Bartering and class project

Got these beautiful glass blocks from Aunt Janice in exchange for some pottery (the large ivy vase to be exact)! Decided to put one by my front door and one in the front bedding area. They are painted with enamel. At first I was afraid to put them outside like they were intended, but will watch and see if the one in the sun fades.















This pot was done sometime ago, and I got the grasshopper on my weekend jaunt to Lawrence.










Finally finished the class project! Will have to admit I had help with the handle and shaping of the pitcher and spout, but did the rest mostly by myself. Had to throw three separate pieces and put them together to get it this high. Would like to try another one when I get some other projects finished. A couple of the guys in my class were competing with me as to who could make a higher pitcher. I tied with Andrew at 16 inches after firing (I didn't even know I was competing when I started it!)

Am excited that I will be involved in a raku firing next month!

Our scheduled sessions will be coming to an end, so that means that the firings will be sporadic and I won't get things back in a timely manner until June.

Happy belated Earth Day!

Never too old

Saw this video on Rustin Smith's blog and had to post it, too.

Here's a link to the story of "Young at Heart" from the Today Show.

If you have time, check out their cover of "Road to Nowhere" on YouTube.

Another video from Simon Leach

Here's another video called "Potting on the Wild Side" from Simon. He made me his friend on facebook!

Excerpt about humility

Jesus says, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29). These beautiful words are a portrait of the heart of Christ. So we respond, "Jesus, gentle and humble in heart, make my heart like yours." Now we are really in for it! We have just opened Pandora's box. Why? Because we don't learn humility by reading about it in spiritual books or listening to its praises in sermons. We learn humility directly from the Lord Jesus in whatever way he wishes to teach us. Most often we learn humility through humiliations.

What is humility? It is the stark realization and acceptance of the fact that I am totally dependent upon God's love and mercy. It grows through a stripping away of all self-sufficiency. Humility is not caught by repeating pious phrases; it is accomplished by the hand of God. It is Job on the dunghill all over again as God reminds us that he is our only true hope.

--Brennan Manning from "The Signature of Jesus"

The redbuds are coming! The redbuds are coming!

Spent some time in the yard yesterday morning on my day off and cut down the dreaded giant clump of Maidenhair grass. Yes, I have heard all of the tips about the best way to do it such as taping it together, using a chainsaw, etc. As I do not have a chainsaw or hedgetrimmer, I used my lawn clippers. Also plan to use it for mulch and/or put in my compost bin, so I cut it in smaller lengths. It's a messy job, but at least I remembered to wear long sleeves this year and my arms aren't torn up.

Speaking of my compost bin, am happy to report that my little red worms have made it through the winter and will eat my vegetable/fruit scraps and coffeegrounds and turn them into compost. My bin sits in the shade, so it doesn't work like a normal compost pile and get hot. Don't know where else to put it in my yard where it's sunny and inconspicuous, so I let my red worms live in there. Yes, they are the same type of worms used in the book Worms Eat My Garbage. Don't worry, they don't like their picture taken, so I won't post a picture. I still think our pastor ought to write a sermon about compost.

As you can see, the redbuds are about ready to bloom, and I am enjoying everyone else's Bradford Pear trees. Spring--It's the most wonderful time of the year (except for the allergy/pollen count thing)!

Ivy vases - before glaze and after glaze

Bathtime and more with my great-nephew

Here are highlights from my 5-day trip and meeting my great-nephew! Luckily it wasn't snowing. The sisters and I stayed in a hotel one night and swam, but of course I didn't take pictures then. I'm one of the shadows in one of the pictures...since it's my blog, I'm deciding not to post any pictures of me. Stayed at least one night at each farm, but no one made me do any chores (thank you).

Hopefully you can view this video. I like how big brother had to get his hands in there and help, but he sure didn't want to take a bath when it was his turn! He would rather have a ride on the tractor or the guck (truck) any day!

BTW, has anyone been to the Minneapolis airport lately? I think it's funny how the announcement of "caution, you are reaching the end of a moving walkway" is spoken by a lady with an Australian or British accent. Sure doesn't sound like she's from Minnesota. Ya, you betcha!

Will post later

Yes, I'm still alive. Happy April! Hope to post pictures soon of my mini-trip and think I have a couple vases to pick up tonight at pottery that should be out of the kiln. Sure hope the glaze turned out okay on them.

Here's a picture of the Missouri River until then.

Quote from St. Francis of Assisi

Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. What you are in his sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received--fading symbols of honor, trappings of power--but only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage. --St. Francis of Assisi

Photo opportunity Saturday

The zoo was doing a controlled burn on Saturday which us city folk don't see very often.
Then it was "Dog Days" in the gallery area including live purebreds and poodles with braids.













Then after church we saw Cody's band play, Vehicles. Rock on, Cody! It was hard staying up that late with me being so old and all.

Fun with free photo editing

Just discovered http://www.dumpr.net/ which has lomography and gallery editing and still love http://www.bighugelabs.com/. This last one is using their "Warholizer".

