Hello Everyone,
This week has really flown by...it seems I just sent out my week four update. This week was quite busy with many tasks to do at the pottery. Early in the week Phil asked me to unload a biscuit kiln. I used to do this all the time when I worked at the college and it never took me more than two hours if I remember right. Well, this one took a whole day! For a start it is much bigger than the one at college, plus I had to move all the pots from the kiln shed into the workshop. It was a bit nerve wracking because I put all of Phil's pots on a board and walked them over a bumpy uneven parking lot. I only broke one pot that rolled off the board; fortunately, it was one of mine. We are really running out of space in the workshop and all the bisque pots are on the floor. One has to walk and move gingerly around the place. On Tuesday, Phil and I reloaded the same kiln. I could never get the shelves in that kiln, it is so long I would have to climb in to stack it. Phil's arms are long enough but it takes a lot of strength to put the shelves and pots in. Re-loading took most of the day.
On Wednesday, Lynne and I resumed our roles of lovely, lady lumberjacks and moved wood out of the shed. When we were done that we cleaned out all the stuff in the shed and rearranged it to make more space. There was all kinds of stuff in there like old bricks and washing machine parts plus old hay and stuff like that. Phil is getting a delivery of raw materials soon so we made room to house that. Later we will go through all the existing raw materials and re-organize them. Phil plans to install shelves in the barn and keep bisquited pots there.
On Friday Phil left for a place called Uppingham to the Goldmark Gallery (http://www.modernpots.com/). They are the biggest seller of his work in the UK and have made a video about Phil and his work. They were having a showing of the video plus some talks and a show of potters represented by Goldmark. He did not come back until Saturday night. On Friday, Di came back and we finished splitting wood. It was horrible weather, rainy and windy but Lynne and I being the resilient lady lumberjacks we are, braved the elements to get Phil's wood moved. We finished by mid-afternoon.
Phil has a new and fun assignment for me. To get me to work on my repetition throwing Phil has me throwing stock mugs for the pottery. He made a prototype mug and had me copy it. I worked on it for several days, finishing them off today. I decorated them with stamps and sprigs. It is interesting to throw someone else's pots. I guess I did not realize that I had such specific ways of making my own pots, especially when I pull handles. I tend to make thinner handles while Phil makes his quite thick and with a ridge in the middle. So, I have been making handles and mugs like Phil's. It is a really good learning experience.
On Saturday, Lynne performed in a choral concert with a community choir. Julie Braham and Jeremy (the neighbor) were also in the concert. Since Phil was not able to go I sat with Julie's husband, Jason. The concert was in a big old stone with wooden vaulted ceilings and pointed arches. The nearly 40-person choir was accompanied by a large scratch orchestra consisting of cellos, violins, trumpets, etc. They performed Handel's Zadok the Priest which was written for the King's coronation many years ago and is still performed whenever a new king is crowned. They also performed Hyden's Nelson Mass. It was a beautiful series of songs all performed in Latin. There was four soloists, a soprano, a contralto, a tenor and a bass who sang certain parts with the choir in the background. It was so beautiful with all the voices and instruments intermingling and harmonizing. It was the kind of music that was angelic and sublime. I wondered as I sat in that church how many times that same piece of music had been performed. I really enjoyed the performance. At the end of it, Julie and Lynne were really tired; it took a lot of energy to belt out those high soprano notes. We stopped into a pub for drinks with the rest of the choir and then headed home. The six nations rugby has been on for the past few weekends. Miraculously Wales beat Italy 47-8 on Saturday! I guess Wales has not had a very good team in a long time. Well, another week is beginning and I'm sure it will be full of tasks. I am going to join the choir with Lynne; we start practice on Thursday night. From there we will go to Lynne's parent's house in Newport. Then we are going to Claire and Simon's for the weekend. It is Mother's day on March 2 so we are going to see all the moms. Also, there is a big show called Ceramic Art London this weekend that I am hoping to go to. It is a pretty high end show and many artists will be there. I will spend a bit of time exploring London again. Well, dinner is ready so I'd better get going. Have a great week!
