VIdeo on historical Stangl & Fulper Pottery

Interesting video on the historic Stangl & Fulper pottery in New Jersey.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9-QZb2qSBI

 I'm up to my ears in computer woes this rainy morning. Got the Windows 7 installed, but some drivers need updating, but the web address for doing that only gave me options to update drivers for Windows xp or Vista. AARGH. Then I tried to re-install the McAfee antivirus, only to find out that  it's not compatible with Win 7 and there's no fix available. So I closed down the laptop and headed back upstairs to my office and am working on my old desktop. After breakfast I'll be on the phone with Dell once more. Ah, the joys of computer ownership!

Today will be spent getting all my files back on to the laptop and loading some software to see if any of it will work. I have a feeling I'm going to be buying a lot of new software.Windows 7 is so new that they don't even have information on their web site about the compatibility of many popular software programs, like my Word Perfect. So I guess I'll just install it and see what happens.

We didn't have the turkey soup last night so we'll have it tonight. Jim decided he'd rather munch on pate, fruit and cheese after our big lunch. Well, time to get to my morning mail and harvest my Farmville crops so I can get back to working on the laptop. I think I'll also do some checking on line to see if there are any good reviews on some free antivirus software that I can install on the laptop until Dell sends me a McAfee disk that will work with Windows 7.

Wedgewood plate with potter throwing

Here's a fun Wedgewood plate that I have hanging in my studio. I found it on Ebay a few years ago and had never seen one like it before.

I'm still waiting for the Dell tech to call to help my install Windows 7 on my laptop. Jim and I need to get out a bit later to do some shopping, so if this guy hasn't called before we leave, I'll have to call him again when we get back. We'll have a big lunch out and just have a light dinner of the turkey carcass soup. 

These computer woes and dealing with my office paper piles has consumed all my time lately; but the pile has gotten smaller and the trash bucket has been emptied several times already with more to go. Now I have to finish filing all these sorted food and glaze recipes and other assorted pieces of information. I'll pick up a bunch of folders when we're out and that will help me clear most of this stuff off the desk and into appropriate file cabinets.

Antique Oribe basket

Another revisited pot. - this time an antique Oribe basket form that I purchased in one of my visits to Japan.
It's one of my favorite pieces, and it's currently doing duty as a candy dish on our living room coffee table.

I've been waiting all morning for a call from Dell to help me install the new Windows 7 operating system in my crashed laptop. Since I'm relegated to the house, both with that waiting and dealing with sinusitis which is making me avoid studio dust, I'm using the time to hit the paper pile in my office. After an hour of sorting, I'm wondering why I thought I couldn't live without all this information, recipes, etc.

This afternoon I'll make a pot of turkey carcass soup. We finished the last of of the turkey leftovers yesterday and now it's time for the soup which I'll stick in the freezer for another day. Tonight it's pork chops au poivre with a cream and sherry reduction and home fried potatoes and butternut nut squash with an orange, brown sugar, butter sauce.

Well, time to get back to the paper pile.

Linda McFarling Soda Fired Jam set

Here's another revisit of my Linda McFarling Soda fired Jam set. Linda is one of my favorite potters. I love her sense of simple, yet strong forms. The crackle slip works really well on these jars and the contrast of the flashing slip and the matt black of the stand make a stunning contrast.

Yesterday was spent mostly with computer woes. Transferring files individually with my limited knowledge of DOS took me two days at least; but it's finally done. It's going to take even longer to sort all those individual files and get them re-loaded on the Laptop once I get a new operating system installed. The new Windows 7 Software is here but I'm still waiting for the Dell tech to call me to help install it. That probably won't happen till Monday. There was also a freezing mouse problem with this old desktop that I was finally able to resolve yesterday by deleting and doing a clean install.

In the meantime I'll be going through more paper piles and plan on enjoying a lazy Sunday morning with some bagels, smoked salmon and cream cheese for breakfast, reading the Sunday papers,  and re-heating  the last of the leftover turkey with freshly cooked veggies for dinner.

I've been staying out of the studio because of these computer woes as well as dealing with sinusitis which doesn't seem to be responding to treatment. It's definitely been an interesting couple of weeks!

