March! Buckle up and kiss your asters goodbye.......

 Happy Pi Day! 

March 14th and it's a blizzard out so eat more pie! 

Snow is coming down at a pretty good clip and the wind is howling.  

Wind chill is 19 F.  Put those flip flops back in the closet.

The March shoe collection continues to grow by the back door.  

No Manolo Blahniks at the back door but we do have teal Sasquatch boots or yak trax that will get you to the van and keep you vertical also a pair of sandals just in case.

I am ready to garden!  I have plants ready to go in the ground with frost cloth and plastic protective layers.  If they don't go in soon we are just going to start eating them off the shelf. 

Those 70 degree temps in February had me fooled.  I thought we would get a winter blast here or there but not the extended "Arctic Clipper" we are currently enduring followed by a left hit "N'or Easter".  Tomorrow is supposed to be better but then I've been telling that to myself for a week.  If we do hit 44 tomorrow I am hoping it melts all the white stuff and warms a wee patch of ground so I can get the turnips, radishes, kale and lettuce under cover, along with the onions.  The onions have had their bangs trimmed three times, hoping to make stronger roots.  Thursday we hit 60 degrees and by the weekend we are back in the deep freeze.  Fingers crossed these will do OK. 

 

While I wait out Jack Frost I've had time for that annual festivity; 

CAULK THE TUB 💪🎉🥳

You would think I could do this in my sleep by now ........ nope!  I manage to caulk my fingers together, my tools to the tub, the shower head to the wall and myself to the floor.  My family went off on holiday to Florida and left me, two dogs and three chickens to 10 glorious days of solitude.  They called and said; Mom, do you have cold?  You sound funny.  I haven't talked to anyone for 6 days, if you don't use your voice you loose it.  I had big reno plans but I needed to cut wood in the driveway and make big messes.  The weather did not cooperate so I pared down those grandiose ideas; cleaned out the house, cupboards and caulked the dreaded tub.  I have a deep and abiding hatred for this chore and put it off as long as possible.  The dogs slept peacefully along side the sink and toilet, I caulked them to the floor too, accidentally of course!  I freed one and now have a patch of hairy caulk.  I was so close to getting the sledgehammer and just demo-ing the whole mess but I stopped myself as I know what lies behind that plastic insert and it ain't pretty.  I'd be down to studs and no running water in no time while the dogs snored.  Perfect because the new washer and dryer still have not shown up so when I'm down at the river beating my clothes on a rock I can just jump in and take a cold bath.  I feel like I'm headed back in time and not forward; the house is winning....... again.   Just when I was hitting my stride the oldest called from Florida and requested a pick up at the airport.  She was bailing on the Florida trip and coming back to base camp.  Nooooooo......  so I finished up a few death cleaning projects and set my alarm to head to the airport at 11:30 pm 

But wait...... flight delayed it will be more like 12:30 am.  The night bus arrived at Platform 9 3/4 right on schedule at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Picking up the stranded witch or wizard for 11 sickles and returning her to the Leaky Cauldron.  There were angry muggles everywhere!  People, it's 12:30 am be nice or eat a donut!  Carnage...... Cleveland we can do better!  be nice! 

Then the other kid texted, Frontier had just up and cancelled her flight back to Fort Collins.  OK airlines WTF?  I don't fly.  I don't like going through security because I am a smart ass and say things like: don't forget to check for the bomb in my thong, asshole.  Nobody has a sense of humor anymore.  Honestly having your flight completely cancelled thousands of miles from home would have me postal and nobody would be laughing. Free flight points or trips to the lounge revoked and you ma'am are on the "Do Not Fly List".  and I would say thank you!  Drinking would be happening.  Hey and what about this guy Pete Buttigieg?  You know the director of transportation for the entire country, that guy?  I live in OHIO, he finally showed up for the February 3rd train derailment in Palestine on February 23rd, probably too many toxic chemicals.   

