Dh's birthday, finished sculptures, & figs!

We're having a fairly quiet Sunday... tomorrow is DH's birthday and he went to Central Market yesterday while I was at the Pottery Studio and got an Italian Creme cake. Since I have my Medicare Wellness Check scheduled for this Tuesday, I'm trying to cut back on the sweets. But I do plan on  having a small piece of birthday cake.

My playful seal sculpture and tiny fat cat sculpture both came out of the kiln this week. So my sea creatures finished pieces look like this:

and my tiny fat cat sculpture now joins my black & white collection:

Now sitting on the oxidation cart in the studio are my last 2 sea creatures pieces...

and...

hard to see as they are wrapped in plastic while drying

First attempt this semester to throw on the wheel. I did a cup and a small bowl. Clay is wet and I don't want it to dry out too fast as I probably won't get back to the studio until next Saturday to finish them off.

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Barry is the slowest moving weather phenomenon... seems like it's been around forever. I just wish it would get a move on. Keeping touch with family in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Houston, and San Antonio.... 

Had us in a panic when they were predicting about 26 inches of rain in either Baton Rouge or New Orleans... bad for Baton Rouge, but would be devastating for New Orleans. Hopefully it won't be that bad from what we can tell, but just wish it would get a move on and continue to downgrade.

Last pic:  figs gotten off our Celeste fig tree yesterday:

 first harvest of figs...

So, yes, the squirrels and birds are helping themselves... also the box turtles when they find them on the ground. But we were able to salvage these... and hopefully more in the days to come.

Have a wonderful Sunday! And thanks so much for dropping by. I would serve you some of this Italian Creme cake if I could... (much too much for just us). But I plan to send some home to kids tomorrow.

Hugs,
- Rian

Thursday in Texas...

This is our Celeste Fig tree (on left). It is actually behind the gate, but falls over into the front drive.

The picture on the right show how many figs it seems to be making. We're not sure if they will all ripen as there are way too many.

We enjoy eating these figs fresh...
if the birds (mostly bluejays) and squirrels leave us some.  We do have a Turkey fig tree in the backyard - these we leave for the birds and squirrels.





We also have a ton of mint growing out front. It is taking over our front yard. But we love it and it smells wonderful.  Also tastes great in DH's sweet tea!

even growing out of cracks in walkway!

Weather has gotten warm... supposed to be up to 98 this afternoon. We're also in for more severe weather this evening if the weathermen can be believed. This spring has been a bit much with the tornado watches and severe thunderstorms. Our sirens went off yesterday afternoon and we were like... "WTF?" (sorry) The sun was out in our area and it looked fine - but sure enough, it got black and started pouring in about 30 mins and they kept the tornado watch on until about 8 pm. But luckily our area was fine. Some were not so lucky. But unless I'm mistaken, no one was hurt.

This next pic is oldest grand daughter at a horse event last Saturday. She has been working a lot lately and this is the first event in a while that she could attend. Both she and her horse did well. My daughter sent us the pic.

June 2019

I'm still working on my seals. This last one, "seal and pup" I just finished.  Well, not finished,  as it will have to dry and then be underglazed and fired. But it's a little larger than I usually do... maybe 6 inches. Most of my sculptures are between 2 and 4.

seal and pup

tiny fat cat

OK... that's all I've got.  Going to go read for a while and maybe take a short nap. Thanks for visiting! Wish I could serve you some tea or coffee.  We have a really good Lemon Ice-box pie in the freezer. It was a new recipe that is definitely a keeper. 

Hugs,
Rian

just a few things...

I watched a movie with Judi Dench this morning, "Iris"...  story of an English author who dazzled readers and professors alike... both with her lectures and with her thoughts. She loved "words" and in her older years developed Alzheimer's. Story is especially sad because words were her life, but if it plays true, her professor husband is more than understanding and compensating... caring and doing his level best to give her what of life she has left. So yes, it was sad, but also comforting in a way. If any of you have seen it, I would love to hear what you thought.

Oh... also we were able to finally get our tickets to Hawaii to visit our son. It had to be postponed a bit to a later date, but that's OK. He lives on the central east coast of Oahu (at least I think that's right) moved there 2 years ago. Loves it!  The pictures he sends are gorgeous. 

I also have a friend who moved to Hawaii last year. She bought a house on the Big Island... and loves it too! Can't wait!

Currently in the studio:

Bird feeders which are on greenware shelf ready for first firing

These bird feeders will eventually be glazed and hung up with cord one on top the other like a mobile with beads - and  birdseed in the wings (to hang in trees). At least... that's the plan.

Silly seal I sculpted Saturday also awaiting first firing

This little guy wasn't planned, but since some of my clay works hadn't been fired, I didn't have anything else to work on... so I made this silly little seal.

