SNOW!

We knew we’re going to see some and it looks like more could be coming our way. We have moisture in the forecast for the nine of the next 10 days…four of which all sources indicate snow…maybe three…maybe five. In any event, it’s going to be a wet one. Brenda humored me and had a load and a half of food delivered this weekend and Costco will drop a shipment on Tuesday. We feel comfortable with the “Winter Storm Watch for the Motherlode” that the National Weather Service announced for Tuesday/Wednesday…we live in the Motherlode.

The glaze tests from last week finally paid off…took a bit of fudgy-wudgy and had to do some work-arounds but we got a result that we really like. The colorway we came up with really shows off the yarn from Mountain Colors…and that is the point isn’t it? The STITCHES at Home event is coming up in a bit over a week and we will have the new kit making its debut at that virtual show. We’re stoked about this combination.

Madison, the Princess of Hobnob, is developing into a typical Black Labrador Retriever. She’s four months old and her feet are continuing to grow…as is her love for the ball…she loves to chew her squeaky toys (and the floor is littered with them)…she has a rock collection on the kitchen counter and another on the railing of the porch…she picks up rocks around the yard and we take them from her mouth. She finds sticks and acorns but rocks are her favs. Best news? No accidents in the house for four days in a row…a miracle. This dog is extremely smart but not as stubborn as our Brittany…making her a joy to work with in training. Oh…and her tail can now dust the top of the coffee table…she’s growing.

A significant amount of snow happened last night for the first time this year. Moisture from the sky has been hard to come by this year. Still time to catch up…but we’re about two major systems down. Each major system drops 5-7 inches of rain. Our historical average is about 54 inches of water…more than Seattle by a few buckets.

The snow was Madison’s first experience. Fun?! Oh yeah…fun to watch her play. She is a bit frustrated with trying to find good rocks to carry around (how dare they hide)…but zooming around playing slip-n-slide is pretty cool. When the accumulated snow from a branch fell on her…the look on her face just cracked me up. Everything is new. We should all have that fresh, new, and fun experience every day.

The art/craft and fiber festivals continue to be postponed or cancelled in 2021. We’re expecting the few still “scheduled” between now and June to also fall along the wayside.  I cringe when I think about waiting until June to do our first face to face show of the year…and first in a year and a half! But that could be a real possibility.

In the meantime it’s “lights, camera, action” around here. Our video studio got a workout last week and will see more action this week. I may start to use some techno gear during our Wednesday “Shenanigans of a Studio Potter (every week, Wed 5-6 on FB). It’s a live program (yes there are mistakes…it’s raw) and we do it each week. But I have equipment that will enable me to give a better upload and still shoot the segments in their plain, simple and unscripted form. I’ve got a few episodes this summer than could be in the car or at the cabin, where the studio potter is and what the potter is doing is all part of the story...it’s each week.

Madison, the black Lab puppy, is doing very well. She has stopped biting as her first option. She and Montana (her 15 yo sister pup) have actually napped on the same bed…and we got her using a slow down food dish. Eating a cup of food went from under 50 seconds to about 12 ½ minutes! It’s got to be healthier right?! She loves coming out to the mudroom to visit. I’ll be getting a raised bed for her as I can see her coming out to the shops when the weather warms a bit.

The big challenge in the studio work this week will be to try some glaze tests without using a particular chemical (titanium)…it throws off some color responses…in a very unpleasant way.  But removing the titanium also kills the surface of the glaze, a feature of the glaze that really makes it special. So I’ll be trying to fine tune the glaze in question to get some hint of the surface character with the color combination that I desire. Fingers are crossed. Normally I use 12-13 test tiles on a test like this…I made 50 for this go around…it may be that complicated.

We have a STITCHES at Home event coming up (Feb 4-7) and will be premiering a new color that will blow your brain. Seriously the coolest glaze I’ve ever worked with. We will have a limited number of pieces done in the new glaze. It will only be available as a magnetic backed shawl closure…in five shapes. You will have to watch our LIVE gig at STITCHES for the show-and-tell…and the pieces will be available immediately following that show on our website. Details for the STITCHES event will be in the newsletter…don’t subscribe? You can do that at: http://www.lickinflames.com/contact.html

Daughter Katy and I taped the webinar for the last in the Intentional Creative series, “Elemental Creativity.” What a great experience. I’m editing the material for the course, “Water: Honoring” and should have it up on line by this coming weekend. Information about the series is on our website at: https://www.lickinflames.com/store/c36/Elemental_Creativity_Series.html
So despite the setbacks the pandemic has provided, there are new things happening.

Brenda and I try to find the “silver lining” in everything. Sometimes, when projects don't produced expected results you might find something pretty fine...as is the case of the dark ruby red glazes in the pictures...oops. I didn't make a mistake in mixing...the chemicals just didn't respond as expected...I didn't get the ruby red, but I can certainly live with the grey.

The puppy, Madison, is growing at 6-8 pounds a week and nowhere close to filling in the feet and skin. She may be a big girl when she reaches “adult stature.” I like that stature word…it covers up for her still acting like a goofy puppy when she is full sized critter.

So then my mind starts to wonder if that same term could somehow be used to describe a human…say someone like myself…full size but child-like. I could warn folks to not let my adult stature fool them as I play with clay.

Madison is just at 12 weeks and while not quite able to leap tall buildings…she tries to jump on the couch. Sometimes she’s successful and sometime…well she misjudges the launch and falls just a tad short of the cushions. And while she may not qualify for the long jump OR the high jump in the Olympics…Speed Eating…she qualifies for that muzzle down. She can clean 1 cup of food in under 50 seconds…unless she decides to chew a piece (that’s rare) and then it takes just a minute. Her new slow down bowl has been shipped. We decided to get the new bowl when I found out that there are no competitions with prize money involved for speed eating dogs…and the gold medal isn’t solid gold so who cares.

We’ve let her visit in the mud room a couple times now and have to watch her with eagle eyes as she still tries most things with her mouth. Eventually I’ll put a bed in the workshop and another in the mudroom so she can go to work with us in the shops…but always with an eye out on the sneaky little girl.

BIG week this one…shooting “Shenanigans of a Studio Potter” on Wednesday 5-6 PM Pacific LIVE on FB…a LIVE demo with Vogue Knitting’s Virtual product also on Wednesday (Noon)…then a sale slot with Vogue on Thursday…and a different demo on Thursday and another sales slot on Friday…all the while making stuff in the mudroom…and shooting footage for the first in the new MakeIt series.

Still trying to find someone who will
complete the Ethernet install…including second lines (to run HDMI over Ethernet). All of it needs to go underground and thankfully the pipes are all under already. When the lines go underground life will be good…for a bit anyway.

Covid came close to us this past couple of weeks. Turns out we had an outbreak at the local Post Office (6 of the team down there tested positive)…our driver tested positive and three days later when he wasn’t showing symptoms he was back on the route without retesting. Needless to say…he stays “over there” when he picks up and drops off…6 feet?…more like 20 AND masks AND outdoors. Me thinks the PO should rethink their policy on Covid precautions…I know they’re shorthanded (down 2 FT positions locally even)…and the volume is huge…but now we can’t trust any PO employees to be “clean” and not just merely asymptomatic.

Last week when I wrote about a wild 2021 ahead of us…I had no idea just how wild it could be. What are people thinking?! Hopefully things can get back on track and we can have a wild but successful 2021…less on the wild and more on the successful…please. Do I need to say "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"