the nest was taking a nap in the carport and its two siblings were tucked in and not ready to make the jump.
We don't have cats now and all we can do is hope the baby gets its self up and moving skyward.
I am heading out to check on them soon.

In the pottery: I am glazing tiles for the electric kiln.
I made these pillow pots. Which I have put feet with holes on the back.
I put the feet on so the pot can be hung on the wall if you want.
I have made these before, but would add three tubes to each one to be used for flowers.
I think of these as more of a closed tile which I would like to hang.
The patterns are inspired from an old garment I have hanging in my bathroom- I kept looking at it and thinking these flowers need to go somewhere.....
I am painting on the glaze.
So do I know exactly how they will come out? No- but I can't wait to see.
On some days you just need something to play with.

“THREE CUPS OF TEA”

Mark and I are asked many times, sometimes weekly, sometimes daily to donate pottery to fundraisers.
One year I kept track of all the pots we donated and how much it cost us to do so.
The women who does my taxes asked me if I could really afford to give away so many pots.
Not really I thought.....
Mark and I decided we needed a plan for donations.
We would donate to our local community; hospice, local arts, the North Carolina Pottery Center, and then other exceptions would be made.
Last year with the fire we figured donations were out for the year.
We would not have enough work to feel generous enough to give any away.
Then one day Beth Gore from Cady Clayworks emailed me and said I would like to talk with you, let's have lunch.
It took weeks for me to find a day, with the wedding and all we had going on just getting our lives back to a sense of normal.
When we sat down to order she slide this book across the table and asked if I had read it.
Beth is a great reader and always has a good book going.
I had hear of it and had seen Greg Mortenson speak on TV about his life.
Then she presented her idea to me:
Here it is in letter form-

“SEAGROVE POTTERS FOR PEACE – 1000 CUPS OF TEA”
For the past 6 years of the Iraq war, I have been complaining that instead of bombing the Middle East and creating future generations of America-haters, we should be building schools and hospitals so people would learn to love Americans. Remember the hymn, “…they will know we are Christians by our love…”? People have told me I am naive and that’s not how the world works. Well, I just read the book “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson and lo and behold, here is a man doing just what I have been only talking about!

After a failed attempt to climb K2 (the world’s second-tallest mountain), he got lost and wandered into a remote mountain village in Pakistan. The impoverished local people shared what little they had and nursed him back to health. He returned to the US, sold most of his belongings, slept in his car and tried to raise money to build the village a school. Many years, trials and dangerous travels later, with no religious or government affiliation, he has built dozens of schools through his non-profit organization, CAI (Central Asia Institute). Without these schools, the only other option to millions of impoverished children is to attend radical fundamentalist institutions that breed terrorists.

The book made me ponder what I could do to help, and at the same time I happened to mention it to my customers in my spring e-newsletter. I got responses and links from potters around the country who are doing “teacup” fundraisers for this organization. Isn’t this just the time to think “outside the box” of our own economic woes and focus on others less fortunate?

We all get numerous donation requests, I know, but wouldn’t the title above be a wonderful gesture to the world? There are over 100 local potters – what if we each donated the sale of 10 cups (or drinking vessels of any kind)? A simple act from each of us could create such a powerful result! 100 potters x 10 pots/potter x $15 avg price/item = $15,000!!!! It costs CAI $1 per month for one child’s education. (They pay teacher salaries and upkeep on the schools they build) We would be sending over 1200 children to school for a year!! And, if you are “sitting on the fence” about this idea, how about the wonderful PR the project would generate? I think we could get a lot of media coverage of some GOOD news for a change!
Sample plan:
- each potter makes 10 teacups or drinking vessels to be sold at their regular price, and that amount donated to a bank account for CAI. Items could be sold at individual potteries or a central location, or both.
- I will, at my own expense, produce a small poster to display in each shop with the items for sale, and also a small insert to go with each sold item.
- I will contact area news sources and try to get as many articles published as possible, listing all participating potters.

PLEASE FILL OUT THE RESPONSE BELOW AND REPLY BACK SO I KNOW YOU RECEIVED THIS EMAIL!

Are you interested in participating in this fundraiser? (I have submitted it to CAI and received their enthusiastic approval.)

Name(s) of participating potters from this pottery:

How many total items are you willing to donate?

