A flurry

Narrow serving plate, 12"

We're in the last few weeks of prepping for John's retirement. It's a very exciting time, but such a blur of Things To Do. Lists. Remember this, remember that. Right. Getting health insurance, and $'s in one place, and plans for extracting said $'s has been much harder than one would think. We moving along.

I decided to make some simple trays for appetizer serving at John's retirement soiree. I made 3 narrow ones, roughly shaped and textured, and the one above was my favorite glaze. It actually is only an underglaze, and I really like it. I'm making a large one that I just rolled out today. Same idea. I find these little serving plates so useful. 

Another platter/glaze experiment

Here's a larger one. The glaze isn't quite as bright as it appears here, but again, The idea is clear. My Louise's Leap stamp is imbedded in all of that texture. Ok. Maybe I overdid the texture.

We have also been enjoying the outdoors. After a pretty dreadful premature hot spell (103F is hot, even if it is a dry heat), we've had cool lovely Boise spring weather for the past several days, and it promises to continue. The tomatoes and basil are so confused.

Rosa multiflora in the mountains

The last day Jasper and I went to Lucky Peak will be our last one until the fall. I pulled 8 ticks out of my socks. Jasper only had a few, and they didn't latch on because of his tick-o-cide. Thank goodness.

So much was in bloom up there, though. I'm glad we saw it, even if we did have to share it with the ticks. Other humans must have realized that tick season had started, because we didn't see anyone, which is astonishing in our quickly growing city.

Snow at Bogus on Memorial Day

The three of us went up to Bogus Basin for a hike on Memorial Day. The extremes of weather in this part of the country never fail to surprise. There was snow, and no snow, depending on the orientation of the hillside.  I'm always happy to see moisture of any sort, so this was fun, though some hikers hadn't worn appropriate footwear, so they were struggling.

A view from Bogus

I'll end with a view from the Bogus hike, and of course, an image of the handsomest dog in the universe.

The planning continues, and the flurry will increase as we approach our departure date of July 1.

Companion in all pursuits

Try, fail, learn, repeat

 

Drop Spindle Experiment

 

 

My first experiment with making working drop spindles was a mixed bag. I hand built and textured solid clay whorls from some porcelain that I had. They're quite handsome, I think, and they spin very well. For a really long time, actually. My engineer husband tells me that if I put more weight on the outside of the circle (a rim, perhaps?), they'll spin even longer. So that's good news. The failure is in the spindle portion. I used a dowel that was considerable larger than the dowel that's on my original spindle (second from the right in the picture.) The spindle on my two is also quite a bit shorter than the original that I bought. AND, I though it would be nice to have a notch (like a crochet hook) rather than the metal hook that's on the original one. I was wrong on all counts! The shorter spindle is much harder to wind the strand of yarn on after it's spun. Between the shorter length and the increased thickness of the dowel, it just feels awkward in the hand. Not impossible, as you can see from the far left left spindle. One can spin on it, but it just doesn't work as well.

 

"Hook" closeup

The metal hook is also much more efficient to use than the carved notch in the wood. The yarn just slips into the metal hook, but has to be looped and slipped over the wood with the notched variety. Well. That's why we experiment, right? Being a metalsmith, the metal hook will be a fun exercise. Next time I will post a video of using them both. . .assuming I'm not in "try, fail, learn, repeat" still!

A Quick Note on a Beautiful Day

The lost spindles returned

Today it's in the mid-70's, and I was able to do some grass weeding, in spite of some limited physicality right now. Very nice.

I also connected with the yarn store to whom I had donated these hand-made spindles. In spite of the fact that I did that almost 3 years ago, they found them (after a bit of rooting around), and seemed happy to return them to me. I am grateful to have them back. I fully intend to give them a test run at my earliest opportunity!
 

Another beautiful day. . .