How would I fix all these broken systems?  What broken systems you might ask?   Pick one!  Transportation, Schools, Healthcare, Toxic Waste, THE FED, etc  Get a few Mom's on these boards who wrangle a couple kids on fixed income everyday! We are talking peanut butter sandwich and white bread Moms who work for a living.  Better have a coupon or a BOGO when you show up for the that board meeting.  Whaaaat, you left 152 people stranded in Arizona?  I revoke all your gold stars and flight hubs and give them to the neighbor kid until you get your ass back in the saddle and say you're sorry.  Hey and toss in a free drink or massage on your next flight ...... like if you're ever flying again.  I like the reward system.  If you screw over 100 people there should be ramifications!  If you sit in an airport or hospital emergency room more than an hour there should be penalties.  If you put trusting peoples money in junk bonds but give all your employees bonuses before your bank goes bust, your big ass bonus is revoked and given to the guy who couldn't make payroll, you know the people he employees, I think they are called the "little people" or collateral damage.  Ask Putin for tips on collateral damage and there is a vile human out of control who seriously needs a trip to the woodshed.  

The schools?  We are fucked if we can't fund education.  End of story, end of democracy.  Our democracy is looking more like democrazy these days.  

Yes, I'm on a rant but the lunatics are running the asylum again, it's happened before in history and it never turns out well. 

 

This month of March, show fees are due, the National Clay Conference is in full swing tomorrow, and I'm trying to work stuff out in the studio and life in general.  What does one make during these uncertain times?  I will barter fermenting jars for grass fed milk; goat, cow or other cloven hoofed animals.  I look at the headlines every morning and every morning it's another train wreck, stock crash, bank failure, climate change or mass shooting.  I go to the grocery store and have sticker shock.  I am trying to look at the big picture.  Are we feeling good about any of it?  And it's blizzard out and I have daylight savings time adjustment issues.  Crank up the violins I'm having a day here........  

I'm running down to Cinncinati in the morning for the opening at the Clay Conference and meet up with a few friends then back home by Wed. night.  My attention this year is more garden and food related.  I am sick of the grocery store madness and maybe just maybe, home cooked and grown food will be cheaper than government subsidized crap wrapped in plastic and then double wrapped again.  

A lot happens in 10 days ......... 

in other news the chickens are laying and apparently the 17% protein in the feed is working on the chipmunks, I think they finally started laying.

otherwise known as a fairy egg :) 

CSA's and other community related things.......

 

So what's a CSA?  

Community Supported Agriculture...

We decided to sign up for a winter CSA, lasting for 9 weeks (2nd week of January - mid March)  The fee was $207 and seemed very fair, also supported a local farmer.  Will we do it again?  Probably not but glad we did it as it was a great lesson. 

I drove out to the farm every Wednesday by 11 am to pick up our weekly share.  There were times I got home and scratched my head or looked up recipes for unknown squash varieties.  I'm pretty much an acorn or butternut squash gal.  There were varieties we received I have pondered over growing and it took those things right off my "To-Grow" list.   The other, don't bother growing were sweet potatoes.  Sorry but I like the store bought organic ones better.  We received sweet potatoes 2 or 3 times and each time was a bit of a let down; although Kirby and chickens loved every tender morsel!  

I learned I'm a better gardener than I thought because we received a lot of carrots, onions and potatoes.  All, I had in abundance in the ground or basement.  Things going in that basement next year: cabbage and winter squash, maybe a few apples.  (my basement where we don't have a bar or theater or you can play ping pong but you can have a good game of whack a mole!)  We got small bags of parsley (also still picking in the garden), dill (my freezer is full of fresh dill), garlic shoots (I have so much garlic) and so it went.  

I was hoping for way more green stuff.  Like kale, lettuce and bok choi etc.  We would get a small plastic sleeve of one of those greens but it was not enough for even one salad.  We eat quite a few greens.  I know the farm has high tunnels and other winter growing setups and knowing the turn around time on greens is pretty fast I was surprised there were not more greens.  I was also surprised at the shelf life of the lettuce.  Yes, it's a tender green but if I didn't eat it in the van on the way home it was wilted.  Not even an ice cold water bath raised the dead.  The hydroponic lettuce I buy from another farmer in Oberlin will last two weeks (saving time & gas).  Not sure why but this is very curious.  

Also a surprise!