Take care,
Kari
Sunday 24 February 2008
Tuesday 19 February 2008
Take Two, Week Four
Hello Everyone,
Spring is here! There are daffodils and crocuses everywhere. Although there have still been frosts and it is chilly I can smell that distictive scent which is the change of seasons. It is a bit different than at home becaue here it is more of a farm smell- like damp hay. It is a pleasant smell to be greeted by. Today was an exciting week. I made press molded bottles at the beginning of the week while Phil worked on making pots for the salt chamber of his wood kiln. On Wednesday we went to Aberystwyth, a bustling seaside town. Phil is on the planning board of the Aberystwyth Ceramics Festival which is held biannually. He had a meeting about the festival and asked if I wanted to wander about the town. It was a very sunny lovely day. I walked around the shops for a bit and did some shopping. I finally was able to find some really nice organic welsh knitting wool in a little natural foods store. I am going to try making a sweater with it...I've tried to make sweaters before unsuccessfully so hopefully it will be easier this time. Phil told me of a few places I should look at including the Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (The National Library of Wales) (http://www.llgc.org.uk/). After having to ask directions several times I trudged up a huge hill. I would like to think I am a fairly active, healthy person but that hill really was a killer. I thought I was going to have an asthma attack by the time I conquered it!
The library was this huge stately building. Phil told me they have some great art shows there. There was a permanent gallery that had mostly paintings by Welsh Artists. Kyffin Williams is one of Phil's favorite painters and also a personal friend of his. Phil has some of Kyffin's work on his walls so I was quite familiar with it. Its interesting because almost all of the paintings were dark in color. Greens had a lot of blacks and brown in them. Its interesting because the Wales I see is not dark at all but vibrant and bright. There was even two JMW Turner paintings who is a famous British impressionist painter. They were some of his earlier paintings and did not posess any of the trademark qualities of his bright ethereal later works. Since the library was on a hill there was an absolutely beautiful view of the sea. It looked interesting because you could hardly tell where the water ended and sky began. It was just this sort of misy, blue-grey canvas of landscape. From the library I went to the Aberystwyth Arts Center. It is a university building. I noticed many of the people spoke Welsh. They have a great little ceramics collection on display including work by Leach, Hamada, Cardew and other influential artists. I did some sketching of the pots and observed. I saw Lucie Rie and Hans Coper pots there for the first time. I met up with Phil a few hours later and we rushed home because Lynne and I had a girly evening planned.
Lynne's good friend Pauline had got tickets for us to go see the Soweto Gospel Choir (http://www.sowetogospelchoir.com/ ) in a place called Brecon. We went out for dinner first then headed into a smallish theatre. While the lights were still dim a male voice started singing in African and was slowly joined by the other choir members. When the lights went up there were about 20 Africans dressed in exquisite, brightly colored clothing. I can't even describe the singing. It was so beautiful it just made me cry. I did not know what they were saying but their joy, energy and life just burst through the auditorium. Most of the songs they performed were Christian worship songs although they did sing some Bob Marley and a few other contemporary ones. They danced as well as sang. They took turns doing the solos, vocal and dance. Each member had such an amazing voice; they could easily have recorded solo albums. They had percussionists, a pianist and several guitarists.You could tell they were all having such a great time performing. They were smiling so big and high fiving each other. They were such beautiful people with amazing voices and spirits. All the money from their performances went to an aids charity that helps African children affected by the disease. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt so blessed and touched by the experience. On the way home Lynne told me about two trips her and Phil took to Africa. The first time they went it was for Phil to teach a workshop to locals after the apartheid. The British government sent artists to South Africa to help the people there become self sufficient. The second time they went to Ethiopia with a charity to set up a pottery in a village. Lynne said that it was one of those trips that just changes your life. The African ladies thought Phil was like a god because he had come from so far, could make good pots and was very tall. They were always giving him little gifts and things. Lynne said one day during luch all the ladies just started singing, much like the gospel choir. She said that for such a poverty and war stricken nation there is still so much hope among the people there. Seeing the Soweto Gospel Choir was such a great experience; I would highly recommend it if any of you have the chance to see them. They even won a Grammy award in 2007.
