Flowers, Tea, Blackberries, etc.

Had the best helper to pick mint tea at my parent's home.  Lily!  She loved using the scissors at first and then putting the tea into the bag was fun as I handed it to her.  So much sun; grandma and grandpa's hat was a bit big.  She didn't quite know what to do with that opening in the hat.  She's getting so tall- is 3 1/2 years old.

 Thanks, Lily for the tea!  I steeped it tonight and am trying to grow it on my own.  It's getting there.

 Tea in the making...

 My mom also is one of the best gardeners I know.  Almost any good of what I'm doing I've learned from her. The above vase was one of my firsts a couple years ago.  The flower blooms on and off- have had this since Christmas!

 Here are my mom's flowerbeds.  These pictures don't capture it all.

 Just beautiful!

 This planter is so full!  I think my nephew and niece like to water it.  At least they like to do that when I'm around.

 My dad is also an artist.  Mom's a gardener; Dad's a woodworker.  This bird is happy living in this birdhouse that he made.

 Gave Mom these bowls over the past couple years.  Interestingly they've made a nest of bowls!

 Made a brief trip to PA to be with family and visit my grandma as her health isn't good.  She's 90 plus; I hope I have as full of a life as she has.  It was an extra special treat to spend time with these three and many of the rest of my family.  Here are Lily, Garrett, and Vanessa (their mom- my sister-in-law) picking some blackberries.

 More plants and flowers; the caladiums are gorgeous!

 More...

Back to the blackberries.  Garrett at 1 1/2 is learning to pick the black blackberries.  He's got a bit more to learn.  Isn't he the most handsome boy?  :)
Pottery-  well, it's good to be back and I plan to do that most of the weekend!

Kiln Dust Question

 Bisque firing and I'd like your wisdom about something.  First- not sure why the color is different in these two pics.  Different angle while taking the picture?  Still the pots have this beautiful pinkish bisque color.  All with the firing went well.  Am thankful!

 No cracked or broken pots.  :)  Here's my question.  As I unloaded the kiln I noticed this 'kiln dust', for lack of better words.  It's a thin dust that covers most of the pots.  Maybe it's from using a new furniture set--- of shelves and posts.

 On some of these I noticed a similar (maybe the same) dust as I unloaded these posts.  I wonder where it's from.

A bit hard to see, yet here it is- a faint dusting on my fingers.  Do I need to wipe down each of my pots before I put glaze on them?  Will make and test glazes first of course.  Just wondering if this dust will affect the pots as I dip them into glaze and then fire them.  Hmmm  Thanks ahead of time for sharing your wisdom!  It's great to learn from you blog readers...

Lime Meringue Pie- Homemade!

 Will unload the bisque kiln tomorrow.  It's cooled and all looks well.  Made this lime meringue pie from scratch (except for the graham cracker crust which is all natural too) tonight.  Recipe is from my mom, who is the best cook I know.  Here it is, pre-under the broiler.
Didn't have lemons, so I used limes.

 I was lucky that I even got to clean the mixing bowls.   Yum!

 Even used this old mixer that my mom used when I was a child.  I remember it.  It's still working- and I'm 35 + years old.  :)  I grew up eating this pie.  Some years asked for it for my birthday instead of cakes.  It's better!

Am already wondering why I don't make this more often!  Now, I will.  No, it's not burnt; just put under the broiler for a second too long!
Thanks for the recipe, Mom.  Will have pie for breakfast!

Mom's Lemon/Lime Meringue Pie

Filling:
 1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cup water
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsps butter or margarine
1/3 cup lemon or lime juice
1 Tbsp grated lemon/lime rind

Mix sugar and cornstarch in pan
Add water and stir til smooth.
Boil for 1 minute while stirring.
Slowly stir half hot mixture into beaten egg yolks.
Put egg yolk mixture back into pan
Cook 1 minute more (stir!)
Take off heat (stir)
Blend in butter/margarine mixture and lemon/lime juice and grated rind
Pour into pie shell.

Meringue:
3 egg whites
4 Tbsps. sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat by hand.
Add sugar to egg mixture and beat by hand.
Beat with a mixer until the meringue is stiff.
Be careful to not beat too long!
Put over the filling in the pie shell.
Place under the broiler and watch CLOSELY!  It will brown quickly....
Chill.

Days Like This

 Two posts in one day!  I LOVE days like this.  A wonderful, lazy day--- Quiet, peaceful, with much silence.  Went on a walk even in this humidity- and the kiln continues to fire.  Here is part of dinner--- homegrown potatoes from my parent's home and salmon!  It's good that I like it dark; the fire usually isn't that hot.