 

Lucky Peak April 30 2021

When we first moved here, (decades ago now) we would look out the window and say "Another beautiful day in Paradise". Half joking, of course, but the weather in this part of Idaho was enviable. That enviable weather is back, at least for a bit. The heat and smoke of last summer and fall is momentarily forgotten, and Jasper and I just enjoyed the view from Lucky Peak. It was unusually green because of a few very welcome days of rain.

Wild Lupines blooming

The lupines are already blooming, and the ticks and cheat grass have yet to make an appearance, making hiking here absolutely heavenly. Arrow Leaf Balsamroot is also in full throat, along with a little pink groundcover flower that is just everywhere.

Later in the summer, ticks and cheat grass will make this hike pretty much un-doable, so I am particularly grateful to be here. So is Jasper.

Oh! And the sagebrush is also blooming, so the smell is heavenly.

Arrow leaf Balsamroot

. . .and Sage Brush Putting on a show

Always happy to be on a trail

Jack of all trades. . .

I have fabric for a new summer dress, and decided to make enameled buttons for it. I've been using more porcelain or stoneware buttons of late, but it's hard to beat the lightness and thinness of metal, and the enamel doesn't add too much weight. These are a simple design, and the enamel looks more "organic" than I had initially planned. But that's ok. They're do the trick. Made of 22 gauge copper, lichen green enamel, and Iron Oxide (from an old laser printer) decals. Pretty fun. All of my dresses have hand-made buttons on them, and they are almost never noticed. Still. Like good underwear, YOU know they're there. And it feels good on the fingers when you put on the dress and button it up!

Also on my mind is that Jasper. He's been with us for almost a year now. On one hand, he adapted beautifully from the start. No accidents (though he hadn't lived inside), walks on a leash beautifully, and comes when we call him. And while it took several weeks, he became quite lively on the trail, but is still very calm in the house. 

He has, however, always had a sadness about him. He lost a lot in the months before we adopted him. . . hundreds of sheep, tens of dogs, and the few people who he knew. His canine teeth were all down to nubs (still a mystery), and he never chased a thing in the yard. Never even paid attention to it. Not even squirrels. His dog friend Luke taught him about chasing squirrels, but he has yet to do it on his own. But. Here he is, focusing on the bird feeders, which also inadvertently feed squirrels and deer. That Paying Attention is new. He is also chasing a tennis ball with great focus and enthusiasm, which is also a new behavior. So I hope that his inner spirit is allowing itself to come out and take a risk. As with every dog I've loved before him, I wish he could talk. You have to think that Border Collies would be better than average conversationalists.

My last thought is about drop spindles. These are the tools that shepherds used to turn wool into yarn as they walked around the fields. A simple and much cheaper spinning wheel. Also much slower. When we sold most of our stuff, I donated some drop spindles that were similar to these to a local yarn shop. It has been interesting to see what things we miss. Things that we can't easily replace. These were made by a local crafts-person in Pennsylvania. They worked beautifully. She had several sizes, but I liked these best. . . making about a medium size ply. She doesn't sell at the wool markets anymore, but I'm hoping I can buy one from her from afar. This looks like a simple tool, but the devil is in the details. It is beautiful, for one thing, with a lovely glaze that highlights the relief of the clay whorl. But it also has to be the right weight. Not so heavy that it breaks the fiber before you can get it spun, but not so light that it doesn't keep spinning easily on it's own. And of course, the spindle needs to be in pretty much the exact center of the whorl. I'll try making one myself, but I have no illusions of this being an easy task. Besides, I want to support folks who make beautiful functional tools. It takes a particular kind of thought, skill and madness to pull this off.

Ups and Downs and one more Bunny

 

I am getting worse at Time all the time, so this little pot was late for my youngest daughter. To be fair, she is in her thirties, and will understand. Like the Grand Childrens', it was filled with dry soil and planted with a surprise seed. Add Water and Watch. This is such a fun little form. A truncated cone that was hand built, and appliqued, and the saucer was thrown. The packing to ship is the big issue, but I'm getting better at that all the time. But My. Shipping is getting expensive.

