Pottery. Photography. And All Things Handmade.
What better way to welcome the month of December? Snow! Squirrel was quite happy to see me set out peanuts! Just as I turned to go into the house, squirrel leapt off the tree branch and bounded toward the pile of peanuts on the back porch. The birdbath, filled with leaves and water, froze over... Continue Reading →
I had every intention of blogging and sharing photos from our recent trip to North Carolina. Instead, I'm sharing this photo: leaves in our back yard in full autumn mode during the last week of October before our trip. As luck would have it, my photo editing software updated prior to our road trip. And,... Continue Reading →
Robin visits every morning to bathe. Downy Woodpecker after carpenter bee larva in the swing set. The result of Downy Woodpecker finding carpenter bee larva! Second generation "Brown Squirrel Junior" visits. White Squirrel visits and has made itself comfortable in our back yard. Lazy afternoons on the back porch calls for a leisurely drink from the... Continue Reading →
Winter is on the way. I can feel it. Yesterday's storm brought high winds, rain, cooler temperatures and a double rainbow. We are to have our first frost this week but the flowers don't seem to know it. Delicate pink nasturtium caught my eye. Looks as if it is a watercolor painting. I strolled through... Continue Reading →
As summer comes to a close, so does a chapter in my life. My childhood home will be empty for the first time since we moved in forty seven years ago. Though my Mom and Dad passed away some time ago, my little brother continued to live in the house where he raised his two... Continue Reading →
Summer is here! Things are heating up on my back porch . . . in between rain showers, of course. I've been working on dragonfly mugs for what seems like a long time. Now they are glazed and ready to fire. As I was rolling my kiln onto my back porch from the garage, the... Continue Reading →
Snowed in. Under the weather. I picked up my camera and started shooting pictures of our resident squirrel and neighborhood song birds. These were taken through the sliding door with me sitting on the dinning room floor. LOL Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers. ~Kahlil Gibran
Our resident squirrel invited a friend over to dine on pumpkin. Whatever is left of the pumpkin, it will go into the compost pile tonight. It is growing a little stinky!
The days are shorter. The nights are longer. This summer's end we find ourselves gathering pumpkins! Grandson found the largest pumpkin. It weighed forty pounds! 😳 I picked up a teeny tiny pumpkin weighing in at one pound two ounces. Once home, the carving of the Jack-O-Lanterns began! We had enough pumpkin and pumpkin seeds... Continue Reading →
I've been behind the camera for a few weeks photographing new pottery I made over the summer and behind the computer writing item descriptions. The scene of Elaine Benes writing for the J. Peterman Catalog comes to mind. The Urban Sombrero, Seinfeld, Season 8 Episode 1 "It combines the spirit of old Mexico with a little... Continue Reading →
All creatures great and small. From my back porch, I see them all! Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~ John Muir
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 →
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 →
Hooray! Spring sprung! The much anticipated warmer weather, blue skies and tons of sunshine has arrived. Nature rejoices and so do I!!! Spring training on my back porch studio. Warming up with a small lump of clay (about 1/2 pound) this week. Spring training on the soccer field. Our grandson behind the ball and me... Continue Reading →
Feeding birds through the winter has been a family activity for over 25 years. It started as a homeschool project where we could observe wildlife first-hand. We learned about bird identification, social behavior (pecking order on and around the feeder), and which physical characteristics of birds dictated food choices (sunflower seeds, thistle, millet, nuts, berries... Continue Reading →
One of our many visitors this summer! One of the reasons I love throwing on our back porch! I had my hands in clay. Grabbed my camera and took a shot! My camera is a little muddy .
Waiting for me in my splash pan this morning! Gray Tree Frog The frog wanna-be-potter was placed just off the back porch onto a nice cool shady rock. The frog climbed up onto a fern frond. The frog watched me for a seemingly very long time. I honestly thought it was contemplating whether or not... Continue Reading →
It has been a bit hot on my back porch this month. I have been firing loads of greenware (air dried unfired clay) in the kiln for a bisque firing. The bisque firing prepares the air dried clay (greenware) for glazing. Days are growing shorter. Kids are back in school. It is the end of... Continue Reading →
Mid-June already? I have been busy throwing mugs . . . Enjoying time with our grandson . . . Celebrating birthdays . . . And gardening . . . Ah, summer. Summer is like childhoodFull of warm memoriesAnd gone too soon.
Today was glazing day. And laundry day. Glazing and laundry on the same day? What could go wrong? I shouldn't ask. It is still 2020 after all! While eating lunch, I noticed a young Robin drinking from one of Miss Kitty's handmade water bowls. It is nice see other critters enjoying a drink from my... Continue Reading →
The back porch has a half dozen handmade pet dishes filled to the brim with cool fresh water. I made them just for her, Miss Kitty. She prefers drinking from the Tonka dump truck. It used to be our son's now it's our grandson's Miss Kitty's. So, I keep it filled with cool fresh water.... Continue Reading →
Originally posted in September 2018! Not much has changed in our backyard. We are a little older and hopefully a little wiser. Summer vacation? Well, I really didn't have one but I sure enjoyed my summer! I enjoy summer, vacation or not. Summer is my favorite season! Being on our back porch throwing things,... Continue Reading →
Back Porch Studio 