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.

Family

Back in October I found a very inexpensive flight to Connecticut so that I could visit with family, in January. Danielle and I had a plan... drive from Connecticut to New Hampshire on MLK weekend, stay in B&B with my sister, and visit with my Dad at the nursing home. We knew travel in New England, during winter, can be iffy. The weather was cold but clear when I arrived on Wednesday. On Saturday they were predicting that New Hampshire would get 18 to 24" of the white stuff.

Sadly we had to cancel our plans.

New Haven, CT was expecting more ice than snow. Never the less, we went out Saturday morning and bought all the provisions we would need for a weekend inside.

Danielle and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together, despite the change in plans. We curled up on the sofa and watched movies, played board games, drank wine, baked brownies, and made lasagna together.

It was low-key and relaxing.

In other words... it was perfect.

Snow Daze

We woke up to this on Wednesday morning...

By early evening, our patio looked like this...

No one who lived close enough, wanted to join me out there for a glass of wine!

Prior to the storm, our friend Laurie stopped by with a jigsaw puzzle. It was a relaxing way to pass the time on a snowy evening.

Thursday morning brought sunshine and a slow warm up. The snow shouldn't stick around too long.

Jeff and I each spent some time outside clearing our small parking area and long driveway. This morning I put the flags out. Not sure we will see any customers, but we are open for business!

Hunker down... snow is coming!!

Our friends Bonnie and David always bring us some poinsettias on New Years Eve. They are beautiful and from a nursery in Greensboro. Typically I would bring them in the house and place them on our fireplace hearth. After the poison plant debacle with Sophie this fall, I am not taking any chances! They aren't as poisonous as the dieffenbachia and she has never bothered with them in the past, but she seems to have become a plant eater in her old age.

Things are moving along in the studio. I had a friend ask me to replace a spoon rest, so I figured I may as well make a bunch. We don't make them on a regular basis. I probably should. They are quick to make and usually quick to sell. I make them so that they can also be used as either trinket or soap dishes too.

The holiday's must be a time for breakage! A customer contacted me to say she broke her favorite mug. It's a simple, loosely thrown design, with flower stamps. I hadn't made this style in quite awhile. The ginkgo leaf carving sort of took over most everything I make. I was happy to make her one and then some. It's nice to work in a looser style every now and then.

It's raining now, but we are expecting a change over to snow this evening. We could get a significant amount, for North Carolina. At least we won't have to do much shoveling. The temps will be back in the 50's by Wednesday. 

This is the last time I experienced lots of snow. A visit to New Hampshire in October of 2011. I think we had close to two feet. We aren't expecting that much tonight...............THANKFULLY!

Be Prepared

Photo Credit: Joe Zentner

Winter storm Jonas is on his way. Here in Seagrove we are expecting a mix of snow and ice. Here at 505 E Main we are about as prepared as we can be. Groceries were bought, battery supply looks good, and there are always lots of candles around here. The plus side of this house: town water. If we lose power (and the pipes don't freeze) our toilets will still flush. Downside: we have a heat pump, no power = cold. There is a fireplace here, but we haven't had it inspected and won't use it until that happens. I would rather not burn the house down. On the plus side, we do have a kerosene heater that we can turn on in the studio to keep clay from freezing. Worse comes to worse we can go in there to warm up! It's good to be prepared, and perhaps the storm pattern will change and it won't be as bad as predicted.

The photo is from the 2008 ice storm in New Hampshire. Now that was a colossal storm and you may remember, from past posts, it also occurred the week that John died. I was so out of touch with the outside world that I wasn't prepared at all. Danielle came just before the storm to stay with us. We lost power in the early evening. There were oxygen tanks in the house, so candles were out of the question. We conserved our flashlight batteries as best we could. 24 hours later, and still without power, John left this earth. The roads were barely passable, and hospice was unable to come and be with us. It was two more days before the power was back in my apartment. Some of my neighbors weren't so lucky and still had no power two weeks later. I walked through the neighborhood on the warm Christmas eve and could still hear the constant hum of generators. 

Forecasts of impending ice storms bring the memories of that time back to the surface. But this time I am prepared and I know that we will weather the storm.

