Kevin Crowe woodfired bottle

Here's a beautiful wood fired bottle by Kevin Crowe.

After breakfast I took some more photos of my pottery collection while the computer was re-booting after yet another blue screen of death. It's been taking up most of the morning just trying to get back on numerous times to read email, do a registry clean up, etc.

I'm still dealing with this flu bug and gave in and started antibiotics this morning which will hopefully shorten the life cycle of this bug. So bug, or no bug, I'm headed for the garden later. It's sunny and warmer today, so after I have my green smoothie lunch I'm going to go out and plant some onion bulbs and maybe plant some potatoes. According to my Farmers Almanac the next good day for planting root crops is Wednesday; but rain is expected, so it's today or I'll have to wait till April 10.

Till later,
June

First Robin of Spring

Spring is definitely here - the first robin showed up yesterday. The photo isn't great because I had to take it through the bedroom window, lest I frighten him away.

It wound up being too cold and windy to plant yesterday. I also received another plant order - some raspberries, boysenberries and another grape vine. Since they were bare rooted, I had to get them and the elderberries which I was going to plant, temporarily into large pots.They'll have to be content in their temporary home until I shake this bug and the weather warms up a bit.

We took all the seedlings in for the night. It went down to the 20's overnight, so I don't think we'll have an early morel season.

I don't know who feels worse - me with the flu bug or Shanti whose been on antibiotics all week and had another pee accident on our bed last night. :-( I'm beginning to think the problem is not a bladder infection but a result of the Cushing's disease. Poor little guy is 12 years old and fading fast, I'm afraid.

Since I wasn't fit for planting or studio work with this fluish cold/fever, etc, I just tended my indoor seedlings, made breakfast and green smoothies for lunch, re-heated leftovers for dinner and watched a depressing movie "Only in America" while Jim watched the college basketball play off games, and worked on my huge paper pile. We also watched some of the woman's tennis semi-finals from Indian Wells before going to bed.

I'll get in the studio later to file away a lot of these sorted papers, glaze recipes,etc and maybe do a bit more cleanup in there. I'm so behind with studio work but I'm not going to angst over it. I might get around to getting my photo cube set up in the basement and take more pictures of my pottery collection for the blog.

Till later,
June

Michael Cardew pottery

Here's a cute little bowl that I got from the Michael Cardew pottery years ago. I always loved his work and it was a joy to visit the pottery and meet him. It was soon after Leach and Hamada had passed away - two of my other early, pottery heros, and I was determined to meet Cardew while he was still on this earth!

He was picking some lettuce in the garden when I arrived and I commented on his nice, big garden and he said he couldn't make it bigger because there would be no time to make pots. He loved the fact that I bought pots on their own merit without turning them over to see if they had his signature. There weren't many pots in his little shop but there was a new show of his work in town and we headed there after our visit.

The plan for yesterday went a bit awry when two elderberry bushes arrived in the mail. Fortunately I was feeling a bit better and it was warm, so I loaded up on vitamins and headed for the wood shed, retrieved my shovel, mixed up peat moss,mushroom compost and planting mix and headed down the hill to dig two holes. That area of our property is high clay but the only place I have left that is sunny enough for them. Elderberries need good drainage so I dug deep holes.

The bushes are soaking now, as recommended and I'll plant them this afternoon when it's warmer.
It was 28 degrees when I walked the dogs at 6:30. Fortunately we brought the more tender seedlings in the mudroom for the night. I covered my planter full of lettuce seedlings with one of my jackets; but it too, seemed to have survived the cold. We'll bring that in tonight!

Yesterday wound up being pretty productive. I did a lot of work on my sketchbook and did a lot of glaze notation and have two piles (cone 6 and cone 10) of glaze recipes I want to test and worked on the computer while watching some of the college basketball (Jim is a big fan), and then meditation before bedtime.

This morning I'll head to the studio after breakfast. I have to water the plants in there, and do a lot of tidying. It's colder today than yesterday with an expected high in the mid fifties, but not till 3 o'clock, so I'll probably wait until well after lunch time to plant those elderberries.

Till later,
June

Hellebores blooming

Here are a couple of pictures of the Hellebores that are now blooming in my garden.

Yesterday was something of a wasted day - spent taking vitamins, drinking a lot of liquids and working on my pottery sketchbook, watering my seedlings and listening to archived Coast to Coast shows.

I sketch pots on little pieces of paper and then eventually put them in the book; and getting them into the book was long overdue. I'll probably continue that project today while catching up on my Netflix movies that have been sitting here for a couple of days. I only get two at a time and still find it difficult to find time to watch them.

I did manage to take the dogs out for a short walk, pick a few weeds (very few),and make a simple spaghetti dinner (Jim's suggestion and sauce compliments of Classico),and take these photos of the hellebores.

During the walk through the garden, Bodhi, our Jack Russell rescue dog, cleared the garden of a mole. I can't believe how quickly he heard it, stuck his nose in the soil and came up with the poor critter. What focus! I bought some organic granules to spread around the garden to repel them but haven't gotten around to applying it yet. I guess Bodhi wants to earn his keep! LOL

Shanti, our Lhasa seems to be doing well on the antibiotics - haven't had a pee accident in two days! Thank you God!

Today will be another day of quiet activity, watering seedlings and potted plants (two new tomato seedlings came up overnight), working on the sketch book and try to get some time in the studio to do some organizing if nothing else. This cold/flu bug is still hanging around but I do feel like I have more energy this morning. Dinner is already covered - leftover corned beef and cabbage.


Till later,
June

The New Cold Frame

Here's the new cold frame. They did a great job with it. We're expecting freezing or close to freezing temperatures in a few days, so it will come in handy for all those seedlings I'm hardening off.

Yesterday was one very busy day! Around 8:30am we got a call from our contractor and friend, Jim, that his workers would be over soon to put together and install the new cold frame. It was so beautiful and warm that I was out in the garden planting and weeding right after breakfast. I got 15 pansies planted in a couple of beds and then planted a bunch more pansies in a new, large, round planter for the outdoor table. I weeded one of the flower beds and got the seedlings and newly planted things watered. By that time it was around one o'clock so I came in and grabbed an apple and a couple of almonds for lunch and started on the corned beef and cabbage dinner.

We had a lovely dinner with our good friends Jim and Laura. I made two corned beefs so we have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. Tonight I'll make linguini and clam sauce to break up meat meals. We had Irish coffee and hazelnut, chocolate, cookies for dessert while we watched our DVD of "The Three Irish Tenors". I was concerned that the coffee might keep me awake since I'm not a coffee drinker; but I guess the whiskey in the Irish coffee balanced the caffeine, because I had no trouble getting to sleep; but Jim, the coffee drinker had a bad night, so I guess the coffee, which he's not used to drinking at night, affected him.

I woke with feeling fluish again. Whatever bug I caught about a month ago,leaves with a couple of days of mega vitamin therapy and then seems to come back a week or ten days later. It's just a tad annoying! So I'll just get back on my vitamin therapy after breakfast.