Items not grown and pre-packaged.  Mrs Millers cherry jam, ya not this Mrs Miller!  We don't eat sugar or use jams and jellies.  It's sitting in the fridge because I don't know what to do with it but cannot bring myself to chuck it.  Potatoes in those damn plastic netted bags!  In fact so much of what we received was in a plastic bag, and put in another plastic bag to get it home it's a biggest reason I will not participate again. Even the "Garlic Expressions" bottle is plastic and full of canola oil.  Ya, no canola oil in this house either as it is inflammatory.  I'm already inflamed daily just picking up all the plastic on the beach and in the parks.  Ya, what about that community mindfulness?  We also got a jar of salsa.  I am a home canner, I have salsa in the basement.  

Ok am I being a little harsh?  For us as a family trying to eat as close to the earth as possible; I don't think so. We did enjoy the pea shoots, swiss chard and other greens.  However if you're the "average" American buying food from the local Piggly Wiggly or Costco you probably think this is a great CSA and that is fine and I am truly happy for you and your support of a local farm family!  

The biggest goal for 2023 is to grow greens through the winter.  Whether that will be a hydroponic set up or grow tunnel I'm not sure yet.  But after 9 weeks that was the biggest take away; we want greens and no plastic. 

Meanwhile green is happening here! 

they won't go outside next week but the following week for sure!  The seedlings are strong!  I left them outside yesterday during a wind, snow and pelting rain day.  By the time I arrived back at happy acres I cringed to even see how much damage Mother Nature had inflicted on these little seedlings.  They had been subjected to high wind, rain and ice for over 4 hours.  The pictures above were taken this morning.  Everything looks great, indeed thriving.  So they will go out, covered with a frost cloth and stern talking to about bucking up to March gales, although on second thought maybe they should give me a stern lecture on bucking up. 

And here we go again........ caught red handed in the chicken coop.  

The trash bandit was young and immediately relocated to distant land. 

He didn't try to tear my hands or face off and was relatively docile compared to past masked marauders.

I have been watching the mother of all raccoons make a nightly raid in the coop.  If I caught this thing it would be like a hooking a marlin on worm. Forget the Old Man and the Sea, more like the Old Woman in the Coop.  I am not sure it even fits in the Hav-a Heart trap.  I have baited the trap with sardines and dog food, tuna fish and dog kibble, the smeller the better and nothing.  Thought I'd give it one more try and trapped Petunia.  I felt so bad!  I stay up all night checking the trap because I don't want anything traumatized more than me.   I apologized profusely, opened the door and she scurried away, grumbling.  I shook out the tuna and shrimp tails but they were still there in the morning.  The chickens were so happy for the leftovers. 

I walk around the garden making arm long lists of chores, it's daunting.  Then the wind blows I get a snowflake up my nose and retreat to the studio.  Argh the studio....... time for a change!  

I was sitting here cutting out decal after decal and decided to watch a documentary on Joe Humpherys, the god father of fly fishing.  If you don't know who he is you need to know!  The man is a legend.  He is still alive and still fishing the streams of Pennsylvania and or anywhere the trout are running at the age of 93.  I've watched the documentary on his life three times now.  It occurred to me, we all need be this happy living!  The documentary was not a movie about fly fishing but more a wonderful lesson on how to truly live and be joyful in what you do.  He moves constantly!  He doesn't garden but the man fishes.   I am sitting here cutting out these fucking decals and hating this.  I love throwing, gardening, fishing, paddling etc but this sitting on my ass cutting out decals and then sitting on my ass applying the stupid things is killing me.  It's gonna upset a whole bunch of people and I've already applied to a bunch of shows; paid the jury fees but thankfully not the booth fees.  Not sure where I'm headed but it's going to be very different.  I have given these pots the death stare.  I will finish out what I have and be done!  The financial part is still a quandary but I just cannot make these pots much longer.   Feeling a bit lost in the studio for the first in a very long time. 

Make a bowl of popcorn, put your feet up and treat yourself to a wonderful movie: 

Live the Stream,

 

Chaos in motion.......

The calm.......

I am old, I have been around the sun more time than some and have moss growing on my north side and I don't care.  I am old enough to know there are cycles; up and down, droughts and floods, hurricanes and stillness. Usually the plunges aren't chaotic enough to make you sick but rather just a little woozy.  This month I'm a little green and it's not the moss on my backside!  

