New Work (Greenware)

Here are pictures of some of the porcelain stuff I've been working on for months. I'm not sure if I've posted them before, but if so here's a second look. I'm still not ready to fire. The kiln shelves need an application of kiln wash and a few pieces still need more drying time.

We had a little snow yesterday making for a cold, gray day. Cold weather puts a damper on my clay work. I can get the air temperature in the mud room to a comfortable level when I'm working but the clay and water stay cold making for stiff hands, and it takes forever for anything to dry.

Winter Weather

We haven't gotten snow yet but it's been cold, and expecting colder still next week. I pulled out this sweatshirt we bought for Tux when she was too sick to stand the cold weather on our travels. It never fit Tux properly and I bought a different one for her, but now it will help Hattie until hers arrives from Amazon. Tomorrow morning we have a nosework fun match and she might need it to stay warm while we're waiting in the cold. She's such a pampered house dog now!

Hattie models a sweatshirt

Hattie's Birthday

Hattie is four years old today! She got a fish burger / fried egg "cake" with a sweet potato candle to share with Tux. They wolfed it down and wanted seconds.

Now getting a little more comfortable with the camera, I think she'll be a top model before long. She has a bit of a street urchin look, don't you think?

We have a nosework fun match this Sunday to raise money for the spring UKC meet where she can earn nosework certifications. Wish us luck!

My Thanksgiving Bird

My Thanksgiving bird is Hattie in a tree!



We're playing around with our own version of Parkour just for fun. Wish there were more places to go off leash to do this.

Porcelain Work

Here are a few more of the things I've been working on for the porcelain class. These are just leather hard and I'm hoping nothing cracks, explodes or melts in the firings.

Another honey pot. My first one melted in the glaze fire.

Hattie and I walked down to the beach yesterday. She is very happy to be off leash. Someone built a nice bridge to replace the one that washed out in a storm. You can make out a lot of bridges here.

A dark, cloudy day. The lagoon is overflowing with the Supermoon high tides.

A swan surprised us at the bridge to the lagoon. It was just a few yards away and wasn't at all disturbed by our presence. (Typical horrible quality of my iPhone photos when light levels are low.)

Bob and Tux are on their way back from Arizona and the desert house has a renter interested in buying in a year or two. We're happy someone will be staying in the house.

Fungus Among Us

Well, other than being consumed with the horrors of life under a Trump administration, things are  kind of boring with Bob and Tux away. Finding this bird's nest fungus growing in the garden was pretty exciting. They are tiny!



Coyotes brought down a deer in the back field two nights ago and finished it off last night. Crows have been dropping pieces of flesh all around that I suppose the dogs will find. Somehow I slept through all of it. Nothing I could have done about it anyway. It was sad yesterday to see a companion deer (sibling? offspring? mother?) cautiously make her way to the mangled carcass to see what happened. Do animals mourn? I'm sure of it.

And here is my sweet Hattie, always armed with something to keep me occupied.

Hattie, Emmie, Porcelain

I need to collect pictures of Hattie who doesn't really enjoy posing. She's a cute one though. I've learned that the red-eye function on my photo software doesn't fix blue or green eye, only red eye. The results of our nosework match came in and we placed 4th! Hurrah for Hattie.

This is Emerald (aka Emmie and Esmerelda). She's feeling quite randy these days and chases me around the yard until I turn and chase her. Then she lets me catch her and stroke her back. I wonder how she would take to adding a drake to the flock. 

Hattie and the intense border collie stare.

I'm hard pressed to find a good block of time to work on projects for my online porcelain class. I'm working on forming tall cylinders with varying amounts of clay and bellying them out to form vases and ginger jar type things. I'll get photos of this top jar with the lid, which is different than any I've made before, when the clay dries enough to start trimming.

Hattie with her Jolly Ball.

Weather was wonderful today. A warm 63. Most leaves have fallen from the trees and bushes but the colors on the ground are still beautiful in the sunlight.

Nosework Trials

Congratulations to The Brilliant Ms. Hattie for completing her first nosework trials. This was a fun match to gain experience before the real trials this spring. We ran the advanced full trial match.

The Brilliant Ms. Hattie

Hattie can give quite subtle indicators when she finds a scent so I have to watch her carefully.

Two legs were indoors. First was a row of twelve closed boxes, only one with anise scent. She trotted down the row and right by all of them. The last box she gave a slight sniff, but nothing I could rely on, so we walked back up the row and down again. When she indicated interest in the last box for a second time I called it, and she was right.

The second leg was a small open search area. From the start she went right to a spot and indicated , two seconds into it, but I wasn't convinced so we walked quickly around the space and she went right back to that first spot... and she was correct again.

The third and forth legs were outdoors and it was pouring rain so I was hoping she'd find the hides fast. The first area she walked one perimeter and went right to a column and gave a good strong sign so I went with it. Her time was just seconds in that leg.

The last hide was on one of three cars. We went around the first one and she gave me a few looks but nothing convincing, then she skipped the second car entirely (she's in control of where she searches within the boundaries) and went around the outside of the third where she pointed at one wheel well. It was raining so hard I thought I am not going to question her. If it's wrong, so what. I just want to get out of the rain. So I called alert and she was spot on. I have learned my lesson about trusting her!

It was a fun morning despite the rain but we had no one to celebrate with at home. Bob and Tux are on their way to sunny Arizona.

Tag's Day

October 31, 2000 - July 21, 2015

I miss you bud.

Tomato Time

The Cherokee Purples are ripening. This ginormous one was ready to be picked today. Cracking on the ones in the background is common for this variety and doesn't detract from flavor. Cherokee Purple is the best tasting tomato I've ever eaten, ugly and all. And here are the two pups.

Cooktop

What a surprise. The granite cutter and cooktop installers both had time available and were able to coordinate to install the cooktop and downdraft today. Only about an inch of granite needed to be cut from the existing cutout but the first cut was a fraction of an inch too short so a second cut had to be made. Granite dust was everywhere and it took a couple of hours to clean that up. But the cooktop is amazing. Bob put on a pan of water, turned on the booster function and it boiled within seconds. Turned the burner to zero and it immediately stopped boiling. So that speed is what I have to adjust my cooking to. The downdraft blower sounds like a jet engine when on high, a major improvement over the downdraft that was built in to the JennAir. This is the Bosch 800 series induction cooktop and downdraft.

Frog in the Dahlia

This is why we don't use herbicides and live with weeds...

Hattie as a pup

Bathroom Pictures

Last pictures of the bathrooms that I'll post. We love the master bath now. It feels spacious and bright. The house feels updated and materials are higher quality.

Before pictures...

This is looking from the bedroom into the bathroom through the pocket door with the door to toilet stall to the right...

...shower to the left and very narrow walkway between to the sinks and closet. The shower was dark, the toilet stall was dark and cold, and the three doors opening into each other made it difficult to move around in the room.

The countertop was replaced, giant wall mirror removed, new floor tile, tile around wall... 

...door to toilet stall removed, new tile...

...new shower area and fixtures...

...pocket door to bathroom removed and replaced with the toilet stall door, now the toilet stall is open...

...looking from the bedroom into the bathroom.

Before guest bathroom...

Now with new countertop and backsplash, and the giant wall mirror removed.

Powder room before...

Powder room with new countertop and backsplash.

Miss Hattie

Ducks under the rockers