Latest Clay Work

I tried some new glazes and a new firing schedule on the latest load of pottery and am very happy with results! Here is a sampling of my favorite pieces. Lighting is very bad but I'm rushed to get them packed to take with us to Sequim.

Pitchers and mugs in Eggshell and Red-Gold:

Misc. mugs in Eggshell and Oasis:

A large strainer in Eggshell, Oasis and Red-gold:

Mixing bowl in Eggshell and Oasis:

Storage jars in Alabaster with Coral and Charcoal Satins applied with low-tech mouth sprayer:

Mixing bowls with colored slips and clear glaze:

Mugs with Eggshell, colored slips and clear glaze:

Storage jars with colored slips and clear glaze:

Pot with colored slip and white satin glaze:

This is the blue glaze that gave me so much trouble last firing. It wasn't applied thick enough and turned an ugly gray. This application was extra thick and I got a beautiful deep, glossy blue with a white satin base. The glaze ran a just little but I'll grind that down and call it good.

Packrat Problems

After spending over $300 Monday to repair the electrical wires chewed up in my new Jetta we were not happy to find five plus gallons of mesquite beans and chewed wiring in the Rhino last night. Bob cleared out a pile of wood fast becoming a packrat midden near the garage and was lucky to find the inhabitant at home. We'll have no more problems from this destructive little critter. 

Nest found in wood pile midden

Two evenings ago the White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillars emerged from their holes in the dirt. A small army of them made their way down the wash, one after another, looking for greens to feed on. I've not seen anything like it in the years we've been here.

Sphinx Moth

Sphinx moths were here in abundance this week. I've never seen so many. They are big, pretty moths that look like hummingbirds hovering over flowers. I'm afraid next there will be an unusually large population of caterpillars that will eat the few plants I can successfully grow. It's always something.

White-lined sphinx moth

Sequim

Expecting to close on a house in Sequim Sept. 1. It's been a long search. Looking forward to the cooler climate. Not looking forward to moving.

Tux doing really well, no problems on this trip. My life getting much easier without all the special care that's been needed the last six months.

Tag and Hoop slowing down significantly. Still my babies.

I am tired.

Tux Weigh-In / Valley Fever Update

54! That's up five pounds from last weigh-in. Itraconazole may be the ticket for this dog. Still waiting for lab results.

Update: Liver function is good and Tux's cocci titer has dropped substantially! From 1:256 to 1:164 in one month. We are to continue treatment with Itraconazole.

Dust

Wind picked up this morning and our own sort of haboob came with it. Boundary Cone, the peak on the right, was lost from sight. I am trying not to breath... Valley Fever spores are carried in the dust.

Return of the Rat Lady

Is there something about a VW that packrats find irresistible? I haven't even had the car long enough to get license plates and one of the critters has already taken up residence. We parked the car in the shade and hung tea bags in the engine compartment to act as a repellent, as advised by a mechanic, but I've been watching for debris underneath that would indicate rodents just the same. The Eurovan engine insulation was destroyed by packrats and Jason's old pickup before that. So the morning I spotted a dog turd under there I knew something was up. Dogs don't poop under the car but pack rats use poop to build their dens. I opened the hood (top picture) and found the insulated sleeve covering the battery pretty badly chewed.  

I went into Rat Lady mode and took a leisurely drive down to Ace Hardware to pick up supplies. Air temperature was 114 degrees and I figured if the rat was still in there it would be roasted by the extreme heat of the road from one side and engine heat from the other long before I got home, a fate met by the rat that nested in the Eurovan in an episode that made me a legend at the local Ace Hardware. 

Tea bags are now added to the list of useless remedies. I've placed sticky traps on the battery and a stinky pine scented car deodorizer (below) that might be repulsive enough to keep intruders out. Also, no more parking in the shade. The vehicle has to be out in the wide open spaces where it can get ferociously hot. I suppose replacing the battery cover will set us back a hundred or two. Little rat-bastards.

What's Up With That?

The town burros stopped by this morning. Maybe the heat is getting to them. A two year old female had a death grip on the neck of a baby burro. The baby struggled to get away but the older one would not let go. It looked like she wanted to kill the baby so I trying shouting and banging things, hoping to chase her off, hosed them with water and threw rocks at the biter but she was not deterred. After about fifteen horrifying minutes something dislodged her grip and the baby was able to kick free. I've seen males draw blood in ferocious battles but have never seen a baby treated like that.

Burros

They're baaack...

Pink Pretties

What a treat! All the little fishhook cactus in the yard decided to bloom today. I thought they were all the same, but there appears to be two varieties and I don't recall ever seeing the big flowers before. One lucky bee was busy collecting pollen...

Clay

Containers

Clay and dog update

 It's been really hot and there is no cooling in the studio, but I still try to spend a few hours every day doing something. I broke down and bought a hand roller for texture. Used it to make the texture on the mugs in the top photo and added a handle style I learned from a Bill VanGilder video. I like it. The mug in the bottom photo has the VanGilder handle turned upside down. My pulled handles are still clunky and usually too big for mugs when all is said and done so these are a neat option.

Tux: 

The new meds are pretty hard on the poor dog. She developed diarrhea the first day and started vomiting after four days so I reduced the dosage to 150mg a day. This is the second day at the lower dose and she's doing pretty well. No vomiting, thank goodness. She's finally back to eating properly and I don't want anything to mess that up. In fact, I cut back the Tramadol to 50mg 3x/day and have eliminated the Mirtazapine entirely. (Mirt. was for appetite and nausea.) The Itraconazole is going to be hard on her and all the drug interactions worried me so I'm hoping what we've got going now will work. 

Tag:

Going on 14 years this October and still my cutie. He could use an anti-inflammatory for his stiff joints but I'd rather not go there. He gets Tramadol for pain instead.

Hoop:

Eating her K/D food as long as a little liverwurst is mixed in. Better to eat a little bad stuff than nothing at all. Still giving her Tramadol for arthritis pain, too.