Denice

I peeked in on the liner tile firing this morning,  they looked great.  I am going  to have my husband help me unload the kiln tomorrow.   I loaded it myself and made my hand that I had the surgery on recently swell up.    Ice pack took care of it,  but I am going to try not to push it for a while.     Denice

That's what it feel like to be retired,  I had my husband retired as soon as we could afford it.   The company he worked for was going to kill him.  His boss retired so he had to cover his work,  the hazmat personnel was fired another job for Stu.  Millions of questions to answer from amusement ride owners and government officials  and when he had some time he could do his actual job of technical publication,  writing the huge manuals that went out with each ride.  He has been retired for two years  finished restoring a rusty 74 Challenger last spring .    January he started working on a man cave in our unfinished basement.   He hired a few jobs out but did everything else framing, plumbing, wiring, painting, trim work and tiling.  Most of the theater and bar is finished  he still has to tile the bathroom.  It sounds like a lot of work but he loves doing it and he starts and stops whenever he feels like it,  even sleep late in the morning now and then.   You can keep doing what you really enjoy  with out any pressure of a schedule    Denice

That's what it feel like to be retired,  I had my husband retired as soon as we could afford it.   The company he worked for was going to kill him.  His boss retired so he had to cover his work,  the hazmat personnel was fired another job for Stu.  Millions of questions to answer from amusement ride owners and government officials  and when he had some time he could do his actual job of technical publication,  writing the huge manuals that went out with each ride.  He has been retired for two years  finished restoring a rusty 74 Challenger last spring .    January he started working on a man cave in our unfinished basement.   He hired a few jobs out but did everything else framing, plumbing, wiring, painting, trim work and tiling.  Most of the theater and bar is finished  he still has to tile the bathroom.  It sounds like a lot of work but he loves doing it and he starts and stops whenever he feels like it,  even sleep late in the morning now and then.   You can keep doing what you really enjoy  with out any pressure of a schedule    Denice

I need to look into making french presses,  my son will only make his coffee with a french press.   He is somewhat a fanatic when it comes to coffee,  he orders green coffee beans and roast them himself.   If he asks you if want a cup of coffee just say no,  it will be a couple of hours before he is finished making it.   He had me make him two part shaving mugs that held hot water in the bottom and the shaving cream was made in the next layer.   The hot water kept the shaving cream warm and  this made it easier to shave a heavy beard.   I made him musical pots when we was in high school and a urn for his dog a few years ago,  the things we do for our children.

I need to look into making french presses,  my son will only make his coffee with a french press.   He is somewhat a fanatic when it comes to coffee,  he orders green coffee beans and roast them himself.   If he asks you if want a cup of coffee just say no,  it will be a couple of hours before he is finished making it.   He had me make him two part shaving mugs that held hot water in the bottom and the shaving cream was made in the next layer.   The hot water kept the shaving cream warm and  this made it easier to shave a heavy beard.   I made him musical pots when we was in high school and a urn for his dog a few years ago,  the things we do for our children.

I need to look into making french presses,  my son will only make his coffee with a french press.   He is somewhat a fanatic when it comes to coffee,  he orders green coffee beans and roast them himself.   If he asks you if want a cup of coffee just say no,  it will be a couple of hours before he is finished making it.   He had me make him two part shaving mugs that held hot water in the bottom and the shaving cream was made in the next layer.   The hot water kept the shaving cream warm and  this made it easier to shave a heavy beard.   I made him musical pots when we was in high school and a urn for his dog a few years ago,  the things we do for our children.

If I ever get my hands working again  I would like to start throwing,  my ultimate goal would be making teapots.   I have always found them to be challenging  and I like pushing clay to its limit.  Denice

If I ever get my hands working again  I would like to start throwing,  my ultimate goal would be making teapots.   I have always found them to be challenging  and I like pushing clay to its limit.  Denice

Adelaide Robineau,  Gertrud Natzer and Edith Heath.       Denice

Ten pounds was my limit,  with my bad hands and wrist it is probably 5 lbs now.   I am mostly a handbuilder so the amount of clay I can or can't throw doesn't matter.  Spiral wedging was the method I was taught first,  now I do the slam method or just work out of a new bag of clay.  Sometime little bubbles pop up,  I can handle them.  I am hoping after my left hand surgery I will be able to throw again.    Denice

I have a hot waxer for feet and hands,  I was just wondering if it sped up the healing process.   I just got back from my nerve test and they were pretty bad the doctor thinks I should have the surgery right away.    I want to wait until January,  I guess I will have to speak to a surgeon about this,  maybe he will give me a steroid shot.   Good news is that my last MRI showed no new signs of lesions or damage from my MS.      Denice

I have a hot waxer for feet and hands,  I was just wondering if it sped up the healing process.   I just got back from my nerve test and they were pretty bad the doctor thinks I should have the surgery right away.    I want to wait until January,  I guess I will have to speak to a surgeon about this,  maybe he will give me a steroid shot.   Good news is that my last MRI showed no new signs of lesions or damage from my MS.      Denice

Hulk your high cubby reminded me of a newly thrown pot sitting high on a shelf in a outdoor drying area at a local pottery class.   The pot was had  a tunnel wrapping around the pot,  the maker was furious and demanding to know who ruin  his work.   The teacher pulled the pot down  and found a large worm eating its way through the clay.   The potter felt pretty foolish that he had thrown such a fit,  he decided to fire the piece and see what happens.  It was the last day of the class so I never found out,  it probably cracked up.  LOL   Denice

