The Winter Garden

 This is the first year that Jeff has planted a winter garden. We are really enjoying it. It's so nice to pick greens for a salad in the middle of February!

We purchased some row covers that make it super handy to access the veggies. A few weeks ago there was enough Napa cabbage and Korean radish for Jeff to make kimchi. We have been enjoying it with a variety of Asian inspired meals.

We have mixed Asian greens and bib lettuce. It's been giving us enough to make salads a couple of times a week. Occasionally I add some store bought baby spinach. We've also enjoyed swiss chard, kale, and lots of baby bok choy. Last summer Jeff purchased jars and special plastic lids for growing bean sprouts so we always have plenty to toss in salads and stir fry. 

The seed catalogs have been arriving since January and some seeds have been bought. Jeff is a really good seed saver so he has a lot of his own stash. 

After four chilly days of clouds and rain, I am looking forward to Spring.

Garden Walk

My favorite part of the day is spending time in the garden in the early evening. I usually bring a basket or bowl and pick vegetables and herbs that will become part of our dinner.

Jeff has built an arbor for our green beans to climb on. It is magical to walk through. We currently have a nest of newly hatched birds, nestled in vines. I am not sure what type of birds they are. The mother flies into a nearby try as soon as we go to the garden. I hear her chirping, but haven't gotten a glimpse of her. I take a quick peek at her babies and then leave them alone.

I planted these sunflowers late in the season. I think it may have been July when the seeds went into the ground. I am impressed with how quickly they grew and bloomed. The ones I planted in May have already gone by. I am going to remember to stagger the planting next season too.

The nasturtiums are growing beneath the sunflowers. These were planted at the same time. I had some in the front of the house but I think that they got too much late afternoon sun, and subsequently died. I was glad I found some extra seeds to plant in this little flower garden. They seem to enjoy the morning sun.

We have lots of poblanos and jalapenos this year. I have done a lot of experimenting with stuffing the poblanos in a variety of ways. I think my favorite is black beans, rice, salsa, and a little cheese. I roast them at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes... yum!

The buchu (Korean chive aka garlic chive) is in full bloom. We have so much of this growing in various locations! I try to incorporate it into every stir fry. My new favorite thing to make is "Egg Roll in a Bowl". I add it to that too. Here is a link to the recipe: Egg Roll In A Bowl

It's good with ground pork, but I usually use ground turkey or chicken.

Our tomatoes are slowing down and the plants are looking rather brown. We will miss them when they are gone. The butternut squash is crazy this year. It's even climbing into the trees. I find it comical to see such a heavy vegetable hanging so high off of the ground!

It's hard to believe that here we are in September already. Nearly six months into the pandemic. Six months of no socializing with family or friends. The life of a potter is often isolated but we do miss having friends and neighbors dropping in to say hello, as well as the occasional dinner guests. I have used this time to enjoy our yard more and also learn some new skills, but there are days when it wears me thin.

I miss taking an afternoon off and heading to Marshall's for retail therapy! The grocery store just doesn't cut it for me.

... and I REALLY need new socks right now.

Be Well, and Remember...

Welcome to October!

Where does the time go? I have been such a lousy blogger these days. Not a single post since mid-September.
Since that post I can say I have kept up with my daily walking routine. I have only missed a day here or there, either because of excessive heat or appointments that prevented me from walking in the cooler mornings. We are still enjoying veggies from our garden. It took forever to get green beans but now we seem to be eating them with every meal, along with tomatoes... but we aren't complaining.

Throughout the hot summer, pots have been made and kilns have been fired. Mostly orders and in between some things manage to find their way to our gallery shelves. I am still painting a few evenings a week and finally found time to mat some of my alcohol ink paintings.

I am happy to say that occasionally I have sold a few of these. At least it's supporting my art supply habit!

That's all I have got for you today. It's time for lunch and then it's on to under glazing mugs for the next firing. I am very thankful for more comfortable working temperatures this week.

August in Seagrove, NC

Jeff and I have really enjoyed being home for the month of August. We do miss our family and friends, but we haven't missed the stress of packing and hauling a trailer to a show that is 800 miles away. I know there are a lot of people who make a living traveling to shows, but I just don't have it in me. I am thankful for opportunities this year that allowed us to stay home.

We have been enjoying our garden tremendously! While some things were not too successful... green beans and scarlet runner beans, we've had a great crop of okra, tomatoes, and basil. Jalapenos are starting to come in and there are lots of ghost peppers that are so hot no one can eat them! Poblanos will be ready for chile rellenos very soon. Once again there is butternut squash that grew from the compost. It looks like we will have more than last year. Jeff gets credit for growing the vegetables. He is diligent with organic pest control and keeping down the weeds. I just pick and eat! 

Pitcher by Dan Compte, bowl by John Baymore - both NH potters

I am still spending time with painting practice, but I have been side tracked with a new obsession...

Washi Tape! I bought it to tape down paintings while I work. It holds well but is easily removed. If you search Washi Tape ideas on Pinterest, you will find a plethora of fun things to do with it.

I made my school teacher sister a "back to school" set. The clothes pins are great for pinning papers to a "clothesline" or for holding bags closed. The pencils were wrapped in tape and then covered with a thin coat of matte medium. The binder clips speak for themselves. Jeff says if anything sits around too long I will wrap it in Washi Tape!

Welcome Summer!

The weekend brought us fabulous weather. Comfortably warm, low humidity. Cool nights. It was a nice break after the hot and muggy week. Great weather for getting outside and doing the yard work. We didn't put in a big garden, like we planned to. There was just to much "catch-up" work to do in the studio. A kiln-less winter put us behind and studio work takes precedence over everything else. The one thing we did do was plant some flowers and herbs in the front of house. This was an area that was pretty much ready to go, after a little weeding.

