Thankful Thursday

One thing I'm thankful for is my hands. 

I'm also  thankful that I didn't start out as a potter.  I've seen what a hard art it is in which to earn money.  And when I started, the kick wheel was IT unless you hand built things, and slabs are so hard without a slab roller    But the hands just really took a lot of abuse from being a carpenter from the time I was 10 until I was 19.

This is the potter who created the famous yellow glaze I was talking about, in a comment to Kim.  

 Anyway, I really like this blog:           Change in the Wind Blog
I'll will add it to favorites under the Pink day lily button.

More trip: Pottery and Books Read, and Bee's Wax adventures

I wanted to share the Local Foods Movement show, but first the potter.  He was a droll sort of fellow, and when I told him I would be blogging about his pottery, and would he mind, he said, "You are going to blog me?  What does that mean?"  He turned to someone else in the booth and said, "She's says she's going to blog me."  Then he looked at me, and I snapped the worried look.  He was, of course, only teasing.   The encounter was fun and entertaining.  He's very fun to talk to.

My new cup. 
First thing I drank from it was a cup of coffee!

The Potter Modelling for me.
He's pretending that getting blogged might hurt.

His tables.
His pottery is very popular and very Beautiful, too!
I wanted several more pieces!

Reading and no knitting.  My hands were still recovering.  So, I had a lot of great books to read.

The DD's gave me Dead Ex, and I was so pleased with this sort of "Miss Marple, channeling Sam Spade, meets Hollywood" tale that I'll certainly read more of Harley Jane Kozak's mysteries.

Donna Leon's latest, Beastly Things, did not disappoint.  As per usual, Brunetti always gets the culprit while traveling a thoroughly entertaining and thrilling path.    

True Nature Stories is a great book if you love interactions that are unusual, and kind, between wild animals and humans who are caring. 

Do Fish Drink Water? is a collection of writings about questions that started to arrive at Bill McLain's desk.  He was the Webmaster at Xerox and became very popular with his dedication to answering every question that crossed his desk.  It's a wonderful book to have around when you are trying to get a "time out" from the madmen in Washington.  I don't include the Prez, nor all the Congress, just sayin'.

Maeve Binchy's last book, before her death - something I was shocked to find had happened - is the last one in the pile, A Week in Winter.

I'm truly going to miss this writer.  She could remove you from the world of "WAY TO BIG AND MEAN TO UNDERSTAND", and bring your mind down to the level of a whole Village full of people who worked things out together.  I'm now reading one of her other books I'd missed (while wallowing in Washington DC Ills and Evils) called, Minding Frankie .

Five books I read while lazing about.
I was happy to be away from Politics and Economics!

I was having trouble finding Bee's wax at the Farmer's Markets.  It was at the Monterey Market but we didn't do that trek this year.  So... when we were out and about the town with Bee, we were looking for a leather shop that sold patterns.  Bee wanted to get some leather and a pattern for making moccasins for Elle.  While we looked round for the leather works we found a Candle maker.  She sold me a good lot of her scrap which I can melt down into hearts and flowers for beading and seamstress friends.  I was very happy to find this shop because of being almost out of bee's wax!   The hemp is from a lot that DH bought to make something but it had gotten lost for several years under his seat in the Bounder.  So, I have adopted it to make necklaces with, and any other whatnot that comes to hand.  Lovely stuff!

Wax from the Candlemaker's shop,
and a lucky find under the driver's seat.

More tomorrow, from the Cabrillo Market Local Foods show, but I have to tell you, here in SoCal, we got rain!  It was glorious, fantabulous October Rain!   Two days, or nights rather, it has rained. 

Clouds Break to ReBuild Yesterday

Friday Catchup including August Happiness Challenge

heehee

Since I so miss the Friday fill-in, I thought maybe I'd console myself - blogs are so "meme" anyway - with a  catch-up day. on Friday.   So this is what it will be going on until something else infinitely better comes along.