We had a wickedly delicious week, two weeks ago.  We had summited Mt Everest with no oxygen tanks.  It went like this:  Daughter #2 calls from Colorado; the child with a fresh masters degree. Who, upon graduating from Western University in Gunnison, Colorado💫to cheers from parents & big sister;  packed up lock, stock and barrel, one hot August day, loaded down with a dog & cat, all worldly possessions in her 2009 Ford Taurus with the bumper duct taped to the frame and front seat that reminds me of a Barcalounger from my Moms basement, crossed the Rocky Mountains and drove to Fort Collins in search of a fabulous job.  The dog, cat and daughter had stars in their eyes and joy in their hearts.   Found a cute apartment next to CSU campus and started applying for jobs, hundreds of jobs (not kidding), no jobs were offered and it has been has been a year of rejection.  She found a job tending bar and the Sundance Saloon, boots not included.  Since my kids were wee tots I said repeatedly and loudly:  IF GOD SENDS THE PEBBLE PAY ATTENTION BECAUSE THE BRICK IS COMING! After so many rejections it was more than a pebble.  From August to February anxious parents waited for an email, a text, fireworks, the BRICK....... anything and then it came.  

I AM EMPLOYED, I HAVE A JOB!   Be still my heart!  I called Butch and pulled him out of a very important meeting to tell him; You can retire now, she has a JOB!  Where?  University of Oregon in Eugene....... she's gonna be a Duck, a mighty Duck!  Woo Hoo!  We all celebrated, it's a family thing! 

Rinse and repeat: One dog, one cat, all worldly possessions and a 2009 Ford Taurus heading west to Eugene, Oregon and Mighty Duck country.

  Beyond Oregon, it's Japan and the Ford will never make it!  We are cracking open the Buffalo Trace tonight! Cheers!  Butch sent his letter of retirement last weekend. I am scared. 

Could life get any better?  Why YES it can!  I occasionally poke around auctions and estate sales.  I consider myself a saver of old pots, many forgotten with layers of dust and crud.  Over the years I have found some amazing pots but never the holy grail. The day after the JOB announcement I started bidding on a vase that looked a lot like a Hideaki Miyamura pot; The Man of 10,000 glazes.  I have loved his pots since I first laid eyes on them in the early 2000's.  In the past few years Pucker Gallery out of Boston picked him up and his prices skyrocketed into the thousands.  The starting bid was $22.00.  I bid $24.00.  The last day of the auction I was on pins and needles expecting this thing to skyrocket and it did ..... all the way to $40.00!  I bought a Hideaki Miyamura pot for $40.00.  I didn't sleep for two nights.  Saturday morning, we drove down to an estate and there it was and it was real and I loaded it in the car and drove away.  Nobody knew this was his pot, even though it is signed.  

As fast as we had ascended we were now descending.  Butch's car with 300,000 miles finally bit the dust.  He drives like a coast to coast truck driver for his job.  His job eats cars.  So on a cold morning he started hunting after we all refused to get in and drive to the airport to pick up daughter #1 from Alaska.  

If I saw this man walk in my showroom I would put the closed the sign in the window and run.  Many years ago we were in the same situation except we had one car, two kids and a beyond tight budget.  He was working across the street from a used car lot.  He was working in construction and wore flannel shirts and work boots and by noon he looked & smelled like a construction worker.  He had his eye on an Audi, a spiffy used Audi with a sun roof.  He walked over every day for a month and sat in the car on his lunch hour.  Some days he ate his lunch in the car.  Finally, after weeks of this, the salesman came out and said: Sir, I will sell this car to you at my cost, if you never walk on to my car lot again.  He drove home that night and we all went to the beach with sun roof open.  And so it has gone for the 40 years I have known him.  He drove home a used Nissan Rouge with 13K miles and more bells and whistles than I can figure out but I do love those heated seats!   He got a great deal but it's cash out lay we were not expecting and just ick.  I guess the sub-woofer in the trunk makes things more palatable.  I'll keep my sub-woofer in the backyard. 