The next day Lynne and I had to haul a HUGE pile of wood out of the barn so it could be cut up for the wood kiln. It took us two days to accomplish that task. We had a good time and got our exercise too! On Friday, Phil had to make the five hour drive to St. Ives England to drop off about 80 pots for a solo show he is having there in March. While he was gone, Di the Rogers' gardener came by with a chainsaw and sawhorse and the three of us cut and stacked all the wood. It took the better part of a day but we got it done. We will be using all of it when we fire the wood kiln on March 23. I think I am having some kiln firing anxieties as I had a dream last night that I was firing the Bailey kiln at college and forgot to put the cone packs in. Cone packs are these special things that indicate what temperature it is inside the kiln because they melt. If you don't have them its still possible to fire the kiln; its just more difficult, especially if you are not very experienced like me.
Over the weekend, Lynne and I hung out while Phil was gone. We had to go to Llandrindod to pick up some sedatives for Libby. Our furry grey canine friend has now been deemed "Lumpy Libby" as she has a little lump on her ear. The vet came by and said she should have it out. So tomorrow Libby will go in for a surgery and will also have her teeth cleaned. Poor girl...I also made quite a few pots in Phil's absense, tumblers, cups, baskets and teapots. When he came home today he said, "When did you make all that? We will certainly have enough pots to fill the kiln!" He came home from St. Ives with gifts for his girls. He got Lynne a special cookbook and a wood fired mug for me made by Svend Bayer, a potter who lives in a place called Sheepwash, England (giggle). Phil got to see Svend unload his wood kiln over the weekend. It was very nice of him to get me a souvenier. It has little feldspar bits and is a reddish gold color with carbon trapping on the outside and a blue-green nuka liner glaze. It is a lovely little pot. Well, it is nearly time for the Antiques Roadshow to come on. Last week this guy brought in a pot that I though was wretchedly gaudy but the appraiser said it was worth 100,000 pounds (200,000 dollars)! What a lucky fellow. I hope you all have a great week!
Take care,
Kari
www.kariinwales.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/nhthrower
Spring is here! There are daffodils and crocuses everywhere. Although there have still been frosts and it is chilly I can smell that distictive scent which is the change of seasons. It is a bit different than at home becaue here it is more of a farm smell- like damp hay. It is a pleasant smell to be greeted by. Today was an exciting week. I made press molded bottles at the beginning of the week while Phil worked on making pots for the salt chamber of his wood kiln. On Wednesday we went to Aberystwyth, a bustling seaside town. Phil is on the planning board of the Aberystwyth Ceramics Festival which is held biannually. He had a meeting about the festival and asked if I wanted to wander about the town. It was a very sunny lovely day. I walked around the shops for a bit and did some shopping. I finally was able to find some really nice organic welsh knitting wool in a little natural foods store. I am going to try making a sweater with it...I've tried to make sweaters before unsuccessfully so hopefully it will be easier this time. Phil told me of a few places I should look at including the Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (The National Library of Wales) (http://www.llgc.org.uk/). After having to ask directions several times I trudged up a huge hill. I would like to think I am a fairly active, healthy person but that hill really was a killer. I thought I was going to have an asthma attack by the time I conquered it!
The library was this huge stately building. Phil told me they have some great art shows there. There was a permanent gallery that had mostly paintings by Welsh Artists. Kyffin Williams is one of Phil's favorite painters and also a personal friend of his. Phil has some of Kyffin's work on his walls so I was quite familiar with it. Its interesting because almost all of the paintings were dark in color. Greens had a lot of blacks and brown in them. Its interesting because the Wales I see is not dark at all but vibrant and bright. There was even two JMW Turner paintings who is a famous British impressionist painter. They were some of his earlier paintings and did not posess any of the trademark qualities of his bright ethereal later works. Since the library was on a hill there was an absolutely beautiful view of the sea. It looked interesting because you could hardly tell where the water ended and sky began. It was just this sort of misy, blue-grey canvas of landscape. From the library I went to the Aberystwyth Arts Center. It is a university building. I noticed many of the people spoke Welsh. They have a great little ceramics collection on display including work by Leach, Hamada, Cardew and other influential artists. I did some sketching of the pots and observed. I saw Lucie Rie and Hans Coper pots there for the first time. I met up with Phil a few hours later and we rushed home because Lynne and I had a girly evening planned.