After breakfast I'll get outside and do some more weeding. According to my new Farmers Almanac, today isn't good for planting or much else in the garden, so watering, weeding and cutting out dead tops of perennials will be the garden work of the day.

Time to make some poached eggs and get on with my day.

Till later,
June

Oribe wood and soda fired Yunomi

Here is one of my Yunomis. It's Oribe glaze over #6 tile slip, wood fired with soda.

Yesterday was as I expected - no time for much else but the vets, a short food shopping trip, cooking and dealing with the computer. Shanti, our elderly Lhasa Apso is back on antibiotics for either the start of a bladder infection or the advancing stages of Cushing's disease. The vet also upped his Cushing's medicine. The poor dear has lost so much of his beautiful coat from this disease; but the saving grace is that he doesn't seem to be in pain. His appetite is good and he has gotten a bit perkier since he's been on the medication for Cushings. Hopefully the antibiotics will take care of all the pee accidents I've had to clean up the past couple of days. With all these non expected activities, I keep holding the thought that I WILL get to the studio eventually. Actually, I got in there yesterday to put some things away, change grow lights (3 had blown), and retrieve some glaze books I needed for some glaze noting I did last night.

We finally have a non-rainy morning! The contractor has already called and they'll be setting up the cold frame today! I'll probably get out there when they arrive and see if there's any planting I can do when it warms up a bit. I'm sure the soil is going to be pretty wet after a few rainy days. With friends coming over for a St Patrick's day corned beef and cabbage dinner there won't be much time for the garden even if the soil is workable. I'll probably only get to plant a few tulip bulbs which are still in the bag and sprouting and maybe pull a few weeds, if I'm lucky.

The computer woes continue. Just when I thought I had somehow solved the blue screen of death, I got it repeatedly after trying to download an updated version of my anti-spam software. I finally gave up and stopped the software from loading at start up and that seems to have fixed it to a certain degree. That software as well as the anti virus software expires in a couple of weeks so I may try the new Norton which has gotten good reviews. The hard drive is badly damaged and I just don't think the computer is worth repairing since it's making other ungodly sounds at times,after which a white screen appears and the computer shuts off.

Waiting for all these computer re-boots for days, has given me plenty of time to go through months of magazines as well as dealing with a lot of other paperwork and email cleaning,so it's been a productive, although frustrating time.



Till later,
June

Salt glazed sake set from Japan

Here's a nice little, blue accented, sake set from one of my Japan trips.

I don't know what happened but after I was able to download Windows SP3, and re-loading my anti virus software, the blue screen of death hasn't appeared since! After days of frantically trying to download my documents in between the blue screen of death appearing regularly, giving messages with the words "fatal error", this is quite a surprise. Yesterday I even spent time researching laptops, figuring that any minute I was going to have to buy a new one!

The universe has a great sense of humor, though. Now that this problem seems to be temporarily solved, and company is gone, our dog Shanti has been having pee accidents, probably due to another infection due to the Cushing disease he's on medication for. So today's plan to get studio time is probably going to change to "take Shanti to the vet day". After two accidents yesterday, we wound up taking him out about every hour and a half; and of course it was raining most of the time! Poor dear is 12 years old and seems to be fading fast lately.

If we can get an early enough appointment at the vets, I may be able to get in some studio time this afternoon. With more rain coming, gardening is out of the question other than watering seedlings, maybe planting more seeds. Hopefully I will be able to get in some time in the studio. I'm getting a bit frustrated at not being able to find work time!

Till later,
June

Yunomi

Here's a yunomi I purchased on one of my Japan trips. I can't believe how thin this piece is! The glaze is the most beautiful, combination of rich colors - mahogany brown, deep ochre, and green. I also purchased some sake sets from this pottery. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the pottery but I do remember that an elderly woman potter who owned the pottery and she was very sweet and very gracious.

Yesterday was spent on the computer all day, except for cooking, eating, walking the dogs and other necessities of daily living.

I got most of my documents saved on my new stand alone hard drive and just as I was finishing the last few files, the blue screen of death came up; so I re-booted, and ran the anti-virus software and went to bed. Fortunately, on the third try, it finally worked and no virus showed up, so the problem is probably what we thought - a dying hard drive/computer.

This morning I'm trying to download XP last sofware download. I've gotten the blue screen of death once so this download may take a few tries. At some point today, I have to research some laptop reviews.

It's been raining all morning so my gardening today may only consists of watering seedlings and maybe transplanting the rest of the lobelias if time permits.Early this week my contractor should be delivering the completed cold frame they're building for me. Then I'll be able to get a lot of these seedlings housed safely in case of any late freezes.
Well, time to get back to work on this sick computer.


Till later,
June

Vivika Heino salt glazed bowl

Here's a darling little salt glazed bowl by my late friend and glaze teacher Vivika Heino.

Our daughter and husband left this morning and Jim and I have been busy all day getting the house back in order and getting back into our nice, relaxed, quiet routine.

My friend McKenzie Smith called. He's doing a workshop this month at Penland and we're hoping we can touch base before he heads back to Florida.

I spent some time this morning transplanting a large amount of snapdragons and brought them and others upstairs and into the kitchen greenhouse window.

The rest of the day has been spent dealing with this dying laptop. I've managed to get on for minutes at a time to download important document and other files to my new, stand alone hard drive and I have most things copied now. My son-in-law the computer whiz thinks my hard drive is badly damaged and this laptop is old enough and used so much that a new one is in the offing. I just wish Window 7 was out already because I don't want to use the latest Windows operating system. Maybe I can pick up an inexpensive, small laptop with XP and then get a better one after Windows 7 comes out at the end of the year.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to have to get on line and see if I can find some useful laptop reviews.

My email is very backed up and I haven't even had time to check out my favorite blogs. :-(

In the next few days I need to take more photos of my pottery collection to share on the blog - so much to do and so little time!

Till later,
June

Salt glazed fish cup

This is a really nice, sturdy, salt glazed cup I purchased at a gallery/pottery in New Smyrna Beach, Florida several years ago. The only marking is a couple of initials -jr I think.

I'm back on my laptop but it looks like this hard drive is badly damaged, and dying fast. It only lets me stay on a while and then the blue screen of death pops up; but I was able to get all my documents downloaded to the new stand alone hard drive. That took all day! Now I have to decide whether to put more money into this laptop with a new hard drive or just rent or buy a cheap laptop until the new Windows 7 comes in at the end of the year.

We're going to enjoy vegging out on this cloudy, rain expected, day with our daughter and her husband. Friends are coming over tonight to join us for dinner. They're bringing Cosmopolitans and chocolates and we're supplying the burgers with all the trimmings. The family leaves tomorrow and hopefully after a day of cleaning up, I can get back to the garden if it's not raining or into the studio if it is.

Yesterday I planted a few more tomato seeds and planted more frying pepper seeds. The past couple of years I've found that I'm getting a much lower germination rate from commercial seeds. I think it's because many companies are now treating seeds so that you can's save seed and that process is actually affecting the initial germination rate. Corporate greed continues to boggle the mind!

