Achoooo!

First covered container - May 2015

After glazing. The slash of blue was unintended, giving this piece its name - The god spot.

Bummer.

Last week was cool and crisp and this week the skies have opened up. It is pouring and cold.

A virus has had me huddled in the house with meds, tea, chicken soup, and extra blankets for 8 days. The few times I have been out (a passenger - to get something to eat) I could see the leaves finally turning. The woods are bright with swaths of orange and yellow and red.

I have missed walks in the crunchy leaves. I have missed watching the transition from summer to fall. Until today fall was moving slowly. Then the temperature dropped from 70 degrees to 40 mid-morning. I was clear-headed enough to head to the college to work on final projects for the semester.  I bundled up and, along the way, I scoped out the walk - trees I plan to visit when the rain is done (potentially 5 days!).

While the sneezing continued, I felt well enough to spend a few hours in the clay - my therapy. I knew I was pushing it a bit, but once in the barn I pulled out all I have "in process" (7 pieces headed to the bisque kiln, 1 piece out of the glaze kiln, 21 pieces waiting to be glazed - YIKES!). I sanded a few rough spots, applied wax-resist to the 21, admired my newly-glazed vase, and threw 8 more pieces. I have an "order" for 8 mugs and one for a mug and bowl. I am also trying to use up my stoneware clay. It should still be fine after the short winter break, but I will have more clay next semester.

I am also trying out other clay to see what I might want to use in the future. So far I have used four different clay bodies this semester. The stoneware clay we use in class (Balcones) is a good all-purpose throwing clay. It comes in 3 colors and shrinks about 10 %. I like it fine. B-mix is a porcelain-like white clay that throws nicely, but shrinks like crazy. If I use it again I will carefully measure work before and after to be able to know what to expect.  Gruene Butter is buff clay that throws like the B-mix. I don't know how it will fire or glaze yet. And raku clay is very sturdy-a challenge to throw and full of grog (feels like sand, but it is crushed ceramic used to make a clay stronger - it smooths the fingerprints right off the tips of your fingers). It is designed to withstand the thermal shock of the raku process.* A friend is using it to build a large piece and I am playing with the "leftovers." I am looking forward to see how it glazes.

Most, if not all, of my work this semester has been functional ware.** You use it for something - bowls, mugs, cups, vases, and covered containers. I have been working on my skills: wedging, throwing, trimming, finishing, and glazing.  I made three glazes and have a notebook of recipes. But I focused more on basic skills. [Maybe my Christmas holiday will allow for some time to plan glazes I want to try.]

This foggy brain just realized that I need to take photos of the pieces made with different clay so I have some record of how they behave. I will do that tomorrow - and log them into my notebook. For now I will post miscellaneous photos to record what is what so far. [I figure a bunch of bowls and mugs make nicer illustrations than a bunch of cold medicine containers and a pile of tissues.]

Not my best photo, but it does show how I like to work...alone. Actually, I enjoy the exchange of ideas with my classmates, but I do get more accomplished when it is quiet and I can immerse myself in the process (you know it is a distraction thing).

 Glaze samples:

Three mugs (I have posted before, but want them here as I think about glazes).

Bowl - stoneware with tenmoku glaze/rutile slashes.

Same bowl

Funky glaze. It was an accident - we don't have the recipe. I want to use it before we use it up.

Plaid from last semester. While not a planned "test" of the glazes the piece is really heavy. It is a test now, but I expect to do more of these to give away.

I love the way these glazes work together. Tenmoku under/mottled blue over.

My favorite, vainy

 Wet work:

Stoneware cylinders (for mugs) waiting to be removed from bats and dried (need to be trimmed and have handles added).

B-mix bowls. They bisque fire almost white.

Greenware (not bisqued yet): 

Items on the left are bisqued stoneware. 7 items on the right are drying stoneware.

Bisqued ware: 

Pink bowls are stoneware. Middle white bowls are B-mix. Two bowls on the right are raku - you cannot see how rough the finish on these guys.

Mugs and vases/containers.

Bisqued items with wax resist applied. The wax keeps the glaze from sticking to the bottoms. [Note the covered container in the lower left-hand corner.

I had divided them up by the type of glaze I was going to use. But went home without glazing. I am rethinking (fretting).

Glazed and waiting for the kiln:

Most things went into the tenmoku.

