Normal???????

Trying to return to whatever normal is.......  Butch returned to work for two days but now back home, stationed on the back end of the snow blower.  All mice nesting in the snow shoot were blasted into orbit and relocated!  We have had so many storms this year it's becoming normal.  Some are lovely and enchanting.......

Others are just normal ....... 

I have tried to get to the studio each and everyday but somehow get side tracked.......in dog language; SQUIRREL!  Doesn't take much!   Yesterday I threw two pieces!  Count them two whole pieces!  

Finding countless things to fill my days...... while cleaning the tub I picked a caulk scab on the back wall, promptly finding the entire rope of caulk in my hand and the fiberglass panel laying on the floor.  I have no idea how this stuff happens, it's an out of body experience.  I have a container of cleanser in one hand and my shower surround in my other.  Hmmmm..... I wondered where that occasional ant was coming from in the dead of winter.  Found them!  All of them!  I sprayed with vinegar, sprinkled with boric acid, waited a couple hours and repeated.  Looked good so I semi glued the wall back and am now looking for a new tub surround, cement board, 2x4's, insulation, vapor barrier and a cute guy to do this but can't get out of the driveway.  Is this how the Donner Party started because at this stage in my life I could eat the cute guy in a heart beat and save the chickens for entertainment!  

Trying to find my way back to the land of normal I baked bread yesterday.  Made the snowy pilgrimage down to my awesome old lady neighbor bearing a quart of turkey soup, a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs.  I love getting hugs!  She also gave me a gift card to a full year subscription to Mary Janes's Farm magazine!!!  I read through my first issue and made pasta while reading how to keep bees and calm a goat before milking.... I could be in deep trouble here!  Honestly, moths to a flame! 

We discovered our smart TV can get YouTube and have spent each and every night for a week watching videos on; sailing, gardening, rocket stove building, greenhouse building, pottery and how to caulk your tub surround. 

Managed to a get a handle on an experimental teapot.  A nice chun glaze fired to cone 8 on carved porcelain.  If I can get to the studio I will be making more, the glaze breaks over the carving and pools nicely. 

  

     

Took Rachael to the airport for her flight to Benin and now think I need to go once a week for entertainment.  While sitting there sipping my hot coffee and waiting for her to check in I thought my head was going to explode.  The joy of being tucked behind a pillar or post with a hot drink and people watching, Oooooo does not get any better!  Just watching the shoe parade is awesome, then let your eyes drift to the luggage!  Whoa!  Thinking I was cloaked in invisibility and voyeuristically lurking; a rather crunchy, bearded guy in a camo jacket and knitted watch cap sits down, one seat away from me.  He smiles that toothless grin toward my direction and I smile back, immediately looking away.  Where the hell is Rachael?  Stuck in the line of travelers, checking bags and I am a magnet.  To check my judgmental side I always say; this might be Jesus!  But then my other voice says; Nope!  While watching a large woman in a black hijab, pin 3 large colorful teething toys to her little daughters shirt, my peripheral vision sees him reach into his duffel bag and whip out a large squeeze bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, screw off the cap, lick the inside of the cap, screw it back on and squirt a stream into his mouth.  I waited for him to offer me a squirt but thankfully he did not.  Refreshed, he popped it back in his duffle, jumped up and and walked away.  I motioned to the darkly domed super secret security camera screwed to the ceiling, did you see this?.  Hearing the baby cry and fussing, the woman now surrounded by mountains of large pink luggage (I never saw or heard arrive), gives the sweet child a wet nap to chew on.  YUCK!  After a minute the cranky tike calmed down and chewed furiously!  Was it the alcohol or the cool wetness...... no idea. Jesus?  Nope, a desperate Mother.  It was freezing and snowing the day we lingered at the airport and yet there were so many people in flip flops talking on cell phones.  Really I could write about so much more but I have to go to the studio or redesign the garden or or or....... 

It's coming!!!! 

Oh and a great recipe for roasted cauliflower.  

A vegetable I kind of like but never been head over heels excited about, unless cheese was involved.  

This recipe makes me head over heels crazy for cauliflower! 

Tamari Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower

3 Tablespoons Tamari 

(could use soy sauce but why?)

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 scant Tablespoon Fish Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil 

(next time I'm trying toasted sesame oil)

Juice of one lime

A sprinkle of chili powder, optional

Whisk all ingredients, toss with cut up cauliflower, roast in a 425 degree F. oven for 30 -35 minutes.

Stir a couple times during roasting.