Lynne's good friend Pauline had got tickets for us to go see the Soweto Gospel Choir (http://www.sowetogospelchoir
The next day Lynne and I had to haul a HUGE pile of wood out of the barn so it could be cut up for the wood kiln. It took us two days to accomplish that task. We had a good time and got our exercise too! On Friday, Phil had to make the five hour drive to St. Ives England to drop off about 80 pots for a solo show he is having there in March. While he was gone, Di the Rogers' gardener came by with a chainsaw and sawhorse and the three of us cut and stacked all the wood. It took the better part of a day but we got it done. We will be using all of it when we fire the wood kiln on March 23. I think I am having some kiln firing anxieties as I had a dream last night that I was firing the Bailey kiln at college and forgot to put the cone packs in. Cone packs are these special things that indicate what temperature it is inside the kiln because they melt. If you don't have them its still possible to fire the kiln; its just more difficult, especially if you are not very experienced like me.
Over the weekend, Lynne and I hung out while Phil was gone. We had to go to Llandrindod to pick up some sedatives for Libby. Our furry grey canine friend has now been deemed "Lumpy Libby" as she has a little lump on her ear. The vet came by and said she should have it out. So tomorrow Libby will go in for a surgery and will also have her teeth cleaned. Poor girl...I also made quite a few pots in Phil's absense, tumblers, cups, baskets and teapots. When he came home today he said, "When did you make all that? We will certainly have enough pots to fill the kiln!" He came home from St. Ives with gifts for his girls. He got Lynne a special cookbook and a wood fired mug for me made by Svend Bayer, a potter who lives in a place called Sheepwash, England (giggle). Phil got to see Svend unload his wood kiln over the weekend. It was very nice of him to get me a souvenier. It has little feldspar bits and is a reddish gold color with carbon trapping on the outside and a blue-green nuka liner glaze. It is a lovely little pot. Well, it is nearly time for the Antiques Roadshow to come on. Last week this guy brought in a pot that I though was wretchedly gaudy but the appraiser said it was worth 100,000 pounds (200,000 dollars)! What a lucky fellow. I hope you all have a great week!
Take care,
Kari
www.kariinwales.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com
Sunday 10 February 2008
Take two, week three
Hello Everyone,
Where did I leave off last week? Ah yes, John and Sue had left and it was up to me to guard Marston Pottery and the dogs during the creepy, dark Rhayader nights. I managed alright (even if I did sleep with my light on a few times). I was met with an interesting problem on Monday, the day I was to start doing tasks for Phil. He had asked me to do three things- make 12 press molded bottles, mix up four batches of clay and pug about 500 pounds of aged clay so he could use it. I thought I would mix the clay up since it was a nice day Monday and the shed I would do it in is unheated. Lo and behold, I went to open the old wood door and it was jammed shut. It seems that during the howling winds, the door slammed shut so hard it went past the door frame and was royally stuck. What was I to do? All of the tasks he asked me to do required my entry to that shed. I leaned, I pulled, I prayed but the door did not budge. When Phil called to check up on me I told him my predicament. He sounded quite cross about it but did not really have any advice except to "pull really hard" (been there, done that). Despite the fact that he got a bad cold in America, he said the workshop went well. He even joked that some of the ladies there liked him so much, they threw their knickers at him (it would seem in that case that Phil Rogers is the Tom Jones of pottery). For the rest of Monday I made press molded bottles with the small amount of clay I had left in the workshop. I got a friendly call from Lisa Hammond in London checking to see how everything was. She knew I was on my own for a bit. I love that potters are so helpful towards one another; I have found it to be true in the states as well.
