Pottery and Cats

Whenever I'm outside, which is a lot, there is sure to be at least one cat supervising whatever I'm doing. I loaded all these pots into the kiln this past week so I'll have some new work out soon. Yeah!



Today was busy. I went down to set up at the farmer's market by myself. I couldn't wake the hubby up after the long night. He unloaded some hot pots from the kiln and came down later just in time to save me from being swamped. We came home after the market and I passed out for about three hours. Then it's been watering the garden, doing laundry and cutting up nectarines for the dehydrator. Phew! Time for bed again.

Lightning and Canning Nectarines

It's been an exciting week and I promised myself that I would update my blog. I've been canning all week and loading kilns. At the beginning of the week we had a great thunder and lightning storm so at 2:30 am I had to whip out the camera for this shot. We just finished firing the kiln and have to get up at 5:30 to go to the farmer's market and hubby is calling me to bed.
Zzzz.

I just finished my public art project for my electronic art class. I wanted to do something that I was passionate about so I created this billboard in Photoshop.



This is the first one I made. I really like all of the colors and I had a great time learning how to create textures and manipulated color. I finally decided on the monochromatic scheme because it puts the focus on Christ and our relationship to Him.

New Jesus Christ Website

Jesus Christ, The Son of God

Wow, another new website with testimonies and special witnesses of Christ given by the Prophet and his Apostles. It's a beautiful site. I'll have to spend some more time with it tomorrow.

I'm busy now trying to get last minute laundry through before it's Sunday. I hadn't washed clothes in a couple of weeks. The pile was getting large and I wanted it done before school on Monday. I hear the dryer beeping so I need to go. I did make the ruby slipper cake again and it was even better than the first. And I've got pictures also but you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Ruby Slipper Cake

I made a great cake this morning for our young women at church. I promised my friend Melissa at Mommysite that I would post it. I think secretively she was trying to get me to update my blog. I found this recipe online and thought it sounded really interesting. It turned out delicious and the aroma permeated every room I took it into. I kept telling my son and husband that they couldn't have any. I promised I would make another one for them tonight but I was feeling pooped out and took a long nap instead. This cake is very pretty with red ribbons of color running through it; very pretty for a bunch of giggly girls. Keep an eye out for photos unless Melissa is faster than me. Hint, hint!

Ruby Slipper Cake

Ingredients

1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water (I added an extra 1/8 cup of water because it seemed dry and was hard to mix.)
2 eggs
3 ounces raspberry Jell-O powder
Powdered sugar for serving (optional)

Directions

Combine cake mix, sour cream, water and eggs in large bowl. Blend, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Spoon 1/3 of the batter into a well-greased tube or bundt pan. Sprinkle with half of the dry Jell-O. Repeat layers, then spread remaining batter over gelatin to cover. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 45 to 50 minutes or until cake bounces back when pressed with finger. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto serving plate and finish cooling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

New President

Thomas S. Monson, the new President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has his own website! How cool is that?

Sorry I haven't posted in sooooo long. I started school on the 28th of January and I am taking 14 units! On top of that I've been spending a lot of time on our Young Women's program with lots of activities and lots of fun and laughing. If I didn't get to hang out with these great youth I might lose my sanity. They always give me lots of reasons for laughing. Excellent therapy! Anyway, so much for having time to work on my new year's resolution to blog more. Right!

Tortilla Yumminess

This past week I've been involved in many activities and did a lot of cooking and baking. One of the funnest was these homemade tortillas. I think I may have kneaded the dough a little too long because when I went to roll them out they were rather rubbery and kept trying to come back together in their pre-rolled shape. We finally got through rolling and cooking them all. I have to thank my husband for rescuing me because I was getting tired and just hit a wall so he took over rolling the balls of dough out. He said he felt like a five year old because this should be easier and he was having a hard time. So I gave him some dough rolling pointers and went to sit done and calm down for a rest.

Here is the finished yummy snack. I was making them for the next day but they are the best when they are hot and fresh so we had to have some with some melty butter. Yum.



