To Louisville and back in 24.......

Friday morning up at 6:00 a.m. and dash out to the studio to finish trimming pots. The kiln is still down and parts should arrive today. Trimming before 7 a.m. is just nuts and just trying to center pots before my first cup of coffee is really nuts!
Done by 9:30 a.m. and in the house for breakfast, pack and shower. The phone starts ringing....arghhh! All I need to do is collect my dangling participles and get outta Dodge........ impossible!
Had hoped to be on the road by 10 a.m. I pulled out of the driveway brushing my teeth and spitting out the window! Wonder if toothpaste takes car paint off? and now I think I remember my Mother telling me never to spit into the wind.
Blow dry my hair the same time I am spitting out the wind and wondering if Crest will take out my new highlights.
Oh well I am groomed and coiffed in the 2/70 Salon (2 windows down, 70 mph)
Catch a glimpse in the rear view mirror and scream as I look a bit golden retriever - ish.
I just don't care as......... I AM ON VACATION FOR 24 HOURS!

Left at 11 am and zoomed down Rt 71 on bright sunny day! Is this really November? Skies are blue, temperatures are in the 70's, car windows are down and the Beach Boys are playing on the radio. Wow, life is good! The opening is at 6 p.m, no problem. Pretty uneventful trip, gas was even somewhat reasonable at $2.59 a gallon and in that new little car I can afford to hit the road again. I am slowly getting my life back and loving it!

Pulled into Dolita's right on time with my pumpkin roll, for the gallery opening, defrosted in the back seat, mugs for everyone I owe a mug to, camera, toothbrush and a clean pair of undies shoved in my camera bag. Ahhhhh, the Dohrman B&B (far from a hostel, my usual digs)
The coffee is always hot, the bourbon ready to pour and the company fantastic. Hello's, hugs and hey, get in the car we are going to be late! Linda Bowman rambled down the driveway carrying a wheel of Brie cheese wrapped in phyllo dough hot from the oven! The Nissan is full. Across the bridge and on our way to the opening in New Albany, IN. right across the river. Gallery on Pearl here we come........... bless Gene for driving and coming along for the ride, bet he never volunteers for this again!

I attended this gallery opening last year and it was packed, as were the pots from the Louisville Clay Guild in the small gallery.
This year........... WOW! New open, beautiful space! Great pots and lovely potters. I think we were all happy & beaming while g'noshing on delightful sweets, savory tartlets, washing it down with a bev-ie of choice while greeting friends and critiquing pots......... well some of us critiqued pots. You can't "love" everything and really you should be able to defend a piece of crap if you say you "Love" it. Yes, I almost choked on my pumpkin roll.



I love shows like this! The diversity is mind numbing, just like the food and even the artists! Everything from demented squirrels to a sweet little flask. Then there is stuff that makes me think the Guild really should award prizes; like 10 free throwing lessons. But hey they are there, they showed up and they love what they made, the only defense.......... LOOK WHAT I MADE! Right on! Those are the folks who usually go over and buy a delicious Laura Ross pot for $120 and love that tea pot just as much. You just gotta love potters!






The opening ended around 8 p.m. it was great. We ran to a nifty little spot called "Dittos" and had a late night Mojito, salad and more talking about pots, equipment, what we were working on in the studio and out of the studio. Back in the car, say our goodbyes to Linda and dash inside to catch up. I think we talked until well after midnight. When the yawns were bigger then the laughs it was time to turn in. Tossed and turned all night thinking about what I should be doing in the studio, kilns to fix and deadlines due on Tuesday and Wed. But I am in this big wonderful bed after a great evening and yes folks .........
Life really is good.

Up at the crack of dawn, dress, make coffee and sit down to read a magazine on Fine Gardening. I hear rapid feet racing down the stairs and just know it's not Gene. Nope....... MORNING! Coffee is made, conversation takes up where it left off last night.
Off to the studio to get the pugmill working, no success! But that is so OK because Gene is in the kitchen making sausage muffings and brewing more hot coffee. Finish up breakfast, grab the pruners and walk around the yard. Whack the ornamentals on our way to the hedge from hell. Pretty sure there is a missing kid in there somewhere or maybe a Buick! Off to the backyard and bit more whacking. Hey ever think about this plant or wait what about this one...... I really think you need a fairy rose back here, the cat will love it. No wait what about an Acer griseum for the front yard?