Hibernation

Winter has finally arrived in Seagrove, NC. The last few days have been cold. Sunday, I awoke to snow flurries. This morning... temperatures in the 20's. Compared to my winters in New Hampshire, this is minor... but I have definitely acclimated to the south. It has been a strain for me to get out to the studio and make pots. I have managed to complete orders, and that one board of sponge holders, but that's about it.

I have gone into hibernation mode.

My preferred place to be is curled up on the sofa with my arsenal of books, pencils, and sketchbook. It usually takes me months to finish a book and I have nearly finished two in the past week. By evening I am ready to move towards the kitchen and cook something warm and soothing for the two of us... rice and beans, a pot of soup, baked macaroni and cheese.

Comfort food.

Evenings have been spent curled up in front of the television, Jeff by my side, cat in my lap, streaming "Nurse Jackie" on the television. We have had a couple of marathon nights when we suddenly realized it was 2:00 am and we had better head off to bed.

I realized last week that I do this every January. It's my response to the end of the holiday season and my way of coping with the worry of "how will we pay the bills?" during the slow season.

Today I will be more productive. I have pots to glaze and orders to ship. Once my to-do list is checked off, my book will be waiting.

...and so will Nurse Jackie.

Wanted: More hours in the day and some extra hands

 It looks like we are not going to have any down time this winter. I am not complaining, I am actually very thankful. Our kiln has been fired twice this month and many of the pots were already spoken for.
I had an order for ginkgo leaf dinner plates and while I was making them I also made this platter/dip combination. I was really happy with it and glad that I took a photo because the couple that ordered the plates bought this as well. I really need to make them on a regular basis. They sell well but I just don't seem to get many made. I don't even know what my excuse is.

In other news, we have a new studio mate this winter...

He really likes basking in the warmth of our under cabinet lighting. He's a cutie, I just wish we could teach him to pug clay or clean up around here. We could use an extra hand.

running water

We spent today battling the frozen water pump/pipes issue that comes along with arctic temps in a structure that wasn't designed for this kind of weather. As I looked at the dishes piling up in the sink, my mind drifted to the vessel sinks that Jeff has been making, and shipping out across this country and Canada...

Jeff's sinks are a generous size, deep and wide enough to function well. I have seen, and used, many vessel sinks that just weren't deep enough to wash your hands in without splashing water everywhere.
Clicking on the first photo will take you to Jeff's Etsy shop where you can take a look at pricing etc. We have a few sinks in stock, but most are custom ordered.

I am hoping that tomorrow we will have water and I can wash all those dishes that are piling up! In the meantime, I hope you are all fairing well in these frigid temps.

winterizing...

we ran out of firewood this week... we were so busy this summer and fall we never got around to buying more.  luckily we do have a propane heater in both the house and the studio but i hate sending all my money to the propane company (they get enough just through firing the kiln!).
i found a decent price on seasoned hardwood and they will deliver a little more than a cord on saturday... in the mean time we called someone on craigslist and they delivered a pick up truck load today.  it was only $45 dollars and quite frankly we wanted to see what we could get for 45 bucks... it was hardwood, and did appear to have been cut some time ago but it was wet from being out in the rain we had last night.  it also was lots of small logs. we won't buy wood from them again.  it will get us by these next few days and then we will mix it with the wood that is coming on saturday.  so today i spent stacking wood, which i really don't mind doing at all...

we also fired a bisque kiln today and while i was stacking wood, jeff put up a wall next to the electric kiln to protect it from the weather.  this was something we had put off all summer.

no more trying to remember to cover the kiln with a tarp during bad weather!

so that's about all thats new here at the pottery... pretty dull stuff.

is it spring yet?

it is only the 26th of january and i am already wishing for spring...we have had so much snow here in new hampshire that i was tired of it in december. i have not touched clay since thanksgiving weekend...it is way too cold to work in our studio this time of year...unless we want to give all of our money to the propane company to heat the drafty old place...
i am having SEVERE CLAY WITHDRAWALS.

to keep my mind off of it, danielle and i will head to the woods tomorrow for some snowshoeing....

...i really need to get out of the house :-)