Ceramics report:
The kiln was fired last week, and this week we found that some interesting things had happened.

I got this: 

One side

Top-absolutely perfect

This delicate little heart box was to be a gift for my sister but, as you see, it didn't turn out quite right.  People in my club (including DH) said to treat it like an "Art Glaze"- and presumably rejoice in/at the serendipitty of it all.

But, since it represents an unfortunate incompatibility of the under-glaze and the clear top glaze, there is a problem.  One side came out perfectly but the top and other side didn't.   This means the whole thing could happen again!  Not good!

 I think I'll make two pieces out of it, drilling holes to hang the top, as a Valentine's Day wall decoration(there is a lip that I can drill that won't show from the front).  The bottom can become  a little box on the wall with a small bird's nest's receptacle in the bottom point, with some crafted birds and tiny eggs inside it.   In this way I can hide the side that came out right- there is so little of it.   It's such a disappointment but then, I don't like the newer under-glazes because they are showing themselves to be unreliable.  Note that the top came out beautifully.

And, these three, below, I am much happier with.  When they came out of the kiln I set them all down on the counter together, and it seemed like the Puff deer just couldn't believe her eyes about what she was seeing!  So, I took their picture - in that pose - when we got them all home.

"Are those Easter Eggs?", she asks.

And, yesterday, on the way to the clinic, I finally got some pictures of the Inukshuk  along the freeway.  We were traveling 65 mph so I think the camera did a fine job of it, yes?

See how many you can see.

And more, further on down the road.

Just a little joy spread for the amusement of the people stuck in freeway traffic, but beware.  You don't want to rear-end anyone, yaknow?

August Happiness Challenge:

It makes me happy just to blog and forget about the world.  That is a very big deal when you are my age, being able to forget about the world for a few minutes each day.  My friend G says to remind myself, when I'm anxious, that what is going on in my head "is just a thought".



Have a great weekend!

Tuesday Tails. Baby dove twin settles in. Tort report. Oregon pond's Canada Goose and the Woodducks. Ceramics report...

A week or so ago, a Cooper's Hawk, camping our fence, made off with one of the baby doves.  But, the second one, now a juvenile, is still with it's parents,  and it's taken to roosting on my rocking chair outside under the shade patio. I wasn't early enough this AM to get a picture of the newly minted juvenile dove -parents still feed it and stay near it at night - but I'll try again to get some snaps before posting this tonight.

Tort Report:  The remaining two baby  torts are going to be going outside soon, into the baby cage we kept Lucky in, the 20 something, when he was a tot.  I hope they enjoy being out for a few hours a day to graze.  I was hoping to have some pictures, close ups, of Milagro and Dusty eating dirt, which they love to do, but we worked longer and harder at Ceramics than we meant to today.  The old molds came.

Ceramics report: We had a marathon day at ceramics today, hauling in from the parking lot, cleaning, labeling and finding shelving for approx 20 molds brought to us by the husband of a member who has passed away.  We gave some molds to a shop but kept some for ourselves to pour.  We old folk really worked our fandangos off!  The staff at the rec center helped us to transport the molds from the parking lot to the room, so we are very thankful for having the young folks around! 

Here are just a few of the molds we moved, cleaned, rebanded and put on the shelves.  When it was over we all said to each other that we were going home and taking naps!

What a job!

May You Walk with Beauty all around you:

 Friends in Oregon are volunteers at a beautiful place.  They took all the following Photos, plus the one of the gorgeous pink Rhodie in the last post.  This Canada Goose, as well as a group of North American Wood Ducks (and one straggler), were snapped by them this Spring. 

One straggler from another flock helping to eat the scattered grain.

That's all the tails I have on this Tuesday Tails day.  Hope you enjoyed the photos. Now I'm going to rest so I can go hunting with my Dragons!