I think I can plant my cold weather vegetable starts and peas now, as well as the onion starts and leeks I got the other day. There are also a few packs of pansies to pot and plant. If the ground isn't too wet after a few days of rain I'd like to get potatoes planted as well. Yesterday I bought some Yukon Gold seed potatoes. I'm also planting Kennebecs this year and maybe some red potatoes like Pontiac's; but Walmart didn't have that variety so I'll have to look elsewhere.

We saw the first daffodils yesterday and it looks like the forsythia is going to bursting into bloom any minute. Spring is definitely breaking through!

Till later,
June

Soda fired covered jar

Since I'm still in computer hell, I'll keep posting some pictures of some of my pots which are the only ones I can access at the moment. Here's a covered jar from a recent firing.
With house guests it's difficult to find time to blog. Between company and dealing with the blue screen of death, and dinner in Asheville, the day just flew by yesterday.
My son-in-law did his magic and got past the permanent blue screen of death, but we're still getting it periodically, but now we're able to get back into Windows.
We drove to Walmart and I got a huge stand alone hard drive which I'm using it to first, back up important files. Every half hour or so the blue screen of death comes back up and I have to start over. It looks like the hard drive is dying and I'm trying to get as much off there before it finally keels over permanently!
Well, that's it for now. Time to get ready to go out to breakfast and then to do some shopping. We've decided to just hang out at home for the next two days and eat in; so I have to pick up some steaks for tonight and everything for tomorrows barbecue.
We had a great Tapas dinner at Zambras in Asheville last night but we're all ready to vegg out for the next two days before Erin and Sven head back to Germany.

Till later,
June

June Perry Soda fired jar

Here's another of my pots. I'll post some of my work until I can get to the other computer or get my camera working on this computer.

The blue screen of death still waits for my son-in-law to either fix it or declare it's demise.

I'm a bit dragging this morning after a full day of gardening yesterday but I have to perk up soon because I have corn bread and shrimp gumbo to make for the weary travelers - daughter and husband, who'll be arriving this afternoon.

Other than watering seedlings, I'll probably stay out of the garden today. One new tomato sprouted this morning; but the rest of those seeds are sure taking their time!


Till later,
June

Soda fired cruet

Here's one of my pieces from my last firing. Silly me got the background paper upside down, but due computer problem, I can't access the photos of my pot collection which are on my sick laptop.
When I turned the laptop on this morning I got the blue screen of death and every attempt to get in to the computer was to no avail, so after an hour or so I gave up and went on to watering my seedlings and spent most of the rest of the day outside gardening. I had a helper for four hours in the afternoon and we did a huge cleanup.There's still more to do, but I feel a lot better to see the progress I've made this past week.
I tried to get to my email on this old desktop but the Anti-virus software had expired so I've spend the last hour downloading new software - anti-virus and anti-spam. Then I had to remove the old anti-virus software.
Our daughter and son-in-law are coming tomorrow afternoon and I'll see if my son in law can solve the blue screen of death problem. If not I'll have to call Microsoft; but I'm not even sure they're still servicing Windows.

Till later,
June

Hank Murrow faceted shino chawan

Here's a Hank Murrow, shino chawan that's been faceted with his special twisted faceting wire, which he also makes and sells. Hank is a wonderful potter from the Pacific North West who has the most beautiful blood red shinos.

Today turned out to be a lazy, vegging out Sunday. Yesterday, I overdid the gardening, working from late morning till 4:30 non-stop, with just a glass of water that Jim brought to sustain me. I got one asparagus trench dug and planted and I hope I didn't plant them too early - should have read the instructions again before planting, especially the part where they said the soil should be 50F before planting! I'll wait a couple of weeks before planting the rest of the crowns. I also got the apricot tree planted, dug up and re-planted a couple of perennials and I had my helper start on weeding one of the beds. She's thorough but worked very slowly, so I helped her to almost finish that bed until my lack of lunch headache begged me to stop and get myself an aspirin.

Before breakfast this morning I loaded the garden cart with the day lilies that I'm going to be dividing and re-planting along with bags of compost and planting mix, shovel and water, then realized I was too wiped to wheel that heavy thing down the driveway 200 -300 feet and too tired to dig holes today. So that will have wait till tomorrow, when hopefully, my 69 year old battery is re-charged.

I did manage to get enough energy to take the dogs for a walk down to the creek, clean up some small broken branches in the meadow, check the fruit trees (some look like they're going to come into leaf any minute!) and do an early search for morel mushrooms; but none were to be found. Maybe after a few days of rain later this week, followed by a few over 40F evening, they should begin to come out of hiding.

The rest of my afternoon has been spent doing some reading about Etsy, which totally confused me and sketching pots.. Now I just have to find time and energy to make them; but with our daughter and son-in-law arriving Tuesday for a five day visit, both gardening and pot making will have to wait. Their visits from Germany usually include a lot of shopping and eating out which I'm looking forward to. The Etsy project will have to wait till my brain isn't as tired and after my next firing and the TRAC tour.

I've got a new, simple, garlic shrimp with basil and cherry tomatoes recipe to make for dinner along with some garlic, butter and olive oil linguine. Pasta is definitely my main comfort food - perfect for how I feel today! Cooking dinner and watching a Netflix historical, foreign film will be it for the rest of the day.

Till later,
June

Yunomi

Here's a luscious yunomi that I bought at a little shop near Mt. Hood in Oregon several years ago. If anyone knows whose work this is, please let me know. I love the buttery quality of the glaze on this piece.
It's a gorgeous, warm morning here. Not that I'm not going to enjoy it; but these overly warm days this early in the season, brings to mind what happened two years ago when a similar warm spell was followed by several days of hard freeze and we didn't get a single piece of fruit from our fruit trees and lost a couple of Japanese maples and some perennials.
Yesterday I woke up feeling awful but by late morning I was feeling better and after lunch I went out and got my hands in the dirt and did some garden cleanup and dug the hole for the apricot tree. The sun and air were healing. They always are for me.
I'll be planting today and got started yesterday on the trench for the asparagus crowns. I did some research on planting them and the new wisdom is to only plant them 5-6 inches deep for better yield. That is going to make my job a lot easier!
Before breakfast I got at least 30-40 trailing lobelia seedlings and some Italian flat leaf parsley transplanted. They're so tiny, but they were so crowded I had to get them out of the seed starter mix into a potting soil mix. I hope they do OK, since I can't find this variety in local garden stores so I usually start my own. My first tomato seedling sprouted two days ago but the rest are taking their time. I put those peat pots in the greenhouse window this morning, hoping the direct, natural light may wake them up!
The painter is coming to finish up the last of the painting this afternoon and she's bringing her daughter to work in the garden with me for a couple of hours. It will be nice to have a bit of help catching up with the garden cleanup and planting.
Well, time to plant that apricot tree and do more garden cleanup before lunch.


