Glazing recap

Didn't get a lot of pictures this time--I tend to forget to take them when I'm on a short deadline. Here's a few custom mugs, a special order cookie jar, and some new patterns on pie plates.

Oh, and some adorable doggos.

Speedy

In honor of the Junior track-and-field meet that's been over at Hayward field all week, I decided to feature my fastest animals: the sprinter, and the distance runners. (Not pictured: the sloth dinner plate, just off screen on the left. I found the contrast amusing.)

My first customer of the day, an older lady using her umbrella in it's original purpose. (Umbrella: Latin, little shadow.) She'd been over at Hayward, watching her grandchildren compete. Picked up a mug for them, and a cheetah small baking dish for herself.

Construction/destruction continues to circle the park blocks. One corner has its new concrete laid; no curbs, and I really don't see how there's going to be enough space for two lanes of traffic. It occurs to me that the original plan for the Park Blocks renewal featured a new city hall on the site of the old Butterfly Lot. Now that they've decided to refit the old EWEB building (which was my preference all along), I don't know what they'll do with the gravel lot on the north side of the Farmers Market Pavilion.

Saw Shannon, our GM, talking with a new group of missionaries during set-up, Jehovah's Witnesses. Gotta say, regardless of my beliefs or theirs, I prefer them to our usual evangelicals. They're polite, dress nicely, don't monopolize any given corner all day (like buskers, they're supposed to move periodically. Not all of them do). Best of all, they don't have a bull horn.

There's been some push-back from newer members about our No Dogs policy of late. Say we're driving off potential customers, missing an important part of the market. And has there ever actually been a dog fight at Market? (Yes. Yes, there has.) I was watching from my booth in the afternoon as a guy with a Husky tried to pull it away as it cocked its leg on the back corner of the Info Booth. I went over to check if he'd been successful, and the answer was, not particularly. The critter had painted a long, zig-zagging path of urine all along the back wall.

I don't think staff is going to be supportive of a change.

Counting down

It's been a long couple of days.

We unloaded the kiln Sunday, sorted and priced and inventoried. It wasn't a brilliant firing, a lot of oxidation, but most of the work was still salable. Nothing so over-reduced that it needed refiring, so that's a plus. Then I spent all Monday pulling everything out of the van, choosing work for next weekend's show, replacing display hardware with what I need for a 10-foot booth, filling extra sandbags for Anacortes' windswept street. (And feeling a little cheated. Sakrete's 50-lb. Play Sand bags must've been weighed wet. Dry, they only had about 43 lbs. Fortunately, I found an old sandbag on the back porch that gave me enough to get each bag within reach of 25 lbs. Hoping 50 lbs. of weight on each leg will keep my booth from walking away if the wind picks up.

Today it's small errands. Print out motel info and move-in packet. Clean up the kitchen. Do a few loads of laundry, pick up a reserve book, sign up for a September firing. I baked cookies this morning, and picked another quart-and-a-half of blackberries. Will bake a pie tonight, to share with Denise's cousins in Seattle when we stop there tomorrow evening for dinner. Still have to sort out clothing, pack food and coolers; that'll be a tomorrow morning job.

Meanwhile, here's a few pies from the last firing.

Burning bright

My favorite piece from the latest firing:



Mom! My ear!