Thankful Thursday Ketchup Day

 As promised:  And I think there ought to be a national holiday in honor of this "vegetable" so declared by a rather in over his head poly from the last century.  I decided to go to the DARK side for the so called real scoop on this controversy.

C/o THIS PLACE
and I must say, it's an incredibly clever ad, too

Tuesday Tails:

Can I have my cookie?

Wee Wolfie is fine.  He would like his fans to know this.  [Now can he have his "cookie"?]  Also, Mom has long claws and gives the best back scratches but not necessarily the best belly rubs.  [Now, please, please, can he have his "cookie"?] 

Tuesday Ceramics involves four new comers to the House of the Mad Potter (Well, ceramicist):

Ceramics 4, Knitting, nil

A small but deliciously handsome bowl for unguents.
That word was in a crossword, and I just had to show off.

Beautiful Nubian Vase with bad BAD staging (gah!  Really, the end of the ironing board?)
and sketchy flowers stuffed in---- horrors!

Dusty, "I've been digging up the garden", Real Tort (Churchy) for comparison to:

Trompe l'oeil (sort of) Tort joins Froggie in the flower bed
This one doesn't dig, and thank the Gods for that!!

Huge new species of Common Garden Snail,
recently discovered in Antarctica,
giving credence to the ancient, but disputed, theory of continental drift.

Wordless Wednesday - Zee Belly Flowers:

Scarlet Pimpernel - star of stage and screen

Blue Eyed Grass, a spy for the GIA

Early bird specials!

Thursday Thankfulness consists of being alive and well, and still running around like a human being.  I'm not sure I deserve that honor but am thankful that the Lord lets me stay here, extracting myself from the mud every morning.  The job now is to extract as many others from it as possible before I fall off the twig, yes?

Remember, we do this for Love and Love Alone...  Well, some of us also get to laugh, and so, Word of Advice: remember that no matter what, make sure you get a lot of laughing in before your dotage. 

PS.  Yes all the torts are fine, and they are wondering where the sun and nice warm weather went.  Rain should start in the wee hours,  and if it does, I am going to go out and dance in it when I wake up! 

Tuesday tails on Wednesday!

I know it's wordless Wednesday but I got a delay in my time line here.....so it's Wolfie's little pink tongue, and "Loading the kiln Day..  
Wolfie is just like the cute dog, "Woofie" (scroll down to seeWoofie) in Patrick McDonnell's strip, "Mutts".

Our Wolfie loves to give kisses.  Wolfie doesn't run us down to do it but he does this stealth thing where, when he's held in one of our laps, he will flip his head all the way over backwards and plants one on our lips.  He's not as big as comic strip  Woofie, but the affect is much the same as getting kissed by a golden Retriever-sized dog, meaning BIG and very DAMP!

Round though it may be,
that little quick tongue is VERY long, too.

 I retaliate in these attacks by grabbing at the end of it, saying, "I'm going to get your tongue!"  He can't stop himself from attempting to lick again but I can see in his round, brown,eyes that he wishes he could.  It's a Shi Tsui characteristic, to wish to lick, and to be able to flip that head upside down backwards, too.   I sometimes wonder how the Tibetan Monks put up with it?

Ceramics Report:  we unloaded greenware and stacked the kiln for a glaze fire.  I thought you might like to see how a kiln is loaded, so took same pictures.

Top Half Shelves

Bottom of kiln

I went to my sister's house and took cookies from Starry Lane Bakery. which is having a March Madness sale!  You have to order on line from their menu.  Always Yummy!   I stumbled upon this.

And now I'm going to go eat an Ginormous big salad!  yay!

Saturday Komeekz, plus "This and that"

 Art Rant, Care and Feeding of Good Things, Democracy Maintenance ...Dust  to Dust.

Saturday Komeekz:

Every parent knows about this....

 This adorable cartoon about a family growing up, and the challenges of being a parent, has stolen my heart for many a year.  I hope you enjoy it, too.