Till later,
June

Craig Martell porcelain bowl

Here's another Craig Martell piece. I purchased this bowl at the Oregon potters spring sale in the early to mid 90's. It represents the beginning of what became his later more controlled, decorating technique. At another time I'll post a couple of his pieces that were created a few years later. I'll have to find time to take more photos of more pots.
Wound up staying home yesterday afternoon instead of touching base with John and delivering the test tiles. I had to be here because of some construction problems and needed to make sure they were corrected; and Jim was totally wiped after getting back from our shopping trip and wound up taking a long nap.
I got some of my organic planting mix at Walmart, for transplanting some of my veggie seedlings and some bagged perennials and onion starts. The local hardware store had their delivery of potato seeds and I bought 6 lbs of Kennebecs. Hopefully I'll be able to plant them in the next week or so. Once I get those planted I'll get some Red Pontiac potato seeds and maybe some Yukon Golds or Yellow Finns to try.
When we got home they contractors were here and had finished laying the bathroom floor. There was a fit problem with the vanity which we're still working and a few other little glitches to deal with. After putting away the groceries I went down to the basement to water seedlings and saw that one of the begonia bulbs I was over wintering was sprouting, so I go all of them planted and then spent a little time in the garden doing a bit of weeding and cleanup; but there's a great deal more to do when I have the energy and time. I also removed everything from the kitchen greenhouse window and cleaned it and put the plants outside for the day and brought them back in after dinner. Jim washed the inside of the window where I couldn't reach and that did not help his back!
I think I've caught whatever bug Jim's been fighting the past few days. Either that, or the one I have a few weeks ago has come around again. :-(. Last night I had chills and this morning my throat is scratchy, glands swollen and still having chills. Oh joy! I'll load up on the vitamins again and try to get outside when it warms up and get some sun.
If I perk up I'll try to do a bit of garden work on this mid 60's day we're expecting. At this moment, I feel like I just want to be a couch potato; but I have to water my seedlings and get the lettuce and leek seedlings outside for the day. It's going to be warm enough overnight for the next six days so they'll be able to stay out as long as the nights stay above freezing.It was 30F this morning. It wasn't supposed to get that low and I left the cabbage, broccoli, spinach and brussel sprouts out; but they seem to have survived.
This morning we got a good laugh about how these old bodies of ours go from one ache and pain to another. You gotta laugh!

Till later,
June

Faceted copper green bottle

We bought this elegant, ovoid, faceted, oxidation fired, copper green bottle ten years ago at the Oregon Potters Ass spring sale. I think the signature says "Yhadi, or Shadi???" If anyone knows which of either of these names is correct, let me know.

Yesterday we were busy driving dogs back and forth to the groomers in Micaville, grocery shopping, temporarily potting the bare rooted asparagus and bleeding heart perennial that arrived ,cooking and watering seedlings. It's been so cold that the leftover bag of potting mix was frozen and I had to chip away to loosen it.

There wasn't any time to do the seedling transplanting I had planned. I think what I need is a wife - you know, one of those people who plans menus, grocery shops, darns, mends, cooks, cleans, plans, plants and maintains gardens, preserves food, supervises the construction projects, feeds the pets, etc. Then I would have more time to make pots! LOL

Today will be something of a repeat of yesterday - breakfast out, a Walmart run for a few grocery fill ins that Ingles didn't have, and potting mix and potting soil for the seedling transplanting and outdoor planting I'm going to try to get done the next few days before the rains come. If John is in his studio this afternoon, I'll deliver the finished test tiles.

I'm not sure it's going to be warm enough for me to start digging the trench for the permanent asparagus bed. That may have to wait till tomorrow when it is going to be in the 60's. If I put it off, then I'll try to get in some studio time before I have to start tonight's dinner - simple grilled salmon, baked potatoes and fresh spinach or asparagus.


Till later,
June

Michael Rutkowsky coffee pot

Here's a very nice stoneware coffee pot by another local potter, Michael Rutkowsky.
Yesterday did not pan out as planned - not in any way. We were both feeling totally wiped and on top of it Jim had pulled his lower back shoveling snow the day before and spent most of the day with a heat pad. He was going to drive me to John Britt's to deliver the test tiles, but when I called John, he was in Asheville. So we spent the day vegging at home. I made Fettucini Alfredo for dinner - heart attack, comfort food!
Today will be a "running around" day. First we have to drive the dogs to Burnsville to the groomer, then have breakfast out, do grocery and other shopping, pick up the dogs and come home. That will probably take most of the day. I hope Jim will be OK. He's still feeling fluish this morning. By the time I get home I'll have to think about starting dinner and don't have a clue what it will be tonight. Maybe I'll do a simple herbal, roasted chicken with oven roasted potatoes and peas. Sounds good!
I probably won't even try to get in any studio time but will use any spare time to re-pot more seedlings. The snapdragons are getting a bit crowded in their starter pots!

Till later,
June

Ruggles and Rankin wood/soda bowl

Here's another wood/soda fired bowl from Ruggles and Rankin.

Yesterday I spent all morning re-potting seedlings. The afternoon was spent in the studio batching and applying more soda slips and glazes. I have over 50 tests of slips and glazes ready to go with more to make this morning. I worked till 8:30 last night and will get a bit more done some time today.

I have to drop this current batch of tiles off at John Britt's studio for his cone 6 soda test firing this afternoon, do grocery and other shopping and have our big meal of the day at the buffet. Dinner will probably just be some popcorn while I work on glaze chemistry.

Till later,
June

More snow pictures

Here are some more snow pictures. Love the snow hat on the Buddha statue outside my studio. The little hats on the dormant bee balm in the other picture are lovely as well.

Seed transplanting took longer than expected, so I'm an hour late getting into the studio. Maybe I can make up the time after dinner.

Snow covered morning

We got just enough snow to be pretty and only a minor inconvenience. Jim shoveled the walkways so our little dogs could get to their first morning outing without too much discomfort, and he cleared an area where he puts out the bird food every morning. The birds just dove into the food without the usual bickering and territorial behavior they usually engage in. I guess they were too cold and too hungry to waste energy on anything but feeding!

I had to cancel my doctors appointment in Burnsville this morning. The roads haven't been cleared yet and we're not seeing any car traffic yet, so the road may be a mess.

Yesterday I took a break from the studio since I had to start tomato and pepper seeds. I also had a lot of seedling transplanting to do. The kale, basil, and some perennials are now in larger peat pots with potting soil replacing the seed starting mix they were in. This morning I'll be transplanting the cool weather veggies which are definitely pot bound in those tiny containers. I also have some annual flower seedlings (snapdragons and lobelias) which are ready for transplanting as well.

My studio time will be a continuation of batching glazes for the cone 6 soda, test firing in John Britt's new, soda, test kiln.. I have 29 tiles done so far and have more to go.

Doesn't look like any of our construction crew will be here this morning. One has already canceled and I know two of them live at much higher elevations which got a lot more snow than we have here.

Till later,
June

Gordon Ramsay and our grandson Brandon

Here's a photo of our grandson Brandon with Gordon Ramsay during the taping of his show "Hell's Kitchen". Gordon is our son Sean's client, so our grandson was privileged to have Gordon cook and serve him Steak Diane yesterday! Lucky boy!