Oh hey I totally forgot I bought a spray booth and we need to load that in my teeny weeny little car. Gotta love a hatch back!
Fits with room to spare. Back on the road by 11 a.m. and home by night fall.........

back in the studio today and you know.............
Life is still good........

The weeks are ticking away ......

RUGBY IS OVER AND KENT STATE WOMEN'S TEAM TOOK THIRD PLACE IN THE MIDWEST! GO FLASHES!
THOSE MILLER GIRLS RULE!

Many, many pots have been delivered, old friends have re-surfaced, the clocks have fallen back, the leaves have fallen down, the world series is almost over and the wheel keeps turning! Feels like I have been in a fog for the last three years. The fog has lifted! While cruising Craigslist a couple weeks ago a kayak popped up for $495. Hmmmm, just lost my job, need clay, business cards, show fees, kid in college, and and and..... I bought it. Best thing I ever did!

After a couple days of paddling to shake the comatose state I have been living in, I am elated to be back in the saddle again.
Blew the dust off the fishing rods, scrounged up a couple Rapala's and lashed everything to the kayak yesterday morning; 45 degrees, white caps on Lake Erie and I was headed out for a paddle and to drop a line in. Three hours later my hands were frozen but not even a stiff wind could have blown the smile off my face. Didn't catch anything, froze to death sitting in a bit of water but........ best day in quite awhile.








The other plus side of the kayak purchase. After the second time paddling my arms and shoulders felt nuclear! Went to the studio to slam out the customary mugs, serving dishes, cookie plates for this time of the year and instead wedged out 22# of clay. Not one but three! Go big or go home! So I did, I went for it......



The other part of the this adventure has been awe inspiring. I was excited to come from the lake and get into the studio. Not trudge from the coffee pot to the studio thinking about what I was going to make. After a good paddle, the brain is firing on
all cylinders and studio is great place to be. New ideas fire off while paddling, problems in studio are worked out on the water,
not sitting there banging my head on the wedging table.

Today Rachael left for her second flying lesson. She loves it! The phone rings when she lands and the excitement in her voice is palpable. Mom, the sky was so blue today and we were up over an hour; I got to take off today!
On the other end of the phone I am just as excited because I have just learned how to print out envelopes with my logo!
It's all relative!

How can I be this old and not have figured this stuff out yet? Good God 60 is closer than 50 and I am on a huge learning curve!
Makes me think I will be throwing pots for a very long time............
So have a cup of coffee, out of a handmade mug, relax and make pots........

studio ponderings........

As I look at my schedule for the next few months I realize I better get to the library and pick up arm loads of books on CD.
Keeps me sane and the dog gets tired of my mindless babbling. As I looked through the rows and rows of books on CD searching for volume and not really concerned with the content, several jump off the shelf into my library bag.

I'm loaded and have trouble getting to the truck! The last batch of books I picked out were awful so hoping this group will be better! Racing back to the studio with my new haul. My hands slide into the bulging library bag and my fingers pluck out, "Einstein" by Walter Issacson, 18 CD's long. Whatever....... I pop in the first CD. While throwing pots I listen intently and start thinking, Do I really need to learn the Theory of Relativity? But I hang in there and start to enjoy the book. This book is not about relativity, it's about Einstein's life, foibles, genius and politics.

I work in the studio up to 12 hours a day this time of the year and this book took me a week to get through. Half way through the book I started making different pots....... could it be the "X" factor? Is it the book? Is it me listening to the book? Is it Einstein? Dunno but I am loving these new pots and the book!

