2016-04-27 - Wednesday - Pots

Wednesday night I started some creamer sets, finished the face pot, and made another vessel. It was good to get my hands back in clay again. It had been several days.

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2016-04-23 - Saturday - Ru San's sushi buffet

Saturday I went to Ru San's with my parents for the sushi buffet. They always want to make Ru San's a stop during their visit and I'm happy to go too.

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2016-04-22 - Friday - Alabama Shakes

Friday we went with the credit union to celebrate the renaming of the Uptown Amphitheater to the Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheater. They kicked off the season with Alabama Shakes. I really like their music and jumped at the opportunity to see them. Brittany Howard and company brought their A game and it was something to experience.

You can read more about the show from CLTURE.

We lucked out with the weather. It rained before the concert started, but stayed dry for the show.

Good times.

The opening act, Temperance League was good too.

The new name of the venue.

Alabama Shakes.

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2016-04-21 - Thursday - Fungus, fortune, and the moon

Thursday my parents came for a visit. While setting up their RV I noticed some fungus growing on the far side of the split rail fence.

Later, we went to dinner and I got a mysterious fortune. It's good to know my goal will be met, but which goal? I guess only the baker knows.

Still later, I noticed the full moon through a gap in the trees. I first took a photo with my phone, but it was useless, so I got my camera. Try as I might I could not get the camera to record what I was seeing: a full moon shrouded by some wispy clouds with a halo between dark tree silhouettes. We take what our eyes and brain do completely for granted.

The best I could do with the phone.

The best I could do with my point and shoot.

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2016-04-20 - Wednesday - Honda CRV and face pot

Wednesday Stephanie and I went to pick up her new (to her) car. It was time to give up her 1995 Jeep Cherokee since the transmission was having problems. To say she is a happy camper would be an understatement.

Wednesday night I worked on this guy for a while. I'm not sure where he's going, but he's on his way.

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2016-04-19 - Tuesday - Hostas

I have tried for more than 16 years to grow hostas in the ground at our house. No matter where I plant them they falter and slowly die over 2 or 3 seasons.

Several years ago my dear friend Becky gave me a saucer-shaped pot full of young hostas. They are the only ones I have not been able to kill. If you look closely you can see the saucer these plants live in, but it's pretty tough since they are so happy they overflow it.

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2016-04-17 - Sunday - Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild meeting

Sunday I attended a meeting of the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild held at Clayworks. We had a short business meeting, then Ralph Mello showed us his methods of throwing large pots.

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2016-04-16 - Saturday - C3 Lab South End Bazaar

Saturday was the South End Bazaar at C3 Lab. The folks at C3 Lab are great to work with and the sale was fun with a steady stream of customers.

My booth.

When I parked my car in the remote lot after unloading I found a Subaru with this Batman decal on the back window.

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2016-04-15 - Friday - Pat's Place and Load Out

Friday I stopped by Clayworks to drop off a flash drive and found a team-building class happening with people from Pat's Place, an organization devoted to child advocacy. Greg was teaching the class and everyone was having fun with their projects.

Life is full of strange coincidences. Friday morning I was driving down East Boulevard like I'd done so many times before and happened to notice the Pat's Place building for the first time. Later that day I walk into the studio and meet the employees from that building. Life is good, but it's also a bit strange.

Friday evening I loaded up the van with my booth for the C3 Lab South End Bazaar on Saturday. I thought the load looked a bit light and then I realized I had five empty bins. I need to make more pots.

Back.

Left side door.

Right side door.

Empty bins.

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2016-04-13 - Wednesday - Mockingbird

Wednesday night when I was leaving Clayworks at about 11:15 pm there was a mockingbird singing in the tree near my car. I was struck by the clarity and range of its song and realized it had been quite a while since I had heard one.

I pulled out my phone and captured about three minutes of the calls. I am always amazed at the wide range of variations in that song. It starts out sounding natural, then at times like an electronic noise, and then back to bird song. It was still going on with new, different sounds when I stopped, but I thought three minutes was enough.

If you've got three minutes to enjoy part of the free nature show that surrounds us, give a listen.

