2010-07-14 Tuesday - Kiln loading

On Tuesday I was at Clayworks working on some pots and helped Shelley and Kim load the kiln.  Ok, I kept them company while they loaded the kiln.  Everyone was pleased that they fit Chuck's large pot and his tall pieces into the firing.  Shelley had to move the large pot twice during the load.  I can't wait to see the finished result.

Shelley and a fine job.

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2010-07-10 Saturday - Clayworks

I went to Clayworks on Saturday and made some more oil lamps and mugs.  I am trying to recapture a mug shape I made last year, but so far have not had much luck.  Onward and upward...

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2010-07-09 Friday - Home

The motor in our air conditioner started having problems when it wouldn't start by itself.  For a while, I could bang on the casing when it hummed instead of starting.  When that stopped working, I found I could reach in and spin the shaft with my hand to start it (thanks, Dad!).  Finally, the motor froze up while it was running and everything came to a halt on Thursday night.

Our repairman couldn't get to us until Friday.  It's been hotter than hell here and Stephanie was having a sleepover Thursday night.  After the sun set I opened the doors and windows and started the whole house fan.  It wasn't wonderful, but it got us through until Friday morning.  It sure was great when that air came back on and we stopped sweating for a little while.  The system is approximately 25 years old and we are continuing to nurse it along until we can replace it.

When the fan was taken out of the housing we found a dried bat on top of it.  Several years ago we had bats in the attic and one apparently came down the raceway for the furnace flue and took a couple of laps around the den while we watched TV.  We called Animal Control out at 11:00 pm and the officer couldn't find the bat.   She said not to worry about it since it probably crawled behind some furniture and would die since it wouldn't have water for twenty four hours.  She said we would probably find it when we moved, but there it was in the fan after all these years.  Poor little guy.

You might remember I put some pots in our front yard natural area and planted some impatiens in them.  They look nice, but they droop very quickly between rains.  I never realized how much watering they would need when I bought them.

The backyard fence was old when we bought the house eleven years ago and we have been talking about replacing it for several years.  Over the years I have patched it and put supports on it, but a section blew out of it a couple of years ago during a wind storm and it's gotten beyond my help.  We have gotten a couple of quotes in the last few years, but fencing is really expensive and we're at a another impasse between our bank account and the cost of fencing.

The dead fan (minus the dead bat).

Drooping impatiens.

Ditto.

Our poor fence.

At least it makes an interesting photo.

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2010-07-04 Sunday - Independence Day

We had a small cookout on Independence Day and our friends the Mullins' and the Kelleys came over.  Unfortunately Lisa Kelley was out of town at a wedding, but we managed to have some fun anyway.  After eating the Mullins family left and someone said, "Let's go see the fireworks!".  We hadn't planned a trip downtown and the show was scheduled to start in twenty minutes but we all climbed into the Expedition and took off anyway.  We ended up a few blocks from Clayworks standing by a fence and we had a great view.

After the show Stephanie wanted some ice cream so we took our whole crew to the Sonic Drive-in and had some ice cream and more fun before calling it a night.

Having fun in the back of the Expedition.

(Christopher (ducking), Meredith, Stephanie, Daniel, Karen (ducking, too))

Tom, our driver.

Stephanie at the fence.

Tom and Daniel fencing.

Christopher and Daniel.

Fireworks!

Stephanie at the Sonic menu board.

Christopher and Stephanie.

Daniel.

Stephanie and Tom.

Christopher and Meredith.

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2010-07-03 Saturday - Studio time

I went to Clayworks on Saturday to make some small oil lamps.  They will have a ball wick holder and wicks and they remind me of candles.  I also made some yunomi and took a try at a butter bell.

Oil lamps, cups, and butter bell.

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2010-06-26 Saturday - Julie's Seconds Sale

Karen and I went to Julie's Seconds Sale on Saturday.  It was another hot day in June, but Julie had set up several tents and there was an electric fan in each tent that really helped make it cooler.  I was amazed at how much of a difference that made.

Ju-Ian was there when we arrived and it was good to see her too.  We enjoyed checking out all Julie's work and she gave us an inside tour of some of the pots she'd collected.  I purchased a nice bird dish that I plan to use for serving.

Karen, Ju-Ian, & Julie.

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2010-06-23 Wednesday - Villa Francesca

The members of Terra4m met on Wednesday to discuss what we thought worked and didn't work for our first sale.  Overall we thought it went pretty well, but there were several suggestions for changes on the next one.  We also tossed around some ideas for other sales --stay tuned.

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2010-06-19 Saturday - Inaugural Terra4m Sale

We had our Terra4m inaugural sale on Saturday and it was quite a success.  Becky's yard was a wonderful place to set up our displays and we had quite a bit of traffic.  I think Kim's bird baths were the star of the sale, but nobody did badly.  Participating were Terra4m artists Kim Marcadis, Elaine Spallone, Becky Story, and me.  Guest artists were Lisa (Lulu) Connell with clay, Cyn Kent with watercolors, Max McLeod with clay and photos, Nicholas Nelson with clay, and Cindy Tuccitto with clay.  We had lots of Clayworks visitors and we appreciate the great support.  Ju-Ian stopped by and even brought us ice cream!

It was extremely warm as June has hit us like August, but everyone was in good spirits.  The traffic really dropped off in the late afternoon due to the heat.  Based on that theory we are going to start our next summer sale earlier in the day.

We set out refreshments and we set up a table near the entrance that allowed people to sign up on our mailing list which entered them into a drawing for a piece of pottery from each of us Terra4mers.

It was a good start for Terra4m and we are looking forward to the future.

The email sign-up/raffle table.

The sign.

My yard sale.

Elaine and Becky's area.

Nic's planters.

Cindy's work.

Cyn's watercolors.

Kim's work.

(I couldn't get a picture of her bird baths since they were gone.)

Joe visiting Lisa's booth.

The refreshments.

Max's clay and photos.

A close-up of some of Max's work with flowers.

Some webbing in the tree above us.

It was way up there.

Paul was hot like the rest of us.

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2010-06-16 Wednesday - New work

Wednesday I was at Clayworks to pick up my recently fired pieces and make some more.  Here are some examples of the newer work I am exploring.

Jar.

Amber creamer set.

Green creamer set.

Midnight blue creamer set.

Another green set.

Sky blue set.

A friend described a sponge holder that she wanted so I made one.

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2010-06-15 Tuesday - St. Andrews College

While we were in Pinehurst we took a forty minute drive over to St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC to have a tour of the campus.  It's a small school of about 550 students and they have an equestrian program.  Meredith is interested in pursuing an equine management degree and we wanted to give her a look at the college.

It's a beautiful campus with a lake in the middle of it.  Besides the academic buildings there are two covered arenas and large, well kept stables.  Unfortunately for us and the woman who gave us the tour, it was 98 degrees and we spent about 3 hours walking around the campus.  When it's hot in the sand hills, it's miserable with no breeze.

A shady spot near the middle of campus.

Touring the stables.

One of the covered arenas.

The moon over the lake at the condo.

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