There is a local blog I read daily on the town I live in. Some of the bloggers I find offensive, racist and just down right ignorant. Recently there has been a fire storm about the influx of the illegal Hispanic population "ruining" our town. I read some of the posts in disbelief, knowing some of these bloggers are my neighbors! Almost every single one of the bloggers posts anonymously. Today as the wheel spins and the clay takes shape I hear on the 17th CD, The Politics of Einstein. A history lesson of the WW1, WW2, the Prussians, the Jews, the Germans, the Americans, McCarthy era, etc etc etc...... and I am dumbstruck at the words I am hearing about the Jews during the war. It occurs to me I can substitute the word Hispanic for Jew in each and every passage of the book. I just read the exact words on the local blog. The words Hate and Fear spring to my mind. The book moves onto McCarthy and the witch hunts for communists in this country. Once again, the hair on the back of neck stands on end and I realize how perilously close we have come to another McCarthy witch hunt.

I don't know the answers but I know we better do a better job of teaching History in our schools or we will have another McCarthy era on our hands and we will our scratch our heads and wonder how in the world did this happen. Or even worse another Hitler...........

READ THIS BOOK!

Roll on Nimbus 2009!

Holy Schniky's what a week!

Rachael is rolling somewhere in Georgia......... I think! Seems hard to believe I have only been in the studio since Sept 8th.
It was mass panic to get the car loaded, a ga-zillion pots inventoried, invoices typed up, maps printed out, contact numbers and names jotted down and a huge batch of granola bagged and tossed into the car before it rolled out the driveway.

Every single pot in the studio was glazed fired and packed! Not one left behind. Spent Friday packing the car with the precision of a Sherpa packing for Mt. Everest. The dog was excited........ NOT going this time, go find your squeaky toy!

First stop: Louisville, KY. The Dohrman hostel. (Actually could be a 4 star B&B but since the Fab Dohrman boys were in town, I'm thinking a hostel.) While Rachael barreled down I-71 headed south, delivering, drinking & dancing her way through Louisville; I cleaned out the studio with a leaf blower and mopped the floor. Wedged out another 40# of clay and was ready to get those shelves filled again. Thank you, thank you, thank you; Dolita, Gene, Spencer, Justin and Gina!

Second Stop: Valdosta, GA. Kaleidoscope Gallery where she is meeting Faye and Jolie by 2:30 p.m. Re-packed and out of
Valdosta by 5:30 p.m. Checked out of the campground, toured the book stores and ate another banana and smoked herring.

On to the third stop & headed to Pass Christian, MS. Another potter has rolled out a guest room for her. Joanne, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Rachael, welcome to the tribe of potters, you will love us by the time you finish Pottery Tour 2009.
We ROCK!

The garden has been beckoning through my studio window as everything needs deadheading or cut back or is dead and believe me ...... MY PRUNERS ARE READY!! It's a time thing. The plants are begging for help, the dog is begging for a walk or pat on the head or just a darn good butt rub....... me too. But there are pots to make and miles to go before I can sleep.....
For now all walks commence at 7:15 p.m. and we are content to play spook the dog in the cemetery. We chase the deer..... well one of us does (that would be the two legged!) Walking this time of the year is dicey as the acorns & buckeyes have fallen, it's like walking on ball bearings. Then there are those gangs of street squirrels just having a hay day. Dog? Really, a big dog? Bring it on! We got giant nuts!!
The chipmunks are worse, they fill their pouches with my sunflower seeds and chirp back at me as they run to the wood pile. The stinky kitties are out in force too........ Really, don't want to see one more black and white nocturnal kitty headed to the bird feeder! I can smell you and know you're out there! and then there are those giant chickens pooping everywhere while headed south....... I yell as sliding through another pile....... DON'T COME BACK UNTIL SPRING! And by then I will be so happy to see them I will never remember my aching knees skidding down asphalt.