I've been really busy helping our young women get ready for a"New Beginnings" program where they get to welcome the girls who will be turning twelve and joining the program. I did a lot of the decorations and we assigned most of the talks to the young women and they did an excellent job.

My husband was reading over my shoulder this evening as I was reading other bloggers tags on their husbands. He thought it was pretty cute so I thought I might right one up for him. Have a great night and sleep well everyone. Mr. Sandman just informed me that I was going to bed, Pronto! So I'd better listen.
Kelly

On My Breakfast Plate

I'd gotten into the habit of eating pancakes or french toast for breakfast so this morning I decided by body needed a little more balanced nourishment. Into the pan went a little oil. I like grapeseed the best because it has almost no flavor and a has high smoke point. Perfect for stir frying. I like to save better oils like olive and sesame as condiments to retain their flavors. I chopped up onions and garlic from my garden last summer. I started those carmelizing and then added chopped potatoes. Those cooked for a little while and then in went sliced crimini mushrooms. I like these because they are denser and taste a little like mini portobellos for a third of the price. While those cooked down and added moisture to the pan I chopped up broccoli and cauliflower. I started some crumbled up lite, extra firm tofu in another pan and added some salt, pepper and powdered chipotle pepper. The veggies were put in with the potatoes, onions and mushrooms and let to steam for a little while. The final touch was to put in some chopped fresh chard from my garden. When that was done I tossed in the tofu and sat down for a very tasty breakfast. Aahh...

Now it's off for some shopping with my son. We both are anxious for the spring semester which starts in two weeks. He is going to give me some voice lessons over at the university. I haven't spent regular, consistent time exercising my vocal chords since the last time I was in a choir, almost 14 years ago. So I signed myself up to sing in Acapella choir. Yikes, I'm a little nervous. So he is going to help me out with that. In exchange he gets to practice driving. We've got to get on the ball since he is almost 19 and still doesn't have his driver's license.

P.S. My son and I were experimenting with dropping in videos and playing with the source code so I've got some random things on here that I need to remove when I have time. Have a great day.

Spiritual Renewal and Banana Bread Recipe

With all the storms renewing the planet with water we decided to take the small break between storms to head to the Sacramento for our own spiritual renewal and to drink from some refreshing living water. This is the Sacramento Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is located in Rancho Cordova. It was cold and gray outside but warm and peaceful inside. We were there for about two hours but I wished I could stay there all day. It was good to have the opportunity to have a break from the outside world for a little while and take some needed time to ponder and meditate on the changes in store for us. It was a little hard making the two hour drive down and back and having to come back to the real world. I must be tired because I overcooked my flan.

Speaking of baking, here is the recipe for the bread I made during the power outage. This is from an old book I think my mom got in Home Economics in Junior High. It's called, Let's Cook with Gail and was published in 1961.

Banana (Nut) Bread

1/2 cup shortening (my mother and I have always used butter, yum!)
t teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 bananas, mashed (use very ripe, they mash easier and have more flavor for the bread)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (you can omit this if using salted butter or margarine)
1 1/2 tablespoons sour milk or buttermilk (we never seemed to have this on hand and would put some lemon juice in the milk)
1 cup chopped nuts (we used to use walnuts until I started getting canker sores from them)

Start the oven at 350 degrees
Grease a loaf pan, 9 by 5 by 3 inches
Cream the shortening, lemon juice and sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy, and very well mixed. Beat the eggs in a small bowl, and add to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Mash the bananas with a fork, in the same bowl you used to beat the eggs (this cuts down on dishes but I always find it easier to mash the bananas on a plate).
Sift the flour, soda, baking soda, baking powder and salt together, and add half to the first mixture. Stir to mix well. Add the sour milk, and mix. Then add th3e rest of the flour, and mix well, but do not over beat. Add the nutmeats and stir.
Pour into greased loaf pan and bake about 1 hour in 350 degree oven.
Cool about 15 minutes, then remove from pan to cool on rack (run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen if you have any trouble getting the bread out).
Slice thinly with a sharp knife.
This bread is easier to slice when completely cool (if you can wait), and tastes even better the second day after baking (if there is any left).