Most things seem terribly expensive to me these days, and I remember when my mother started seeing things as costing too much. $2.50 for a cup of coffee? Highway Robbery. And that was in the year 2000! 

I found the image to the right online, after a lot of searching. These are drop spindles (for spinning yarn much slower than using a spinning wheel) that are much like some I owned Before The Purge. I thought of them when a fellow artist came by to relieve me of some of the fleece I've been spinning, and her using the drop spindle to do that made me remember mine.I generally don't regret selling most of our possessions, but I am sorry to no longer have these beauties. Hand made tools are a joy to work with.

I have also been missing the lush green of the Eastern US. It's crazy, after 21 years, but the feeling is growing stronger. I suspect politics are involved too, but I also long for those green lush Eastern forests. This is what I wrote to a friend:

"I just miss green so much. We flew out to Philly before we left for Australia, rented a car and drove through Maryland and up to Cleveland to see friends and family. We found a State Park in PA for a hike, and I cannot tell you how wonderful it was. The ground was springy under my feet, and everything was so fecund. So much variety in the plant forms. It was dense with life. The air felt silky with the humidity, which I have never been consciously fond of, but Damn. It was sweet.

We have world class hiking in these surrounding foothills and mountains, but they are only green in spring. The sagebrush steppe is fascinating but it begrudges life. And few creeks run past mid July. The Boise River makes our immediate area very livable, but so many people are discovering that. The Rocky Mountains are also spectacular. But I'm pretty sure they will all burn in the next decade or so."

Maybe we never outgrow where we come from. I am daily grateful for this place. . . for the people I love, the people I like, dogs in general, a safe house with a very decent studio. A garden. But I find myself hoping that I don't die here. Isn't that odd.

2 weeks later amid the snow

 

Flower pots for planting seeds

So. We have had a typical March. In like a lamb and then hitting us with relentless cold weather. It's actually not that cold. It just feels like it, because the 60F days de-acclimated us. Still, the snow this morning was a bit much. But the daffodils are up, and tons of early perennials are pushing through as well.

These are bunny pots for the grands, though I just realized that it may be too late for Easter. Maybe not. I'll have to apply myself and get them fired. And there need to be three, not two!

The one on the left is hand built and appliqued, the one on the right thrown and appliqued. BC6 clay. I can probably fire them once to cone 5 and be fine, since glaze is desirable on these. I should make flower pots all the time!

Hand built mug

I'm trying a new photo backdrop, and it's proving unreliable. Sigh. It seemed such a good solution. . .getting banner printed on cloth, rather than the fragile paper type that is 3 times as expensive, and scratches when you look at it sideways. Also, I have no idea why the pots above look like they're not on a level surface. They are. Back to the drawing board on backdrops, I guess. 

More pre-fired work. This is a hand built mug. I really like the dimensions and the pulled handle, but am not sure how she will fire or glaze. I'm a little worried about cracking, too, but this BC6 is much less prone to that then the porcelain I've been using.

Small hand built dishes

 

To the left is not a great image of three little soy sauce dishes, also greenware. Sorry about the focus. I have one of these that I made a few months ago, and I really like using it. 

More on these later.

Bloomin' spring

 

Blue-purple ground iris

It's early to call it spring, but it's hard not to be excited. Wow. So I mentioned that the Snow Drops are looking like they might be winding down, but so many things are gearing up. "Tuning up", John calls it.

These little ground Iris are in full throat. The crocus are likewise, and of course the Hellobores sneaked in while we were looking the other way.

 

 

 

 

 

Crocus in the morning, still asleep

I had to resist the temptation to get the chaises out. It's not quite warm enough, but after a winter socializing around various outdoor venues, this tentative warmth is more seductive. . .tantalizing. . .appreciated. . than in most years.

