2018-01-17 - Wednesday - Snow

Wednesday we had some snow. Charlotte snows are nice because we get all the good things like the hush during the storm, the beauty of the whitewashed landscape, and a day off. We also go back to normal a day or two later, unlike living up north where the snow hangs around for weeks sometimes.

.

2018-01-16 - Tuesday - Empty bowls again

Tuesday I started my annual Empty Bowls ritual. I'm not sure how many I'll make or how I'll decorate them, but it will be fun and a learning experience as usual. Stay tuned.

.

2018-01-13 - Saturday - Fast trip

Saturday we drove to Maryland to move Meredith to her new job. It was a quick trip and a long drive. 927 miles and two moves in two days.

I don't want to say that Meredith has been spending a lot of time outside in the cold, but when we came out of the hotel in the morning, she said that the weather app stated it was 4 degrees outside. Meredith said it felt more like 12. When I started the van, the thermometer said 11 degrees. That girl knows cold.

When we were taking the elevator I noticed there was no certificate of inspection in the holder. I can't imagine why they wouldn't put it in the elevator.

.

2018-01-11 - Thursday - Clay and climbing worms

Thursday night I went to Clayworks and trimmed some more tea bowls (I've been making a lot of tea bowls). More to come.

When I got home I saw something on the garage door --earthworms climbing the door! I was amazed and thought I had found something crazy. When I got in the house I googled it and apparently it happens quite often. Who knew?

.

2018-01-10 - Wednesday - Moss

If you've followed this blog for any amount of time, you know I like moss. I like the moss that grows in our driveway.

.

2018-01-09 - Tuesday - Around

Tuesday I started out with a late breakfast (that was actually lunch) of beans and rice. Since it was brunch I put a fried egg on top. It was good.

Yum.

Later, for supper, we went to Taipei South and I got another fortune. I have news for the fortune writers: I have already been called to the high honor of raising two wonderful daughters. I can't think of a higher one.

Fortunate.

After supper I went to Clayworks and trimmed my tea bowls.

.

2018-01-07 - Sunday - Surprises

My friend Ju-Ian has left the studio to explore other art. When she left, she put her eye on my shelf to keep an eye on me.

She also left the portrait she did of me. Needless to say, I was surprised.

I hid my surprise by making more tea bowls, this time in cone 5.

.

2018-01-02 - Tuesday - Trip home

On Tuesday we said our goodbyes and drove back to North Carolina.

It was a pretty chilly trip to PA overall. Here are the highs and lows we experienced during our time there. It was briskly refreshing.

.

2018-01-01 - Monday - Cold

I spent New Year's Eve with my brother Dave, at his apartment. When I went back to Eva's at about 1:30 am, the temperature on my car thermometer was zero. Yes, zero. No windchill, no other modifiers, just zero. No wonder the snow was squeaking when we walked on it.

Thank goodness I was heading south.

Later in the afternoon, I was at Scott and Rich's. Their dog Sydney loves to be tucked in and in fact will whine in the evening until someone does it. We tucked her in for a nap in the afternoon. She's a big baby, and I mean big. She's a great Dane and weighs in over a hundred pounds, but she's still a baby.

.

2017-12-31 - Sunday - Moravian Tile Works

Sunday we went to the Moravian Tile Works in Doylestown, PA for a self-guided tour. It has a fascinating history and the tour was great, even if there was no heat in parts of the building.

Main entry room.

Main entry room.

Fireplace in main entry room.

Old potters wheel.

Better view of the whole fireplace.

More above the fireplace in the main entry room.

Stairs to the factory.

More of that wall from upstairs.

One of the thousands of tiles.

A test kiln.

Large 4-5 foot tall molds.

We spent about 30 minutes in the gift shop before the tour and I was taken with several tiles. I purchased two of them. They are made of locally dug terracotta clay and are about 4 inches square.

Crab.

The harvest.

.

2017-12-30 - Saturday - Snow

On Saturday it snowed in our part of PA and we enjoyed it quite a bit. It's been cold here. Saturday's high was 23 F and the low was 18 F. This snow was not sticky at all, it was powder.

It was fun watching it come down when we had nowhere to be. It was so quiet...

Video taken through the kitchen window.

My walk to Eva's house.

.

2017-12-29 - Friday - Doodle

My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and it comes with a stylus.

While we were sitting in the kitchen talking I started doodling with the stylus. I wasn't worried about the proportions as much as I wanted to see what kind of shading I could achieve with the tools in the stock paint program. I did it while talking so only gave it half my attention. I need to work with it some more.

.

2017-12-27 - Wednesday - Death by chocolate

I think Karen is trying to kill me (with kindness). This is just some of the chocolate Karen got me for Christmas. She also got me almonds in dark chocolate with turbinado sugar and sea salt. No matter how you slice it, that's a lot of chocolate.

We drove to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with the relatives and see our kids. When we got there, Eva's water heater was not working so I offered to help her change out the thermostats. We got the water heater fixed and while we were working on it I noticed the bottom of her cellar staircase. Each board has been individually wedged. That's some nice work.

.

2017-12-26 - Tuesday - Who spilled paint?

We had a very quiet Christmas. We stayed in our PJs all day.

When I walked out on Tuesday I thought someone had spilled paint on the driveway. That had to be some big bird.

.

2017-12-24 - Sunday - Festive shrubbery

On Christmas Eve I was outside grilling and noticed that the Harbor Belle dwarf nandinas were fruiting. It made me think even the shrubs were in the Christmas season (even though Karen and I are spending Christmas alone and I was grilling).

It was odd without the kids. Stephanie and Brett spent Thanksgiving with us, so they spent Christmas with Brett's family. Meredith couldn't get time off for Christmas until the 29th. We will all meet up in Pennsylvania after Christmas. That will be nice.

I love Karen, and we love spending time together, but it was a strange Christmas without the kids here. Binkley isn't here either, and he always LOVED Christmas.

We discussed going someplace for Christmas next year, possibly a cruise.

We'll see.

.

2017-12-20 - Wednesday - Rite Aid Macy

Karen and I always get a kick out of partially burned-out signs. Unfortunately we usually see them from the road when we can't stop and get an image. This one was in a shopping center parking lot.

When I saw this I said, "I didn't know that Rite Aid bought Macy's."

We chuckled and drove on.

.

2017-12-19 - Tuesday - Lumberton sunset

Tuesday when I was leaving my customer's office in Lumberton, NC I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sky again. I had just missed the actual sunset, but caught the aftermath. The clouds were amazing.

.

2017-12-17 - Sunday - Bugs and pots

Sunday was filled with insects and new pots.

I found an insect above the door frame in the kitchen. After researching it, it appears to be a leafhopper assassin bug nymph. Sounds like it could be painful to touch it, glad I didn't.

 

I went to Clayworks to pick up my pots from the gas firing and while talking to Kira Campbell about her pots I noticed a brown marmorated stink bug on the handle of her tray.

Stink bug.

I'm really impressed with the camera on my new phone.
Detail of the same photo.

I picked up my pots and was very pleased with the results of the firing. I didn't like the way the re-fired oribe (green) pots came out, but I wasn't impressed with them before they went back in either. The rest of my pots came out great.

.