Most of our little garden are plants that we either moved from the log cabin, or were given to us. I did buy a couple of flower and herbs. Some I bought on clearance at Lowe's. On the right, still in it's pot, is buchu. It's a Korean chive. We were gifted with two of these and are so excited to have them. Jeff and I use them a lot in Korean cooking and we like them snipped on top of a salad as well. They have a  similar, but stronger flavor than traditional chives.

I splurged on the cone flowers last week. I have always wanted some and can't believe that I never had them in past gardens!

I planted zinnias from seeds. They are doing ok. I am hoping they well re-seed themselves so that eventually, in the future,  I will have a nice bed of them.

Can anyone identify this? At the log cabin, I thought it was a weed because it was growing in the lawn. I always mowed it over. Jeff said it wasn't a weed and brought a piece of it to 505 E Main. It took off like crazy and the purple flowers are quite pretty. Please comment if you know what it is.

My days in the studio have been spent assembling piggy banks. Jeff has been working on bowls and pitchers. Last night when I was heading out to water my little garden, I noticed Jeff was trimming a guinomi. I couldn't resist snapping a photo with my phone. These are Jeff's favorite things to make and I think it's a great way for him to end his day in the studio.

Chilly Sunday morning

 Halloween is over which means that the holiday season is knocking on our door steps. We have been working at getting the piggy bank stock increased for the season. Jeff has always done the occasional fish and this week I spent some time learning to make them. I am a VERY slow fish producer. I know that the more I make, the faster I will become. The plan is to have a decent grouping of them for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters show (info in the side bar). In the meantime, I am also putting a few pigs together everyday.

Last night was our first really cold night. There was a frost warning, but I am not sure we had one here in Seagrove. I will also admit to not being up early enough to check the temperature! When I got up at 8 am it was a chilly 39 degrees. Not wanting to take chances, I brought all of my plants in last night. I finally cut down the last of the basil and set it in one of Jeff's wood fired cache pots. Today I will make pesto, then chop and freeze the rest of it with a little olive oil. There is nothing like fresh basil, but I will get some satisfaction knowing that what comes out of the freezer this winter came from our own little garden.

Spring Garden

I have been working over at STARwork Garden this spring as a workshare for the CSA program. I have really enjoyed getting out to the garden in the morning and spending some time outside. Anne Partna, Blue Hen Pottery, runs the garden. She is teaching me what the weeds look like here in North Carolina so that I am not pulling up plants! Yes, there are some of the same weeds as in NH, but there are others that are different and actually look like they could be plants.

Yesterday after the veggies were picked, we cut flowers and made bouquets to go with each member's share. What fun! I am sure everyone was excited to see fresh flowers along with their vegetables. I put ours in my favorite vase. I bought this from Jeff nearly ten years ago. I love how pottery we bought from each other, traded, or gifted to one another over the years, now live in the same home again.

Warm Weather... Finally!

While my family and friends in New Hampshire are anticipating yet another snow storm, I have been busy planting tomatos and herbs, in 80 degree weather...


The garlic is coming up and I planted a couple of tomatos next to them. Our swiss chard survived the winter and is doing quite well now.

We do a lot of garden pots because the soil here has lots of roots and is hard to dig up. When Jeff comes back from S. Korea he may dig up a new area, on the side of the studio, to replant some of the basil, oregano, and rosemary that I put in pots.

While I have been busy in the garden, Jeff has been making teapots and tea bowls...

Tomorrow is a glazing day. We need to fire the gas kiln at the beginning of next week.

do you believe in elves?

 Sometime in the early 90's, when I was living in Wilton, NH, I found these great mushrooms growing in my yard...

I watched over them for a few days and eventually the large one, fanned out to create a flat top. When I went out with my camera to photograph it again, lo and behold, there was an elfen creature relaxing on the top!

Moments later he jumped down and tried to hide in the shade underneath...

I never again had mushrooms that beautiful growing in my yard, but occasionally I did catch sight of the elf in the garden.

a new to me technique for covered ovals!

I have always struggled with making covers for my oval or even worse, my wavy oval bakers. Jeff came home from the NC Potters Conference with a technique, demonstrated by Martha Grover, that he said would be helpful to me. Jeff did a demo and then I gave it a try on ovals. I decided to just do a few small ones to work the idea through, later I will move to larger and wavy ones.

After throwing my bottomless cylinder with a gallery, I measured the gallery with calipers and threw a ring that would fit inside. After letting them set under plastic overnight I cut them off the bats, placed the ring inside the cylinder, and squeezed the two, simultaneously into the oval shape. I then put the bottom on the cylinder, I typically throw the bottom slabs on the wheel, but sometimes use a rolled out slab.
Next I used a slab to finish the cover...

I plan to slip and carve the tops of these and add some handles.

I experimented with a wavy top. Still needs some more work, not sure where this one is going yet. It could end up in the scrap bucket!
I was impressed at how well the covers fit. When I used the slumping inside the cylinder technique it was always problematic because when you flip the lid over it fits on the container in reverse... really a pain if it's a wavy oval.
We are enjoying mah-valous weather in Seagrove today and I am writing this post from out on the porch - 5:30 pm and 70 degrees!
Jeff took the plastic cover off of our little winter garden and everything looks healthy and green.

Swiss Chard and broccoli along with some garlic... I can't wait to plant tomatoes!

Bird Baths or Bee Baths?

jeff makes absolutely beautiful birdbaths...

this one is in the garden in front of our studio and gallery...

seems we have more honey bees bathing than birds!!!