Winter Blooms on Valentines Day

6:00 pm is closing time around here. Not for studio work, but for the sales gallery. Last night I was heading out to bring in the open flags and I mentioned to Jeff that I was taking scissors with me to cut some daffodils that were blooming in the yard. He quickly dropped what he was doing to join me... he had planned to cut some for ME for Valentines Day! We went out together and each picked a few for each other and proclaimed, "Happy Valentines Day".  We like to keep it simple.

and wouldn't you know, our flowers were photo bombed by a pig.

Remembering

Some of you may recall that sometime last month, a woman named EC posted on my blog that she bought a pitcher at a second hand shop in Rhode Island, with a JZ stamp on it. Upon researching the JZ , she found my blog and realized that the pitcher was made by John Zentner. I asked her to send me photos and she was very kind to do so.

This pitcher is definitely John's, because there is his chop below the handle. I am thinking it is very early work. I don't have anything that looks like this and I have some pieces going back to the 80's that he and Bill Van Gilder made when they were working together. I am thinking this is perhaps from the 70's.

Here are some pitchers that he made in last few years before he died. This salt glazed one sits on my counter and we use it everyday. It fills the steamer on the wood stove, carries hot water to the studio to fill our throwing pails, and has watered many plants. It's a beauty and feels so good in your hands.

I just love this little one. It's on a shelf in the living room and I most often use it for sangria or cheap jug wine. It makes the cheap stuff taste so much better.

I thought this was a good day to share these pitchers with the world. John died six years ago today. Each year is a little easier, but the holiday season has never been the same since 2008.
If you are a new blog reader you can read about our story here or here.

Thank you EC for sharing photos of JZ's work from the past. I am glad that his pitcher found you. I think it is in good hands.

finding love after loss

recently someone very close to me told me they think i moved too quickly into a new relationship after john died.  that i was selfish and have become a different person in the last two years.  since john's death i have followed a few blogs about widows, widowers and families left behind.  interestingly enough there was a post i read this week on the very subject of finding love again soon after loss.  below is a comment from that blog...

I have heard the scathing comments about others who have dared not to follow the "script" of widowhood. Especially when it comes to love. 

I always think - they must have been so loved and so in love because despite it all - the broken and smashed heart of grief - they dare to risk it all again. It is the most courageous act - to open your heart to love again when you have lost someone you so desperately wanted to be with forever. I always said I wanted my life to be defined by one thing and that was how much I could love. My husband taught me more about that than anyone ever has. 

Why must we forgo our humanity to prove that we loved them so deeply?

am i a different person than i was two years ago? absolutely.  how can you be the caregiver for your loved one, hold them in your arms as they die and not be affected by that?  have i become selfish?  maybe.  perhaps i felt i deserved to be.  moving forward i will be conscious of that side of me and work harder at not being selfish.

the one thing i will not do is apologize for finding love again.  even if it was too soon for other peoples standards.