Some got slashes of rutile next.

Two bowls and mug on the left will get a mottled blue glaze atop the tenmoku. The others were waiting for vainy - a weird glaze, but about my favorite.

While looking at glazes I notice we added a "candy apple green"! These guys are the first try with it (for me).

Waiting on the shelf with a wavy work by another student. I cannot wait to see it fired.

We filled the shelf.

I love this piece. I thought it might be a birdbath, but now I am not sure...some kind of centerpiece...a serving piece?

Glaze fired! As promised, the stuff came out of the kiln today. Some was amazing (BTW, the wavy thing above is for chips and dip. There is a bowl for the dip that rests on top.

Here are all the guys fresh out of the kiln - except the new covered container.

An accidental drop of wax on this bowl (and my lazy self) resulted in a new decoration for things. Will probably play with this NEXT semester.

Enjoying the "slashes." This is a B-mix bowl. Did not like the rest of the glaze, but chalking it up to learning.

The slashing is an easy decoration. And the green glaze turned out beautifully!

I threw this "little" container (it is really small....maybe four inches in diameter) at the beginning of the semester. I have wanted to play with driftwood handles. I will keep working on it.

Another view - the container isn't that nice, nor does the lid fit all that well, but I love figuring out how to attach the driftwood (two holes, natural cording, Girl Scout knots).

This is the large (6X8 inches) lidded container that the glaze loved.

I still have lots of work to do/skills to learn, but I can say that this guy turned out lovely.

 After unloading the glaze kiln I dried some pieces to go in the next bisque fire and threw some bowls and mugs. It was not a good throwing day. I don't know what was wrong, but everything was a little wonky. Still, I am trying to take advantage of the last few days of the semester.

Miscellaneous:

Raku clay - wanted to make a couple more cups and a container.

Tried out the Gruene Butter clay too. Two mugs (one is awfully thin at the bottom) and a bowl. Trimming will clean them up a bit. I actually did trim them up and added handles today. These mugs are pretty small. They may be more cups than mugs.

NOTES:

*http://www.robertcomptonpottery.com/Method%20of%20Raku-Firing-Pottery.htm

** vs. non-functional pottery (like sculpture) See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic_art

 Note on clay: I was not crazy about the way the B-mix or the raku glazed with some of my favorite glazes. It did glaze beautifully with the green apple glaze. I suspect part of the reason is that the clay is a white body and the glaze was slightly thinner than normal. More testing required.

A misty weekend on the river...

Evening sky over the duck pond

Yes, we went back to the river again. We went to be together, to wade in the chilly water, to pick flowers, to eat insanely unhealthy breakfasts (Can there be too much bacon? I think not), to play games, to listen to music, to build dinky towers, and to hug each other close.

We filled the building - perhaps a first - at least the first time in a long time. Another generation of baby boys rolled toy cars and "mmmm-ed" as they ate their flour tortillas and bacon and bananas.

The water was beyond its normal frigid temperatures, but we braved the river anyway. Many waded, some swam.*

We shared stories and an evening meal where a fiddler played Irish jigs just for us.

Then, after our last trip down to the water, folks packed and said their goodbyes. We hugged and hugged again. And we left a few things undone. There was no time for a bonfire. We left some games un-played. [And on last report, no underwear was frozen.] So, we know we will be back together before too long (to continue to do!).

DH and I stayed behind to rest and wander the empty camp by ourselves. It is strange to see this place so thoroughly empty.

Ah, but the river still burbled by. The birds sang. The mosquitoes came for DH. It was all too fast a visit, but I think we will continue to gather, those who can, when we can.

THE RIVER:

We only walked the river trail once. The rain and damp made us think better of it most days. But we did head down to the banks of the river multiple times (early and late). So here are more views of the river.

The trees that line a creek are like a family. Their roots reach out to the water for life. It doesn't matter what kind of tree or plant, it just matters that they are family and their roots intertwine. ~ Jim Flinn

Standing on the cliff - looking upriver.

Many of these are blurry due to low light and shaky older hands - looking off the cliff on Saturday morning

See, the edge of the cliff is peeking into the photo.

Rock-fall along the cliff trail. Now that the leaves have fallen, it is a clearer view down to the lower trail and to the river. I was a little more cautious walking (first, because I wore the wrong shoes; second, because I could see down).