On the cold mornings, clutching a cup of coffee,stumbling down the back stairs I slam my butt onto the goose down chair in the back room. Flip on the news to hear about all the wonderful things that commenced while I slept...... but wait I can't hear the TV. There has been a cricket in the back room for two weeks! He is loud, he annoying and he sleeps under the dog bed & eats the dogs food. Crickets are not good luck! I have spilled coffee down my blue cheetah nighty trying to tap dance him to oblivion but still he remains. The dog seems unbothered by all this and snores away.
I give up, get another cup of coffee (which would explain why our Starbuck's account is on tilt) and go take a shower. This way if I spill coffee on myself it runs right off. Leaning against the shower wall sipping coffee and watching the steam curl out the ceiling fan I think about what I need to make in the studio today........ another morning before I head off to do what I love ........ spin clay into dust-ables.

Rachael drive safe and welcome to the world of wonderful potters!!
Thanx to everyone who has taken in the potters daughter, fed her, kept her safe and liquored her up!

Hello Fall!

The studio is buzzing with activity and so are the gardens! Managed to sneek away for a three hour hike at Hogback Ridge
last week. You could smell fall in the air. Lack of rain this summer had put a bit of stress on the ecosystem! Walking
was downright crunchy! Snapped off a few pictures, after loading them on my computer I was amazed at the similarity between pots/glazes and stuff in the woods! Thinking there might be enough to generate a new show with new pots.
Not sure when
this will happen but feel pretty excited about it!




















Tomatoes vines are telling me it's over! But I just can't bring myself to yank them out of the ground yet. Temperatures are set to drop next week but for now I am gorging on fresh tomatoes daily. Hoping to eat so many I can't stand them anymore as I will not have time to can as much as I wanted to this year. Yesterday Rachael planted 3 more blackberry bushes in the way
back garden ...... which now looks abandoned. Groundhogs won! Raspberries should go in next week.

The phone and email have been full of gallery opening and last minute show invitations...... I said; Yes, to everything!
Monday night I sat down and put everything down on paper....... YIKES!!
The wheel and kilns are set at warp speed, full steam ahead!
Happy Fall......

Labor Day...... the day to labor.......

A lovely rainy day here in the falls. Stew is bubbling on the stove waiting for
hungry travelers to arrive. The family left for a 3 hour party in Mass.
Somehow a 9 hour drive for a 3 hour party just didn't sound like a good idea.
Butch, Abby and Rachael thought it sounded GREAT. I bid them adieu at 6 am
yesterday morning and then had dinner with my dear friend Bee. We attempted to solve
the problems of the world over turkey burgers, grilled eggplant, fat sliced tomatoes,
new potatoes tossed with sage & rosemary butter, washed down with a wonderful
bottle of champagne. We all need more girl friends!

Saturday Northern Ohio Clay had an opening at a gem of gallery in Vermillion, Ohio.
Artseen Gallery, if you are out in Vermillion stop in and say Hi!. Wonderful gallery!
Very nice gallery owner. Ran into so many, many friends I had not seen in years. So much
fun to catch up and exchange ideas. Everybody was under the same cloud of the
economy. Heard someone say........ Ha! it's been challenging! However, I am grateful
to have sold three pieces.
Lynne caught the three Miller girls all together in one place! This never happens!















The gardens are taking a back seat to potting these days. Currently I am
throwing every day. Have three kilns full and the efforts for my labors
should out by next weekend.
Some ideas tossed around to sell work;

Get my galleries stocked!
Esty account
studio sale the end of October

and always remember to walk the dog........

Getting Stung, panicking & recovery......

Bald Face Hornet nest I found in eaves last month. They are not aggressive and I have
enjoyed sitting on the landing watching them weave this amazing nest.


Yesterday I got the call I have always dreaded........ Your job has been eliminated.
You have two weeks and the gig is over.
I heard the vacuum ....... ahhhhh money I had become accustomed to sucked out
of my bank account.
Fear and panic set in quickly. A night of no sleep and sometime
around 3 a.m. my inside voice said....... Screw it, on to the next
adventure.

I have been driving 71 miles a day, 6 days a week for exactly 2 years.
The dog loved it! I loved it. Two completely quiet hours listening to
NPR, recording gas prices and away from the mess in the house.
It was a rhythm to my chaotic life I had grown very comfortable with.
We drove through blizzards, heat, illness and fog.
Never missed a day. The term, comfortably numb
comes to mind. The check came in the mail every month.
It was a welcome break after making pots, gardening and living
by the seat of my pants for
the last 24 years.

