Winter White

Snow fell last night. I look forward to it melting. I think the ducks would agree. They are huddled under the little madrone next to their house, close to food and water so they don't have to wade through inches of snow to get to them. One of the girls was limping, a cold foot. I spread hay under the madrone to provide insulation for their feet. For whatever reason they won't go into their straw filled house until night so that is the best I can do. Even the boys are spending the day huddled under a tree to keep out of the biting wind.

This print. It's Hattie and me (not really, but the dog does have Hattie's markings). I've been admiring it online for a long time and finally bought it. The framing cost more than twice the print but was beautifully done at a shop in Port Angeles. The colors of the photo aren't quite true, but close enough. It's the pose, a moment of silent communication before working the sheep, the connection between woman and dog very simply expressed in this picture that moves me. 

Sheep Things

This is an interesting development. It appears we're creating a new line of sheep: the blackface Katahdin. Boots is an advanced case and Gimpy, to his right, a bit less.

I suspect they are eating hay that falls under the feeder and getting discolored by rubbing the bottom of the aluminum feeder. It doesn't wipe off and Boots is not about to cooperate for a face washing. Best case, this will be a winter phenomenon and the black will wear off when the grazing gets better. Silly sheep.

Timmi has become a demanding little thing pulling at my clothes, boots and gloves. He wants his hay and he wants it now! Here he is going for my pocket.

Mocha is more of a gentleman and waits patiently for hugs and neck rubs. The hay can wait.

Hooper's Day

Remembering my girl Hooper and our years together in the desert.

Old Trails

Happy Accident

I was disappointed with the glaze on these cups and was going to toss them in the Bad Bin. It's Crazed Copper outside with Oatmeal liner inside on Desert Gold clay. The glazes are too thin and it all looked sort of blah grayish... until I put them on the Seafoam Granite laundry room counter. It was a Eureka moment. The colors are wonderfully matched. So, the cups have a place and will not be smashed after all. I love these kinds of surprises. However, I am going to have to set my firing temperature a cone lower next time, especially for the bisque, because everything was just a bit too vitrified for the glaze to stick well and I'd rather not have to rely on happy accidents like this. It's the first time I've used this clay and am feeling sort of love/hate for it. 

Red Gold on Desert Gold

Red Gold glaze turned out to be a happy match for the Desert Gold clay. It's an unpredictable glaze as it looks more like honey when used on some porcelain pieces from previous firings. This small vase has an addition of Oasis on the shoulder.

Soap bowl has a dip of Red Gold on one side and Light Shino on the other. I was very disappointed with the shino on some other pieces but it works on this one.

 Mushrooms are Red Gold speckled with Oasis using a mouth blower. Got an entirely different effect than the Oasis on the vase. I don't think it shows in the photos but the Red Gold has a pleasant shimmer that I hope I can recreate on some garlic jars I'm planning. Glazing is always a surprise, and in my experience, often disappointing. 

The boys are spending the day in the front pen for a change of view. I'm sure they get bored in the back. 

Hattie is always happy to move them. Wish we had about twenty more acres. I'm trying to walk the sheep around the neighborhood more as weather allows. 

Housekeeping

It was time to tackle the mess in my shop and find a way to make it feel a bit more spacious, so I spent a few hours tidying and rearranging and here is the result. The giant windows have proven to be a real pain. When the sun shines it is absolutely blinding, and in summer the room heats up like an oven. I'll have to hang something over them. Shower curtains would be long enough, cheaper than blinds or other window coverings, and easy to clean off splashes of glaze and clay that seem to fly around the room when I'm not looking. Anyway, I'm ready to get working with porcelain again. Just need to do a thorough cleaning of tools and water buckets. The last firing was OK. A couple of pieces I was pleased with, some stuff just OK, a few tossers, and only the sheep to reglaze and fire again, or use non-glaze finishing methods. 

We're signing paperwork for the title transfer on the desert house today. All signs point to the sale closing as scheduled on the 15th!

A Spoonful of Sugar

Scones again. A little sugar made all the difference and these really are light and delicious! 

An easy to put together enrichment game for the dogs: muffin pan with treats hidden under one or several tennis balls. I will have to get a twelve cup pan and more balls. Hattie sniffs them out easily but loves playing the game. Food! 

What's Up With 2019?

My new year starts with breakfast since there is no way I am awake at midnight to celebrate so last night I prepped everything for the best, flakiest, ginger scones ever (or so the recipe claims). It was also a chance to use my new Breville toaster oven in Bake mode. 