Ellen Shankin Jar

Here's re-visit of another great pot in my collection - an Ellen Shankin stoneware, ash glazed jar.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My day was spent cooking and transferring files from my dead laptop (that job will continue today). It's taking me forever to use DOS to transfer all these files to the stand alone hard drive. If I can finish that, then I'll get on the phone with Dell to have them guide me through installing a new operating system.

This computer project will eat up most of my time today. Fortunately dinner is taken care of - either Thanksgiving leftovers or dinner at the seafood restaurant in town if our friends are available. 

Michael Cardew pottery teapot

 Here's another re-visited pot - a darling, one person teapot that I purchased from Michael Cardew in the early 80's.

Yesterday I figured a way to save some of my files on my laptop. Using Dos, I was able to access my documents and got a lot of them copied to my stand alone hard drive. It took forever to do with all the typing of those DOS commands, and I still have more to do after breakfast. The new Windows 7 software is due to arrive today, so my day will be split with doing some Thanksgiving veggie prep and cooking and maybe getting on the phone with the Dell Techie to get the new Windows installed.

Fortunately I have leftover mushroom bisque for dinner. Not having to cook will free up that time to deal with the laptop problem.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ruggles and Rankin Wood fired jar

Today we're re-visiting this wonderful slip decorated jar by Will Ruggles and Douglas Rankin.They fire in a multiple chambered kiln fueled by gas, wood, and oil with a combination of salt and soda.We were very fortunate to have them here in Western North Carolina for all those years and I'm looking forward to seeing the work that they'll be making in their location in New Mexico.

Computer woes continue. Dell tech couldn't get past the blue screen of death either, so we're going to have to reinstall Windows which means losing everything on the laptop. Fortunately, I'm pretty backed up with my documents, thanks to a stand alone hard drive. I'll only lose a couple of family photos and recipes which can probably be easily replaced. Instead of reinstalling Vista or Windows XP, I ordered Windows 7 which the laptop will support. Vista is what caused this problem and XP will soon lose support, so Windows 7 seems to be the best option for now. I just hope it's going to work with all my old software. If not, then I may have them create a dual boot drive so I can install the Windows XP as well.

Yesterday was spent with the Dell tech and by myself, to see if I could find a back door into the program. Cooking, plant watering, animal care and other chores filled in the rest of the day. The studio will just have to wait till after Thanksgiving.

Today I need to do all my Thanksgiving food shopping and tomorrow I'll be doing a lot of my pre-Thanksgiving vegetable prep. If the software arrives today, then I'll be dealing with that as well.

Thomas Clarkson large ash glazed stoneware jar

Here's another great pot worth re-visiting. This is a large, ash glazed jar by Thomas Clarkson of Charlottesville, Va.

Yesterday was spent on computer woes and cooking. The blue screen laptop problem is still not resolved and I didn't have time to call about it yesterday since I knew it might take a long time and I had an early big roast pork dinner planned.

After breakfast, and plant watering, I'll get on the phone and see if they can remotely access the laptop and find a way in so we can do a CHKDSK /F and get an idea of the problem.

Tonight I'm making salad and mushroom bisque for dinner. After a heavy meat dinner last night, the soup will be a nice change of pace. We'll have the leftover pork another day - probably tomorrow.

Robin Hopper Stoneware pitcher

Since I'm dealing with a major computer problem, here's another re-visit of a Robin Hopper stoneware pitcher from my collection. 

Dealing with computer laptop hell this morning - the Windows blue screen of death that I need to address. It tells me to do a chkdsk /f, which of course, I can't do because I can't find a way in. None of the safe modes work. Diagnostics aren't turning up a problem, so it might be a virus, which I have no idea how I could get since I am super careful, anti virus always up to date, not opening email attachments, etc.I hope Microsoft and Dell have help available today! I'm using my old desktop just to catch up on email, then going to see if this can be fixed today. Jim says he has 3 words for me "Buy an Apple!"