As the week went on, the nightly load of laundry went in.  The first signs things were going awry.  Open the washer door and the plastic fins had their last trip on spin dry, one too many times.  Pulled out my jeans and the guts of the washer came with it.  But the motor was still good and it still washed so carry on.  I said a novena over it, lite a candle and carried on.  It seemed to help.  Saturday night, we threw the wet clothes in the dryer and went to bed.  Ten minutes, just about the time it takes get comfortable and get the sheets warm enough to fall asleep, the dryer made gasping groans.  So loud we jumped out of bed, tripped over two panicked dogs and ran down stairs before something really horrible happened.  We draped laundry around the house and said we'd deal with it in the morning.  This fine set was purchased 24 years ago and it had never stopped.  Not through my pottery rags (my clothes after a day in the studio), several dogs, 2 kids, gardening clothes, kitchen disasters and sailing adventures.  This set was a work horse for 24 years!  We went to Lowe's Presidential Sale and forked over $2200.00 for a damn washer and dryer. Made in America Maytag set. We were asked if I wanted the steam dry add on.  I laughed; NO!  I'll be down at the river beating my clothes on rock until March 23rd when they promised to deliver it.  They wanted $40 to take the old set away.  Will they load it in my van for free?  Why yes they will little lady.  Great I will take it to the recycling center center myself! 

Thank you old friend.........

 

At this point I felt like we were hemorrhaging money!  Yes, we plan for these things but when they happen it's a gut punch and I take it very personally.  Butch never gets upset about this stuff, I do!  I feel like I need to spring into action and do something to fill the bank account again.  I had a month of testing glazes and had just about figured out what to take forward and what to leave behind because it was time to put the pedal to the metal and spin clay to gold! 

I do enjoy testing!  Again, it starts out so orderly.  I spent hours on chemistry tables; food safe, not food safe.  After three days of glaze calculations my brain hurt and it was go time! 

How I start:

half way through and chaos wins..... 

and you're left with this........

Out of 48 tests I have 4 worth working on.  I still have a couple more I want to test but they might need to wait while I make pots.  

I did make one discovery.  I needed to pickup up porcelain in Cinncinati and stoneware in New York. 

Across the Ohio River lies Kentucky, home to some of the best bourbon in the world and I cannot get it in Ohio!  It was a 500 pound porcelain and 1 bottle of bourbon pick up.  When I drive to Avon, NY I pick up my favorite white stoneware and Butch just realized it's in the Finger Lakes region and wine country so we stopped at 4 wineries and picked up wine.  I don't drink so make the perfect designated driver :) 

Of course when he discovered all these clay places were close to his favorite places my trips now take twice as long and we need to take the dogs too.  

And realizing we might never eat again...... this happened. 

 Again, I start out completely in control and then chaos happens.  I am over come with seed-a-phobia. 

It's not too early to start brassicas and onions should be started in January along with leeks.  The weather is wild too.  This is unheard of!

It makes me think I should get cold loving plants started and ready to set out.  Everything I started doesn't mind a bit of snow and frost.  Plants that bolt in hot weather should be started now.   They are not on heating mats and as soon as they germinate I will move this batch to the porch.  I can use my fish fertilizer on the porch and not so much in the back room.  You only make that mistake once.  For three days we walked around the house commenting on the winter kill from Lake Erie smells really bad this year.  I finally fessed up and said; it's me, I'm using fish and kelp fertilizer.  I expect the raccoons to be breaking down the door any night now. 

For anyone interested, here is the list:

Lettuce:  Winter Destiny romaine, Butterhead, Red Velvet Leaf and Heirloom

Broccoli: Purple Sprouting

Cauliflower: Adona, Song, Robar, Purple.

Cabbage: Famosa, Mammoth Red, Intero, Tiara

Kohlrabi: Quickstar, Purple

Radishes: Watermelon, French Breakfast, Hailstone

Swiss Chard: Ford Hook and Mixed Rainbow

Kale: Casper, Black Magic

Tatsoi and Bok Choi

Purple Turnips

Beets: Detroit Red and Boldor

Spinach

Leeks

Celery

Parsley

Onions: Patterson, Blush and Alisa Craig

Bunching Onions 

and micro greens..... 

Next big push for seeds will be the second week of April.

Here is hoping the chaos calms down, the days keep getting longer and I keep breathing!  

and to add to the calm I used my $9.99 in Amazon points and purchased bird and bunny wall decals.  

I LOVE these!  Yes, I watch the birds but these make me smile, a lot. 

c'mon March!! 

 

 

February ......... waiting on Punxsutawney Phil.