Sale price/item?

Do you think the items should be inscribed on the bottom?
If so, "Seagrove Potters for Peace"?
"3 Cups of Tea"?

Do you want to sell these in your own shop or at a central location?

Would you be willing to buy a copy/copies of the book to have on display or for sale in your shop? They cost $8.55 net on Amazon for 3 or more new paperbacks. Cover price is $15. (Link from http://www.threecupsoftea.com/ so they get credit for the sale, or I will order them. He has also written a wonderful children’s version, “Listen to the Wind”.)

If you sell other potters’ work in your shop, would you ask them to participate?

Would you be interested in helping to plan this project? (Trying to keep it VERY simple!)

No matter what you think of this idea, PLEASE READ “THREE CUPS OF TEA”!!** It is obvious that we, as Americans, are woefully uninformed about the people, beliefs and way of life in these areas of military conflict.

Many people expect Greg Mortenson to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He will be the August 2009 Convocation speaker at NC State University.

For more information or different ways to help: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this!
Beth Gore
Cady Clay Works
910-464-5661
seagrovepottersforpeace@yahoo.com

** “Three cups of tea” comes from a local custom. The first time you share tea you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family.

The potters who are participating are:
Ben Owen Pottery
Cady Clay Works
Caldwell-Hohl Artworks
Dean & Martin Pottery
Dover Pottery
From the Ground Up
Jugtown
Old Gap Pottery
Thomas Pottery
Tom Gray
Westmoore Pottery
Whynot Pottery

Mark and I are donating 20 drinking vessels each.
He has made small ,hold in the hand, cups for tea, juice or wine.
I have made 20 drinking vessels, larger, for ice tea, juice or wine.
We thought this was a cause not to be pass up.
If anyone else is interested get in touch with Beth.

Your Cheating heart and I have my eye on you.

I wanted to post the results of the "cheating" pot and also thank all the bloggers who left comments and telling me how they "cheat" while making pots.
I found it very interesting.
It made me think about the potters here close by who cheat and make gorgeous pots in doing so.
If you have not taken the time to look at some of the blogs I follow please do.
I am enjoying following Alex Matisse's blog.
He talks so eloquently about his journey into the world of pottery making. He is posting up some really great pots and just spent time at a work shop with fellow Seagrove potter David Stuempfle, who is an ultimate cheater!
Alex posted some great pictures of the students learning a technique David learned while was studying in Korean and Japan.
Mark Hewitt, another of the great cheaters, has put out some fantastic potters. He brought his techniques he learned with him when he settled in North Carolina. He has trained some of the best and does it with all the grace and charm that is Mark. Sharing and teaching, giving back.

Many years back when my Mark and I were interested in learning to make pots we spent time just going to the local shops like Seagrove Pottery, J.B.Cole's, Jugtown and ML Owens.
They were kind enough to let us stand there and watch.
We would watch Dot Auman throw pot after pot.
Virginia Shelton at Cole's would throw dinner plates and then pick them up and throw another-- no bats here!
Melvin Owens was always a treat, full of stories along with the pots.
And we wandered in and out of Jugtown.
No one chased you away and they were all so giving of their time.
Of course if you were smart you just found a quiet corner and watched.

There are a lot of potters I know who have opened their studios, their lives and themselves to teach others. It takes time and effort to do this. I think you have to have a good balance in your own life to open your life up to others.
On another note there is a great discussion going on over on Ron's blog. Ron is another cheater, teacher and one who gives thought and caring back into the clay community. I have enjoyed peeking into the lives of so many potters this past year. Ron is one who draws me back time and time again.

And here is my delight this summer.
I have not had a garden in many years and I just picked eggplant and my first tomato!

Is this really cheating?

I was reading Gary's blog one day and someone had said to him," if you made a pot in more then one piece it is cheating."
Well- it made me think about all of us who are out there making pots and cheating right and left.
How about those Korean potters? Or the Japanese? Or the fact that pots made in more then one piece have been made here in Seagrove for well over 200 years.
It was not unusual to find potters who made large pots like butter crocks and large jugs throwing them in more then one piece.
Usually the bottom of the pot was made first. Then the top 1/2 was thrown and attached to the bottom piece. Then both pieces would be thrown together to make the completed work.
Mark has been throwing his large pots in at least 2 pieces and some in three.
It just makes sense.
For some it is a better way to control the clay.
It takes skill and practice to throw a good large pot.
It takes skill and practice to throw a large pot in more then one piece.
Cheating- no- smart yes.