We had steak as well, cooked by our good friend Jim and those rib eyes were huge and cooked perfectly on the grill. They were so big we brought home the leftovers and will have them sliced cold for tomorrow dinner, along with a salad and maybe with rosemary, garlic, roasted potatoes. It was a fun night with good friends.

I got a bunch more test glazes and slips batched and on to tiles yesterday. Today, the Farmers Almanac tells me is a good day for seed starting, so after our bagel, smoked salmon and cream cheese Sunday breakfast I'll spent some time planting tomato and peppers seeds and then get to the studio to batch more glazes and slips.

We're expecting a bit of snow later today or tonight but you wouldn't know it right now. It's pretty balmy out there.

Till later,
June

Gay Smith

Here's a nice soda fired vase with Avery flashing slip by my neighbor Gay Smith.

It's a rainy morning; but very mild. This weather will be turning cold tomorrow with some possible snow expected. My cold weather veggie seedlings will have to be brought in for the night until later in the week. Hopefully it will be warming up enough I can plant them soon otherwise they're going to be too pot bound unless I transplant them to bigger pots until the evenings won't turn them into popsicles!

Got some more slips and glazes made and tiles dipped yesterday. Some of the colored slips I was going to use on some porcelains mugs hadn't settled enough for me to pour off the excess water. Hopefully they will be today. I spent part of the day re-figuring some of my cone 10 recipes, like oribe and somebrite for cone 6. Theoretically they should work; but firing will tell.

They ran out of wood for the wood floor in the bathroom and more has to be ordered, so that's a delay since they started the floor at the front which means they can't install the vanity and toilet until the floor is finished!

Since they still had time left I had them make me a potting table for the wood shed, using a double layer of the old, flat, hollow doors. They did a great job of securing it to the wall, so it will be a nice, sturdy table for me to use for re-potting, etc. I am SOOOO ready for spring!

Time to get to work!

Till later,
June

Pit fired mystery Pot

Here's another piece from my collection. I purchased this in the late 70's or early 80's during a fundraiser in Southern California. The maker is unknown (there's an indistinguishable mark at the base)and it appears to have been pit fired. I love the organic nature of this pot. If anyone recognizes this pot I'd love to know the name of the maker.

Got studio time in yesterday and got more slips mixed and dipped 17 tiles for the cone 6 soda firing. Today I'll batch some glazes and mix and dip a few more slips. I also mixed up some colored slips to use on a couple of porcelain mugs for our daugher and her husband. These slips hadn't been used for several years so it was a chore getting them mixed and I added too much water so they're sitting until I can pour off the excess and decorate those mugs.

Studio time was a bit shortened since I decided to make dinner in the morning so I could work till after 5. I did go back to the studio for a bit after dinner, but just to do some cleanup and get some glaze notebooks to go through while we watched TV. I made a list of slips and glazes - some of which I'm hoping to batch today and checked some recipes out using my glass chem software. I'm amazed at how many cone 9-10 recipes are actually too low in alumina and silica for cone 10; but are within those limits for cone 6.

At 8am this morning, I was in the studio packing up a broken trim tool I need to have Jim mail for me today. It's raining lightly but very balmy out there. Yesterday was an incredible, warm sunny day. Wish I could have spared time for the garden, but there's been too little studio time lately and that had to take precedence.

By 8:30 this morning we had the whole crew here starting work. The tile man will be here later. He only needs a half hour to grout the new recessed tiles area in the wall above the tub. The painter is here doing the bathroom and the two carpenters are here putting up the rest of the doors. As soon as the bathroom is painted and the tile is grouted, they'll be able to start installing the wood floor. Things are going along really fast now and I'm feeling very encouraged that this project will be completed by the end of next week!

This will be a full studio day. I have leftover beans for dinner and just have to make some cornbread which I'm going to get to right now!

Till later,
June

Craig Martell jar

Here's another jar from my collection. It's a lovely porcelain jar with temmoku glaze on the rim and sprayed oxide washes over glaze - lovely piece.

Yesterday was a busy day with the 3 man crew doing the knock down work. They finished yesterday! Yeah! It has to dry now and on Monday the painter will be here to paint that bathroom and do a few other touch ups. I guess they'll start laying the wood floor afterward.or maybe hang the doors.

I think Rick finished polyurethaning the doors yesterday - I hope so! The smell in the studio was still over whelming; and because of it I quit early and came in and started on dinner - beans and corn bread. That bean recipe is really wonderful - not bland like some cooked beans I've had. These are cooked with fresh tomatoes, bacon, serrano chiles, garlic, onion and cilantro. I got the recipe from one of my vegetarian cook books. It was good but missing something. So I added 3 pieces of bacon that I pre-fried and that gave the dish that extra flavor boost.

Before I quit for the day I managed to complete the finishing work and marking on the test tiles and got some handles on a few mugs. Hopefully the smell will be gone this morning and I can slip and decorate the mugs and other pots.

Two of the regular construction crew were missing yesterday - one due to the current flu bug going around and the other had to go to S. Carolilna to help a sister move. Hopefully we'll have more than one worker here today. It would be nice to have them get those doors hung or start laying the wood floor. This construction needs to be done by March 10th, when our daughter and husband arrive for their visit!


Till later,
June

McKenzie Smith Soda fired jar

This is a beautiful example of my friend, McKenzie Smith's work. It's a thrown and altered jar. I'm always amazed at how he can continually find the perfect decoration on any form and rarely seems to repeat his designs!

Yesterday was another of those bust studio days. There was a crew of 5 here most of the day working on dry wall and door staining. The water pipes in the studio were frozen, so I kept busy in the house and when I checked again after lunch, there was water, but the smell in the studio was so bad I couldn't work in there. They had opened the studio door into the garage to get some heat into the garage for the staining and the smell was so bad, that there was no way I was going to work in there. An apricot tree arrived so I got that into a large pot and if it gets as warm as expected, I'll try to get it planted this afternoon. Since the studio was not an option, I used my time to make a nice steak dinner and work on going through my glaze books in search of more cone 6 recipes that might work in soda.

Today they're going to be putting a coat of polyurethane on the doors; but it's supposed to be around 60F today so maybe they won't have to open the studio door and I can get to work. I am so sick of this construction right now. On one hand I'm thrilled that we're updating those bathrooms and replacing all those flat, hollow doors; but on the other hand it's greatly eating up my studio time.

If all goes well I'll work till around 4:30. I'm making beans and cornbread for dinner and I've soaked the beans overnight so they'll cook pretty fast and I'll make the cornbread after breakfast.


Till later,
June

Ruggles and Rankin wood soda fired jar

Here's a charming little jar by Ruggles and Rankin who had their Rock Creek Pottery here until this past year when they moved to New Mexico.

Studio work was delayed till noon yesterday due to more meetings with the contractor. They are going to remedy the recessed area for shampoo, soap, etc in the tub area, which entails removing several tiles. So Jim has to drive to Asheville and get more tiles and I'll stay home and get in a full day in the studio.