Vases: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Won't comment on which one I think is ugly (or looks like it was done by a kindergartner). Was pleasantly surprised about the last one. I like it's shape. The black matte glaze was drizzled on with a hair-dye bottle (a tip I got from somewhere on the internet).

Book review

Back in January I had a post called Things on my nightstand. Well, I finished one of the books...The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. Either it was just me or the state I was in (finally being able to concentrate enough to read books with more than one character in them) or was expecting much more, but I was a disappointed in the ending. Little did I know that the stories I was trying to follow would be wrapped up (very easily by the author) by choosing to go the 9-11 route and all the stories hinging on the World Trade Center disaster. I want to know what would've happened to the characters if that didn't happen!!! Did learn some new words such as egegrious (which was used at least twice) and miasma which is always a plus to me.

Anyways, I'm now reading Truly the Community for house church and The Signature of Jesus.

Also am waiting on some lighter books on order at Amazon: Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure and Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie.

Anyways, so that's my book review.

Once again, I recommend Three Cups of Tea if you haven't read it already.

March blessings

What are my March blessings?







"Smell his tummy", said Ethan as people approached for Easter brunch and as he held up his blueberry-scented bear. (Will maybe try to get his daddy to be a guest blogger one day and tell about his bike-motor vehicle fiasco.)

Am very impressed with Hannita's stitchery, as the front looks just like the backside!

Other blessings include:
-Storebought and homemade cards and gifts
-Neighborhood girls on spring break who rang my doorbell to borrow an egg and came back with blueberry muffins!
-Babies
-Blooming bulbs
-Well wishes from good friends and family

Make sure you click here to see Melanie's Tenebrae art!

Garden show 2008

Went to the garden show last week. It was smaller than last year, which I was expecting, but still lived up to my expectations. It's so fun to walk through gardens with life-size trees and boulders and still being indoors.


Finally got to see Paul James "The Gardener Guy" from "Gardening By the Yard". He commented that our show had more "garden" in it than the Philadelphia show. Oh yeah, and he sang for the first time during a Q&A and did pretty well. He says that he gets mistaken for the guy on "This Old House" a lot. He's featured in this blog post if anyone's interested.

Didn't take any good pictures of the big gardens, but have some of the flower arranging show and art show above. I usually go on the first day of the show, but now have learned that it's fun to go after the judging to see what the judges think. There are categories such as miniature, paintings with matching floral decorations, and table settings. Then it's fun to oogle at the houseplant or cactus exhibitions and either "ooh" or say "that thing earned a ribbon?"

Dr. Randy Pausch lecture

Someone just emailed me this video. I did hear of people talking about it, but never saw it until now. This is the lecture from the professor who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Found a link here to see how he's doing now.

Faith "Music" of "My" Fathers

When I was growing up and going to church, I would sing the old hymns but much rather prefered the new contemporary "CCM" music at the Sunday services. Now I enjoy some of the currently written songs, but am drawn toward the old hymns and their stories. Why?

Well, in my late 20's when I was singing the hymns and reading their stories I felt somehow connected with the ancestors of my faith. This music got them through wars, hardships, famines, migrations, etc. I would not only practice sight-reading when I was singing some I didn't know, but I would look at the date they were written and imagine what was going on in the world at the time.

Now I'm in my late 30's and am thinking of my loved ones who have passed away in the last few years. I know these songs have helped them through drought, the foot-and-mouth cattle disease in the 1930's, hard winters, financial and family difficulties, fires (one's apron catching on fire while being pregnant and suffering a back burn and one family business fire in particular), mundaneness of day-to-day life (including what to fix for supper), cancer and other illnesses, loss of their loved ones, etc. I can draw on this same faith that they leaned on to carry them through and feel connected to them and am comforted by that.

Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Heb 12:1 MSG

p.s. Here's a link for the story of the hymn "Faith of Our Fathers" if you're interested.

p.p.s. Hope to blog about change and the church soon, as this post has led me to realize all of the changes my ancestors have gone through in their faith communities.

Phases

Have been in a vase phase lately, even though I need to finish the class project (which is a very tall, slender pitcher) and have been asked to do a communion set months ago. Think I'm stuck on how to design it because I want it to be the best I've ever done/stunning, etc. Am still mulling that over in my head. Guess I just answered Jason's question about taking custom orders and am not disciplined enough and confident enough yet, but thanks for asking!

Also haven't felt like blogging much lately. Have been keeping up with friends on facebook, though. So if you have an account, go look me up.

p.s. Here's a new word I learned today: Turgid: Swollen. Syn: Tumid. I suggest you use it in a sentence today.

p.p.s. Worked on the class project last night and measured it--18-1/2 inches. We'll see how much it shrinks when it dries.

Mugs

Sometimes the ugliness needs to come out

Made this pot during a stressful time before Christmas and couldn't get anything right. It even has a crack on the lid. I just kept trying and trying, and various things went wrong, but I kept it anyway. Finally glazed it last week. I actually thought it would be uglier and am amazed that the glaze turned out better than expected.

Someone suggested that I use it as a worry jar to put all my worries in. I think that's a good idea.