While musing in the big comfy chair yesterday morning, I decided that I'm sick to DEATH of the "art as commodity" community.   I saw some truly original, and wonderful artists (not myself- I'm not in their league) go down in flames because they couldn't get gallery space or a sponsor with bags of the "readies".  With such an event, if it happens for you, begins the mad rush of "collectors" to OWN "an early Glootlespittle" and entre into the art (as commodity) market. I know, what an awful thing to say!  But I was musing about it.

Then I went to k's blog, Dotted Yellow Line and grabbed her link to an article. It's so worth sharing.

Also, at Big 7-0 & More , June reminded her readers of something worth remembering - that we need to celebrate, within ourselves and as a community, the people who make a difference in the world around them by bringing joy and fun into lives.  YES! Magazine, which I read from time to time (and want to share) is one place that was created to do just that.

On the other hand, it's unfortunate that we've had to keep such a constant vigilance to save a Democracy meant to be a model for the world, and this to the point that the good got pushed to the wayside. We have a big job ahead of us, folks!

  Remember, You have the right to vote!!!!

Horoscope for the day:
"There is no major conflict in your foreseeable future except perhaps between warring factions of your own belief system.  This touch of cognitive dissonance makes the day more interesting."

My conflict is that I don't believe anything in this world to be Real, (almost all major religions concur in this belief) but I have to clean up my messes of all these unreal things as well as to attempt to dust the rest of the unreal junk (nearly everyday) to feel good about myself.

I'm really not sure this does much for making a day interesting because I'm allergic to dust!  A friend of mine from Rockhound days has a grownup son who was so allergic to dust as a child that it was life threatening.  She told me one time when she and her hubby went to visit him they were astounded by the amount of dust on every surface.  Son was single at the time.  He told her, "Dust is a protective cover for furniture".  She reckoned that he was either on to something or had grow out of his allergy.  I think he was on to something.  Yet, I still attempt to dust, with predictable results.  Achooooo!

Now for the other side of the "cusp" stuff:

"You are the most committed person you know right now, especially your commitment to fun.  Your play today deserves at least as much attention as your work did yesterday."

Actually, yesterday was a fun day.  It was our 49th Wedding Anniversary, and since we have no family close by that remembers or cares much, we made our own fun.  We went to a favorite restaurant for Italian food and a little wine, then came home and watched a movie.  The whole day, on my part, was totally selfish, and totally grand.  I also finally ran down that glue stick that allows ordinary paper to act like a Post it note, Elmer's makes it, and found the most amazing eraser that masquerades as a licorice stick.  All this fun at Staples!  Who knew?!

The Restickable Stick, and a long PINK eraser that looks like candy.

Today I'll be putting things back in boxes that got overlooked in the long healing process after knee surgery and other surgical interludes since then.  I've liked looking at the Christmas swags on the backs of the sofa and loveseat, the snowmen on the hearth, etc., but Halloween and Thanksgiving are coming so it's time to stow some swags and snowmen!  At least the Santas all got a rest!

My Favorite tiny Halloween Ceramic.  She comes from a set of five or six small ones but reminds me of one of my kids.

So, there you are, sort of a week in the life of.

Friday Fill-ins

1. I hope I can get the ferns divided today now that the weather is cooling down.... again. I have so much else to do, that such a big job may have to wait until Sunday.  October is the month to divide ferns.
2. What to do when such steamy, hot weather runs up  from hurricanes in the Gulf of California?
3. Boy I sure did enjoy resting yesterday after exercise class.  We got a work out!
4. Remind me to call the doctor to get another set of arms installed so I can get more done.
5. What does the surgery cost run, I wonder?  An arm and a leg?
6. It makes me tired, all this too hot weather in mid October!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to eating nachos and watching netflix, tomorrow my plans include, if not done today, shopping for dried pods and flowers for the cornucopias, and Sunday, I want to make some green bead earrings, and some fall color earrings for my DD's and a friend!