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2016-04-12 - Tuesday - Trees, Chips, and Tea Bowls

Our neighbor one house away is having some gum trees taken down and my next door neighbor wanted the chipped wood. He got more than he bargained for when they dumped a whole load between our houses. It was a lot larger pile than he expected. It'll take a few days to get that pile hauled away.

They used a large crane.

Jay and his large pile.

This carpenter ant is interested in the pile too.

Later in the evening I went to Clayworks and threw some more tea bowls to replace the cracked ones.

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2016-04-11 - Monday - Heuchera

Sunday I went by Lowe's to pick up some landscape fabric and found these heuchera on sale. They are called "Sweet Tea Foamy Bells". I planted one on either side of the narrow part of the patio on the way to the grill.

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2016-04-10 - Sunday - Plant Rescue and Re-Planting

Sunday I went on a native plant rescue with Project Idlewild. We rescue plants from impending construction sites. My friend Nick delineates wetlands before construction begins and knows where there are nice specimens of native plants that are going to be plowed under. Before that can happen we go in and rescue them to transplant into our yards. It's a win/win as the plants are rescued and native plants require almost no maintenance.

This was one of our objectives Sunday:
the cinnamon fern.

I have had some bags of top soil sitting on the edge of the driveway since last year. When I used them Sunday, I was surprised to find earthworms and moss inside the bags.

When I put down the landscape fabric I found a spider crawling across it. At first glance I thought it might have been a black widow based on its shape, but the abdomen was brown and distended with no hourglass underneath. I sent her on her way.

When I came home from Greensboro on Saturday evening I emptied the ice out of the cooler I took with me. It was in the cooler all day and didn't melt much. I often dump the ice in the flower beds outside the back door to let the plants have the water.

I knew it was cool overnight but I was astounded to find a bunch of the ice still in the flower bed at 1:00 pm the next day. It's a slow spring this year.

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2016-04-09 - Saturday - Potters of the Piedmont

Saturday I participated in the Potters of the Piedmont sale in Greensboro. It was my second time at the spring show and it was a good experience. This sale is becoming a very solid venue. People are getting the word about it and the traffic flow was constant all day.

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2016-04-07 - Thursday - Fortunate

It's a good thing to know when it's the best time to be spontaneous.

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2016-04-06 - Wednesday - Raspberry Pi

Wednesday I got my first Raspberry Pi computer. Instead of ordering the bare-bones unit I opted for a complete kit with a power supply, heat sinks, a case and the NOOBS (New Out Of Box Software) on a micro SD card.

I am going to use it as a terminal replacement for a customer.

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2016-04-02 - Saturday - Cracks

I pulled a rookie move on my first group of tea bowls. They were thrown "off the hump" and I didn't compress the bottoms enough. Live and learn, then learn again, then re-slake the clay and start over.

The front ones cracked and the back ones didn't.

I'm more talented than just "S" cracks.
I'm going for the Mercedes emblem!

Interesting patterns.

Back in the bag with ya'!

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2016-04-01 - Friday - Clayworks Spring Sale & Open House

Friday night was the beginning of the Clayworks Spring Sale & Open House. We had a nice crowd and lots of beautiful work on display. I didn't get any photos of the other room or the gallery so you'll have to take my word for it; it was beautiful.

My setup.

The rest of the room.

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2016-03-31 - Thursday - Unfortunate Fortune

We went out for dinner on Thursday and I once again felt rather cheated by my fortune. I think they're just getting lazy.

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2016-03-29 - Tuesday - Eva's Birthday

Tuesday we celebrated Eva's birthday a day early. We had a nice dinner and then shared her great pound cake from a local bakery.

Earlier in the day we took Karen's dad for a haircut and I was amused at the grammatical error rendered in neon. It's also painted on the window.

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2016-03-27 - Sunday - Easter In Pennsylvania

We went to PA for Easter to see family. It was a short trip, but fun. It's always good to spend time with family. We spend a lot of the time with Karen's family, but I also got to see my brother while we were there.

We went to church.

Later, we had a big holiday dinner.

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2016-03-25 - Friday - Another Sign of Spring

Another sign of spring is the pollen that coats everything this time of year. It's everywhere, even in our lungs and sinuses.

Yum.

Pollen footprints.

Pollen fingerprints on the car.

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