2014-08-14 - Thursday - Long walk & scooter rides

Thursday morning I woke up early and went for a long walk.  First I went to the lake where I saw some large carp feeding near the bank, some turtles, and some minnows in about a 15 foot section of the bank.  Apparently the lake is full of life.  From there I went to the beach again to see what was happening there.  Some fishermen were surf casting but I didn't see them pull anything out.

In the afternoon Stephanie, Justin, and I went to check out scooter rentals.  Stephanie and I rented a "coupe" which is a three-wheeled plastic vehicle built with a scooter engine and Justin rented a scooter.  When we got back to the house we asked my father-in-law if he wanted to take a ride.  He RAN to the coupe and hopped in.  To say he had a blast would be an understatement.  Justin followed us and we took him down to the main street for a frozen custard cone.

When we came back I took Karen out for a spin and then it was time to take it back so we didn't have to pay for another hour.

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2014-08-11 - Monday - Early morning walk

Monday morning I went out at 6:30 am for a walk on the beach.  This is our second year at Rehoboth Beach and the first time I have set foot on the sand.  I walked down by the waters edge for about 1/2 a mile and was disappointed to find no shells or wildlife of any kind.  The only thing I saw were two dead sand fleas and some clam bubble holes.  Since I don't sit on the beach and get a tan I don't see any reason to go back down there.

I guess I am spoiled by the beach on the Jersey shore.  It's teeming with life everywhere you look. Ghost crabs, sand fleas, blue crabs, hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs, and small fry. There are places on that beach where you can actually stand ankle deep in baby clams --no sand, just clams. As the tide goes out, the bounty of shells, seaweed, live mussels, and jellyfish is everywhere.  From large bay clam to razor clam shells, scallop shells, snail shells, conch shells, and all manor of crab shells are everywhere.

[sigh]

Not here.

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2014-08-10 - Sunday - Moonlight boardwalk

Sunday night we took another trip to the boardwalk which was about two blocks away.  There was a beautiful full moon and I grabbed a photo of it before we left the house.  I took several more photos once we got there, most of them having something to do with the moonlight.

80x zoom.

Surreal.

Random people down by the water.

This is a lone pine tree tuft under a streetlight
that was casting a shadow on the sidewalk.
I passed it every night and wanted to capture it.

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2014-08-09 - Saturday - To Rehoboth

Saturday, we drove to Rehoboth Beach, DE for our summer vacation.  The drive wasn't too bad, about 9 hours with a few stops and lots of laughter with Karen and Stephanie.  It was an easy drive with almost no interstates.

After greetings and exploring the house it was time for supper.  We had a nice meal and caught up and then it was off to the boardwalk and some Kohr Bros. ice cream.

The house has an integrated music system with a control panel and Boston Acoustic speakers in every room all connected to a closet full of components.  We can listen to our choice of satellite radio, terrestrial radio, CDs, or even an iPod. There were two iPod jacks available so I plugged mine in to "iPod 1" and had my music in any room I was in, even the balcony and the screened porch.  Nice.

Eva (foreground)
Justin, Meredith, Ryan, and Audrey at the 'kids table'.

Eva (standing)
Mark, Angela, Rich, Scott's hands, and Karen.

Stephanie and Pop-pop.

Pilgrimage.

I know it's blurry.
It was before I upped the shutter speed, but I like the movement.

Scott, Mark, Angela, Stephanie, Meredith, Audrey, and Ryan.
Notice how everyone is studying the menu board except Ryan.
I guess he's not used to someone having a camera in hand.

Relaxing on the balcony.

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2014-08-08 - Friday - Supper with Stephanie

Stephanie came home Friday night so we could leave for vacation on Saturday.  Unfortunately, Karen had some things to finish up at work so Stephanie and I went to our local Chinese restaurant for supper. We had a nice meal and Stephanie opened her fortune cookie to find a rather prophetic fortune.

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2014-08-07 - Thursday - Geeking out and lids

Thursday I was geeking out because my new Lord of the Rings set arrived.  (Yes, it says "15 discs".)  I was going to order it back in June as a birthday present to myself, but I procrastinated --and I'm glad I did.  In June it was $68 on Amazon and my brother sent me a gift card towards it.  Last week it was the Deal of the Day and after subtracting the gift card, it cost me $15 with free shipping.  Procrastination does sometimes pay off.

Thursday night I went to Clayworks and made lids for my urns.  I'm not thrilled with them and I may have to start over.  We'll see.

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2014-08-05 - Tuesday - Fungus cups

Tuesday I found some strange inverted mushrooms in the front yard.  I've seen all kinds of different fungi in that yard, but never these before.  They were like bowls or cups.  There's always something new in the yard if you're paying attention.

Tuesday night I started making funerary urns by request for some friends.  I can see these are going to be some of the hardest pots I've made since I want them to be especially finished and elegant, which is not my usual method.  I'm usually working towards the more organic look, but for someone's eternal home they have to be a bit more formal.

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2014-07-31 - Thursday - Cullowhee

We went to visit Stephanie on Thursday before leaving the mountains.  I noticed that the moss outside her apartment door was blooming.  Not something you see every day.

We dropped some stuff off, had a nice lunch with Stephanie and Brett, then headed home since she had to be at work at 2:00 pm.

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2014-07-30 - Wednesday - Asheville again

The Grand Bohemian Hotel is a pretty interesting place.  I spent a lot of time wandering around taking photos.  The lighting alone is worth a study.

Wednesday night we were supposed to attend a ZZ Top concert, but they had to cancel when Dusty Hill developed kidney stones.  Here's hoping he's feeling better.

Since we weren't going to the concert, we went to downtown Asheville and ended up at the Wicked Weed brewery which is right next to The Orange Peel music hall.  Wicked Weed has a front patio, a large bar/restaurant inside, and downstairs they have another bar and another patio out back.  We were amazed that on a Wednesday night all the areas were packed.  I had a very nice porter while we stood out front.

A chandelier in the restaurant.

A chandelier in the lobby.

The ceiling in the lounge.

A cool fern in the exterior flowerbed.

Wicked Weed

The Orange Peel.

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2014-07-29 - Tuesday - Asheville

Tuesday we went to Asheville for Karen's office planning retreat.  We stayed at the Grand Bohemian Hotel and I was her "plus one".  While she went to planning meetings I did some work and then visited some galleries and stores within walking distance.

Our chandelier.

Our room.

A window into the bathroom.

Outside the other windows.

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2014-07-28 - Monday - What? Pots?

Monday I put a rim on the vertically textured pot and threw two more.  The third one reminds me of a hornets nest and has a triangular rim.

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2014-07-26 - Saturday - Jim Connell workshop

Saturday we had a Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild workshop taught by Jim Connell.  It was an entertaining and informative workshop.  I now understand how Jim gets those wonderful swirls in his pots.

We had a more intimate setup this time, setting up in a crescent shape, and I ran the video again.

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