and I am quite proud of her for doing it!

This weekend Danielle ran her second 200 mile relay race. The race is run in teams of twelve (I think) with each runner doing a few legs of the course. This year they ran from Hull to Provincetown, MA. The team rents a van, one member runs and one drives the van while the other teammates rest. They do get to stop occasionally for real food and they did all sleep for three hours on the side of the road.

I am so proud of this girl! She has grown up to be very active and outdoorsy. The total opposite of what she was like as a kid. As a child she was afraid of bugs, and didn’t like to get sweaty. When she went off to college she hated the dorms because the floors were linoleum and there was no carpeting. Never mind the shared bathroom thing. Here she is today, sleeping on the side of the rode, and I am sure she was mighty sweaty.

I may be spending Mother’s day alone, but having the joy of being Danielle’s mother is enough for me. I hope all you mothers out there are having a wonderful day, no matter how you spend it.

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I am heading to Charlotte, NC tomorrow for the Carolina Clay Matters, Spring Pottery Festival. Last year Jeff did the show alone because I was in NH for my Mom’s funeral. This year I will go it alone because he is in Mungyeong, S. Korea. I opted to simplify the booth to make set up and break down easier. I am leaving the Abstracta display system at home because it’s such a pain to put together. I am sure someone will give me a hand with the EZ-UP tent that really isn’t so easy!

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 I was heading out to the studio yesterday when I noticed something hanging off of the porch roof, swaying in the wind…

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I am finally getting some photos from Jeff that aren’t toilets and signs.

S. Korea is 13 hours ahead of us. While I was thinking about dinner, he sent me this photo of his Korean breakfast. All I could think of was, damn… I want that for dinner!

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Eventually we will replace these pain in the ass crank out windows. We have a few broken pains that will need replacing. I am hoping it won’t be too difficult (or expensive) to find someone to do it.
Doesn’t the “indirect” lighting in the master bedroom remind you of a hospital? And how ’bout those bedside wall lamps?!

It was 8:15 pm in S. Korea and this is the evening hang out for the festival participants. The 7-11 is next to the hotel and there is outdoor seating. They can go in and buy beer or soju and drink it outside.
The timing of this trip was definitely not ideal. Jeff could have declined the invitation but would it have jeopardized future invites? Thankfully we don’t have to be out of the log cabin by a certain date. I know that everything will fall into place… eventually.

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I must have misunderstood, I thought he said this was a POTTERY trip, not a POTTY trip.

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 We unloaded the gas kiln in the late afternoon on Sunday. Most of the load was orders and it was a great firing… thank you kiln gods and Jeff, who stayed up all night to get this firing done before his trip.

These are few samples of the “personalized” piggy banks. I was relieved that “Anne” came out perfect. This was a re-do. I totally forgot to add the flowers to the first one, and didn’t realize it until it was bisqued. If you know someone named Anne that needs a piggy bank without flowers, I have one ready and waiting for glaze! At least Anne is a common name. I am sure it will eventually sell.

 I had some fun with the underglaze on this piggy. It will be available in my Etsy shop tonight…

I took Jeff to the airport yesterday and he landed in Tokyo in the early morning (our time). He is staying with a potter friend in Naga and will visit Mashiko tomorrow. On Thursday he will fly to Seoul. It was a stressful week preparing for this trip. There was so much to do and we both came down with head colds at the beginning of last week. We felt like we were moving in slow motion. To save our sanity we took some things off of our “to do” list. We postponed the stripping and painting of the kitchen cabinets job. Better to focus on getting healthy. The cabinets can wait until Jeff returns.
I am certain they will still be there, in all of their peeling paint glory.

My consolation prize for staying behind was a shopping trip to IKEA! Since I was already in Charlotte, it was an easy decision. I didn’t go crazy but did come home with new towels and shower curtain for the main bath, along with place mats and a runner for the dining table. I will actually NOT have a “photo taking set up” on our dining room table anymore! We have a good size office where we can keep it set up and out of the way. Now to see if we will actually eat at the table…

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 Our new home was connected to town water prior to our closing. That means a long trench to lay the new pipe… and there was a lot of good looking clay dug up during the process. Jeff brought some back to the studio in February and did some testing. It fired to cone 10!

 Last night I was at the house shampooing carpets, before I left I bagged up some clay for Jeff to process.

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 Jeff leaves on Monday for Japan and South Korea. We have vessel sinks and piggy banks that need to be shipped before his trip. In order to get everything in the bisque firing, Jeff did his creative kiln extension trick…

Yep, there is money in pigs! The piggy banks sure helped us purchase our new home. Jeff and I also joke that they bought us a brick house. As the story goes, the little pig that built the brick house was safe from the huffing and puffing, big bad wolf.

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 Lot’s of my friends have been asking when they will see interior photos of our new home. First of all, it’s been empty for 2+ years, and prior to that was a rental. It needs a thorough scrubbing from top to bottom, along with some new paint. I didn’t want anyone to see photos until some of that work was completed.

 This is our main bath… don’t you love that retro green?! The porcelain and tile cleaned up pretty well and we will live with it until we can get new vanities. I think I know someone who can make me a vessel sink. The master bath is a lovely pink, or perhaps we will call it salmon.

The dining room needed the least amount of work. I cleaned the wood work, shampooed the carpet, and already moved some pottery into the china cabinet. Luckily, both Jeff and I think that the cherry blossom wallpaper mural is pretty cool. We are going to leave it for awhile. Jeff is going to make stoneware knobs and pulls for both the china cabinet and the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets need to be stripped and painted. When it’s done I’ll post a before and after photo. The before photo on it’s own is too scary.

***Celebration of Spring Studio Tour Update***
Day two of the studio tour was very rainy, but the people still came and bought pottery. It was the best Spring studio tour yet. Even though we sold LOTS of pots, we still have some nice ones left. We plan to stay open throughout our move. Come to Seagrove, buy some pots, and we will have less to move. If you can’t come to Seagrove, our Etsy shops are open 24-7. The goal is for our new gallery will be ready by mid-June.

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