The next day, with a newfound determination, I tackled the problem of the door. I found an old hammer and attacked the door with it. There is a space between the top of the door and the doorframe so I sort of hung onto the door and whacked it from the inside with the hammer. Eventually, it stubbornly opened. I won the battle. I was able to pug all the clay and make the press molded bottles for the rest of the week. I had been able to make a bunch of teapots and a new series of forms. I threw a wide, short cylinder with no bottom. After the clay stiffened, I altered the shape into an oval or square then added a slab bottom. I made two big casseroles and 15 smaller boxes with a flange and a slab lid. I am very excited about these and feel I will be able to explore them more.
Phil and Lynne arrived home Friday at noon. I made some nice soup, floury herbed rolls and banana blueberry bread for lunch. Tess and Libby were so excited to see them! The weary travelers were nearly knocked over by the overexcited pups. It was good to have them back! They brought me some nice presents including a cookbook put together by the staff and artists at Clay Art Center, the place where Phil did the workshops. By nine o'clock Phil and Lynne were both dozing on the couch; they had after all missed a night of sleep. Between his cold and jet lag Phil was absolutely knackered.
This Sunday the three of us drove to Newport, Wales, the hometown of Lynne and Phil. Lynne's dad, Ramon was turning 80 and they had a family party for him. It was a lot of fun. They treated me like one of the family, they even made me get in the big family photo. Claire, the Rogers' daughter was there with her husband and two little sons. The party was at Lynne's sister Barbara's house. She has three sons who were all there. Lynne's brother Chris was there with his daughter Beth and Phil's dad Ray was there too. It was a happy party. Claire hired a stretch limo to pick Ramon up from his house. He was very suprised and loved it! Claire also made a special cake that looked like a rugby pitch. It was complete with a Welsh flag, little rugby players and goal posts. Lynne and Phil got Ramon a digital photo frame. Lynne spent the entire day before the party scanning and photoshopping old pictures to upload to the frame. Raymon and his wife loved it. When they did a birthday toast Ramon acknowledged my presence by singing, "Here come the Yanks". He is quite a cheeky guy and a lot of fun. It was great to meet all of Lynne's family and see Clarie again. I hung out with her five year old Mattie a lot and read him a few stories.
Phil and Lynne both grew up in Newtown and met when they were teenagers. It is a very industrial town quite different than Rhayader. It is in south Wales sort of close to Cardiff. It was about two hours away from Rhayader. It was a nice party and we all had a good time. This week I think I have more press molded bottles to make and some clay to mix up. Hopefully nice weather will continue. Crocuses and daffodils are coming up everywhere and Phil's pond is full of frogs making noise. We even had one day in the 60's! Sounds like the snow is really coming down back home in NH! Have a great week and be safe on those snowy roads!
Take care,
Kari
Where did I leave off last week? Ah yes, John and Sue had left and it was up to me to guard Marston Pottery and the dogs during the creepy, dark Rhayader nights. I managed alright (even if I did sleep with my light on a few times). I was met with an interesting problem on Monday, the day I was to start doing tasks for Phil. He had asked me to do three things- make 12 press molded bottles, mix up four batches of clay and pug about 500 pounds of aged clay so he could use it. I thought I would mix the clay up since it was a nice day Monday and the shed I would do it in is unheated. Lo and behold, I went to open the old wood door and it was jammed shut. It seems that during the howling winds, the door slammed shut so hard it went past the door frame and was royally stuck. What was I to do? All of the tasks he asked me to do required my entry to that shed. I leaned, I pulled, I prayed but the door did not budge. When Phil called to check up on me I told him my predicament. He sounded quite cross about it but did not really have any advice except to "pull really hard" (been there, done that). Despite the fact that he got a bad cold in America, he said the workshop went well. He even joked that some of the ladies there liked him so much, they threw their knickers at him (it would seem in that case that Phil Rogers is the Tom Jones of pottery). For the rest of Monday I made press molded bottles with the small amount of clay I had left in the workshop. I got a friendly call from Lisa Hammond in London checking to see how everything was. She knew I was on my own for a bit. I love that potters are so helpful towards one another; I have found it to be true in the states as well.