Hellobore in situ

Maroon Hellobore

Thing 1 and Thing 2

 

Here is a new water dish for Jasper. It's pretty ok from this vantage. It's 7 inches in diameter, which is a little smaller than I'd like. This was it's third firing because it developed an S-crack in the bottom after the glaze firing. Typically, that means I didn't compress it enough on the bottom while throwing. Rookie mistake.

I hate wasting things, though as I said in the previous post, I have long ago learned that it's often better and easier to just throw it away and start over. Still. I couldn't quite bring myself to toss it. Yet.

To the right is the inside of this bowl. You can't quite see the remains of the s-crack in the bottom, but it's still there. It will hold water, so I'll put it to use, but I also plan on throwing a new one, with an emphasis on compressing the bottom. Fail. Learn. Fail. Learn. Forget. Fail. Learn. The circle of [my] life.

The other piece I re-fired was this little porcelain bowl. The bubbles are less prominent, but still there. I may put it into my next glaze firing just to see if I can eventually eliminate them. Some glazes start to bubble from within when fired too often, so we'll see about these. It's actually a usable bowl as is. I really like the size. . . a 5" diameter, and this shape a new one for me.

I'll finish up with an image of these snowdrops from my yard. They started blooming in mid-January and are just now starting to look like they're ready to move on. They'll completely disappear by June. Talk about buried treasure!

Pottery stuff

 

Two mugs, inside

I know that some potters love the surprises that opening a glaze fired kiln provides. Personally, I usually tremble. After 5 years of doing this, I'm still surprised, and often dismayed at the results of that "final" firing. These two mugs came out fairly well. They don't embarrass me. They're a nice size, which is never a given for me. And the shape and glaze is pleasing. If I took more copious notes (and could find them, AND would read them), I'd probably be further along with all of this.

Two mugs, side view

The side view is to the right. They look more squat in this image than they really are. The glare in the photos are a bit of a problem. I know what I need, but haven't gotten around to getting the photo booth yet. I'm also no longer a professional, so I'm not losing sleep over it. 

A not embarrassing bowl

Other good news from the kiln was this little bowl. 6" in diameter. The glaze has an organic feel to it that I really like. Emeraude and Ancient Jasper applied with a brush as a lip ring does this erratic dripping thing that I just love. It looks a little metallic, too.

"Meh" dipping bowls

It goes downhill from here. These are little hand-built porcelain bowls for holding soy sauce or your choice of dipping stuff. I really like the texture on the outside, but the inside. . .the part one sees. . .is really meh. I thought the stark flat white (Klaus Hard White) would be pristine looking, but it really just isn't interesting. I could try putting the texture on the inside, but really, I think I'll throw the little bowls and be done with it. Hmm. But I really like texture, which is tough on thrown pieces. I'll think some more.

Sweet porcelain bowl worth rescuing?

Also in the "Well, Darn" category was this thrown porcelain bowl. The inside was glazed with Black Satin, and it pitted terribly. The scratches are actually from my diamond grinding tool (thank goodness for metalsmithing tools and expertise). The glaze was initially bubbled, but when I ground it, the bubbles came off and I was left with pits and scratches. I touched every pit with more glaze on a tiny brush. I'll re-fire, and report back. So much for the final firing.

Porcelain bowls, pitting issue

It's often better to just start over when you screw up. I had to learn this repeatedly with enameling and metalsmithing. But I really like this little bowl. Maybe I can save her. Nothing beats a failure like a try. Sometimes.

Lucky Peak in March

 

Jasper. No pictures, Mom. . .

In closing, Jasper and I had a wonderful hike at Lucky Peak the other day. 35-40F. Snow capped mountains.And while Jasper has repeatedly told me that he doesn't really like having his picture taken (I have the same dislike), I can't resist trying to get a good image of him. This one isn't as lovely as he is, but it reminds me of what a great companion he is. And one of these days I'm going to get an image that shows his beautiful everything.