I worked till 5:30 yesterday to make up a bit for lost time. After dinner I went through a few rubbermaid storage containers of cone 6 glaze, test batches,that I had Jim bring up from the basement. I had to check them against the recipes to see which may be likely candidates to test in the soda kiln.

Today I'll finish trimming and marking the Loafers Glory test tiles, get handles on some porcelains mugs and hopefully have time to batch some cone 6 glazes for the soda test fire.

The crew have all arrived. Some will be in the garage staining the new doors, and the other group are here to sand down and spray new texture on the larger, upstairs bathroom. Hopefully I'll be able to get in the studio my regular time without any more long meetings about these construction projects!So far, so good. Time to make breakfast and get to work.


Till later,
June

Will Baker soda fired bowl

Here's another Will Baker pot - soda fired bowl.

We slept in a bit this morning after staying up till Midnight watching the Academy Awards.

Grassy Creek just delivered the doors for upstairs. We're replacing all the hollow core doors with solid panel doors as well as replacing those old louvered closet doors for paneled doors. The construction crew will be here tin a little while and I'll dash out to the studio after breakfast. If they need me for decision making they're going to have to come in there.

I have over 100 test tiles to deal with this morning. After doing the Helios tiles, I realized that since the Helios's lowest cone is 7, I'd at least better just test these slips and glazes on a body that can actually be used at cone 6, so I threw another 50+ tiles of Loafers Glory yesterday. I rummaged through some jars of old bisqued tiles and found I have a few Phoenix , a large sun tea jar full of a cone 6 white stoneware from Highwater, and P5 porcelain tiles that I can use; but I need to throw more Phoenix tiles since I've finally decided to settle on that one body once I use all all my reclaim and other clays.

Yesterday I cut and cleaned the 56 tiles I threw the day before. Today I'll so the same with the Loafers Glory tiles, and trim and put handles on the few porcelain mugsI made a couple of days ago. If I have enough uninterrupted time I'll also throw more Phoenix tiles.

John Britt's new soda test kiln only takes two 12X24" shelves and there may be 3 of us putting tiles in there, so I don't have many tiles to make for this cone 6 soda firing of glazes and slips. All of the slips I want to test are already batched. They're slips I'm either currently using on a regular basis or have batched and only have to be remixed. I think I still have some small test batches of some cone 6 glazes I tested 5-6 years ago. I just have to figure where I put them. I suspect they're in large rubber maid containers in the basement, so I'll dig around there when I go down to water my seedlings.


Till later!
June

Cathi Jefferson Salt glazed cup

We bought this Cathi Jefferson salt glazed cup on a visit to Victoria, B.C., Canada some years ago. The buttery finish on her porcelain body is a terra sig slip - very lovely work!

Finally got a full day in the studio-- threw about 50 or so porcelain test tiles and some porcelain mugs. I found an unused piece of granite slab which was leftover from our kitchen remodel and Jim and I carted it into the studio. Actually, we tried to carry it, but my new titanium hip isn't happy with me carrying anything over 25 lbs and that granite was a lot more than 50lbs. Jim retrieved a cart from the wood shed and brought it in the rest of the wayt and then we both lifted it up on to the table. It's now serving as a wedging surface for porcelain.

I have a double sectioned plaster wedging table which I use for the two stoneware bodies I've been using the past 4 years and I thought it was good to keep the porcelain separate. These tiles are just for the Cone 6 soda firing John Britt and I want to play around with; but porcelain is something I rarely work with these days.

Today I'll trim and mark those tiles, trim the pots and pull handles and make a bunch of Phoenix test tiles. It amazes me how quickly 6 hours of studio time flies!

After dinner I've been doing studio related glaze research for this cone 6 soda project - looking through my recipes and re-figuring some cone 10 recipes with my glaze software to get them down to cone 6.

We've got leftovers for tonight so I'll be able to work till around 5:30, have dinner and get on with the glaze work while watching the Academy Awards which are always lightweight fun.

Till later,
June

Kyle Carpenter Salt fired cup

Here's a sweet little salt fired cup by Asheville area potter Kyle Carpenter. This is one very talented young man!

Yesterday was another one of those "man plans, God laughs" days! I was counting on a full studio day and there was one meeting after another yesterday morning with the subs. I had to make decisions on dry wall, lights, hardware and on and on. By the time everyone had all their answers, plants tended, it was noon, so I suggested to Jim that since I lost my morning time and it was obvious with all these people and activity that I was not going to get a full day in the studio, maybe we should go to Asheville and get the rest of the hardware. So we grabbed a slice of cheese and some almonds to hold us until we could get a proper lunch or dinner and took off.

We bought the last of the hardware at Lowes but still can't find a small, ceiling fixture for the smaller upstairs bathroom. The size is very limited, as is the shape, so I'm going to have to continue to explore on line lighting stores tonight. So far, no luck. I also made a quick stop at Highwater clay to pick up a quart of resist and couple of boxes of clay, both for the cone 6 soda project and a box of Moon White clay which I'm phasing out, to finish an order. I've finally decided on one commercial claybody-- Phoenix, so once I use up the reclaim and other clays I've been playing with, I'll finally get to use my de-airing Bluebird pugmill. It's such a horror to clean that I haven't wanted to use it again until I did all my slip and glaze testing and settled on one clay body.

We had an early dinner/late lunch at the Chinese restaurant so I didn't have to make dinner. I just make some buttered popcorn with parmesan cheese and a sprinkiling of cayenne while we watched "The Secret of Roan Innish" - lovely, mystical, movie!

The tile work was finished when we got home and looks great - except the carpenters forgot to make the recessed areas in the tub area wall to store shampoo, etc. Neither Jim or I caught it, so now I have to search for something to hold soap and shampoo - probably one of those gizmos that hang on the shower pole.

Well, time to think about breakfast. It's nice to have a quiet morning and the house to ourselves for the weekend and get some uninterrupted studio time.

Till later,
June

Josh Copus Hakeme bowl

This bowl by Josh Copus is a lovely example of Hakeme brush work.

Yesterday was a busy studio day, with some morning time for transplanting some seedlings and planting a few more seeds. It was also a day with contractors working all over the house. The tile man got the tiles up in the upstairs bathroom and repaired a tile in the master bath. Today he'll do the grouting. The carpenters put together the granite topped vanity and it looks great. There's still wood flooring to install in there and drywall repair and painting to do

I'll be back in the studio this morning after breakfast and checking my seedlings. It was 15F this morning when we took the dogs out for their morning walk. Fortunately the studio water pipes didn't freeze overnight so I won't have to wait for them to thaw.

It should be a full studio day till around 4:30. Dinner is going to be simple - braunschweiger sausage, boiled parsley potatoes and spinach.

I spent last night going through glaze recipes I've collected for 36 years. There are over ten thousand recipes so this will take a while! John Britt and I want to explore cone 6 soda firing, so I'm going through those glazes looking for some I think would work so we can do a firing in his new, small, soda test kiln in the next few months. First I need to get enough pots made for a firing before the TRAC tour late spring; but I'm hoping to batch some of these tests in between.