 Waiting on Phil and fair warning my furry, trench digging, garden destroying pronosticator, it better be good! 

If anyone needs Phil's website, latest products (t-shirt, shot glass, favorite coffee)  or tickets to the Punsutawney Ground Hog Banquet; here is the link: 

https://www.groundhog.org/

No pressure Phil........ it's January in Ohio and today we have high temperature of 22 degrees F.  

Thought I would be posting at least twice a month but it's been a tad bit busy around Paine Falls.  

The studio is humming right along and glazing has commenced, mostly to keep the studio warm!  

Yesterday the studio never got above 52 degrees F.  Thank goodness for crockpot warm throwing water! 

Right now there is a bit of time to fiddle around with new forms.  Winter is perfect for stuff like this because once Spring hits there wont be enough hours in the day.  Show entries have started piling up.  Hoping to get a summer show in this year and have decided to stay in state.   Boston Mills is finally opening up after a 3 year hiatus; Woo Hoo!  However at this age I'm not sure I want to stand in a 100 degree tent for 4 days and shelp my booth across a gravel parking lot.  In my head I say; Immediately NO!  and then I look up and see the greenhouse I've been lusting after for a couple years.  So maybe my granny panties will be turned into a thong or plastered to my thighs because I really want the greenhouse!  

The pond plants are still alive and so are two of the five fish!   It was survival of the fittest with these fish.  I watched them chase a fish around the bin until the poor thing jumped out of the tank and landed on the concrete floor.  I dusted off the dog hair and tossed him back in the bin.  The next morning he was on the floor again, hard as a rock.  The chickens enjoyed him very much.  So now down to two fish and they seem to always be together and are just fine for now. 

The pump plugs up regularly from snails and snail eggs.  Welcome to the speakeasy pond, so much snail fornicating going on in the dark corners. 

The water is pretty chilly but the snails seem happy judging by the amount of egg sacks plugging up the pump intake!  I don't want to know what is happening out there when I turn the lights out at the end of day!   

The onions are doing well so I started a batch of leeks!  I planted Patterson onions for storage, Alisa Craig for grilling and Blush onions because I had a bumper crop this year.  They are also great storage onions.  Patterson has had almost 100% germination as did the Alisa Craig.  The Blush variety is about 80% germination.   We'll see how the leeks germinate in the next couple weeks.  

Seed starting central!  See that gallon of fish fertilizer sitting on the table.  

Garden tip:  don't use on indoor plants as it takes about a 4 days for the smell to go away.  😩

The darling chickens have started eating their own eggs so back to the store for eggs.   It's pretty cold and 

I'm just not wanting to run out there 4-5 times a day to yell at them and fight for an egg.  New girls are coming in the Spring so get ready ladies you can be out sourced!  

The deer have found the bird feeder and I can not justify feeding deer when we have a herd the size of the migrating caribou herds thundering across the frozen tundra!  Garden tip #2:  use the old recycling bin on top of the bird feeder at night.  The deer still come and clean up all the kicked out seed from the blue jays but then they move on, greatly reducing my birdseed budget! 

Best thing ever!  Rechargeable Light Collars! Jabba the Mutt lives!! 

 No more tripping over dogs.  Brown dog, brown floor; no problem! 

 I can let Kirby out at dark thirty and watch him wander through the backyard bouncing off the bushes and stone paths.  It's like watching a pin ball game but he goes out to the way back garden and finds his way back, 90% of the time!  In the middle of January this is huge!  Pretty sure you can see him from space, this thing is awesome!  I can turn it to strobe light or casual blinking or just ON.  They come in green or orange and are rechargeable.

In other dog news...... 

Remember those radishes I planted in the cold frame way back when? 

I use old storm windows as covers and it's worked for years!  Until Lizzy from Alaska decided to dance on top of them.  She crashed through, cut her leg, broken glass everywhere and we were all hysterical for a day!  Got out the flashlights, headlamps, hydrogen peroxide.  She was so patient as she was poked and prodded to see if any glass was still in the wound.  Patched her up and watched her for 24 hours.  She limped around and we wouldn't let her do the stairs.  It was a tense 24 hours.  She limped out for her morning routine and saw squirrel .... the angels sang and she was HEALED!   The power of SQUIRREL!   

The drama of January is over and Phil I'm waiting........