10-26-19

I walked almost 10 miles today. Dan and I walked to Jones Point to see this lighthouse at the bottom corner of the diamond that marked the boundaries of DC when it was first formed.

We strolled through Alexandria.

Then, after a taco lunch, we went to the Metro to see the African American Museum. It was disturbing and very crowded.

For dinner we met up with Dan's mom's first cousin and wife, who were such great supports for us when we were first married and lived here in Alexandria. They are in their 80s now and doing great. That is strange... 30 years ago when we leaned on them for support, they were younger than WE were. They had a teenager at home, who is now 46 years old. Time. Time. Time. Such a strange thing.

10-25-19

Day 2 done at NSF. It was a hard two days but worth it. Now we get to spend the weekend in DC enjoying ourselves.

10-24-19

 While I was at my meeting today, the lady who is taking care of the gray kitten send me some photos of him. He's still a bit ragged looking but I'll take good care of him and get him used to a brush. Isn't he adorable? My meeting is going ok but it's hard work.

10-23-19

We flew to DC today so I could attend a two-day meeting at NSF.

We are staying in an AirBnB in Alexandria, Old Town. It's so neat to be here!!!

I caught a rainbow on the Metro platform.

10-22-19

The friend I made all these for came by today to pick them all up. I'm so happy with how they all turned out. It was quite a lot of work!

10-21-19

Look at this stinky little kitten. I was telling my co-worker last week that I wanted a kitten and she saw this bugger at the vet this morning. It was found in a ditch and brought in for care. I think I'm going to adopt him.

I taught this evening and when I got home, enjoyed this piece of pumpkin tiramisu that my mom made and dropped of for us. Oh boy was it ever good. So much for my 25 pound weight loss. It's less than that now. I keep eating yummy things. But it has to stop. My cholesterol is 270 and I do not want to go on a statin.

Picked these up from the studio in Opelika today.

10-20-19

A soap maker in Huntsville mailed me this bar so I could take photos for her to use. And so I could try her soap!!! I took photos of the soap in all my soap dishes....
I've made a new friend on Instagram who speaks French and we have been chatting back an forth in French and it's so neat to be able to practice my little skill and improve it. Instagram is an interesting platform that way. I wish it's wasn't owned by Facebook.

10-19-19

Saturday night. Dan and I got shingles shots yesterday so we are taking it easy this weekend. I'm crocheting a blanket for my sister for a Christmas gift. She never reads my blog so she won't know!!! This is a mug I made over the summer with some hot cocoa in it. Yum. We are watching Netflix and chilling....

10-18-19

This is a little figurine I made of Aza's cat, Zara. It was in my second glaze load, which contained a lot of test tiles with glazes I bought. I fired the kiln to cone 5 which wasn't hot enough for the black glaze I bought, but this cat was on the top, hotter, shelf so it turned out ok. One of the four bowls I had in there cracked, so, I have to make a replacement. Lesson to self- always make extras!

10-17-19

Today there was a tour of the new College of Education building site and so I walked there. It took 15 minutes compared with the current 25. On the way I snapped this photo of a magnolia seed pod. Strange looking.

Tonight we went to hear Act of Congress (a band out of B'ham) at Sundilla.

10-16-19

I made this travel mug for a friend's birthday. It fits perfectly in her car cup holder!

Teensie is doing her yoga on the den rug!

10-14-19

Back from our trip, I went to the studio today in Opelika to pick up fired pieces and got this bottle back. It's pretty large. I made it over the summer at the university.

10-12-19

I went with Aza to her pottery studio today! I got to show her a few tricks of the trade and see where she hangs out to make stuff. I'm so glad she is learning the craft that has me so in love with creative making. It may not become the obsession for her that it is for me, but she is diving in at a much younger age than I was... so if she ever wants to take up the pursuit in a more serious way, it will be easier. Heck, maybe she'll share my kiln one day if we ever move to Richmond :)

10-9-19

Fall break! Dan I and flew to Richmond today to spend a long weekend with Aza and Supbra. I made myself an iced "latte" on the flight :)

We got to meet their new kitten, Aria, and see the life they are building for themselves. Aza is so grown up now.... duh... she's 31, which is strange. I mean, that's the age my mom was when I was 2 and I always thought of her as such an ADULT at that age. My little baby Aza is that now... in a beautiful apartment with a kind and devoted partner, in a rewarding career. We are so proud of her.

