new groove

I feel like I've still been a little quiet here since school has started. I've been working really hard on a lot of different things- some success, some, not so much. Ten years ago I ran. For at least an hour, every day. I had two labrador retrievers, one very young, one adult. I was in graduate school, very busy, and running helped keep all of us better-behaved. I married, moved to the country, and twisted my ankle too many times (on trails used by horses) to keep running. Five years ago we moved back to the city, to a neighborhood with a great 4 mile greenline, a college, a huge urban forested park, and I've been sporatic. In July I started really running again. I felt like I hit a plateau where I couldn't get much beyond 3 miles. Today I ran with my neighbor, an English professor and women's running coach. We did seven. And I didn't die. Or walk as much as I thought I would (maybe 1/4 mi, if that). It was a huge push for me to do that much more.

I've also been testing new glazes. I've gotten so many requests for red that I bought a pint to test. It's pretty happy, isn't it? A pint was just under $20. A gallon is well over $100. Red pottery = higher price. So. I also bought a new green. It was an affordable gallon- but it didn't come with any mixing instructions at all. When I first mixed and used it, it went on too too thick (see the splotchy berry bowl? the clay underneath is white. Bare spots aren't white anymore). So I'll thin it, test again, and see how it goes. I've been looking for a good grassy green for quite some time. I'm 90% happy with this. I've also been trying a new method for my eggshell glazed pieces that doesn't involve inadvertently breathing in fine particulates. I tried mixing my stain with water and flicking it on, but the color faded away to barely visible. That's still a work in progress. Perhaps I just need to wear a respirator while I make those pieces.

I made myself some buttons! I think I'll make more for the sewers and knitters in my life.

I'm working really hard on filling orders and building inventory. I just made twenty egg cups. I've made a ton of ladybug pottery (and yet, not enough). I have no mugs to speak of, no platters. A few berry bowls that I'll put out after the orders for them have been filled. I'll be back at the Memphis Farmers Market in late October and am planning to have a pre-Thanksgiving sale at home. I haven't had a home sale since June 2008. It's time to do another.

My weeks are flying by. I'm out the door to run before 7:30, working (making, glazing, and yes, interneting), picking up little boy again at 2. Lunches, suppers, Catechesis work, laundry, cleaning. I'm finding my rhythm. It is bumpy sometimes, but I'm getting there.

Have a great holiday weekend. We're going to go pick peaches again (unless I luck out and get a box of culled peaches at the farmers market). It's almost time for apples.

Oh, and Sunday was the last of the one local summers. It was harder this year because I had more going on, but eating local is part of how we eat now. I may highlight a special meal every now and then, if you don't mind too much.