The trail in the early morning. I have had to "adjust" the light/dark on many of these along the trail.

Looking off the cliff trail. I suppose we are up 20 to 25 feet above the river.

Where you slide down to move to the lover trail.

This gives more of the early morning light. We moved upriver, trying to be quiet since we knew there were people camping on the river. [Sorry - out of order, but in order for the camera.]

Different view from the cliff trail with a different camera.

Another photo of the place where you leave the cliff trail.

This tree grows from a crack in the cliff. The roots are amazing and provide some hand-holds.

Looking down. (It is only about 4 feet, but then the trail falls off on each side so it is hard to get the real feel for it.)

This shows the actual light.

The river is so inviting, but so, so cold!

Views along the lower trail follow.

Deep water where Buffalo Creek and the main part of the river meet.

Looking up Buffalo Creek.

Looking upriver from Buffalo Creek.

DH standing by to make sure I don't slip off the edge and into the river (or maybe just standing by to watch and giggle).

Looking downriver to the cliff.

River singing, "Come in, come in."

Grass finds a spot to grow on a rock.

Still too shallow to jump from the cliff.

Sunrise

A few trees know it is fall.

By the rope swings.

PLANTS and critters (in no particular order):

We saw a few deer, some exotics, squirrels, a feral cat or two, and a mass of wild turkeys. It is almost too late for wildflowers and the wiser creatures were staying in out of the rain. No one ever accused us of being wise.

Ducks in the duck pond (where else would they be?).

Mom always had a few wildflowers in a glass on the ledge above the sink. We all forgot our wildflower books for help in identification, but relied on prior knowledge and our environmentalist brother. These were the ones my sister picked... red sage is the showiest in the glass.

One of the many yellow flowers blooming still. I will do some research, but for now will just be happy something is blooming.

Tiny and common little bloom.

Green milkweed vine (also known as pearl milkweed)**  was still blooming. You can see the tiny blossoms against the dark tree in the middle.

The fall colors were not at their best, yet. Still we saw lovely oranges, like this vine climbing a tree along the river trail.

Even the wild oxalis caught and held the water.

Cypress twig against the pond.

My sister spied the spider in his web (a web decorated with masses of rain drops).

And there (s)he is.

There is a red oak by the pond showing off its color. I snagged a few acorns.

Leaves were falling in the river.

The showiest of the bloomers -it has some great names, like Havana snakeroot and shrubby boneset. It is Ageratina havanensis, a variety of mist flower

OK. I am not proud of this photo, but the turkeys were moving. It's not that I scrambled to take a photo having forgotten I had a camera with me. All the "in flight" photos were a bust as well. You will have to trust me on this. There was a flock of more than a dozen birds in the campgrounds on Sunday evening and Monday morning. We think they must have been after the acorns.

Ant mounds (mostly fire ant) were everywhere as the rain chased the ants up and out of their subterranean homes. This guy was part of a long line of red ants, moving up the river bank.

This is a maypop or passionflower, refusing to bloom (at least I think it is). My sister pointed out a tiny flower the day before (we failed to go back for a photo). I checked multiple times before we left and gave up after I kept finding buds and no flowers. I did find a wonderful article and photos of the three varieties (and a discussion of some of our other favorites!) known to grow in the hill country of Texas.*** This doesn't really look like any of them, but we plan to watch them and figure it out.

Texas buckeye seed pods (yeah, I gathered some seeds).

There are buckeye trees all along the cliff trail, but these are easier to gather (avoid some potentially dangerous reaching).

What is left of a milkweed pod - I think it is from the green milkweed vine pictured above. Should I mention that I spied a stray monarch when we stopped for gas?

STORIES  (old, new - and always, always more to come):

This is the "train" from one hand of dominoes Saturday night. I was winning up to the last couple of hands...then my younger nephew stealthily overtook me (yup...we never saw it coming).

This is one of the lights on the porch outside of our room. When we were younger (and this could have been almost anytime from 1965 to 1975), there was an old light bulb here. They didn't know how old it was or how long it had been burning. We know we saw it for a good 10 to 15 years. It must have been one of those early things that almost never burned out - until they did. Wow, am I the only one who sees a peace symbol in this photo?

There were two sets of campers in the sites along the river. All went well until Saturday night when the clouds opened up. At one point they borrowed jumper cables. Then we discovered both campfires still smoking and HOT after the campers vacated. We made sure they were out.