If anyone reading this blog has any cone 6 soda recipes to share we'd really appreciate it!

Till later,
June

Ruthanne Tudball soda fire bowl

Here's a really sweet, faceted, soda fired bowl from Ruthanne Tudball. My husband bought this for me during a trip to England and Ireland last fall. I'm not sure why she made a saucer for this bowl. When I opened the package I thought he had bought me 2 pots. It almost looks like a small soap dish, which I think it could be used as, with a round bar of soap; but he said that it was a part of the bowl set.

Got my full time in the studio yesterday remixing some slips and decorating some pots. My black decorating slip sinks like a rock and so does my Linda's Yellow slip. And they both settle very fast - too fast - particularly the Lindas Yellow. I mixed up and added some ben a gel to the Lindas yellow; but when I checked it fifteen minutes later it was still settled, but easier to remix. It may be like concrete again this morning! I'll probably add more Ben a Gel today . It's a suspender that I got years ago from Ferro in Canada and I can't find it anymore. Either they've stopped making it or are marketing it under another name. Ruth Gowdy McKinley told me about it in the 70's.. With most glazes 1/4% is enough to keep the glaze well suspended. I only have about 2 cups of it left and I'm hoarding it for the couple of slips and glazes, like White Salt which settle like concrete! I'm going to have to start searching for an alternative suspender that works this well.

The construction crew is here this morning. They got some of the hardware installed in the smaller bath and are going to be putting together the vanity this morning. The tile man is supposed to be here this morning to get started on the tile work around the tub in the larger, upstairs bathroom. We're hoping these bathrooms will be done when our daughter and her husband arrive from Germany around the middle of March.

The Gordon Ramsay Linguini Puttanesca was wonderful last night and we have leftovers for tomorrow. Tonight it's the leftover Mexican, chicken stir fry so I'll just have to make more re-fried beans to go with it. Since I don't have to allow for a lot of dinner prep time, I'll be able to get my 6 hours of studio time. There are still more pots to trim, wax and slip, pots to decorate, and some handles to pull.

It was snowing earlier but the sun is coming out now and it's pretty breezy out there.. I put my broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprout starts on the front porch this morning but I'll have to bring them in at night for the next several nights which are going to be quite cold. I probably should have waited a week or two before buying them. If I get time tonight I'll re-pot them along with some of my other seedlings which are now big enough to go into larger peat pots.

Time for morning vitamins and some extra C for this cold that has come back , then head for the studio.

Till later,
June

Suze Lindsay salt glaze slab dish

Here's the last of my Suze Lindsay pots. It's a lovely slab piece that I use often. The size is just right for pickle, olives, veggies for dipping, etc.

Yesterday was spent shopping for the new bathrooms and having a big lunch at "Fatz". Lowes hardware had the missing shade for the guest bedroom and the shades are now installed and look great. They were out of the tissue holder to match the towel bars we bought, so we'll have to make another trip to get it. It will have to wait till next week or when this cold/rain/snow/sleet weather breaks. Going down or over these winding mountain roads is not something we care to do in this kind of weather.

I was hoping to get in the studio after breakfast but the plumber showed up at 8:30am, turned off the water while I was a making breakfast. It's 11am and the water is still off! They carpenters are removing a partition wall in the larger bathroom this morning and reinforcing the support beam above. Our contractor put the tile installer off a day, figuring the plumber might not be finished - good call!

It's all coming along nicely; but it's definitely digging into my work time! I've been using what little spare time after construction chores to cook and take care of seedlings. I planted a few more seeds yesterday and transplanted some red sage seedling and will be doing more tonight. It's nice to see all those tiny green seedling coming up. This morning one yellow echinacea seed came to life! I bought some organic potting soil yesterday and will be transplanting more of these seedlings as soon as they're big enough.

We had to drive to the Lowes in Marion for those bathroom accessories and I swear I saw daffodils blooming when we got down the hill! I bought some 6-9 packs of broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage. Tonight I'll transplant them to bigger big peat pots. It was raining and sleeting this morning and snow is expected tonight. We're expecting more of the same the rest of this week with some 20 degree night time temperatures, so I'll have to put those veggie starters out during the day and bring them into the mud room at night until the weather is good enough to get them in the ground.

Just found out that the water is back on so I'm heading out to the studio. I'll be able to get in my 6 hours of studio time. Dinner is going to be an easy linguini Putanesca with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, anchovies, etc.. It's a Gordon Ramsay recipe I got from his web site the other day which I'm eager to try it.

Till later,
June

Suze Lindsay Cup

Here's another pot from my collection - a Suze Lindsay, salt glazed, large cup.

The crew arrived this morning with the new tub and toilet. Today was going to be a studio day but after looking at the weeks weather forecast (snow/rain/cold for the next 4 days), we changed our plans and instead, will be heading down the mountain to Lowe's hardware in Marion to see if they have the missing shade we need as well as more hardware for the bathrooms. We'll have our big meal of the day at Fatz (Jim likes their shrimp and grits), and just cook some popcorn or a small, doctored, frozen pizza for dinner.

Yesterday wound up flying by way too fast. I got involved with my seedlings,dinner prep which took much longer than I thought, small appliance repair, etc., and I never did find any time for the studio; but we had a great Mexican dinner and there was enough leftover margarita mix from our margarita madness party so we could each have a double margarita. We had no trouble sleeping last night! :-)

Time to water my seedlings, check in with the construction crew, have some breakfast and get on the road!

Till later,
June

SuzeLindsay Cruet

Here's another cruet from my collection. This salt glazed piece is by another wonderful, area potter, Suze Lindsay.

Got into the studio yesterday, doing a bit of everything - trimming, throwing and mixing some flashing dips and waxing and dipping some pots. Today will be more of the same. I worked till after 5. It would have been later but we had a post Valentine's dinner date in Burnsville.

The construction crew didn't show this morning so we had a nice, quiet, leisurely morning. The forecasted snow never came and it's sunny and seasonably cool, so gardening will have to wait a while.

Watered my seedling and checked on them and all the lobelias seeds have sprouted; but some of the other, older seeds are lagging behind and may not be viable. Next week I'll be starting tomatoes and peppers and pining for spring!

Till later,
June

Linda McFarling Cruet

Here's a lovely cruet by Linda McFarling another area potter who fires Soda or Salt.

We're moving slowly this morning after last night's margarita madness party. I never got into the studio yesterday other than a quick check on the drying pots. House tidying and food prep took up most of the day; but I will get some time in today after I tend my seedlings.

One of my favorite movies, "The Horse's Mouth" starring Alec Guinness is coming on at 11 am one channel 51 of our Charter cable Company. It's about this somewhat mad and eccentric artist - a movie I think anyone can enjoy, particularly artists!

Till later,
June

Terri Gess Mug

This salt glazed mug is by another local potter Terri Gess.