The next day, with a newfound determination, I tackled the problem of the door. I found an old hammer and attacked the door with it. There is a space between the top of the door and the doorframe so I sort of hung onto the door and whacked it from the inside with the hammer. Eventually, it stubbornly opened. I won the battle. I was able to pug all the clay and make the press molded bottles for the rest of the week. I had been able to make a bunch of teapots and a new series of forms. I threw a wide, short cylinder with no bottom. After the clay stiffened, I altered the shape into an oval or square then added a slab bottom. I made two big casseroles and 15 smaller boxes with a flange and a slab lid. I am very excited about these and feel I will be able to explore them more.
Phil and Lynne arrived home Friday at noon. I made some nice soup, floury herbed rolls and banana blueberry bread for lunch. Tess and Libby were so excited to see them! The weary travelers were nearly knocked over by the overexcited pups. It was good to have them back! They brought me some nice presents including a cookbook put together by the staff and artists at Clay Art Center, the place where Phil did the workshops. By nine o'clock Phil and Lynne were both dozing on the couch; they had after all missed a night of sleep. Between his cold and jet lag Phil was absolutely knackered.
This Sunday the three of us drove to Newport, Wales, the hometown of Lynne and Phil. Lynne's dad, Ramon was turning 80 and they had a family party for him. It was a lot of fun. They treated me like one of the family, they even made me get in the big family photo. Claire, the Rogers' daughter was there with her husband and two little sons. The party was at Lynne's sister Barbara's house. She has three sons who were all there. Lynne's brother Chris was there with his daughter Beth and Phil's dad Ray was there too. It was a happy party. Claire hired a stretch limo to pick Ramon up from his house. He was very suprised and loved it! Claire also made a special cake that looked like a rugby pitch. It was complete with a Welsh flag, little rugby players and goal posts. Lynne and Phil got Ramon a digital photo frame. Lynne spent the entire day before the party scanning and photoshopping old pictures to upload to the frame. Raymon and his wife loved it. When they did a birthday toast Ramon acknowledged my presence by singing, "Here come the Yanks". He is quite a cheeky guy and a lot of fun. It was great to meet all of Lynne's family and see Clarie again. I hung out with her five year old Mattie a lot and read him a few stories.
Phil and Lynne both grew up in Newtown and met when they were teenagers. It is a very industrial town quite different than Rhayader. It is in south Wales sort of close to Cardiff. It was about two hours away from Rhayader. It was a nice party and we all had a good time. This week I think I have more press molded bottles to make and some clay to mix up. Hopefully nice weather will continue. Crocuses and daffodils are coming up everywhere and Phil's pond is full of frogs making noise. We even had one day in the 60's! Sounds like the snow is really coming down back home in NH! Have a great week and be safe on those snowy roads!
Take care,
Kari
Saturday 9 February 2008
Take two, week two
Hello Everyone,
This week has been an interesting one.Lynne and Phil left for America early on Wednesday. Prior to that Phil was in super-speed-mode trying to get everything done. He is a little behind so he is feeling pretty stressed that he had to go to America. We had to finish packing all the 80 pots for his St. Ives show. He had quite a few large bottles that are several feet tall which presents a packing nightmare. He said next time he should make the pots to fit the boxes instead of trying to find boxes that fit the pots. He had a bunch of jugs to make and some bottles to finish. I cleaned the workshop and the showrooms so that it would be somewhat easier for Phil to come back to. Jason is planning on doing another firing soon and he asked if Phil and I had any pots we wanted to put in his kiln. I gave him two shallow bowls to put in his salt kiln. On Monday night the three of us went over to Jason and Julianne's for dinner. They had lamb for dinner which I'm sure was delicious but I just could not bear to eat it...I've grown rather attached to all the sheep here. After supper we went to the sitting room. Jason and Phil got out a bunch of old records like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and popped them onto the record player. We all sang along for a bit to the familiar tunes. Phil said when he was about 13 he loved the Beatles and had all their records and scrapbooks. He told me once his grandma even made him a knitted necktie that were all the fashion when the Beatles were popular.