The job was directly linked to the kitchen project, which started on July 15th, 2007.
I started driving Sept. 22, 2007. I took the job when the panic of the house
falling down and running way over budget took hold of my guts. There again,
I panicked. The last tile on the floor was laid last week, it was the last big
bill. The job ended exactly one week later........ to the day.

Time to go back and live by the seat of my pants making pots and gardening.
This time it will be different, on my terms. Yesterday I called friends asking
if they knew of shows or galleries....... I had been away too long.

Sitting down to the wheel two days ago I was dancing with the clay again.
The rhythm of the studio is back and it feels good....... the pots will sell
and the seat of my pants is getting thin.

BUT....... I am back!

also renewed my kayak license and got a new flashy PFD...... look out!

August the month of ........

Tomato sandwiches, angry bees, quiet still hot mornings and homemade lemonade.......



August is winding down, the gardens look tired after several 90 degree hot days;
I look a bit wilted myself!

There have been family visits, working in the studio, canning pots retrieved from
the basement, ground hog wars waged and the first time to sit with my feet in the
pond.

Yes, summer is winding down and I have made my first pilgrimage back to Borders to
look at Mother Earth News, Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times & a host of other reading
materials over a cup of hot coffee....... a sure sign things are slowing down.

The geese are gathering in multitudes and there are tinges of reds & yellows on some
of the stressed trees in our area. The Joe Pye weed is high and blooming. The hydragea
(panticulata) is blooming large and creamy white.

The bugs are merciless in this hot humid weather and time in the garden is less than
enjoyable. Zeus had discovered underground bees and the welts to prove it. Is there
anything more terrifying then being chased by bees? We locked ourselves in the studio,
found the bee spray and killed the evil bastards! Too my shock the skunks came under
cover of darkness and ate the nest! Skunks have moved up my list of favorite suburban
critters!


I HATE bees.........

The garden yields buckets of beans, squash, carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, herbs,
fennel, peppers, baskets of cucumbers; we are eating very well! I had never planted
onions before but they are now at the top of my list for garden favorites. As a kid I
remember braided onions hanging on sun porch as an onion was needed it was
whacked off with a pair of scissors. The table full of onions starring back at me
one hot August Sunday morning made me think I could duplicate this memory.
Running to the computer and "Googling" ..... How to Braid Onions , 161,000 hits
appeared before my eyes. The only one I understood was a kids page on nature crafts.
Who knew there were small children out in the woods braiding onions! I know the visual
is nuts! But I did it! and I will do it again! I have them hanging and drying in the studio.



Abby and Rachael are finding their way back to the old homestead but just for a quick
stop and then back to adventures of college and the wild west. We make plans for fall
clam bakes, fish frys and just plan fun!

the effervescence of summer's riotous colors fading away to elegant the jewels of fall...........

August arrives.......

Not sure where July wandered off too but August is here!

The japanese beetles are waning but not enough to end my rounds with the
jar filled with soapy water twice a day. The roses are a bit chewed but
what a year for roses! They have been stellar this year.

The entire neighborhood is battling ground hogs and just heard a report
of a pair of coyotes down the street. Would like to have the coyotes over
for ground hog dinner! It has been quite a battle.

The sunflowers are blooming with dinner plate size flower heads.
In one growing season they tower over the garden at 15- 18 feet.
When I bought the "Mammoth" seeds, the whole packet fit in the palm
of my hand last May, I laughed and thought....... Yeah sure.
The seed packet was right and sunflowers tower over every growing
thing, casting their guardian shadows,

Sitting on the patio and watching the hummingbirds dart around
the garden in the evening or early morning I sip my coffee
& feel the sense of lazy August days....... it's a time to put your
feet up, bask in the glory of what transpired this season.

