Cold, cold weather.....and stuff

Some background, so you know why I am so surprised with the weather..
I moved to Crestline from my home in Long Beach last June. I had lived in Long Beach my entire life (with short exceptions). Long Beach has an average temperature of 72 degrees all year. I had never experienced a major change of seasons. Crestline, being at 4500 feet in the San Bernadino Mountains, has seasons. I am living through Fall now. It is beautiful, all the leaves dropping and the smell of wood fires in the air. It is way colder than I am used to. I had to buy long underwear!!! Last night, it was supposed to snow but did not, at least here in the Valley of Enchantment (where my cabin is).

Because I am used to even weather, I am having trouble with my pots drying. It is much dryer here, so I have to cover pottery with plastic so it does not dry too fast. When it is really cold, I guess I have to put a heater in the Dungeon (my studio has earned this nick-name) so pots will not freeze when drying. I found this out when I threw 10 dinner plates and 6 of them cracked all the way across! I was stunned! I hope I can figure out how to dry them successfully soon...this gets expensive! My hands also freeze. They are always in water, whether throwing pots or painting them. This makes it a little slower going. I can't use (yet) my large gas kiln, there is really nowhere to put it. I am using a very small electric kiln. It works, but I can't make as much pottery as I used to. This frustrates me a little.

My dogs keep digging out of the yard which they never did in Long Beach. I have to stop working and chase them around until they are back in the yard. Stella and Dave have developed a taste for paper and eat my bills...Layla is being very good except when she gets out.

I just finished my HOME SHOW at my daughter Carly and her husband Aaron's home in Long Beach. I had a good show and enjoyed seeing some of my old customers. And I got to spend a day and night with my daughter!!!!!

This Saturday the 26th I will be participating in the 2nd annual Small Business Saturday. This is the first year I have participated. It is an event to promote small businesses encouraging shoppers to shop small and shop local this holiday season. I am offering 10% off all etsy orders on Saturday ONLY. To redeem this offer use coupon code SBS2011 when checking out.

My last show of the year is December 10 and 11 in San Francisco at the KPFA craft fair. I am looking forward to it and then I plan to concentrate on some very big pots!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Day in the Life of a Potter

After much thought I have decided to try blogging. I'm not sure where it will go but here goes...

I am recovering from last weekend's show...Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica. This is an amazing show with 250 artists participating. The show promoters (Roy Helms & Associates) are more than wonderful. It is a long weekend (set up on Thursday, then Friday , Saturday & Sunday) and exhausting. It rained, and combined with,the bad economy, just wasn't as pleasant as it could be.

I drove down the mountain on Thursday, set up and then did some errands. I went to Target and bought an electric blanket (my first!). When I finally got home Sunday night (after worrying all weekend that I could not get home because of snow) I was so tired, forgot the blanket in my truck. Sheesh! It was so cold in my bed I couldn't move for fear of hitting a frozen spot. Monday I re-made my bed with the blanket, turned it on, then got in. Paradise! I didn't get out of bed all day! I was finally warm.

I stayed with my daughter, Carly, and her husband Aaron on Thursday night. It was very good to see them and I wish I could see them more often. The other nights I spent with my friends Diane & David. They live closer to the show...one half hour or so, depending on traffic. It was lovely to visit, and they fed me, too!

I woke up this morning , fed the dogs, found 1/2 inch of ice on their water bowl. It freezes???? This is weird. I hate that. It was way colder than it has to be, what's up with that? I went into my studio, and my throwing water was frozen, too. No way am I making pots today. I will do a bisque firing, then glaze and paint tomorrow. The plates I threw last week before leaving cracked, I guess they froze, I have no idea. My work week is much different than I thought it could be. I am not sure I can work in this cold! Maybe I will get used to it, but I think not. I bought some oil paints this morning so at least I can entertain myself. I have never used oils, and as long as they don't freeze, I am looking forward to having a bit of paint-fun.

Other than the cold, I like living in the mountains. It is very quiet, and I rarely drive faster than 30 miles an hour. There is NO traffic. I have dozens of huge pine cones from my trees that I can use as kindling, when I finally decide to start a fire in my fireplace. I just don't sit in the living room much. Now that I have my electric blanket, I will probably read a thousand books in my bed!