This pot was almost 20 inches when wet-


















It will shink about 12 1/2 %.
Let's just hope we can keep the glaze on the pot- that would be my worry rather then the way it is made.
Fingers crossed....





Do you cheat? I tried to cheat somehow everyday- how do you stretch the limits of your clay and work?

Happy Father's Day Dear

Mark's ideal day: long ride on dirt roads, a hike, some lunch and lots of water.

Red Clay

When it is the end of the week and the end of a throwing/firing cycle we sometimes find ourselves not ready for "wheel work" but in need of doing something with the clay.
Now that we have a dedicated space for the slab roller one of us can get in there and make something.
Mark has not really had the time to play with the slab roller since the fire last July.
He spent Thursday and Friday working out some large wall vases.
He enjoys working on these and enjoys the "zone" of making the slabs and the stamping designs.
He puts so much detail in each vase.

These are made from Highwater's Red Stone clay body and will be fired in the electric kiln along with my tiles and some hump trays and bowls.
We have not used the new electric kiln for a glaze fire and by making these it will speed things along for me to fire the new kiln.
I bought this kiln last year just for tiles and flat ware. It is not as deep as our other electric kilns, but the width is the same.
I wanted to be able to use our same kiln shelves.
We should have enough pots after the next bisque to fire.

So long and thanks for all the fish

No, I am not going anywhere.
Yesterday I was in the mind set of, " I am out of here!"
But today I did what I usually do.
I went out to the studio and got out some clay.
I always have something in my head that begs to come out and rather then let it suffer I give it a go.
So thanks to all the folks who commented on the crawling glaze.
It is all good food for thought.
I agree with Mark that we are not firing enough these days.
Back in the day we fired the big kiln every 3-4 weeks.
Yes, we were younger and had more energy.
So he posted on comments that he is building a smaller kiln.
The cat is out of the bag now! I have some picture I have been taking of the kiln and as soon as he gives the green light I will post some up.
The new kiln is coming along and has taken on the true characteristics of a kiln instead of just the chalk outline.
Right now he is not ready to show the kiln off.

This kiln will make a huge difference in our firing schedule. Although the kiln will be but a fraction of the size of the old one, it will enable us to put through some quick loads or do some experimented with glazes. The other plus is we put a variety of glazes in the kiln we use now. Maybe some of them would fire better separate from one another.........
We will take the old kiln down and rebuild it smaller. Maybe down to 40 cubic feet rather then the 80 we have now.

I will post up a picture of the tiles I did for a customer which will be set in a table he made for his wife.

Bare with me or the naked truth about our glazes....

I know, I know.
No one is getting bare here but maybe some pots.
Seriously folks, life can be full of ups and downs and I felt them all today.
Some of the kiln was good and some of it was bad and some of it was just mediocre.
I would love to have some nice pots which I really wanted to take photos of, but this load just did not do that for us.

We are having problems with some of the glazes.
What can I tell you is, after no crawling for months, we had several very nice pots where the Tomato Red glazed crawled under the wood ash glaze.
Sigh, breaks my heart.
Oh, there were some good pots in the load but all I can see right now are those darn seconds.
I have to deal with the losers before I can move on.
We are going through all the variables; firing, glaze, what's different- why has it been working and now it's not?
Why did most of it come out the color of mud?
I have no confidence in what we are doing with this glaze.
All I can think of is to toss it out and start all over again, which we have done more then once.
We have taken this glaze apart before.
Now I do need to tell you that up until about 2 years ago we never and I mean never had any trouble with this glaze.
Or the other one which is crawling as well.
The other one will crawl out of the blue.
With 10 mugs on a shelf 4 of the mugs crawled and 6 did not.
Same shape, same size, all glazed at the same time.
It was not where the mug was sitting on the shelf.
Why do I think that? Because it would be one towards the bag wall- okay maybe some flame, but then explain the ones in the middle of the shelf???
It is driving me batty.
The common ingredient here is wood ash- could it be the wood ash???
We plan to take apart these glazes again and go over all our notes.
what has changed?
Or are we dealing with gremlins?
So I am posting up the crawled vase any suggestions.