I'm cooking a pork roast dinner this afternoon, so it looks like the whole day is spoken for at this point. Fortunately I got my bowls trimmed and all but one, waxed yesterday, before I had to come in and get ready for a date night with Jim - dinner at the Knife and Fork. I had the roast leg of lamb and Jim opted for the rabbit ravioli - nice meal, as always!

Hope everyone is having a nice, quiet, no computer or other problems, Sunday!

Robin Hopper teapot

Here's a Robin Hopper teapot from my collection. Unfortunately the lid was dropped. I need to get it glued one of these days. I bought this from Robin before he moved to Canada's west coast, and was still living and working in Ontario.It's a nice example of resist design on the raw body, cobalt slip over and clear glaze over part of the cobalt slip.

Never got to the studio yesterday, other than covering some leather hard pots to trim today. Bread baking and dinner prep and some household chores usurped all my time. Dinner was a tossed salad and steamed mussels in white wine, garlic, onion, pernod, and basil with an addition of  a cream, shallot and lemon sauce. It's  the original Carrabas recipe "Cozze in bianco",  that I found on line -and  not the  clone.. The only thing missing part of the recipe was the lemon butter sauce, so I had to search the various recipes on line and settled for the classic French, lemon butter sauce. The recipe called for chablis which Jim picked up for me;, but next time I'm going to use a sauvignon blanc instead. Chablis is pretty undrinkable and not great for cooking either (just my personal preference); but I thought I'd follow the recipe as given the first time.

We're going out to the Knife and Fork in Spruce Pine for dinner, so I'll be able to get in some good studio time today. The pots are definitely ready for trimming and depending on how I feel, I'll either throw a few more things or mix up a couple of flashing slips and start decorating.

David Gilhooley chocolate covered frog ice cream cone

Finally got around to taking pictures of a couple of  more pots from my collection. Here's a wonderful whimsical chocolate covered frog ice cream cone by David Gilhooly. David was one of the leaders of the funk movement, initially setting up a vegetable cart in San Francisco, selling these fun ceramics.. He was one of the  artists in a gallery I started while living in Canada in  the 70's and when I sold the gallery I kept this piece. He stopped doing making pots some time ago, which is a big loss for the world of ceramics.

I've been busy this morning with taking photos and getting a batch of no knead bread started. It's on it's second rise now. This time I added more yeast and which seems to be working well. It should be ready to bake in another hour or so. In the meantime I'll check the pots I threw yesterday and see if they're ready to trim. I uncovered them at 6am,  so should be ready for trimming today.

I only threw a few small, 2 lb range bowls using the last bit of Loafers Glory. It was pretty firm, but I was very encouraged that I could wedge and center it without too much chest discomfort and the best part is that I feel good thing morning. I also added some throwing slip to the reclaim and got the mixer going for a bit and got some studio sweeping and other cleanup. It felt really good to be getting that much studio time and not feeling the worse for it!

Jim is up inBanner Elk in search of some clams, but just called to say they're out, so he's picking up mussels instead and I'll try a Carrabas clone recipe for steamed mussels in a pernod, white wine, lemon, garlic, basil sauce. That, along with the freshly baked, crunchy bread will make for a nice, light supper.

Visiting an old wood fired soda pot

Been too busy to take more photos, so here's a re-visit of one of my wood fired soda pots.

Experimented with letting Bonnie kitty have the run of the house early this morning. She certainly provided a lot of interest and exercise for our dog Bodhi, as the two of them chased each other almost non stop for about 45 minutes. Fortunately she didn't knock over anything, although she did attempt to use the sofa and one chair as a scratching post, which is why Jim hasn't wanted me to allow her the run of the house. Guess I need to get a water pistol and learn how to aim it! I was able to distract her with the new laser toy. Like the fishing pole with the bird feathers, this one is a big, kitty, winner in the toy department!

After I water the house plants, and get my morning vitamins, I'm going to head for the studio and see if I can find something to do without hurting my chest. I think I might just get the de-airing pugmill working and see if I can get some of the Moon White clay soft enough to throw a few small things.

Dinner is leftovers again so I'l just have to make a salad to go with the chicken thighs, stewed tomatoes, peppers, andouille sausage, etc, and biscuit topped casserole. Jim really liked this recipe so it will go in the permanent file in the favorites recipe box.

