Pottery class - July 28, 2024

I bet you're wondering how yesterday's "Introduction to the Potter's Wheel" class went.

It was fun.  

It was taught by a perky little blonde girl about 1/3 of my age, who knew her stuff.

There were about 10 other people in the class.  Each of us took a station at a potter's wheel.  We were given a bucket of water, some sponges, a tool, and three lumps of pre-conditioned clay that were already centered on square tiles that fit onto pegs on the wheel.  We were to make (1) a bowl, (2) a plate, and (3) a "do-you-own-thing."  The class lasted for 2 hours, after which we cleaned our stations, buckets, and sponges, and we chose a color to glaze our pieces, which will be fired and ready for pickup in a couple of weeks.

Working with the clay was fun.  I made two bowls and a saucer to fit under one of the bowls.  I meant to poke drainage holes in one bowl, intending to use it with the saucer for growing violets.  But I forgot to poke the holes.  It's no big deal.  (None of the violets on my windowsill are in pots that have holes in them.)    

While I was in the big city before class, I stopped by the art supply store for a paintbrush and to see if they sell watercolor paints in half-pans.  My new travel paints came in 12 colors from which, theoretically, I could stir up pretty much any color under the sun.  

I wished the set had included Payne's Gray instead of black.  They didn't sell watercolors in pans, but they did sell empty half-pans.  I have Payne's Gray in a tube, which I can squirt into an empty pan.  I bought 6 of them, hoping they'd drop right into the tin.  And they did!  (Kind of.)  So, this morning, I added a few of my go-to colors:

I guess I should leave the lid open until the squirts dry up.  Considering the current humidity level here, that may take a month!

Saturday - July 27, 2024

It's raining this morning.  We've had scattered rain all week, really, but earlier in the week when I checked on the vegetable garden, the ground was dry enough to walk on without getting muddy.  It's probably muddy now, though.  That's okay, for I did not plan on working in the garden today.  

This afternoon, I'm having an "introduction to the pottery wheel" lesson.  Birthday present from The Husband (along with new seat covers for the Wrangler).  I'm excited!  

Until then, I am going to play with a new set of paints I got in the mail this week.  Folded shut, it's about the size of a cell phone.  Inside there are 12 half-pans of paints and a metal flap that folds out for a mixing tray (the lid has mixing space, too).  It is small enough to hold in one hand while painting with the other.  And the colors are good.  It lacks a brown, but brown can be made from almost anything.

Last night's "band blowout" was fun.  The rain held off long enough for the band do its thing.  Got to see all of The Granddaughters.  

GRRRRRRowl - July 26, 2024

I am tired, and hungry, and still a little bit pissed off about work.  "Hungry" will go away in about an hour, when The Husband gets home from work and we head to the margarita joint.  We'll have to eat and run to make it to Granddaughter #2's high school marching band show preview.  The bed is turned down, the coffee pot is set to come on in the morning, and I'll be ready to hit the sack as soon as we're home.

At work this morning, I busted open Year 11 and sent workers to bring the next year.  They came down with from the attic with Year 12, but also with more boxes from past years that I'd thought were finished.  I gave the crew a mild butt-chewing.  When the lead guy explained that some of the boxes were turned to the wall and they couldn't see the labels, my head almost exploded.  "Well, go up there and TURN THE SONSABITCHES AROUND," I told him.

Good grief.

Hydrangea Cuttings - July 25, 2024

Today, I started three hydrangea cuttings from my old blue mop-head hydrangea.  Three stems, cut from this year's growth, stuck in a plastic 6" pot full of soil.  Until they root (let's be optimistic), they will live on the back porch, where I can see them and remember to water them.  Looking at them now, I wonder if I've left too much stem and too many leaves.  

If - ahem- when they root, I will plant them on the north side of the shed.

Hydrangeas are supposed to be the easiest things in the world to root from cuttings.  "Why, all you have to do is pull a low limb down to the ground and lay a brick on it," a friend said.

Yeah.  Did that.  It didn't survive.

A couple of years ago, I stuck a hydrangea limb in the ground.  It lived for 2 seasons, but the past two winters took it out.  

That same year, I started about 24 cuttings in solo cups.  Some acted like they were going to make it.  Come cold weather, on the advice of a professional, I set the cups on the ground and covered them with heaps and heaps of leaves.  When I dug them out in the spring, none were alive.