With everything prepped the night before nothing could go wrong. Right? Wrong. I didn't remember the sugar until after the scones were in the oven! There is no disaster bad enough to discourage Bob from eating a scone, so he bravely dove in and they were much tastier than I'd imagined, and better than the picture looks. With the ginger chips and lime glaze they were plenty sweet for our tastes and didn't go to waste. I was very happy with the toaster oven, too. It's a perfect size for making small amounts of food for two people. I have enough left of all ingredients to make a proper batch and with two minutes more cooking time I think they will be delicious. 

We're starting the year with dreary weather but the walks must go on. The mini horses are penned with the big boys now that the grass has been eaten down and pasture turned to mud. They are said to have no sense about when to stop eating and aren't allowed access when the grass is growing.

Here's Tux. She sees poorly and hears worse, but still insists on walking every day. The one advantage to deafness is there is no more panic when the fireworks fly. She slept right through the New Year madness.

The ducks tuck into their midday resting spots protected by raspberry canes. We'll be thinning and trimming all that soon for next season.

The boys have been congregating under the old blue spruce eating low hanging branches. They're on the alert in case Mistress Hattie enters the pen. 

But this time she will have to be happy tending her ball.

A stroll around the yard is pretty boring. Hellebores are reluctantly beginning to flower.

But I'm making plans to landscape along the fence back there. That big deciduous tree is a walnut. I hate it for so many reasons... like the tons of walnut shells dropped by the crows in our driveway every fall, the juglone it produces that can kill vulnerable plants, and the leaves distributing the juglone that blow into my garden with fall wind storms. I want to build up a berm on our side of the fence and plant it with shrubs, grasses and perennials that are juglone tolerant to block the leaves from blowing into our yard. Otherwise I'm going to go into Ninja mode and cut it down the next time our neighbor goes on vacation!

I've developed a new appreciation for heaths and heathers and these are a few that are new additions to the gardens. Anything that brings color in winter is a must.

I've been glazing, though today was just too cold for working with all the wet ingredients. My shop looks a mess but there is method to the madness. If you think this looks bad you should see the other side of the room....

A Quiet Christmas

Weather was pretty good today so we took the sheep for a walk around the neighborhood. We met a wide-eyed lady carrying a small dog. She wasn't sure what to make of all the wooly faces surrounding her but the boys were on best behavior and I suppose she had a story to tell when she got home.  The boys finally met the two new horses, too. They were just as wide eyed as the lady  and pranced along the fence with us. We couldn't stop for any nose to nose meetings because of the electric wires but they seemed to have fun anyway. It was siesta time for the boys when we got home.

It's finally time to crank up the kiln for a bisque firing. I'll be glazing in a few days.

With the warmish weather the duckies are still finding lots of bugs and worms to eat. 

Days are so short. I'm off to do evening chores and it feels like I just finished the morning ones!

Foot Day

The farrier showed up this afternoon with his wife who works at the veterinary clinic where we take the dogs. She recognized Hattie right off the bat and told me how the techs love her and baby talk her. That dog knows how to manipulate people.They were very pleased with my pen setup and the boys were charming for the most part. Gimp and Mocha trotted right in. Stomper was a little hesitant but went in for a small bribe of sweet grains. Boots and Timmi were last, as always, and not particularly interested in taking part in this operation, but going in together sealed the deal. Dan and his wife squeezed in with them and managed to hold each steady and trim them up. Boots had a lesion in a rear foot that we treated with Betadine solution and Wonder Dust but it's hurting him and he's limping badly. Dan said it should be fine now so time will tell. The whole job took about forty minutes and Dan gave me a good discount because the sheep were calm and it was easier than expected. So it all went well and I was very proud of the boys being such gentlemen.

Hattie's Birthday

My girl is six years old today and I must do something special for dinner tonight. Bob is in Arizona fixing up the house for the sale so it's just us girls celebrating. 

It's been too cold to spend much time playing with the sheep. My eyes water and nose runs badly when I'm out. The tip of my nose is red and raw from wiping. I'm tired of winter already and it's only just beginning.

Dan, the man who shoes horses and trims goat feet is coming tomorrow to spruce up the boys' feet. Bob's bronchitis and bulging disc have made it impossible for him to help with tipping them into the chair for so long we are finally hiring the job out. In the meantime, to help with confining and moving them for the operation we put in another gate to create a holding pen with the squeeze pen in the corner. Hattie and I have been moving them in and out the last few days so they won't worry tomorrow when the work starts. Dan says he will halter them and trim their feet standing. I can't wait to see how it goes. They struggled like mad when we did it that way but I suppose Dan knows a thing or two after thirty years experience. I'll charge up my camera battery and try to get pictures.