On the brink of a new month

I haven't written here for a while. Our beloved dog, Bobo, died a week ago here in the house, a few feet from where he was born 14 years ago...3 days after his 14th birthday to be exact. Now, a week later, the pain of his loss lessens daily, and we can celebrate the wonderful years we had with him.

We unloaded the kiln this morning and were happy with the results. We take risks with our glazes and sometimes get disappointing results - but today we were a bit giddy in the studio. A photographer came by and took our pictures out in the kiln shed...to use in the Art Guild's Open Studios brochure. That happens in May on Memorial Day weekend.

I'm hoping that the problems in Egypt get resolved peacefully. I think that if I had to live on two dollars a day I'd revolt too!

Chris, showing neighbor, Owen, something, while sculpting in his studio.

Working today

I've got 25 lbs of wedged clay waiting for me in the studio. Gonna make something
big for a Chris Chameleon. He's got the place all warmed up for me, and with KZYX on the radio,it should be a productive morning.

Watched the Social Network last night...thanks to a son in tvland. How the world has changed! Billionaire 26 yr. olds! The Internet (or the Internoodle, as our friend calls it) is the new frontier...land of the gold rush. Good movie.
Loved the King's Speech even more.

Sometimes I listen to myself and shake my head. Old woman, get back in the studio!
(Bobo lives. Friday will be his 14th birthday).

Jan.10, 2011

Looking for something cheerful to write about. I started to do some new work in clay, featuring red-winged blackbirds. Nothing very cheery about all those birds dying in Arkansas - 3,000? five, fifty thousand? Anyway it brought up all those blackbird songs, and that poem by Wallace Stevens about Thirteen ways of Looking at a Blackbird, etc... Then the new year started lobbing the misery balls at us. First a family situation (which may actually make good comedy material in years to come) but then the insanity of the past weekend in Tucson.
Oh, and Bobo continues to take his time leaving the planet - the cancer definitely winning. We made him comfortable on the porch...his favorite spot, and at my daughter's request, played a compassion mantra cd. He's really her dog, but he lives here with us, and he's our dog too. Today is probably the day and he always preferred sleeping under the stars. It's stopped raining for a few days, and we have him covered in blankets. He'll be 14 in a week or so. He's had no pain, thanks to pain medication.
Chris cut more firewood today. It's how we heat our house and studio. His cold is nearly over, thankfully, and I've been trying to get over mine. Donna gave me a bottle of Umcka - a homeopathic medicine that seems to help. From a pretty African flower.

A pleasant conversation about jazz brightened my day. There - something cheerful.

The Buddhist mantra I played today was for all the suffering that has been, is, and will be. Hope it helps.