Bird report:  Yesterday the garden was filled to the brim with birds!  We now have three Allen's Hummingbirds buzzing around our heads-they get very close and pause for a good, deep look into our eyes- when we go outside.  I wonder what they would do if we ran away, screaming!?

 There is now the sweet song of wintering White Crowns, juvenile and adults.  The winter Wren scolds us, too, as well as  lots of noisy little sparrows- English and Chipping- and, of course, the Towhee family, resident Mockingbird - now that the Scrub Jays moved on - as well as House Finches, BushTits and Gnat Catchers, and Wilson's warblers.  There was also a Nashville Warbler yesterday, which was amazing.  I heard the call and saw the bird a day ago.  DH was watering the tomato plants so there was the attractive sound of splashing water.  Warblers like the sound and will investigate it.

At ceramics on Tuesday we saw this vehicle again. 

Very fun to see and a reminder that Christmas is coming!

 Big Trucks on the way to the River for gravel.. on Wednesday... for LBL.

There were three double trailers but I couldn't get them all in!  So Big!

Sky watcher post.  No rain from a very cloud day

A big swirl of cloudiness moves in from the Gulf of California on Thursday

We didn't get rain from it at all but the cloudy days made for cooler weather, which was nice for a change!

Tuesday Tails, and a bit about knitting in Fall

Wolfie is doing well with his cheese ball "treat" in the mornings and afternoons.  We put half a long acting benedryl into a cheese ball, and he literally wolfs it down.  He is still a tiny bit "itchy scratchy" but not nearly bad enough to be a problem for him to enjoy his life.  He's more cuddly now, like before.  Poor little guy.  This happy little dog always looks so sad, (Contemplative?) with his little triangular mouth and big brown eyes.

The Dog Contemplates the Woman

Wolfie Contemplates  "Life in Captivity"

But he does have Pals.

Wolfie and Mr. T after a play chase

The Knitting report:
The cooler Fall weather has finally arrived, so out came the knitting.   Using Angel fran's "10 Minutes a Day" rule, I plan to get the sleeves for Manly/Beastly, the second sock of Jane's Hedgerows, Bee's thumb mitts and Elle's Stardust cardi finished.  The Noro Cardi has to be blocked, and that takes laying it out on a couple of craft tables.  That means DH will help with the heavy lifting. It will also mean making space for those tables!  Perhaps the Noro can be laid out, on it's rubber mats, on the dining room table where all the light is.  I'm pre-blocking the pieces before sewing them together.  And, I'm not starting anything until all this is done.  5 UFO's is enough for me.

Ceramic Report:
Mr. Toad and Froggie came home last week.  One is now in the garden.  This collage shows them nearly the same size but Mr.Toad is HUGE and almost twice as large as Froggie, who still needs to have some acrylic applied over his eyes and the ventros.  Mr. Toad is the same glaze as the Ocean Plate, and Frog is Reptilian glaze, which is no longer made, I'm told.  But stores should never under-estimate the Web or it's marvels.

Garden News:
The rose that I thought was going to die, came back to life, added a ton of new leaves, and bloomed a LOT.  This is the last of this season's blooms.  Now I have to convince DH that it needs to be fed again.  The leaf color is still a little pale. The rose is Apricot Nectar, Grandflora form.  The perfume from the blossoms scent a room when the flowers are in a vase.   The birds love the cover for their baths, and the tortoises love the blown roses for eating.  DH picks and gives them to the torts, and when he comes back inside the scent from the roses is still on his hands.  This is the best picture the little camera phone could take one evening - poor thing.