Oh... great,  another severe thunderstorm warning for our location just announced.  Here we go again. Sky has turned black... Guess I need to shut down the computer. Have a good Sunday and thanks for visiting.


Hugs, 
Rian

strange weather, beautiful blooms, critters, and coyotes

Is it just me or have you noticed that the weather around the world has been a bit erratic?  I know that hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami, earthquakes, lava flows, floods, etc. happen... and have happened throughout history,  but do they seem to be happening a lot more?

I do believe in Climate Change... and I expect this is all a part of that, but with the earth warming and the seas rising, I worry (no, not worry exactly... but am concerned) that things may be happening faster than people seem to realize or care to admit. 

We went from almost 80 degrees to in the low 20's recently... and although probably not that unusual - seems like a small warning sign saying the weather is 'in flux' (not sure that's the right word, but it fits my feeling).

Anyway, on to happier things...

Amaryllis with 4 blooms on each stalk

Thought you might like to see our amaryllis in total bloom. It has 4 large flowers on each stalk. Really pretty! And so far, the cats haven't even noticed it. Of course it's not usually in the center of our kitchen... but the light was better here for the pic.

The weather here has been cold, damp, and downright nasty. Perfect for sitting by the fireplace with a good book.  Since I use that area for my pottery too... it's a great time to underglaze my little critters.  

seal 

puffin

These are on the shelf ready for the first firing...

Oh.. and a heads up! DH and I just chased a very large coyote out of our backyard! He was after one of the feral cats. Don't think he caught him... at least we hope not. DH went out with one of those 'screaming canisters' and I ran out banging pots together. He ran. Must have jumped the 6 foot fence...

We've had a few coyotes around the neighborhood. They usually run when you make noise. I've never worried too much about them, but some areas (Frisco, TX) have had people attacked lately... really odd that they would do that. 

As always - Have a wonderful week and thanks for reading! I plan to go make a bacon cheeseburger meatloaf for supper tonight... something I saw on one of the cooking shows and thought the boys would like. Will let you know how it turns out. 

the possiblity of dreams... and other things

My son recently texted me about how he believes that dreams are sometimes prophetic - or if not prophetic... at least a form of guidance. I tend to agree. Now not all dreams have this tendency. Some are simple re-enactments of what's going on in your life, whether it's real life drama, worries, TV shows, etc.   And some of these are jumbled up nonsense. But.... I have had dreams that helped me solve a problem or make sense out of something that never did before. 

And I think that when I dream of family that has passed, it's a form of visitation. Whether or not this is because my mind wishes it to be so is of no importance - I enjoy the visit - whatever the reason.

I'm re-reading a book I read a long time ago called "Minding the Body, Mending the Mind" by Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. (Personally I think it should have been called, "Minding the Mind, Mending the Body".  But it talks about something called Psycho-neuroimmunology or PNI.  I don't intend to explain what this is... but I take it to be the study of how the mind affects the body - in this case the immune system. It seems to confirm the belief that 'attitude' is extremely important in how our body functions. In many ways we already know this, but this research into the subject tries to explain why this is so. 

Many will just call this "psycho-babble" - but I find it fascinating and it confirms things I believe, but cannot explain.  Crazy? Maybe - but happy crazy. 

I have always believed that my mind knows exactly what my body should do... and it knows how to mend itself... if everything is working correctly and we have the courage to trust this knowledge.  That's one of the reasons I always give my body time to recoup on it's own when sick... and not involve a doctor unless certain criteria are met (fever over 103 F, 2 weeks with no improvement, etc.) This has always worked for me for the most part. But I do realize it may not work for everyone nor may not work for me as my body ages and things no longer work as well as they used to.

But it's an interesting read.

Also just finished my new little clay critters. If you can't tell what they are, there's a seal, a chicken, and a little puffin lying on his back with his feet in the air.  They are in the process of drying... and will be under-glazed later this week. As you can see, the chicken and puffin are already almost dried, but the seal is still wet clay. The grey clay (cinco blanco) will whiten upon drying. 

clay critters

Streetlight Update!  Yesterday a crew came out and worked on our streetlight most of the day. I have to say it looked like some sort of electrical problem as they dug a fairly good sized hole in the area. So I feel a little better about them taking so long to replace a light bulb - as apparently that wasn't the prob. Just wish someone would have told us up front in the beginning. But hey! we're not in the dark anymore!


Oh, and I have to say that sometimes this digital world we live in  (online messages to the city and also to doctors and their billing services in particular) is more efficient than the old way (calling by phone and/or trying to reach them by mail). It's been DH and my experience lately that we get answers back faster by sending a text message than any other method of communication. Have any of you noticed this?  We've been a bit slow to connect up digitally with our doctors, etc. But once done, we can go online and send questions, messages, etc. - and believe it or not sometimes get an answer the same day. 

Thanks for reading! And know that I appreciate your comments!