I don't even like lending tools to my husband,  the only way I get them back is to hunt for them in his garage.   Now he has a new woodworking shop in the basement so I it will take longer to find them.   He will go in my studio and get a tool without asking,   what really bothers me is that he will take tools that he also has but can't find them.   He doesn't want to bother looking for them so he takes mine and promptly misplaces them.  I try not to complain,  I am lucky to have a husband that can fix anything.     Denice

I started out making pots in cardboard containers like oatmeal boxes and then I moved onto slabs.   After a while I wanted to make a series so  I started working with hump and slump molds,   I even worked with canvas slump molds.   Right now I am making tile so I guess I am back to slab.   When I finish this project I am going to do some throwing,  I am losing the feeling in my fingers on my left hand.   This is quite common with people who have MS.    Maybe some throwing will help retrain my nerve pathways!   Denice

I started out making pots in cardboard containers like oatmeal boxes and then I moved onto slabs.   After a while I wanted to make a series so  I started working with hump and slump molds,   I even worked with canvas slump molds.   Right now I am making tile so I guess I am back to slab.   When I finish this project I am going to do some throwing,  I am losing the feeling in my fingers on my left hand.   This is quite common with people who have MS.    Maybe some throwing will help retrain my nerve pathways!   Denice

I did some slip casting also in the early 90's but on a much smaller scale.   I made a mold of a triangular large lamp and used that mold for a few years,  I also made molds for a medieval chess set for my son.  I thought it would be a good item to sell at Renaissance fairs.   After figuring the costs of materials,  booth fees  I would be lucky to break even when I compared  to what other chess sets  sold for.  I still have the mold and chess set  and molds.    Denice

I was infatuated with the ceramic process and work of the Pamunkey Indians, a Virginia tribe located within a day trip from VCU's School of the Arts where I was earning my BFA in ceramics.  I had studied the work of the Maria Martinez and other native people's doing pit firing & burnishing black & red wares and I knew the Pamunkey's were just beginning to resurrect their craft. I lucked out and got to tag along for a few weeks with an anthropologist who was assisting them with research and reconstruction of their history and the reestablishment of all aspects their traditional way of life. I got to learn about making/firing/finishing the pottery along with them and just couldn't wait to do it on my own. Silly me. Apparently the small back yard of an urban apartment, with fussy neighbors and even fussier management (something about not liking the smoke-go figure) was not an appropriate place to do my thing. I might have given them some lip about why the heck can't I do what I choose with my little patch of ground, but they were having none of it and threatened to kick me out--only the fact that I was a single mom with a young child saved my butt...but I had to cease and desist with the backyard bar-b-ques! 

I also felt that way in college but finally figured out it that is what a college education should do.   Push you kicking and screaming down new roads.   Denice

I also felt that way in college but finally figured out it that is what a college education should do.   Push you kicking and screaming down new roads.   Denice

I have my cut off wires hung on the wall next to the wheel and a cottage cheese container full of basic throwing tools.   I have another container with hand building tools on a separate table  Extra tools and misc.  are in  divided trays that stack inside of each other.  I keep my extruder dies in a shoe box on a shelf near the extruder,  I also have rolling pins on that shelf and my Skutt thermocouple.   I have managed to collect way to many tools,  I bought some to fill out a order that my husband was getting from China years ago.  They were really cheap,  I have purchased some old tools at estate sales, they are my favorite to work with.   I will put together a set of tools and a bag of clay for someone who needs it for therapy or just home bound and bored,  I even offer to fire whatever they make.   My neighbors have three school age children,  I offered to give them clay and tools during the shelter in,   they turned me down.  The mother is a teacher and I have run into teachers that didn't think art was necessary when my son was in school.   Denice

I picked some asparagus Sunday and mixed it with some tulips in a bouquet for my mother in-law.    She lives in a senior living facility,  they have sheltered in for 8 weeks now and not allowed any visitors.   The food is alright but they haven't had any asparagus on the menu since she moved in 6 months ago,  she loves it raw or cooked.   We watched the staff from our car gather the items to be delivered to her,  they noticed the asparagus bouquet and got the strangest looks on their faces.   She called us later and was bursting with joy over her unusual bouquet.   She is 97 and everyone thinks of her as their mother so she had received lot of candy and flowers.  She said the asparagus was the best present she had received in a long time.     Denice

Let the asparagus grow before 3 years before picking it.  I found a new patch of it in my garden,  seeds from the plants last fall.   Those cinnamon rolls look yummy.   Denice

I don't have a photo of it but I made roasted King asparagus from my garden.   The asparagus is so huge that you have to peel the stems like a potato.    I rub some olive oil on it and sprinkle with garlic salt,  roast it at 400 degrees 10 to 15 minutes.  Before I serve it I sprinkle a little dry cheese on it,  my husband who was a little skeptical told me it was the best dish he had in a long time.  Very tender and juicy!   Denice

We were quickly running out of yeast and unable to find any at a decent price.  I think the yeast on E-bay is about the same price as gold per ounce.  I noticed some San Francisco starter for sale,  my husband isn't crazy about sour dough,  I decided to do a little research.   I found a starter made with boiled potato water,  flour and a package of yeast.  I have made three loaves,  my next loaf I am adding some apple cider vinegar to it to create more bubbles in the loaf.  I am glad I hung onto my bread machine,  I bought it at a estate sale for ten dollars.   I hardly ever used it and was thinking of giving it away.  Denice