Summer has been cool and tomatoes hang meaty on the vine waiting
for heat and humidity. Meanwhile the beans have had a banner year
as have the beets, carrots, swiss chard, lettuce, peas, fennel and peppers.
If and when the heat hits we will be swallowed by the bumper crop of
tomatoes waiting and hanging on the vine. My canning jars are washed
and ready to be filled for winter soups and stews.

August has found me back in the studio and finally out of the kitchen.
Wow have I missed my studio and sticking my hands in clay. The ritual
of cleaning the studio before I can tear open a bag of clay is just the way
it is before I can think about going back to work. As I type I am waiting for
a kiln to cool. Can't wait to pop open the lid in the morning! It has been
six weeks since I converted the studio into a wood shop.
Three days to clean off the sawdust and mop floors but I have reclaimed
the studio again.

August found car sales galore and we traded in the old van for a new
Nissan Versa. The mileage is much better and I look forward to the change.
The dog is having a tough time adjusting to his new ride.

The kitchen has won and I hired a wonderful artist to lay the last of the
tile around the hearth. I am tired of fighting when all I really want to
do is garden and work in the studio...... toss in a bit of kayaking and fishing too
and we can call it a summer to remember.

MOM! UPDATE YOUR BLOG........

OK!
has been a while, apologies for anyone following this mess on a half acre!

Since I last posted the ground hogs have taken over, my knees are flat from laying tile & leveling floors
and I wonder if I will ever stand erect again.
I am learning why people hire "professionals", I am not.
I am a.... Wanna Be, well at least when I started this project.
Now after two years of constant construction I would gladly sit down
and write a check to anyone who is willing to
work on a house with wavy gravy floors,
ground hogs living in the basement (who visit regularly) and
a bitchy homeowner.

As the photos above show........ I build stuff and rip it out..... at this I am a professional!
On a positive note, my learning curve is HUGE but boy have I learned alot!
Currently I can talk a mean line with just about any contractor.
Throw out a few terms like; I think we need a bigger Micro-lam,
CDX plywood sure is heavy,
the sub- floor needs to be 1 1/4" thick before I will even talk to you about laying tile!
and on that phrase I hike my pants up, giving myself a wedgie, walk away.......
and do it myself.

So let me think what has happened in this house in the last 20 days.........

1. Install dining room chandelier........ and didn't electrocute myself!

2. Stain new awesome shelves......... but find out you cannot stain primed moulding.
Rip it off, buy new (another $40) and try to get the paint guy, Stan, at Home Depot to match old world walnut stain.
Buy one quart of Burnt Molasses semi gloss......... It worked!

3. Take all the left over end pieces from the office/dining room floor project (we keep tripping over) and line all my open shelves!
Have to say, this was brilliant!

4. Wire under counter lights for open cabinets. LED green lights with low wattage....... feeling quite superior!
Feeling so superior I add a tap switch next to the coffee pot to eliminate morning blindness & fumbling.

5. Work in the gardens two days.

6. Can 7 jars of dilly beans

7. Rip down shingles on the porch only to find rotted plywood underneath...... proving once again what was supposed to be
an afternoon project now morphed into a week.

8. Buy an entry table off craigslist for $75!! Big Score and currently loving craigslist...... but as you all know this could change at any moment

9. Rip up stones around entry and hearth. Spend three hours scraping mortar off the floor and using a box of bandaids.

10. Level floor, lay hardibacker board and cover myself in enough cement dust I scare myself glancing in a mirror as run back to the kitchen. Tip: don't do this on an 85 degree day with no breeze as I was feeling like a powder sugar donut!

11 Run to Home Depot and pick out tile for floor. Run back to Home Depot and exchange tile for the right color. Run back to Home Depot for more screws, run back to Home Depot for more drill bits......

12. Dig up perimeter of all porches and line with vinyl coated fence and then lattice. Check everyday and fill the holes the ground hogs keep digging. So far we are winning! Order 1# packs of cayenne pepper to sprinkle around the yard and house.

13. Order granite back splash, coffee center counter and try to match a 2' x 3' section at the end of the counter...... find out the granite I got two years ago is from Pakistan but due to political unrest can no longer get that strain so much try to match granite, also called Absolute Black from China, India, or South Africa........ conclusion..... it can't done and I will put a
big platter filled with fruit on the end of the counter to cover up my oversight.