Homegrown peas are risotto are still cooking.  The salmon and potatoes will have to wait a few minutes to be eaten. This is part of my food for the week- yum!  Think it looks much better in my pottery.

Recycle (kind of) $1.87

 Recycled these plants- sort of.  Above are the finished products.  Added some extra smooth rocks that I had on hand.  Two on the left are succulents.   All rescued from Lowe's in the clearance section for $1.87 total.  :)  They're a bit hard to re-plant; they are SO fragile, I always end up losing some leaves in the process.  They'll be at a place where they get little care which is perfect because they grow as SLOW as molasses!

 Found three old pots--- from the early years and decided to recycle them, putting them to good use again.

Can you believe I paid a $1 for the vine?  Love this!  Most of my plants were once clearance ones and are back to 100% or better.  The succulents are sitting out in the sun (they were too wet) to dry out before they arrive at their new home on the bathroom windowsill.   Here's hoping they grow well!
Off to find some glaze recipes!

First Kiln Loading- and NPR

 First kiln load- this was the bottom stack.  Blue t-shirt is a tip someone gave me.  It to help protect the kiln bricks during the loading.  Plus, it's an old tennessee lady vols t-shirt.   Good luck charm.  One of my favorite teams!   (those are test tiles that were extruded).

I took my time in this.  I probably didn't load the kiln as tight as I could. I also heard that it's best to not stack the firings- even the bisque ones too much.  The more air between the pieces, the better.  What's your insight in this?

 I also listened to NPR- some Krista Tippett podcasts.  I'm thinking this will become a tradition.  Helped me to keep a slow, steady pace.  Also wore a dust mask as I 'sanded' the pieces with this sponge; this kind has two textures-- one soft and another a bit rougher--- to ensure that the bowls were smooth.  Especially with the wording, this step, while a bit monotonous, makes a big difference in the finished piece.

 Okay, here's another question.  The skutt manual says to leave 2 inches all around thermocouple--- that is ALOT of space!  Hard to plan around.  I still did it. I'm guessing this is just well, helpful overall.  Any insight?
In all this, I was struck by how long this all took.  Making pottery is not to be rushed.  There was this great rhythm in it all, that I loved.  Putting puzzles together was fun for me as a kid and that has served me well; it is a puzzle to load kilns!

 That different piece is by the Dalton's.  Am bisque firing it for them... Good air flow in this kiln loading.  Bisque firing this weekend!

Dinner was tuna salad.  Saw the ad that tuna was on sale and haven't eaten it in months, yet it sounded so good.  Excellent protein; two eggs, a can of tuna salad, and tomatoes with mayo.  Don't eat meat much, so this was definitely a match!  Kiln loading advice, please to this new kiln owner!  

Almost Time

 The kiln is empty; I will load it for the first time tomorrow for a bisque firing.  :) Almost time!  It's so clean and neat.  Will do my best to keep it that way!  Also heard that it's good to keep a log of firings that one does on one's kiln, so I will do that.

 Before that I just had to take some time today to Spent some time experimenting with bowl forms.  I like all of these.  My jury's still out as to which of these I'll be making a bunch more of in the days to come.

Tomorrow, a bisque firing and some test glaze mixing.   What a great weekend it will be!

What a Day! Skutt, etc...

 First, Skutt.  Called them about the crack in the kiln brick wall on the inside of my kiln.  The technician at skutt said it was a normal stress fracture- to be expected.  'Happens all the time' he said.  Still took a picture of it and documented it for my files.   I'm a bit relieved.

Put some clay through the extruder at a friend's home and well, I didn't have quite enough clay.  As maybe you can see, there's some lighter clay on the inside of several of these.  That's loafer's glory clay-- and the clay I'm testing is starrworks starrwhite.

 The test tiles are now on the drying rack--- awaiting time in the kiln for my first bisque firing this weekend.  :)  I'm loving the cooler weather; trimmed a pot today as it was raining outside.  70 degrees!  I love this.   Will also mix some test glaze batches this weekend.  Can hardly wait!

 Here the test tiles are drying... at several different angles.

