Long working weekend

 

I've pressed on with getting as much clay ready to use, as it does need to rest/mature...even though it must be at least seventeen years since I bought a ton of this clay!! What was finished today makes another five bagsful.

This afternoon's throwing...bud vases/bottles.. They will have lugs added, possibly tomorrow, depending on how fast they dry, with the raised humidity at present.. although the workshop is quite warm.

In the garden the tomatoes are slowly producing...these two ripe ones...

The Russian Black is quite sweet. 

The Costeluto Fiorentino is not quite as sweet, but is beautifully tomato-ey!

And the plant that I thought was an onion squash... isn't....!

In the front garden the flowering "buffalo" currant has been affected by something...but is the only plant along the wall to be like this 

Although the leaves are brown, scrape any branch and there is green living tissue.

The rest are steadily on the way to providing bird food. In fact thd blackbird was busy eating the rowanberries when I was standing there!

It has been quite a concentrated weekend, getting back into making ...but trying not to overdo things. The body knows what to do...it just hasn't done it for a while!!

Saturday evening was a nice break, going with a friend to a mutual friend's 50th birthday party in a village church hall!

Several generations of family (all cyclists) cycling friends, work friends and other friends..about forty of us!!

Today after a morning wedging and kneading three bags of clay, I went for a walk after lunch..checking the weather radar first!! Plenty of places are reporting heavy rain and thunder..All we had was some light showers Saturday lunchtime...then heavy rain Saturday evening.   On Sunday the radar showed what I could see from the upstairs windows..rain passing both sides of the village!

While I walked the air was warm and close...

And you could see rain towards Arran

The rain arrived after my walk...good timing!!

The day was rounded off by a little sewing...

Just two corners and small border to add to Our Shirts....

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It may seem like I'm too busy..but there is so much to do. I've decided that I can do a little on several jobs every day.. enough at least to see progress.  Then I won't be feeling guilty about neglecting anything. If something is near to being finished it will be worth pushing on with that.

A special day

 Pirate would have been 86 today..so I did things that would have made him happy.

Cleared the garden path...he used to look out of our bedroom window first thing every day and always wanted the path clear....

Picked my first "Russian Black" tomato 

Heard from his eldest daughter that her son passed his degree with a 1st...and it was cap and gown day today

Bus trip this afternoon to the travel agent...I have my boarding passes for the French Trip and I will get them in an email as well...all eventualities covered.

I practised small bag packing... I think that I have everything in...now to see if the vacuum packing bags will work to give a little more packing space. Putting a light cardboard box inside the bag looks to have worked..to ensure that the bad doesn't bulge ..I have no wish to be charged...about £50...each way!!

No pretty coloured sky tonight...but still a beautiful one

The flap of skin that got pushed up in the scrape looks to have stayed down...Aloe Vera gel has helped as well.,

Hard work morning

 This morning's work was kneading clay...two bags again....it took over an hour and a half, but worth doing well to have the firm and soft mixed evenly.

I counted the bags...I have put two more in the soaking bin..

There are twenty, stiffer bags...and six possibly half bags that are completely dry.

I could do with moving the small chest freezer to the workshop for a clay store, but there isn't room for it yet...so.it will have to stay cluttering the kitchen! 

I managed to scrape the back of my hand on the rim of a plastic tub....mad dash to clean up and slap two plasters crosswise on my hand to keep it clean. So no throwing in the afternoon... probably a good thing after the morning's work!!

So I finished cleaning off the biscuit mould...

Lunch was had sitting on the garden bench in the sun...while the bread machine was the source of lovely kitchen smells??

I saw the late Paddy over the road's son...Patrick...now called Paddy!...at the house over the road...he has a garage in Ayr, but works on his own..so doesn't do clutches.

He returned a handy side table that Pirate had given to his dad...and gave me a small carved wood table...which will be very nice as a present for a friend's birthday next weekend!!

A bit of weeding then quick supper and chat online with another friend. Online socialising might not be ideal but it is keeping in touch.

Then time for bed....from a watercolour sunset last night to a peachy one tonight 

Rainy day

 St Swithin's day... apparently it is now supposed to rain for forty days and nights..it certainly started with a vengeance in Glasgow with five days worth of rain ina couple of hours.....

I ventured out in what looked, according to the radar maps, the most likely time to stay dry...a quick two bus journey, no wait on the way out and ten minutes wait on the return...and a mile away from home a cloudburst started!!.. luckily at my bus stop it has just subsided to light rain...just 200 m to walk!! But even in that short time the puddles were starting around the house 

Today's job has been just finishing yesterday's three bowls and small platter..

Despite it being cooler and wet much of yesterday they had dried well..a little too well!!..but a quick spritz and wrap saved the day.

I discovered some new biscuits in the shop...not sure where they are from...

I am making a biscuit mould!! I've done similar before...it had to be fired with the biscuit!!  Then you take the mould to make another impression...and THAT becomes your pattern stamp!

Watercolour sunset..10.20pm

Another clay day!

 Over night it rained quite hard...then mizzled in the morning..but then turned fine by lunchtime...washing out....and dry!!

I settled in to my workshop, radio on and got on with it!!

The clay isn't quite right... working on it to get it back to the right moisture level isn't just a fair bit of work...it needs to settle down a bit before I can ask it to do things like bud vases or bottles....but bowls and platters are coming along ok

It isn't that big a platter...the batt is a foot wide...then the clay shrinks in firing..a good 10% if I remember correctly...I'll have to check with the supplier.

I got the first batch of fruit leather made..I used the oven on low instead of the dehydrator. I think I haven't dried it out quite enough...but it will do for first try!!

The recipe said sprinkle cornflour to stop it sticking...but it would take more than that! 

It is tasty .... blackcurrant with apple...

Getting there

 The garden looks much happier with the hot weather 

And it has helped dry pots!

I discovered the last kiln god 

And I have fifty years of tools to sort....

Clay day

wedging Al fresco!  I found a spare slab..too big to go in the workshop, but it sits on Pirate's outdoor bench ok. Clay preparation was this morning's work before it got too hot.. then before a late lunch....

While the bees bumbled around the borage.

 After lunch it was too hot to do anything out doors..we reached 30⁰ today at least.

Then as it cooled a little, I turned and decorated two small bowls and wrapped everything not finished.

Hopefully I can get up and get moving a little earlier tomorrow and get them done before it heats up again.