10-8-19

I had lunch today with my young friend, who was allowed to invite one guest to lunch and she picked me. Her grandparents were a bit miffed that they weren't chosen!!! We had a good time. She reminds me of me as a child.... 

10-7-19

Dan and I spent part of the weekend in Georgia so I could attend a small conference with my grad student, who gave a presentation. 

10-6-19

All these pieces were made for one friend who came and bought them all today. Quiche bakers, berry bowls, mugs.... all this took me three months to finally make!!!

10-4-19

Photos of the kiln load with the "new" lens. I love the reflection in the one below, taken outside on the brick wall.

Today I had a department meeting with the president of the university in attendance.

10-3-19

Ugh. The kiln overfired. The blue glazes turned dark, even green. All my cauldrons bloated. 

The only good thing about today is that my mom gave me a camera lens that someone left at her house-- and she cannot get the photographer to claim the lens. So, in the meantime it's mine. It's an amazing portrait lens and will do amazing things for my pottery pictures!

10-2-19

This is my first glaze load in my kiln. The three sugar bowls with lids are supposed to be blue. I fired this to a cone 6 at medium speed.

9-30-19

My first bisque fire!!!! One handle cracked, maybe because I removed the top peep before the kiln cooled down fully. Dunno... but I think I can fix it in the glaze fire. It's so exciting!!!!

9-29-19

This is my student Cheese. He also cat-sits Teensie. He came over today to visit Teensie and return some tupperware. He's a PhD student.... smart as a whip... funny, kind, and full of joy.

Below is a photo he took of me holding my newest mug design, of which I am most proud. It's a ribbon-awareness mug and this one is going to a breast cancer patient.

9-28-19

This is a boring photo, but it helps me remember that I spent an hour today tutoring my nephew about stats. I haven't seen him in years and he reached out to me via text and asked me to help him with a college class. I used Zoom to interface with him, share my screen, etc. I also kept cleaning my studio and got caught up on my grading! I also got caught up on this blog, which I tend to forget about. I forget my day. I forget to remember it with this blog! I need to set a reminder each day to upload a photo that captures the day. One other thing is that I started the first fire on my kiln yesterday late afternoon and it finished today! It's now ready to go to work, but I don't have any kiln wash..... so can't do a glaze fire yet.

9-27-19

Friday. I had a four hour meeting at school today and came home to a buzzard on the roof. Yuck. It was eating a dead creature in the driveway. Buzzard, vulture, same thing in my head.

I had orders for some cauldrons and they came out brown or shiny black because the clay was the wrong kind. It caused so much angst in my head.... They are pretty, but not right. 

9-26-19

I took this photo today right as Dan was leaving to visit his parents and bring this little bud vase along.

I will miss him, I always do, but it's good for me to be alone sometimes and face myself, take care of myself. It was a busy day and I had to do a lot of work I didn't want to do.

9-25-19

My kiln came today!!!!!

I went to schools today, went to the studio, and then came home to this!!!

9-24-19

Large clay container I'm making.

Today I had lots of meetings with students and even made one cry. He is a poor student and does not like any negative feedback. He says I treat him like a child. I'm treating him like a student! He is not doing well and knows it. I hate this part of teaching. But his tears did not move me. I did not feel compassion because I think he is like Eddie Haskel and is trying to manipulate me. 

9-22-19

Dan did this! I decorated the shelves.

It's time to paint the house after living in it for 7 years. Dan painted the carport ceiling and all the trim and a couple of the brick walls this weekend! I didn't help much and felt a tad guilty about that.

9-21-19

I love the weekends. I get to play with clay without any guilt. Here I'm making a stand to hang spoons from in the kiln.