FOLKS:

Duplicates of some (love those little hands), but at least one of each:

Did I mention rolling cars?

What about bananas?

The hot chocolate and tea was perfect for the cool weather (what were those salt and pepper shakers?).

Lots of tea and conversation...

Dancing to the fiddler's tune.

Conversations.

Coffee and chat.

"Mommy?"

In between knitting...

And rolling cars....

FOOD:

This trip wasn't really about the food. We had snacks and sandwiches, fruit and candy.  We ate out. And we all gathered for the required river breakfast.

Still life with Tootsie Pops

Part of the breakfast - we were busy MAKING it so we didn't not have time for photos. The newspaper would read: An enormous breakfast of coffee, bacon, tortillas, refried beans, breakfast sausage, eggs, and cottage fries was prepared. The self-serve meal was accompanied by a selection of fruit, juice, cheese and hot sauce, as well as laughter, lies, and wiggly children.

We ran out of time for a fire (Truth: DH saw mosquitoes and refused to have a fire outside with me. He hates mosquitoes though they love him.  I was determined to have one of the giant marshmallows.

This and That:

As the most professional hoarder in the bunch, I did find seeds (live oak, red oak, mountain laurel, and Texas buckeye), driftwood, and river rocks. The seeds will get planted (really, I will plant them this time). The driftwood is for handles on ceramic work and perhaps to dangle some wind chimes or bells. The river rocks may be added to the many other river rocks waiting for the art work that rumbles around in my head.

Acorns

I left some rocks at the river.

We wondered if this was the big rock we used to play on/fight over.

I am not sure why folks make these rock rings in the river. I wonder if they make safe little pools for kids.

Dinky men on the rapids. They started out as two and grew to four before the end of the trip.

The river can stay the same for years and then make dramatic changes (with or without the assistance of man) in the same year. Recent flooding continues to remove dirt from cypress roots, threatening the trees. We notice so many trees are in danger of falling into the river.

DH drinking his morning coffee - sweet guy carrying an umbrella for me.

Some of the driftwood going home for art works (or to add to the pile of driftwood waiting to be used for art).

 This might be a good place for photos of the camp (well, mostly camp signs). Many campgrounds, including this one, are for sale (I know you have heard it before) and we fear each visit may be our last. So I have been taking as many photos as I can...saving memories.
Here you go:

During the season if you come in late you park the car outside the gate and walk in. But really, how many of us are out late when there is a big game of dominoes on in someone's kitchen?

Speaking of kitchens...

The office needs to know you are here and give you your tag.

Slow down!

Don't forget about the ducks!

The now-empty porch. We filled the place up only a few hours earlier.

THE WOODPECKER (SAPSUCKER):

DH and I went down to the river one last time before heading home. It was still misting rain. We initially thought we were the only crazy critters out. But then we saw the flock of wild turkeys again. They were on the move and the photos show it. We wandered a bit downstream along the path and there followed this conversation:

DH: Do you see that bird?

ME: What bird?

DH: Right there in front of you.

ME: I don't see anything. Is it on the limb?

DH: No, it is on the trunk - at eye level. It has a red-cap.

ME: Oh, now I see it.

The bird waited and let me take photo after photo. He let me approach to within 6 or 7 feet. I even got a short video of him moving every now and then. The cypress trunk was damp, so there was not the quick "tock, tock, tock, tock, tock" we expect with a woodpecker.

My first photo. Seriously, do you see a bird? I didn't until he moved (note I have even provided this is large format for you - it is okay - he has his head down and is hard to see without "movement and contrast").

Is this a little better?

Downy? Hairy? Something else?  (check the notes for the answer)

I am going to guess "hairy" based on the size of the beak and now check with my brother. He will likely tell me it is neither.***

 NOTES: 

*Yes, I went swimming. It was cold. I did not get my face wet...but if I go to the river and I WILL get in.

** http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MARE4

***http://npsot.org/wp/boerne/files/2011/01/Flowering_Vines_of_the_Hill_Country.pdf

****https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-hairy-woodpecker-downy-woodpecker

OF COURSE! This just in - it is a Red-naped Sapsucker (My brother is good at this - I am not much of a bird watcher, well bird identifier. Don't trust me.). 

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-naped_Sapsucker/id

Sunrise.