So I've been buying hydrangeas for the past couple of years. So far, so good.  

The local greenhouse is having a sale right now.  I'll probably end up buying 3 hydrangeas to plant beside the shed, if I can they have blue mopheads.  

Fish or Cut Bait - July 24, 2024

We're having leftovers for supper, so I have from now (4:30 pm) until bedtime to do what I want.  The garden is on auto-pilot for a few days.  

I want to do a dozen different things, and even have the supplies to do most of them. 

Now, if I just had the gumption to do them.

I should take the three 5-gallon buckets that are currently in the back of my car, driving me crazy with their rattling, to the garden shed.  First, I need to put my name on them, for 5-gallon buckets have a way of disappearing around here, and nobody knows anything about where they went ("Naw, that's my bucket.")  Evidently, it is a man thing.  So I bought bright red, easily identifiable buckets, and I will summon Towanda if I catch somebody with one of them.

* * * * * * * 

Okay, so I've spent two hours of my "do what I want time."   Took the buckets to the garden shed and checked on the crops.  Killed a tomato worm.  Picked squash, cucumbers, and peppers, which I will drop into the food pantry drop-off cooler at the community garden on my way to work tomorrow.  Incurred a good dozen mosquito bites.  Came home.  Showered.

Now what?

On the way to the garden, I found a new set of watercolor paints in my mailbox.  Maybe I'll swatch them and try them out.

  

Sore - July 23, 2024

OMG...I am so sore.

The past weekend's cooler temperatures had me working in the yard and the garden all day Saturday and again Sunday morning. Physical stuff, like digging hard ground with a big shovel.  My thigh muscles, front and back, are on fire.  Walking isn't too bad, but sitting down and getting up are torture.

It rained here at home last night and also in the community garden.  Both gardens needed it.  Thankfully, both gardens are now in pretty good shape, as far as maintenance goes.

I un-boxed Year 10 today, and sorted it into A-B-C piles. It'll take 2 days to alphabetize it all.  Year 11 is in my workspace, ready to be tackled Friday.   

Squash and pumpkins - July 21, 2024

As soon as Nanny left for church this morning, I went to the garden to plant two pumpkins - one that produces pumpkins for carving, and one that produces mini pumpkins  - that I sprouted from seeds.  They've been on our patio table for a month and have come close to croaking more than once.  Maybe they'll live in the ground. 

I also planted 4 more hills of squash.  Our first 4 squash hills are producing as much squash as we want to eat, but they'll probably be pooping out soon, either from bugs or exhaustion.  

[Note to self:  check for squash bugs tomorrow.]

Once everything was planted and watered in, I started raking up some of the grass I mowed yesterday.  While I was raking, The Brother-in-Law showed up on his race-car-like zero-turn lawnmower and went to work in the front.

I must stay that "The BIL" was doing a better job of mowing than I did, depending on how you look at grass.  You might have seen the post in which I told about The Husband and I putting the deck back on our riding lawnmower after installing new blades.  Evidently, we did not get the deck level, for it's cutting wedge-like strips that nearly peel the ground on one side and leave it taller on the others.  This is not very attractive.  However, I hadn't mowed for looks; I'd mowed to (hopefully) scatter some chiggers out of the grass between Nanny's back porch and the garden.

And I'd left an un-mowed section in front of the shed where my lawnmower ran out of gas and I said f it.

The BIL can be a lot of fun, but he can also be a grouchy asshole.  We get along because neither of us minds telling the other how it is.

I heard him grousing (above the noise of the lawnmower) when he saw the striped back yard.  Aw, hell, she done f___d up the grass.  He whirled his lawnmower around and went to the side yard, where I'd left the un-mowed square.  WTF!  What made it even better was that center of the un-mowed square contained about five tall, dusty mole hills, and I'd left the dirt bath for him to enjoy. (He repaid me by thoroughly dusting my car.)

Now, I had not mowed the section of the back yard that's behind the vegetable garden, so I got his attention and pointed and said, "I didn't mow back there."

"I'm damn sure glad you didn't!" he said.

I rolled my eyes and shot him the bird and came home to sit under the fan on the back porch.

I've been wanting to paint all day.  Did some sketching but haven't wet a brush.  

And now it's almost time to start supper.

Red beans & rice and cornbread.