It feels a bit like spring here. It rains all the time and little snowdrops and crocuses are yawning and stretching out of the soggy ground. We did have kind of a freak day on Thursday as it was sleeting, hailing and raining. That was the day that John and Sue came down. They live in Stoke-on-Trent which is about 2 1/2 hours away. The Rogers met them when John came on a summer workshop Phil used to do every summer at his house in Rhayader. John and Sue are the dog/house sitters and come here several times a year when Lynne and Phil go away. They are a very nice couple. They have a married son who lives in Texas who is not much older than me. Just as I talk to my parents on a computer program called Skype, they did the same with their son almost daily. While they were here I made teapots. They went much easier this time and I tried some different types of handles. I also had ideas to make some oval casseroles with slab built bottoms. Phil gave me a list of tasks to do while he is gone. I did my own throwing last week and will do all his stuff this week. He and Lynne will be home on Thursday or Friday. John and Sue stayed until Sunday when they made the trip back to Stoke. It was nice having them here. I have to say it is a bit creepy at night when I'm here by myself. It is so dark here because there is no light pollution. Sometimes Libby and Tess will start barking in the middle of the night and I don't know why. It does make your hair stand on end. Fortunately, Phil says in the almost 30 years he's lived here there has never been any kind of horrible crime.
My sleeping has finally returned back to normal. Now Lynne and Phil are going to have that same problem when they return. Well, I have a long list of things to do before the boss gets back- make 12 press molded bottles, pug clay and mix up a bunch of new clay too. I'd better get going on that. Until next week....
This week has been an interesting one.Lynne and Phil left for America early on Wednesday. Prior to that Phil was in super-speed-mode trying to get everything done. He is a little behind so he is feeling pretty stressed that he had to go to America. We had to finish packing all the 80 pots for his St. Ives show. He had quite a few large bottles that are several feet tall which presents a packing nightmare. He said next time he should make the pots to fit the boxes instead of trying to find boxes that fit the pots. He had a bunch of jugs to make and some bottles to finish. I cleaned the workshop and the showrooms so that it would be somewhat easier for Phil to come back to. Jason is planning on doing another firing soon and he asked if Phil and I had any pots we wanted to put in his kiln. I gave him two shallow bowls to put in his salt kiln. On Monday night the three of us went over to Jason and Julianne's for dinner. They had lamb for dinner which I'm sure was delicious but I just could not bear to eat it...I've grown rather attached to all the sheep here. After supper we went to the sitting room. Jason and Phil got out a bunch of old records like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and popped them onto the record player. We all sang along for a bit to the familiar tunes. Phil said when he was about 13 he loved the Beatles and had all their records and scrapbooks. He told me once his grandma even made him a knitted necktie that were all the fashion when the Beatles were popular.
It feels a bit like spring here. It rains all the time and little snowdrops and crocuses are yawning and stretching out of the soggy ground. We did have kind of a freak day on Thursday as it was sleeting, hailing and raining. That was the day that John and Sue came down. They live in Stoke-on-Trent which is about 2 1/2 hours away. The Rogers met them when John came on a summer workshop Phil used to do every summer at his house in Rhayader. John and Sue are the dog/house sitters and come here several times a year when Lynne and Phil go away. They are a very nice couple. They have a married son who lives in Texas who is not much older than me. Just as I talk to my parents on a computer program called Skype, they did the same with their son almost daily. While they were here I made teapots. They went much easier this time and I tried some different types of handles. I also had ideas to make some oval casseroles with slab built bottoms. Phil gave me a list of tasks to do while he is gone. I did my own throwing last week and will do all his stuff this week. He and Lynne will be home on Thursday or Friday. John and Sue stayed until Sunday when they made the trip back to Stoke. It was nice having them here. I have to say it is a bit creepy at night when I'm here by myself. It is so dark here because there is no light pollution. Sometimes Libby and Tess will start barking in the middle of the night and I don't know why. It does make your hair stand on end. Fortunately, Phil says in the almost 30 years he's lived here there has never been any kind of horrible crime.
My sleeping has finally returned back to normal. Now Lynne and Phil are going to have that same problem when they return. Well, I have a long list of things to do before the boss gets back- make 12 press molded bottles, pug clay and mix up a bunch of new clay too. I'd better get going on that. Until next week....
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