I've had several medical tests planned for me today.  I've been practicing patience here as they roll up, completely too late for any real purpose.  This too shall pass.   Taking a good book along, or maybe some knitting that isn't too bulky should help, purhaps the Thumbed Mitts.  Usually, I just grab a magazine.  I think I've got a new IK somewhere....*frantically searches Swartz Piles!*

Tort report:
The three big torts ( Lucky is nearly as big as his father, and they have daily sparring matches which we go out and break up)  will soon go into "hyper-sleep" in the garage bins DH made for them. But the remaining babies- Dusty and Milagro- will not be let to hibernate.  They actually all go into what's called torpor but that sounds nasty to me.  I use Hibernate, as it has a nicer sound.  It doesn't sound like they are going to die.  If I didn't, at some point, share the tort winter sleeping accommodations with you, believe me, I will bore you with them soon.

I will share a peculiar tree that sprouted at the end of Shelter Island recently.  I don't know why they try...

Listening Post, with "needles"

That's about it for this week 'til Friday.  Have a great Week!

Friday Fill-ins, Yarn Porn, and a Ceramic update

I'm filling in some time between episodes of LOST.  I have one question.  Why in H E double hockey sticks does ANYONE trust Benjamin anymore?

Ahem... Friday fill ins:

1. I said I'd show you that experimental plate whether it came out well or not.  See Picture Below this entry.
2. To have Nachos with beer is what I'm craving right now.
3. I was thinking about sewing and bought a pattern* for a summer cover up for 99¢; so I say, Yay!
4. I'm never "Quite" as happy as I seem; but I won't give in to those evil little spirits, will you?
5. We should have a chance to get our thinking right in whatever way is non-harmful to others, or illegal in our particular societies.  I have chosen the Mind of Tao.
6. So, I'm always wondering about a lot of things whether I want to or not!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching more of Lost and eating Nachos, tomorrow my plans include making more earrings and getting them ready to send, and Sunday I want to water the shade patio, and enjoy the weather that is cooling off to delicious, Hawaiian majesty!

The plate:

If you make it a little bigger, maybe you will see a green island, peninsula really, surrounded by the white caps of a breaking sea.  These two glazes are going to be used to create a glazed pot tray for my sister to use as a bird bath.

I've been destashing.

I kept the pinkish and the lavender-ish colors and donated the brownish.  The black and grey is for a border on an afghan to be made of some mindless pattern to be sought out later.  But at least it all fits inside one bag now.  It's all acrylic so it can be tossed in a washer/dryer.  Someone is going to love the yellow/brown but it's not for me.  Incidentally, I was taught to always use "I" with the verb, "to be".  Anymore, I think that is over with, but, who knows?  But, I digress.  All the weaving yarns have been sorted, and some of them are small enough to be used like sock yarn but for hats.  Kelly McClure's "Sockhead Hat" at Ravelry is probably what I'll make.  We'll see.

More Yarn Porn:

Sorted Weavers (some of it) and other do-dads

I have taken the advice of doctors, friends, and family, and I am ignoring politics for my health.  I do not want to end up as Abbie Hoffman did, that wonderful man.

Sadly, I've realized that once Wall Street bought the government it would take an invasion from outer space to change who we salute.  I'm really not one of those end of the world people. 

I think it's going to be getting a lot worse before that happens, which could take decades.  Decades is what neither "We the people" nor Mother Earth, Itself, has. 

So, gather ye rosebuds while ye may....  And let "them", meaning the destroyers, eat cement.

*Simplicity 2183

Ig-Nobel Awards, Saturday Komeekz, Saturday Sky, and my very appropriate Horoscope!

Updated to include this because it's truly hilarious:

I'm adding this since I tracked down the REAL web page it all came from:

Linkie to Improbable Research Blog Ig Nobel Winners for 2012

And Now for:

Saturday Sky..

Taken today at about 3:30 Pm. 
OMG, we are turning into Florida!

It's hot and it's humid.  77º at night feels like 89º but it's actually getting over 90º during the day.  No one likes it, even the fire bugs, who have stayed out of the picture and we all hope they continue to do so! 

Wolfie thinks that he has to lick himself constantly even though he gets benadryl twice a day, and he got a cortisone shot two days ago from his vet.  We think he was raised with Cats because he's always licked himself like they do, and he pays no attention to them at all while out walking or visiting their "homes".  That's not normal dog behavior.

