October Days in the studio…….

October is turning into a bang up month as it should since Mercury went retrograde on the 4th and today we have full eclipse….. duck and cover as your front end, hind end and in between is out of alignment, no grand trine parties this month!  

Still riding my bike, still fishing, and still making pots.  I have fallen into a comfortable rhythm, finally.  Still hunting for part time work but have decided to just lay low this month, make pots, rewire the kiln and wallow in the joys of fall.  Still have a bucket of garlic to plant! 

Loving my Friday treks into the city……. this might change by January but for now, love it!  Hitting the door around 9:00 am, making the drive through the tail end of Cleveland rush hour.  First stop, the incredible Westside market, pick my veggies for the week and a loaf of artisan bread.  Stop by Civilizations coffee shop and get a hot cup of coffee before heading to the studio.  The space is finally coming together, weaving table took me a few trips, I just could not get it right.  For now it will work although I hate having my back to the door.  Feng Shui states I must put a mirror behind my table and so I will…… or I could just weave at the end of the table…. 

The view from my second floor window.  It's fun watching the busyness of over 40 artists who work in this building.  

The view inside my second floor window….. 

soup to nuts …..

After I closed on Friday I ran down and picked up my freezer pig.  Wow, so much pork!  

I love buying produce, meat and anything else I need this way.  For $325 I have meat that will last us for better than a year!  I handed the check to a young farmer who has kids, taxes, feed bills and probably the best meat we've eaten since the last pig.  I'm not sure what $325 would have bought me at the local chain store but honestly, I don't care.  Farm to table…… huge benefits for me, farmer and pig! 

And in a moment of weakness I said, yes to a Brownie Troop so they could get their pottery badges. 

Ha!  This was a first attempt for me with kids in the studio.  I love kids, my own ……. the rest I try to stay away from.  But as our local schools have pretty much dismantled the arts programs, except for drawing and a few crafts, usually made with toilet paper rolls,  I felt it my civic duty to educate young minds in the way of clay.  

But as Mercury was retrograde…..the hamster at the power plant had a heart attack and we had a power outage in the afternoon.  Sometimes power goes out for a long time and sometimes it comes right back on.  The studio was ready, they could get their pioneer badge and pottery badge in one night!  Alas, the power came back about an hour before the Brownies arrived, in a minivan caravan.  Doors flew open and it was game on!  Do I need pads and helmets….. ?

So much pink, so much glitter and so much chatter…… 10 girls and 4 Moms in my little studio.  

They sent me all the requirements for the badge and it took an hour and half to demo, make pinch pots, break out the Cheetos and Sunny Delight, wave goodbye and run around looking for Neil the cat on a rainy night.  He just couldn't take it, and will now be referred to as the orange streak.  Can't blame him as 10, high pitched Brownies screamed in unison…….. A CAT!   He hid under the truck in the pouring rain and when one Brownie got on her knees to see him, he bolted for parts unknown.  

Well here is a something shocking ……. I had a good time and so did the girls!  

There is talk of coming back for a garden badge.  How about a chicken badge?  

Do I get a badge?  

oh the things we squirrel away……