We like to eat this bread a couple of different ways: hot out of the oven with butter or a scoop of french vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream or toasted with butter or cream cheese. I can't believe we ate all the other banana bread. My mouth is watering now, the flan is hot and can't be eaten until tomorrow and there are not other baked goodies to eat. Besides, I'm ready for a good night's rest soon.

Depression and Relief

My desire to blog more often was thwarted these past two days by a bout of depression. My husband has been suffering from anxiety and depression since at least September of last year. I have suffered from depression for the past twenty years. It waxes and wanes with the stresses of life and my ability to deal with what is going on around me. We are going to have a lot of changes happening in our lives in the next year and most immediately in the next six months. We are probably going to be needing to move from our property that we rent. We are on three quarters of an acre with an extra building for our pottery studio and lots of space for our kilns. The landlord is ready to sell and we would like to buy but haven't been able to come up with the finances for it. We are hoping to be able to find another place to take all our equipment to but we have a lot and it is a lot to clean up and a lot to move. My husband moved on to this property about fifteen years ago and has accumulated a lot of things.

With all of these thoughts and trying to help my husband deal with things has gotten me kind of down. It's actually gotten me a lot down I just don't like to admit it. I have been taking Cymbalta for at least a year and I has been helping out a lot but I just decided I needed to up my dose so that I can get over these hurdles. I just started but I've got my fingers crossed and have been saying a lot of prayers.

Which brings to what I've been up to so early in the morning. I couldn't sleep anymore so I got up and then I decided I needed to read my scriptures. I can get all the scriptures online with the option to read the text or listen to them. They have updated the audio and it loads really fast which I love. I read the Old Testament, the New Testament and also The Book of Mormon which is additional scripture that testifies of Jesus Christ. This morning I was reading from The Book of Mormon in the Book of Mosiah, chapter 16. I especially was drawn to a few verses. Verse four reminded me that even though I make mistakes, I can be forgiven. Verses six through eight gave me hope of the redeeming love of Christ. Verse nine lifted me up knowing of Christ's beautiful light which can fill my soul and lift me out of the darkness. Essentially this passage reminded me of the love that Christ has for me. I said a prayer and I asked to be forgiven of the impatience, rudeness and mean attitudes I have shown to my family lately. I thanked my Father in Heaven for my blessings and I asked that my heart what be softened and that I might better be able to show my love to my husband and son. I asked that I might remember to think before I speak rather than allowing the first thing that I think of to pop out.
So say a little prayer for me if you think of it and I am sending out loving thoughts to everyone who might be needing that love today. Who doesn't need it?

Before I finish I thought I would show you an interesting picture of a sculpture that I made just this last quarter at Chico State in my ceramic mold making class.


This was a really fun class taught by Sue Whitmore.
I used a blue hubbard squash which I grew in my garden over the summer. I made a two part mold out of plaster and then used the mold to press clay into. The resulting clay piece was pretty cool and this crusty, peeling glaze makes it look like something in the process of decomposition. I didn't like the way it came out at first, but everyone else did and it has certainly grown on me in the last couple of months. Of course roasting the squash in the oven is delicious and it makes great pumpkin pies and pumpkin ginger cupcakes. I omit the cinnamon and just use ground ginger and they are scrumptious. Right out of the oven the tops are buttery and crispy. I find however that the flavor of the ginger marinates out into the cupcake from the chopped candied ginger and actually has a much fuller flavor the next day although the top is no longer crispy. Another great place to go for cupcake recipes is Cupcake Bakeshop. Ooh Yummy!

Alternative Power and Baking

Winds were gusting at 60 to 80 miles per hour and transformers and power lines were going down everwhere. We lost our power for good at about 8:00 am and still don't have any this morning. Thank goodness for the generator. We didn't plug in to it until late afternoon when my husband finally took pity on my internet withdrawals. Before that I kept busy baking by candlelight. I made a super yummy banana bread recipe from my mom. I'll post the recipe later. I'm too lazy to get out from under my nice warm blankets to go and get it.