So, it's been a simply wonderful day.  On a way different note, I've discovered this frozen yogurt recently as it's on sale at Lowe's.  And well, it's the best I've had in a LONG while.   More soon-

My Heart Sank... and Generosity

 Opened my new kiln this morning as I'll soon be unloading it for its FIRST bisque firing ever... and noticed this crack- towards the bottom.  My heart sank.  Really.  I'm calling skutt tomorrow.  Any wisdom?  Please, please share.  A friend suggested that I take a picture, email skutt and get this on file if the warranty doesn't cover it.  I was so disappointed.  I haven't put a thing in the kiln yet.  Only did a test firing as the installation instructions requested.  :(

 The generosity is that Linda Dalton taught me how to do the computation and measurement of glazes.  She and Jim Dalton have been wonderful to get to know since I moved here.  So thankful they are closely and so generous!  All the conversion stuff had intimidated me... and she walked me through the whole process.   She made this all look easy.  I took copious notes.  Interestingly, chemistry was my LEAST favorite subject in high school.  This weekend I'll be measuring test glaze batches--  100 or 1000 gram size.  This shows the new ohaus triple beam scale I bought.  Interestingly, it didn't come with the three weights that Linda uses- and she recommends that I get two of them.  Any wisdom as to what to do?  Maybe this particular scale isn't built for weights.  I plan on calling ohaus about this.

 First zinnia of the season.  These grew from seed and the rest have a while to go.  I'm hopeful others will bloom.

 The Dalton's gave me some tomatoes and a cucumber, fresh from their garden.  Such generosity!

 Thanks to the yummy tomatoes, I had a BLT for dinner.  YUM!   mayonnaise, rye bread, homemade tomatoes and bacon.  :)

Oh, and here is me on June 21 in the North Cascade Mountains.  Loved this hike while on vacation.  It was 70 degrees at the start of the hike and then this was the end.  Big lake behind me.  Had to find my way in the snow and mark my trail, along with the help of a friend.  Loved it!  Oh, and it wasn't that cold even with all the snow around me.   Thanks for reading and please share your insight!

It's Always Been the Teabowl

 This tea bowl is one that I discovered by surprise while on vacation.  I had made it two years ago and it just well, stayed around.  The current resident potter liked the form and how the glaze hung on it.  I decided to find it a new home- mine!  Sorry that I don't know the glaze colors.  Clay is Bob's Blend from the Clay Art Center in Tacoma, WA.  This photo isn't the best.  The tea bowl has a thumb indentation too.  All in all, it's a keeper.  I love its from; the tea bowl remains my favorite form these days.  Always has been.  For now, still is.  Maybe always will be.

 Brought these potatoes back from my parent's house, with dirt still on them, all straight from their garden.  I think I'll make hash browns tomorrow--- one of the few foods I can eat these days.

Brought these tea plants back too.  My mom makes the most amazing tea and in their garden, it grows like a weed.  I hope these small cut plants become weeds too--- over 12 roots in all.  I've been watering them consistently.  Thanks for reading!

Salmon, Glaze Recipes, and Cool

I always end my vacation to Seattle with a grilled salmon burger from Anthony's Restaurant in the Seattle airport.  I highly recommend it.  If I remember, I order rice instead of fries.  Forgot this time, but brought this onto the plane.  Best lunch at the end of vacation that I could find!  

 First, here's a couple glaze recipes I liked from a past edition of Ceramics Monthly.  I spent part of vacation looking through old magazines gleaning words of wisdom.  Was reminded that Ceramics Monthly doesn't go out of style.  Hope to try these Cone 6 glaze recipes.  Save your Ceramics Monthly if you subscribe!  I'm thinking of putting in a subscription...

 Hard to believe that less than two weeks ago, I was in weather this cool.  High of 65 most days and as low as 30 one night.  Loved the weather, place and people!  On this particular Friday it was overcast on Lake Chelan and well, just beautiful!  The place I visited was only accessible by boat and no cell phone coverage-- and lots of untouched nature all around.

 Like the look of this glaze test tile chart.  I plan on creating my own in my studio.

 Here is the studio I worked in.  It's built on the bottom floor of a huge building--- and with part of the roof sloping down like that.  Has excellent lighting--- with windows at each end and all along the one wall.  It was just beautiful.  Some nights I'd be trimming pots when it was cold-- and well, the deer were outside as if spectators who had come to watch.  The deer would come to visit at dusk.  Love this connection to nature.

Went on a couple hikes.  It was late June, yet the winter had been quite cold and full of snow (323.5 inches in all).  This is in the midst of a 10 mile hike.  I'll post the snow pic in the next blog post.  Here's what it was like about 1/3 of the way up.  (2100 ft. elevation change)  When life is challenging, I take my mind here in the midst of beauty that is too beautiful to put into words.  Thanks for taking the time to read this!  Oh, and I'd love to have some glaze measuring advice--- anything to keep in mind when looking at a glaze recipe and when you're getting ready to measure the dry ingredients?   I need to research this some. Thankfully, I'm beginning to feel better from dental surgery and I'll have some time at the end of this week to figure this all out and mix some glazes.  Will post some more pics of vacation later too.