Pottery. Photography. And All Things Handmade.
Finally decided on a "white" paint and painting our kitchen! Gone are the days when we could paint a room in ONE day! LOL Our peas are coming up nicely! Covered with a light mesh cloth to deter the rabbits from feasting on the tender little shoots; although, I don't think rabbits will be a... Continue Reading →
Cat Number 1 and I have recovered from the other morning. The weather is blissfully warm and sunny today! We were sitting on the back porch when I saw something furry out of the corner of my eye. First, I thought it was a squirrel BUT it was too big to be a squirrel. Then,... Continue Reading →
Spring is here! Flowers are popping. The trees are budding. Weeds have gone wild. In between rain showers, I've planted peas, radishes, lettuce and spinach in our garden. Because we have three wild very hungry rabbits in our neck of the woods, we have had to add fencing to our raised garden beds and cover others with... Continue Reading →
Tying up loose ends before leaping into spring's busy season. It has been a seemingly long two weeks behind my new computer. I never realized how slow and clunky my old computer was until I was forced to buy a new one. Everything so new, pristine and fast! Books I've read over the winter include... Continue Reading →
I've been without a computer for two weeks.😥 My old one no longer supported updates needed to run my photo editing software or my internet browser.😥 So, my handsome IT guy 😍 enthusiastically started out with a plan of simply installing more memory. He quickly learned my old computer could not accommodate more memory which... Continue Reading →
My days were numbered. I was taking my chances. My time was up! Sunday morning I woke up to a very pixelated screen on my desktop. The web browser would not show images correctly. My operating system reached its end. I could go no further until I updated things. Because my photo editing software would... Continue Reading →
365 days behind me. Joys. Sorrows. Accepting all. Gratitude. Boldly and bravely stepping into a New Year. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
A steady stream of orders since Thanksgiving. Each piece of my handmade pottery securely wrapped and boxed. Shipping labels printed. Boxes secured. Tracking numbers noted and sent to each customer. Then off to the post office. Unboxing and unpacking Christmas decorations. A sense of nostalgia of Christmases past. Trying to remember where Christmas gifts are... Continue Reading →
Happy Thanksgiving! "What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?" Erma Bombeck
I've been scurrying around cleaning out garden beds and prepping the yard and back porch for winter. Pottery wheel, kiln, clay and tools have been put away for the season. My pottery has been photographed and listed in my shop. Traded my clay covered hands for mud of a different kind. Our resident squirrel has... Continue Reading →
My blue glaze finally arrived after being on back order since August. I have been using this delightful blue glaze for over 15 years. My customers nor I have ever been disappointed. So . . . I opened my new jug of blue glaze with great anticipation of glazing a set of custom made bowls... Continue Reading →
Much has been going❗️ I have yet had the time to blog. I have been glazing, firing, photographing, listing*, glazing, firing, photographing, listing, aaaannnnnd glazing, firing, photographing. (*Listing: writing descriptions and pricing of my new handmade pottery for my BackPorchStudio shop on Etsy.) In the meantime, enjoy our neighborhood hawk who frequently stops by! 😍... Continue Reading →
“Grandma! Grandma! There are snakes in the pine trees!” our grandson shouted excitedly as he was running to the back porch. Knowing that we do have at least one snake I thought to myself, “Drat, that snake had babies!” So, I grabbed my camera and asked our grandson to show me the snakes. (Yes, I grabbed my... Continue Reading →
I have had my hands busy over the last two weeks. Glazing and firing and photographing. Glazing and firing and photographing and throwing. Glazing and firing and photographing. Thank goodness it is Friday and I am in a nice in between place today! Life as a potter, among other hats I wear, can look quite... Continue Reading →
Another humid week last week! I don't mind the heat but when the air is as thick as pea soup and there is no breeze I start to feel a wee bit uncomfortable and grouchy. Luckily, my attention has been on things I can do inside in air conditioning! As I mentioned in my previous... Continue Reading →
Did you hear about the big Pottery scandal? Everyone involved was fired. 😁 My latest batch of pottery pieces have completely air dried. At this stage, the dried clay is called greenware. This stage is also when the clay is most fragile. Over the weekend, I fired the greenware in the first of two firings.... Continue Reading →
As I wait for my newly thrown clay pieces to air dry, the back yard has been keeping me busy. Between the unusual cool wet weather and back yard critters (rabbits and squirrels) our garden isn't doing well. We have yet to pick a ripe tomato! Plants I rescued from the garden are doing well... Continue Reading →
It was horridly humid and buggy on my back porch over the past several weeks. I took refuge indoors and continued to work with clay. While indoors, I made shallow bowls/dishes from slabs of clay draped over a plaster mold. A clay slab is a portion of clay that has been flattened into a sheet.... Continue Reading →
I'm trilled to have help with seemingly mundane household chores. Laundry, especially. Laundry seems to be one unending chore. When dear husband helps, I love it. Lately, however, his help has created a small problem for dear daughter and me. You see, dear daughter and I are approaching the same size in everything. As I'm... Continue Reading →
My kiln is fixed (YEAH!!!) and hard at work on my back porch! Firing greenware (unfired air dried clay) as quickly as I can. Then glazing . . . and glazing some more. Because it has been so horridly humid and buggy this month, I have taken refuge indoors where I am hand-building bowls from... Continue Reading →
JULY UPDATE!!! In May I blogged about this weed that took over the garden and I mistakenly identified the weed as heal-all. The plant that over took the garden beds this spring is NOT heal-all at all. It is Red Dead Nettle instead! For more information about Dead Nettle scroll to the bottom of my... Continue Reading →
It does not feel like summer. 😟 It's has been cold, windy and humid. So cold that even my mugs are bundled up on my back porch studio! 🥶 The odd combination of cool temperatures, high humidity and 18 to 20 miles/hour wind has led to uneven drying for the mugs. The rims drying too... Continue Reading →
Back Porch Studio 