November blooming azaleas

These pictures of a blooming shrub and azalea near our front porch was taken a couple of days ago. With the unseasonable warm days, I guess they thought that spring had arrived!

We went from spring like, 70 degree weather, to a rainy, cold, dreary day; but I'm not complaining - just trying to keep that cold from reaching deep inside my bones!

Today has beena day of small, non studio chores. I'm still having a challenge with some of my grow lights and I think that another fixture may need replacing. New bulbs didn't work and I had to move a bunch of plants under another light that I was planning to grow lettuce under. I know that these cheap fluorescent fixtures don't often last very long, but the fixture in question looks pretty new. :-(

It's going to be a simple salad and pasta night. Cooking for two makes for a lot of leftovers, so I won't have to cook for another couple of days.

I found an old Moosewood, low fat favorites cookbook on Amazon for under four dollars, and I've spent the last hour going through the recipes, making notes of the ones I want to try.They have some interesting vegetarian stews, as well as a Italian fish stew I'm looking forward to making.

 I also got the Thomas Keller "Ad Hoc at home" cookbook which I'll try to go through more thoroughly after dinner. We've eaten at his restaurant "The French Laundry" a couple of times, but I don't have the time or energy for some of his more complex, exotic recipes. The Ad Hoc cookbook is mainly family style recipes; but with his signature style.  It's a gorgeous cookbook with very high quality paper and photos and the recipes all look doable without spending the whole day in the kitchen. I don't think I'll be making oil poached sturgeon (not something I can buy locally); but from my quicke perusal, it looks like most of the recipes have ingriedients that would be locally available. He has a leek bread pudding that looks like it would be a lovely side dish with a simple pork or beef roast.

You should never food shop or read cookbooks when you're hungry! LOL

Busy non studio day

 After a frustrating half hour trying to upload a photo, I'm giving up. The size and format is correct, so I don't have a clue as to why I keep getting a "failed" message". I'll try again tomorrow. I'm too tired to fight a losing battle with finicky software.

Jim and I have been out galavanting all day in Johnson City, TN. Originally, the plan was to drive to Asheville. That's before I discovered that there's an Earth Fare in Johnson City, so we made a quick change of plans since Johnson City is a bit shorter drive than Asheville.

After my morning animal chores, animal care, light breakfast and plant watering, we headed out to Tennessee in time for an early lunch at the Indian Buffet, followed by a lot of shopping stops - everything from kitty toys and food at Pet Smart to groceries and clothes etc.. Earth Fare was wonderful. It's similar to the Whole Foods markets, but on a smaller scale.  Since we had such a large lunch, we just opted for snacks for dinner - smoked trout spread, cheese, grapes and  wine.

The minute I got home, and put away all the groceries and other purchases, I had some chicken stock to make which I'll freeze it for mushroom bisque next week.Now I'm just settling in, catching up on email and updating the blog.

Burning Bush in all it's fall glory!

 Woke up to the most glorious star filled sky this morning! With the garden sporting mostly shades of brown this time of year, this burning bush has waited to exhibit it's glorious color at time when when it could shine without competition! This crazy weather (in the 70's the past couple of days), has two of my azaleas putting forth a few blooms; and the calendulas are still going strong.

Yesterday I trimmed one pot. Yes, that's right, 1 pot! They other 2 went flying off the wheel! When I released my foot from the foot pedal, the foot pedal demon who has taken up residence, spun the wheel out of control. It was quite a sight! The universe is having quite a laugh at my expense lately. First I can't wedge or throw unless the clay is like cream cheese, making it an impossible task, then this demon takes up residence in my foot pedal. So today I will do an foot pedal exorcism to remove it and hope it's just a minor adjustment and not something needing replacing.

In any case, I think today is going to be a paper work and cooking day. I have a chicken thigh casserole with a biscuit topping that I think I'll make, and I have a huge paper pile that I need to go through and some glaze recipe notations to make.

Well, time to feed kitty, AKA, the organic alarm clock, and let her out of her night time quarters.