The banana bread was delicious and I ate way too much of it. It was especially good with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. All in all the day was a very interesting one. Being cooped up in the house with no power gives you a chance to spend time on things you might not otherwise take time for. I had a lot of family time with my husband and son. I brought one of the rabbits in from his outside pen that was too exposed so we had a bunny hopping around which entertained the cats. I took a drive with my husband and took a lot of low res photos and learned how to turn them into an animation using Photoshop Image Ready. But I need a new computer. Mine had to work too hard to crunch the info. I could then use Photoshops CS3 which uses animation right in the program instead of jumping over to image ready which I'm using with my CS version. And I am so impatient.

In the late afternoon the rain let up and the sun peaked through for about 15 minutes so we ran outside to do some damage assessment and reinforcements but nothing major. Then we took a drive downtown to take a walk with all the other people to see the downed trees and leaf and limb litter everywhere. It was kind of earie because there was no
power or lights anywhere and none of the businesses where open.


I'm still running on the generator today and I've got to get back to work and not be lazy all day. I need to get out into the pottery studio and put handles on the batter bowls and uncover the heart bowls so that I can get them going for Valentines Day. The weather reports say we wont have as much wing with the next system but it is supposed to get colder and snow levels will be dropping. We may even see a few flakes of it on the valley floor here in Chico. Have great day and be happy.
Kelly

Storm, Wind ,Rain, in Northern California

I was warm and cozy in bed when I woke to the sound of the wind howling and the rain being flung against the windows outside. I was still in that sleep paralysis mode but flip opened the laptop on the nightstand to check the weather on NOAA.
This link will show you the current weather in the Sacramento Valley. It's crazy out there. No sooner did I get the laptop open and my husband peeked in and saw me and said, "Hey, I need some help out here." So I jumped up, threw on my ski pants, jacket an extra hat and my waterproof Hi-Tec hiking boots and went running outside into the storm. We have a thin wall on one side of our carport where we store the bisqued pottery ready to be glazed and the wall was peeling of in the wind. We screwed that on and saw the flash of a transformer blowing out in the distance . My fingers were starting to go numb so I ran around the place to take a quick look at the rabbits and to make sure nothing else was giving out.....Eeeeck the power went out and I was about to unplug everything when it came back on and the computer started powering back up. I decided to take the chance to let it warm back up so I could finish this post. I am a bit nervous about the weather and the power going out again so I think I'll sign off, go make breakfast and snuggle in for some scripture reading, baking and movie watching. I re-rented Mirror Mask which should be fun. If my laptop has enough battery power I may play with Photoshop.

Have a great day and stay safe.

Winter Garden

Nothing is blooming in the garden except the crazy pod sculptures I have been experimenting with. This one got frosted last night and I thought the texture of the ice crystals looked great with the turquoise glaze pattern. I've got to go help the men batten down the hatches. We've got some pretty hairy storms headed our way tonight and they are getting impatient for me. I'll have to write some more when I am snuggled up for the onslaught.

Blogger New Year

Happy New Year! The highlight of my year was finally getting my son adopted by my husband. This day had been long in the making. We are all happy that it is finally official. His birth certificate will also change to include his new last name.

I made it through my first semester and while grades haven't been posted yet I think I did a pretty good job. I'm looking forward to starting the spring semester. I'm working on my resolutions which I am historically bad at making and keeping but I have some major changes coming up in the future and some positive directions I'd like to head in. Of course, spending more time on my blog and making it more meaningful is going to be on the list. I hope everyone had a great day today.