14. Wake up two weeks later to a horrible smell permeating the house.
Rip the front porch apart to find the dead animal stinking up the house.
It doesn't exist but do find green dry wall under the porch.
Which means the ground hogs have tunneled into the basement. Running to the basement and pull down all the green dry wall, which should have been done years ago only to find a hole, no dead ground hogs and make one giant mess. Retreat and shut the basement door, happy not to find any dead ground hogs but shocked at the mess I made in my frenzy to defend the house......... will deal with it when I am in a better frame of mind. Back to put the porch together. Still stinks and then find a dead skunk in the bushes next to the porch......... calling this a Kill Me kind of day.

15. Get call my free range chickens are ready for pick up. Scored these off craigslist too. Drive two hours south giddy
over my happy free range chickens!! Drive so long I can't believe I am still in Ohio but manage to find the house as there was
a man standing in the garage with his hand up a chicken butt. "Hi!" I'm here to pick up my dozen chickens. He looks at me
and yells at his wife......whom I have been communicating the last few months about my fabulous chickens. She comes around the corner in her bloody Nike's and rhinestone studded T-shirt with the word "Princess" to tell me they are running about 4 hours behind. How many do you have done? 5 ......... I'll take them. Here is a tip....... use the phone and call me! I drive two hours back home cursing craigslist & chicken farmers. Arrive home at 7 pm and spend three hours cutting up chickens, food saver sucking the life out of the chickens and tossing them in the freezer. Call my friends to explain they are not getting 4 chickens but will be getting one chicken. I leave messages that I will be dropping them off in the morning. The next morning my chicken friends are not home and I return home........ my new name, She Who Drives With Chickens.......

16. We are eating out of the garden everyday and it's all I can do to keep up with all the produce. Yesterday I picked 25# of onions, a basket of green beans, swiss chard, potatoes, green peppers and the tomatoes are starting finally to turn bright red, the beets are getting big and the carrots are huge! Lettuce is winding down but squash is coming on. Sunflowers are over 10 feet tall and the best privacy fence ever!

17. Sneaked away to see Harry Potter and Up! Highly recommend both!

18. Apply for job at Home Depot..........

Conclusion for the last three weeks......... there are human years, there are dog years and there are remodeling years.......
One dog year equals 7 human years. One remodeling day equals 7 human days.
Every time I think I am getting there I am amazed at how far away I still am............

still living in chaos.......

sometimes I wonder if it will ever end......... but I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel.






When I started this blog I thought I would be posting every week to keep up with the changes.
Some days I feel like I am moving at warp speed and then there are days I don't know why I turn on the compressor;
which has become a permanent fixture in the kitchen. Wondering if I can hook the blender or food processor to it.






I bought this lovely bookcase from Macy's (photo on the left) in April only to find a huge crack in the "solid" oak veneer on top of chip board.
This bookcase was not cheap, $1300 for chip board. After living with the bookcase for 6 weeks, as that is how long it took
Macy's to deliver and pick up, we decided we liked it. Liked it enough I decided to build one.

The photo on the right is the one I am currently building. The cost; $104.00 and two good days of work. On a good note, it matches all the other trim in the kitchen. Not sure if I will put glass doors on it yet but it give us huge storage options.
My carpenter skills are getting better but still not great as I usually end up building things two or three times but then again I still have all my fingers!
For a potter this is huge!

The last 18 days I have managed to put up a pot rack made from copper tubing from the hardware dept. of Lowes, buy
hardwood flooring from Lumber Liquidators but hire someone else to install it, put the porch up, plaster and paint the living room and dinning room, paint the hallway window, buy new rugs from Overstock.com , pick up new chandeliers for dining room and hallway and build this awesome bookcase.






with so much chaos in the house; one walk outside leads you to the gardens........ and ahhhhhhh
the lilies are blooming and scenting the yard with perfume. Life is good and I am sure the chaos will end soon.