2014-11-13 - Thursday - MAJOR catch-up Part 1

Once again, the months have sped by without me posting here.  I'm going to try the quickest update yet.  Hold on and don't blink.

August 27 raku

On August 27 we had a community raku firing.  Good stuff.

Yard Art Day

On Labor Day (September 1) I put pots in the yard and threw some to celebrate Yard Art Day.

Son of Glaze-a-thon II

On September 2 I glazed lots of pots.

Fired pots

On September 11 I helped unload the kiln and got my pots back.

Salt firing

On September 16 we fired the salt/soda kiln.

Wet pots

On September 17 I made more pots.

Unloading salt kiln

On September 18 we unloaded the salt/soda kiln.

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During this time I made pots, took photos of sunsets, made more pots, installed a new dining room light, made still more pots, glazed some pots, and generally lived.

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Carolina Clay Matters Fall 2014 Pottery Festival
(formerly known as the barn sale)

October 11 was the CCM pottery festival and much like the spring show, we got drenched at the end.

On October 15 I completed my first set of stacking bowls for my friend Stan to give as a wedding gift.  Stan and I attended high school together about a million years ago and we have reconnected on Facebook.  If you have a chance, check out Stan's website.  He's a very good photographer.

On October 18 I joined the 3H Market at Ballantyne Village.  It's a very nice group of people who do all kinds of crafts and food.

Watch for Part 2 of the catch-up.



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2014-10-05 - Sunday - New work

Just a quick note to let you know about the photos of new work I have posted from the September firing.  You can either click the 'Current Work' link at the top or just click here.


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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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