Where Have I Been?

 

Moonrise at Rockridge

I do wonder how a month and a half could have possibly gone by since the last post. I don't have a lot to show for it, though I do have Something. It seems I spend more and more time on body upkeep (for both Jasper and myself), less left for productive pursuits, and even less because I have become so much less efficient. I am not at the height of my powers, but I am also mostly OK with that.

Handspun

I've come to appreciate this place where we live. Our moon rises have been spectacular this winter, and the huge Sweet Gum trees (such an annoyance with their thousands of gum balls) offer beautiful stark spidery limbs against velvet skies. 

And at last, I am making headway on spinning the fleece that came with Jasper. I'm really happy with the result. It's a nice weight for, say, a textured vest, a fabulous natural color, and Jasper's fur gives it just a little bit of a halo. It is amazing how much time this takes. It's been months since these twin assets (Jasper and the fleece) came my way, and this is only about half of what I need for a vest. It is a fraction of the whole fleece!

Bowls after bisque firing

Here's a small collection of bowls. . . bisque'd and ready to be glazed. Have I mentioned how much I dislike glazing? The two in the front are actually much smaller than the angle would suggest, and are hand built. And the letters on the upper left bowl say "JASPER". Yes. A new water bowl that doesn't have "Moxie" written on it. Not that Jasper seems to mind.

Oblong Vase before final firing

This slightly odd oblong vase is porcelain, so it should final fire to a very white surface, which will (in theory) show off the texturing.

Last up is this thrown and appliqued mug. I'm struggling with my photographic setup, so I'm trying photographing it on gray tiles vs. on the photo background. The professional background gets scratched and dirty after about 2 uses, and it is wicked expensive to replace. 

Thrown mug on backdrop

 

Conversely, the tiles are awkward (and heavy) to set up, but also free because they're left over from our bathroom, and they don't suffer from the ceramic scratching at all. 

 

I'd love to get a couple of large-ish pieces of slate to photograph on, but it seems that slate has gone out of style for homes.

 

Thrown mug on tiles

Hiking in Dry Creek with friends

Finally, an image of Jasper and I. He's by far the more photogenic, and I'm reluctant to post images of myself for a dozen different reasons. Still. It's worth documenting. It was a great hike against a beautiful backdrop of snow, and M was sure to include the rose-hips in the picture. We've had a bumper crop this year. Her hiking pole in the foreground makes for a nice vertical accent, I think.

Just when you thought. . . .

It's true. I, and most Americans, simply believed that things would turn around with something as arbitrary as the calendar. What heartbreak. What a shock to have our Federal Capitol violated. And yet. Not such a shock, was it? Certainly predictable in hindsight.

So Jasper and I continue to walk. I continue to make stuff. Cook stuff. Switch from wine to scotch. Try to figure out What To Do. 

Dry Creek is anything but. The water continued to run through the summer and fall, and now it roars. What comfort. The trail is packed hard with trodden ice. Jasper doesn't mind, and neither do my hiking shoes.

In the studio, the clay is slowly illuminating herself. It was not the porcelain that was causing the slumping. Well, not directly. It was firing it slightly higher. Pretty sure. It's not terribly easy to see (or photograph), but when rolled to the same thickness, neither the porcelain (left) or the stoneware (BC6, right) slumped when fired to cone 5. 

 The previous porcelain (which slumped to flat!) was fired to cone 6. The temperature difference isn't that great, but it must have been enough. These are pretty sweet little pieces. The colors don't show well in these photos. Larger and they could be dinner plates. 

Looming in the background of all that I do, though, is the suspicion that our civilization may have already ended. We're just waiting for the crumbling to reach us. Here. There. Throughout. What a thing.

So care for this small family. This small piece of land. This worthy creature (John too). Try to figure out how to effect change with no lever except to further incite unrest. Be Patient. Wait.Wait. Wait. Not my forte.