Where's the flashlight?

Well, there I go with the fast fingers and the post goes out with not one written word---
As I was thinking......... the kiln is cooling and Mark and I have already taken turns with the flash light. First he takes a look in the kiln and then I take a look in the kiln.
Right now, where we can look and see anything, things look good. The ash glaze has stopped above the bottoms of the pots.
Well above the shelf.
At least where we can see.
Mark pulled the kiln back a bit this firing stopping right before a flat cone 10.
The cones are bent, but not flat down.
Hopefully we will continue to see good pots.
Now for some clean up in the studio before unloading the kiln tomorrow.

But! I do have to say, "UNCLE" with the rain!
Here in the land of Magnolias and Mildew we are well covered with both.
Is this not the sunny south?
Bring back some sun.
Then I would like to open the house up and dry things out before the frogs take up residence.
I feel some gills growing as I sit here in my dank basement.
Pots out tomorrow- pictures I hope to follow.
M

A little cooking going on

We are loading the kiln- but take a break from the Pottery Blog and go enjoy some of our favorite recipes on our cooking blog.
I love to cook and I love to use fresh ingredients and as local as possible.
enjoy!
http://yearsofcooking.blogspot.com/

Glazing

What is the mystery to good glazing. It is all just good guess work?
We are glazing this week and when I say week- it takes of most of a week to wax, glaze and load our big gas kiln.
While doing this I always find we are guessing about the glazes. How did this work last time, do we need to mix and add more, did it run too much was it just right, where did it sit in the kiln?
All of these questions are valuable in how the pot will turn out.
We have enough pottery going in the kiln that we know some will be good and some will be "not so good."
We try very hard not to make seconds, but as we all know......... there has to be a few dogs.
Mark has worked on the formulas to weight each glaze as it worked for the last firing. He has written down the weights on all the buckets. Maybe this will give us a better place to start.
I always have this moment early in the glaze cycle about each pot, how it will be glazed and where it will sit in the kiln. Is this a low shelf or a top shelf, middle stack, front or back stack. If I throw in this 10 inch shelf will the stack run hotter in the back or in the front. The middle is always hot- so choke it down a bit with some short shelves..........
You would think after 26 years we would have this down.
With our firing times off so much from catch up this past year I have lost the rhythm of glazing.
I can see that I need to get it back or take up sewing.
And if you know me you know I can sew but I don't really like it.
So back to glazing today, taking notes and keeping our fingers crossed that we do not melt the glaze off the pots onto the shelves!

Do you insure?

I order some of my supplies off Esty. I have been very pleased with the quick shipping and how helpful all the vendors have been with information and my questions.

Last week I ordered and it crossed my mine to insure the order. Then I let it slip out of my head and I did not.

Yesterday my postman delivered my supplies- or what should have been my supplies. All I received was an empty bag. The side had been slit open and nothing was inside. The cut on the side was clean with the exception of just a bit of an edge. My first thought was, "no insurance." And to make things harder for me this was a small but expensive order.

Darn- I headed right up to the post office to report the issue. I know it did not happen at my mail box since I had just seen the postman pass by.

I talked with one of my ladies at the post office and left the empty package there.

I contacted the seller just to see how he handles his shipping. He hand delivers the packages to the post office and does not leave them out for pick up.

I hate to say it but there is a snake in the house between the seller and me.

Today I received a call and the Post master said it was obvious that it happened before it was delivered and they would reimburse my cost for the product.

I was very surprised and grateful.

The seller also offered me a discount for my reorder.

So I am happy with the outcome.

Next time I order I will pay the insurance fee.



I hope they catch the "snake" and get him out of the system.

Personally I use the US postal system for many things and find them for the most part good people, as proven by how well they handled this issue.


I was driving home Sunday and heading in to Seagrove for a quick shop of household items at our local Dollar Store. This was the truck I was behind.
I watch in fascination as the women let the dog run all over her to make sure he was hanging out the window.
At times she held the dogs tail up with his backside inches from her face.
I thought, " now that is tolerance."
When I arrived home and showed the picture to Mark he said, " No, that is resignation."
He went on to state the women has resigned herself to her place in the house as the person below the dog.
I sent the picture to a friend yesterday and she said, "No, that is just stupid."