cats, grandkids, pottery, and books...

Ghost and Tux sleeping by the Aga

Today was a very busy day (not for the cats as you can see). It was our youngest grand daughter's first day of Kindergarten and we were all apprehensive. As it turned out, she did just fine... and I think she even enjoyed it. Today was only until noon, but tomorrow is until 3. She says she's looking forward to recess tomorrow so they can go out and play on the playground... (she explained to me that there wasn't enough time for recess today since it was only a half day)

I'm working on a few more clay projects, more windchimes, another bluebird soap dish, and an egg shaped bird house. Once I get them a little further along, I'll post a few pics on the Cheeky Chickens Studio site. By the time the new semester starts at the end of August, I should have several things to fire.

BTW, my jaw is definitely better. I don't want to talk too soon, but although I'm still careful with it, the TMJ inflammation or whatever it was seems to be gradually going away. (Hurray!) 

There's been so much political uproar on the news that I've basically 'tuned it out'.  Sometimes I think people are losing their minds. That's all I'll say on that subject.

I am reading a good book written by an 85 year old woman that decided to take notes while living in a home for the aged. Actually it's 3 books in one, "Out to Pasture", "Over what Hill?", and "Older but Wilder". The author is Effie Wilder and her stories are both insightful and funny. 

Oh, and I tried a new recipe from Cast Iron Comfort Food magazine today to celebrate grand daughter's first day of Kindergarten. It's a giant snickerdoodle cookie made in a cast iron skillet. DH actually saw this recipe in the magazine at CM and promptly bought it for me. They do have some other good recipes in it too...

Cast Iron magazine

Snickerdoodle in cast iron skillet

Happy Wednesday!

jaw still hurting...

It's been a strange week... feeling better, but jaw still hurting - Tylenol X-tra strength helps. If it's TMJ, I'm not wearing a mouth piece and I'm not taking meds - so I guess I have to add it to another of age's inconveniences (at least for now). Eating soft foods and being very careful when I sneeze or yawn helps.

I have been working on some new clay pieces. Click here if you'd like to see them  or  just go to my Cheeky Chickens Studio (should be listed over to the right under "New Blog").

Have a wonderful weekend!

a good Sunday....

For those of you who know, I've been a bit under the weather this week after getting the DPT injection. I checked and apparently the one I got was a combination; Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus. Can't really explain how it made me feel, but it was weird... sore, headachy, and extremely tired. So I basically slept through the week. But...

I woke up Sunday morning around 2:00 am... drenched in sweat... and suddenly realized that "I felt good"! My jaw is still sore, but I'm pretty sure it's TMJ and it hasn't gotten any worse.  But I'm so happy to feel good again!

Thought I'd send a few pics of my finished wind chime. It has definitely been a learning experience. I will make more as I really like wind chimes and have learned some of the pitfalls. Firsts of all, I didn't realize until I was putting it together this morning that some of the holes I had made for the strings had been glazed over. This was a real problem as those pieces wouldn't even drill out. So I improvised.  Then I realized that the piece that should be in the very center of the chimes themselves should have had 4-5 holes in it - not just the one in the center. This piece holds the actual chimes apart. Another mistake! 

But I put it together the best I could and still like it. The colors are exactly what I wanted, even if the shape isn't. Here is a picture:

outside on our tree

pieces up close

I was trying to get a close up picture inside and had hung up some cloth in the kitchen and if you will look closely at the next pic, you will see a paw playing with the strings underneath.

see paw?

I

It turns out Tux had climbed up on the counter and was after the strings I had cut.

Tux with strings

So these are my first wind chimes. I'm sure I'll do better for the next set. And here's a picture of my finished cheeky chickens soap dish.

Since it would be exposed to water, I had to glaze it so it wouldn't be porous. I used a matt glaze and was happy with the result.

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!