Also, this is when I wish we really had put a pool in the side yard.  Actually it's not too late to do that.  Thinking about it.......

Saturday Komeekz ....

Dear little Danae.  You have GOT to love this strange little Grrrrl. 

 My horoscope for today talks about crafting, or at least creativity:

"Your creative mind is abuzz.  You'll allow yourself to wander to some extent, but you know it's only a matter of time before you must rein yourself in and get some work done."

This is the latest project in "Knitting Avoidance".  Yes, I KNOW that I must Knit all those things but look what came in the mail!

From Hong Kong, an amazing bit of silicone stuffffff!

It got here really quickly, too!  3 t0 5 weeks turned out to be only about 8 days.  Lovely!

Beautiful mold for forming bee's wax for Seamstresses

DH is building a stand for wax melting apparatus from an old steam iron, complete with a rheostat (Very Urban Ghetto) and the steel stand from an old screened sifter.  As soon as the weather cools off outside, and we can breathe well again (and we snag a small pan from the local Sally's) we will be in business.

Ceramics goes on as usual.  We've fired two loads Green ware and one of  Glaze.  I can't wait to see the glaze.  If that plate turns out well, I'll show you guys what it looks like.   Well, I'll show you anyway!

Fall Colors!

Heehee.  From Trescony Garden Plot

Enjoy life!  Taking it one day at a time really helps.  Drink your water!  I'll do the same!

Friday fill in, Puffin Loafing Ledge, some knitting news, ceramics, New Book

 Friday Fill in....

1. Staying active in body keeps the mind awake and alive.
2. A billion US Dollars, with no strings attached, well, that would be nice!
3. The very thought of giving it all away is breathtaking!
4. Peace of Heart is so beautiful.
5. I grew up in Southern California, on my mother's little farm, and then we moved to a place close to the mountains and out in the country that I loved roaming around in- a very special place in my heart of hearts as I had my big Collie dog with me at the time.
6. A Beef Wellington, that I made for my family, was my most memorable meal.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting as much of the fronts on the Noro sweater as I can, tomorrow my plans include seeing my sister for tea, sympathy and cookies, seeing my trainer, and Sunday, I want to knit more; I'm on a roll!


A web cam from Audubon.  Yay, there be Puffins!

Knitting report:

I have practically finished knitting the back of Stardust, and am starting on the neck finishing, rows and rows of some easy stuff... AT LAST!

And, the fronts are so close to being finished on the Noro Sweater that I just have to brag about it, with an obligatory knitting porn strange photo that shows, to the layman's eye, huge hunks of knitting that only a knitter can appreciate.  I have to get some feed back on buttons for that belly band.  I think some nice wood ones are called for, but it's not knitter's choice here. hehe  All that is left to knit is the rest of the fronts and both sleeves which should go PDQ. 

Ceramics:
We did a so called overglaze fire last week.  One of the tall snowmen went into it, and he came out so well that I think I'll try putting a teapot  I made a few years back through one.  This won't happen for some time as the last things were in the kiln for a year,  It takes a long time to gather enough to do an overglaze fire.

Here's the snowman, look for the tiny polka dots on the packages at his feet:

He's a lot cuter in person.  He's my favorite one.
The fish looks agast! Did not want to be in the picture, I reckon.

And, this is the book I'm reading now.  It was a suggestion from my "Iron man", G.  Thank you!  :-)

I've always been (as William F. Buckley once said of himself, "I am a congenital Christian.") a Christian.  But since my teen years, this has been with Buddhist leadings, as the Society of the Friends of Jesus (aka Quakers) are wont say.    The Spirit lead me "thisaway".  I'm following this way with my mind fixed on Christ as a lode stone.  I don't have a problem melding the two traditions of a "Way", or a Path to Peace.  Tibetans have a Wonderful Aerospace.  I'm in.