I got in some good studio time yesterday and will get back in for a few hours after lunch. This morning was spent taking more photos for the blog because I'm moving my photo setup up down to the basement this morning. It will be nice to have my dining room table back!

Friends are coming over tonight for guacamole, nachos and margaritas, so I'll get a lot of my making done before I head for the studio so I'll be able to work till around 5:30.

I've been told I make great margaritas, so here's my recipe is anyone want to try it.

For 1 margarita:

1 1/2 oz Cuervo gold tequila
1 ounce fresh squeeze lemon juice (meyer lemons are the best if you can get them)
3/4 oz curacao
2 -3 heaping teaspoons of sugar (amount of sugar depends on the quality of the juice and personal taste). I like them sweet, so I usually add enough sugar to the batch to get it to taste sweet before I mix it with the ice. I usually mix, then taste again and add more sugar if I feel it needs it.
crushed ice.

I use a Vita mix blender but any good blender should do fine. I put the liquid in and cover with crushed ice and blend and keep adding ice if needed to get a thick mix, but not enough ice to where it stops blending.

Enjoy!

June

Will Baker mug

Here's another mug from my collection. This one is a soda fired stoneware piece by a local young and talented potter, Will Baker.

The winds were pretty strong yesterday morning but we had no trouble driving over the mountain. We actually felt them more when we got into the flatter areas in Tennessee.

We almost finished all the shopping for the remodeling project. Lowe's was one window shade short of the style and size we chose, so we'll have to either go to another Lowes in the next couple of days or drive back to the Lowes in Johnson City, TN next week when they get a new supply.

I got a 4' folding table so I could get my photo set up off my dining room table and set it up permanently in the basement. It will mean carrying pots up and down but the exercise won't hurt me and my dining room will look like a dining room again rather than a make shift photography studio!

After breakfast I should be able to get in some studio time. I just watered all the seedlings and indoor plants and it's time to get breakfast made. After lunch I'll try to get some or all of the day lilies transplanted.

Tonight's dinner will be easy - chicken piccata and oven roasted potatoes and salad, so I'll be able to work till around 4 o'clock.

Till later,
June

Lisa Clague Mug

Here's a delightful mug by my friend Lisa Clague. Lisa is a marvelous sculptor. If you google her name you can see some of her wonderful pieces on the net.

We are in the middle of a power outage probably caused by these high winds which have either taken down a tree that has taken out a power pole, or a blown a transformer. Fortunately we have a huge generator so the house has power; but I don't have it connected to the studio. Hopefully this won't be an all day or longer outage.

Yesterday we ordered the tub and toilet for the bathroom remodel and if this wind dies down a bit, we're planning on traveling over the mountain to Tennessee this afternoon to get the bath fixtures. That will complete our shopping for this remodel and we can get back to our normal routines. There are a lot of pots to make to get a firing in before I get heavily into spring planting.

The crew has arrived and need me to approve some moulding and stain colors.

Till later,
June

Nick Joerling mug

Here's the first of some of the mugs in my collection I'll be posting. This one is by another wonderful Penland potter, Nick Joerling.

Today turned out to be a gardening day. Just one more "man plans, God laughs day". The construction crew came for a bit to unload the tiles and vanity we bought yesterday and then took off to finish another job. The painter stayed and worked all day, so I was somewhat housebound with the painter here,since Jim had appointments in town and had a whole list of stops to make which took half the day.

My friend Laura came over early morning and we dug up some perennials and divided them. Laura did most of the work and I just supplied some help and tools and dug up a volunteer penstemon and potted it for her. We split half of the day lilies that were dug out. They needed dividing and I wanted to get them in a new location since they got too big for their current home.

This mid 60's degree, sunny, February day, was perfect for yard work - a day I was not going to waste in the studio. I also got some more garden clean up done. This warm weather isn't going to last so I was glad that I made the decision to enjoy it!

Tomorrow morning, if the rain stays away till later, as is forecast, I'll try to get those day lilies transplanted. They're already up a a couple of inches from this unseasonal spring like weather so I need to either hole them in or transplant them.

More of my perennials seedling sprouted overnight. If they all fare well I'll be sharing them with gardening friends because I don't have room for thirty or forty verbascum!

Tomorrow afternoon we have to shop for the new tub and toilet. After that we have one more shopping trip Thursday or Friday, for the hardware and then I can get back to a some what normal work schedule! I'm feeling guilty about all this time away from the studio!



Till later,
June

Crackle Shino Vase

Here's a crackle Shino form from my collection, by west coast potter Tate Shields.

The flu bug seems gone. I even got out yesterday and pruned one of the peach trees.

The whole construction crew is here this morning ripping out the upstairs bath. They're going to have fun getting that old, heavy, iron tub through the upstairs window!

We're headed to Asheville with friends after lunch in search of bathroom tiles, a new vanity and dinner at a popular barbecue restaurant we're heard about, but never tried. It's another lovely, mild day - so mild in fact, that some of the hostas and other perennials are coming up - way too soon! I may be able to get out for a half hour or so to do a bit more garden cleanup before lunch.

Any hope of studio time the next two days is gone. Tomorrow we'll shopping for the the new fixtures for the bathroom at a local plumbing supply place and then probably heading to the Lowe's in Marion for light fixtures and faucets.

I should be able to finally get back to work by Wednesday if we're able to find all we need for the bathroom. We swear that this is the last construction, redo project in the house. The only other thing I want is an outdoor pizza oven and a cold frame and that will complete 5 years of additions and redos on this property! The garden is an ongoing project, as are all gardens; but that's my joy!

My lettuce seeds are well up as well and doing well in the kitchen greenhouse window. The kale and penstemons under grow lights in the basement, have sprouted. Every morning I eagerly check the little peat pots to see what may have sprouted over night.

Till later!
June

Linda McFarling Bowl

Here's another lovely, large bowl by Linda McFarling. Linda does both soda and salt firing. My soda kiln is pretty much based on her kiln design. Both are Shane Mickey designed and built, cross drafts with a firebox so we can augment the firings with wood.

The past two days I've been dealing with cold and flu symptoms as well as a house full of painters, carpenters, plumbers and electricians. They started tearing out the tiles from the full bath yesterday and they're about 80% done with the 3/4 bath which is only a partial redo. Monday they start hauling all the old fixtures from the full bath out of the upstairs windows and into the truck for the land fill.

We have to get to Asheville Monday in search of tiles and a vanity. We were supposed to do that a couple of days ago but I came down with whatever this latest bug is and was not in any shape to go anywhere. A friend had this and said it only lasted 2 days, so I should be fine tomorrow.

The past few days I did at least get a lot of seeds started,and caught up with the mail and magazines pile. The lettuce I started has already sprouted. Each morning I do a quick look to see if anything else has come up. I haven't checked the basement seeds yet, but no new ones are up in the kitchen.

This afternoon we're going to get out with the dogs for a drive up to Roan Mountain and walk among the pines and rhododendrons if it's not too cold or windy. It's supposed to be in the low 60's here; but it will be colder up there in that 6,000 or so elevation.

Till later,
June