Final Exams Approach

As finals approach I am both elated and stressed at the same time. I'm exited because as a reentry student approaching 40 years I was hesitant, actually terrified at how things would go. Now I know it's not so bad. Except for finals week and all the last minute projects the professors are handing out because its on the syllabus but they are just now giving it out. Stuff like take home quizzes and last minute quizzes that we were supposed to have in class a month ago. All this extra work on top of finals projects and final exams. When it rains it pours.
Speaking of rain we are finally having our first real rain. We were so spoiled with a long drawn out warm fall. But there are beautiful things to every season and pattern. I'm looking forward to school being out until late January. Maybe I'll finally be able to work on projects like getting my Etsy store up and running and figuring out how to promote this blog so it really gets noticed and I am not just typing into thin air.
I would really love some mentoring when it comes to creating a blog presence. Feel free to enlighten me. It would be so greatly appreciated.
Kelly

Welcome Back!

A new self portrait. I've been gone away from my blog so long I am wondering if any one has missed me. I've been busy going back to school to finish my art degree and I still working at making pottery and being a mom. It's my son's first semester at college and it is kind of fun being on campus with him.




These are some of the last dahlias of the season. They sure have been beautiful. Let me know if you are looking or lurking at my site. I would also love a mentor on how to get your blog noticed. I'd really like to get it up and running in a good way.

Thanks
Kelly

Too Pooped to Pop

I'm so tired. I spent the morning handpainting a silkscreen. What was I thinking? I didn't realize I'd have to go back over it so many times to fill in all the little pinholes. Well, it has been a learning experience at least. Then I went to Michaels for some t-shirts and felt so grateful that they were on sale 2 for $5. Woo hoo! I had to buy sixteen. Now for the washing, ironing and silkscreening. I know, glutton for punishment. Actually I'm having fun and I think the girls I'm taking to camp will really like them.

I almost got caught in a tornado producing storm. We drove right through the system and it was pretty scary. I felt like a storm chaser keeping an eye out for funnels and vortexes while my husband drove. He was pretty nervous but really kept his cool. We were afraid because there was no place to take cover and we had to decide to keep going or turn around and go back. We called my mom on the cell phone and made her get on the internet and that's when we found out there was a tornado warning right where we were driving through. It was quite a lot of excitement. I only had my cell phone and took some pics with that but too tired to do it now.

Then I went to church for a youth activity and that was hilarious. The youth put on a karoake night and they were just hilarious. Then I got home and decided the dishes needed to be cleaned and my hubby wasn't home yet so then I decided to pit some of the cherries we picked yesterday. I needed to make a dent in the pile of fruit in the refrigerator.

Cherry Picking and Graduation

Sorry no photos today although I should have taken a picture of all the legs sticking out of the bottom of the 40 foot Black Tartarian Cherry we had been invited to help pick. Cherries are so abundant this year that no one should have to buy any. So I'll be busy with cherries for a while. I'm also working on projects for girls camp. I've got 15 girls going up to camp and tomorrow I'll be working on the silkscreen for a t-shirt I'm doing for everyone. It's going to get busier as I get closer to going which is next monday. Hopefully I'll snap some photos along the way. Now if I only had a cherry pitter for the 60lbs of cherries.

Miniscule Mantis

Yeah! I made it onto the Approver's Choice list at Wunderground. Thanks everyone! I barely saw this tiny Praying Mantis in time to avoid washing it down the sink. Phew. I just love these, especially the way they turn their heads to look at you. Here's a Wikipedia article on them.



I adore this magazine Cloth Paper Scissors which has a great article on creative journaling by Anahata Katkin. That's her painting on the cover. I am getting ready to start ready this book, The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz. My breakfast of champions, a bowl of fresh picked strawberries, sour cream and brown sugar for dipping. Could a morning be any more heavenly? I was going to sit outside but it got too windy and it was much more comfortable in the quiet peaceful living room with the light coming through the mini blinds. Of course behind the scenes I was setting up backdrops and the tripod and getting into silly positions and different shirts for my photo shoot. Ha ha. It's been a fun morning and soon I've got to go run errands. Maybe I'll get to some work in the studio today making some pottery so I can actually put some on Etsy. Maybe I'll get to work, maybe. Sigh...


Here I am with the bottle fed, highly attitudinal Tiger, aka Tigy. I got one more shot with her before she rolled over in my arms to bite me. I guess when she was a kitten I didn't assert myself with her like a momma cat would and not let her get away with such an attitude. But we love her anyways and she is a beauty and very photogenic. I think I take more pictures of her than of any of the other cats. Poor kitties. I've got one sleeping on the bed right now that doesn't feel too good. I've got to keep an I on him and maybe take him to the vet. He is a super lovey dovey kind of cat.

Boysenberry Bliss

The boysenberries are finally ripe. Oh my gosh, they are sooooo sweet. It got hot and windy today and then finally this evening the wind settled down and I went out to check these. I ate about 50 of them. Yum, Yum. And I didn't have to bend over to pick them like with the strawberries. I'll have fun picking and eating these now that the strawberries are slowing down. That means only about two quarts every couple of days instead of six quarts. Phew, that's a lot for me. I'd love to get the strawberries up into some hydroponic trays so I wouldn't have to squat down to pick them.

High Dynamic Range Photomatix

I'm trying out the Photomatix software to see if I like High Dynamic Range. This is where you combine different exposures of the same image so that you can see more information in both the highlights as well as shadows. The trial version does leave a watermark and this is my first photo. I'm going to play around with some more. I'm definitely having fun and intrigued by it.

Beeutiful Poppy

I went out into the garden with my camera this morning and had no idea there would be so many bees in the garden. It was loud with all the buzzing and thankfully they were all preoccupied with their pollen gathering.

Freshed Picked Strawberries

Yep, I picked more strawberries last night...and this morning! I'd better start canning soon before the day gets away from me. Some are going into the freezer and some are going to become Kiwi Strawberry Jam. I'm even thinking about Strawberry Pepper Jam with jalepeno. This is excellent with cream cheese on bagels.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

I have been in the kitchen for the last two days processing loads of strawberries into luscious sweet jam and syrup. I have twenty nine jars so far and about another two quarts of berries to process. Then it's out to the garden to pick more berries. Yippie! This is the first time I've made strawberry jam and I'm using pectin. I haven't quit mastered it yet and it looks kind of runny. The package instructions say that it can take up to two weeks for the pectin to completely set up. Does anyone have any encouraging words for me? I'm going to keep on canning it. The flavor is great and we can always use it thin as syrup or over ice cream. Super yum.

Strawberries

I can't believe I haven't posted for a month to the day. Well, this is what I've been doing lately, spending time in my garden. The poppies are blooming and the strawberries are ripening. We've been having strawberry sauce on pancakes, strawberry shortcake, strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar and there are strawberries in the freezer for smoothies. Yum! Summer is almost here! We had an early warm spell and then a couple of cold rainy storms come through over a few weeks. It looks like it will be warming up again this week. Time to stake the tomato plants and replant a cantaloupe that the snails mowed down. Oops, forgot to take preventative measures with that one.

Paragliders in Chico, CA

My Day started off badly but ended wonderfully as we had the opportunity to watch these guys pilot their gliders out over the south rim of Big Chico Creek Canyon



Here they are checking the wind and watching the birds take the thermals.





Pilot one's kite fills with wind and he makes his run for the cliff edge.





Both pilots had a nice ride down to the canyon floor.

In Memory

We lost this very dear friend today. I am very sad.

Red Tulip

I saw these tulips bursting with color at the Farmer' Market. It was a busy St. Patrick's and there were people everywhere. We are a college town so you can imagine what they were like dressed in anything green they can get there hands to.
Yawn, must go to bed and quit fighting Mr. Sandman.

Dragon Lily

I've had these bulbs since 1995. Every year I forget about them because they are at my mom's house. And then I see the blooms they are just great, except for the smell which is like rotting meat on the first day they open. It is one of the carrion flowers that attracts flies with its aroma for pollination. But what a beauty. It looks like maroon velvet. For more info on this flower, visit Dave's Garden Community



Oh, and my mom's irises are nice also. I find myself out in the garden today watering and planting bulbs that have been in pots for too long. I really should be inside taking it easy. I've had "the cold," the one that grabs your chest and keeps you awake for hours coughing.

Ripple Blanket

I had to join the Ripplers! I decided to use up some yarn I had for hat making over the winter. I have enough hats for the whole family. I decided to start with a small ghan until I had it figured out. I'm not sure I like the pattern I chose to work with. This is more of a gently rolling wave. Not as much as a ripple that I would have liked. That's ok though, this is just practice. But I couldn't believe what happened. I a sheet out to the front lawn and laid the blanket on it so I'd have enough light to photograph it. I went back in the house to grab the camera. As I got to the front door and looked out on the lawn what should I see. One of my favorite cats taking a pee on it! So now it's sitting in a tub of soapy water. Oh the joys of owning too many cats who like to mark their territory too much.

Handthrown Stoneware Beauties

I unloaded the kiln last night. I was so excited and nervous all day waiting for it to cool and taking a peek inside every now and then. I hadn't fired the kiln all by myself in long time so I was a little afraid that I might botch the load and that's a lot of pots to have to remake. Wow, I did a great job. I was delighted with these gorgeous hand thrown stoneware heart bowls with a red glaze. I had a lot of beautiful mugs, butter dishes, collanders, batter bowls. See the last photo for the group shot.




How is it that the cats always know? Do they just lurk around on the fringes watching our every move? No sooner had I placed this beautiful piece of fabric, perfectly draped and smoothed out on the table, and arranged the heart bowls where I wanted them, this kitty hopped up. I think he was hoping for a gourmet dish to be served up in these new bowls. Ahi tuna or perhaps caviar? I've been watching Alicia Paulson's cat antics as she makes her ripple blanket and granny squares and I can relate to their inquisitiveness. You know what they say? Curiosity got the cat.



Here is a group shot of the stoneware. These get high-fired to 2380 degrees Fahrenheit. That means they can go in the microwave, dishwasher and oven. All the good stuff and no lead, ya da ya da. This is only about a third of what I got out of the kiln. I'm planning on selling on Etsy. I don't have an account yet but I think I'll set one up real soon, maybe even today.

My orange tabby, Funny Cat

One of my best cat pals, Funny Cat. There are three short hair orange tabbies, three long hairs, two torties (orange tabby mom, silver tabby dad), plus two totally feral males lurking around that I'd like to trap and relocate. This buddy of mine catches me when I'm out in the garden, coming seemingly out of nowhere, to demand my attention and get some love. Yesterday evening during my daffodil photo shoot I found myself lying on the straw in the garden with Funny Cat on my tummy getting lots of loves and scratches. And I got to have a Funny Cat photo shoot. Then the mosquitoes started biting and when they started itching I decided I'd better get out of there. Poor Funny, He could sit on my lap all day. This is the first time I'll thank mosquitoes, though. If it hadn't been for them I might not have remembered the cakes and they would have been completely charcoal.






Aw, shucks mom, too many photos. Really, I just caught him mid-groom as he was washing his face.

Stormy Daffodil

I had great evening in spite of the fact that the two, not just one, but the two pineapple upside down cakes I was baking got pretty botched. I was busy firing the kiln and keeping an eye on it when I decided to make the cakes. One was to go to a friend and the other was for my son's birthday. First I forgot to put the pineapple and the cherries on the bottom before I poured the batter in. Then I decided to grab my camera and go out in the "mini" orchard to see how the trees were blooming. That led me to the daffodils and then to petting the cat who proceeded to demand that I sit down in the garden so he could play lap cat and get some good scratches. That of course led to a photo shoot of the cat, his name is Funny. When I finally remembered the cakes it was a bit too late. The one on the top rack was very brown, verging on black on the top. I cut into it to find out the the butter and brown sugar mix on the bottom had solidified to the extremely hard ball candy stage. The second cake was a little better but I almost didn't get it out of the pan and it left its butter sugar layer in the pan. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I think it was worth it though for this shot of the daffodil and brooding sky in the background