Shufflin' Off to Buffalo!

It has been many years since I've returned to the city of my birth and I'll be approaching it slowly from the west this week, visiting a couple of old friends as I wind my way through the Finger Lakes in central NY. I'll be gone for a week or so and hope to visit the Salt Museum in Syracuse, the Erie Canal Museum, and the Corning Glass Works before I return.

We're having a family reunion of sorts...it has often been said that we put the 'fun' in disfunctional...6 very different siblings, a few cousins and uncle Mike. I hope that we survive!

(Not sure why the first part of this is underlined...I couldn't make it go away)

My Favorite Food!

There is nothing I like better than a homemade fruit pie! You can keep your pecan pies and your chocolate pies, I want raspberry or blackberry or rhubarb or peach or strawberry or apple or cherry (the exception to this rule is blueberry which I'm not real excited about, unless they are made with wild blueberries from Maine). 

On Tuesday I was visiting the new art center at the old Lorton Prison and stopped in the sleepy town of Occoquan on my way home. The town had little to offer except for the best pie shop I've been to in a very long time, Mom's Apple Pie Bakery! I could have bought one of each, but restricted myself to four. Their blackberry pie is rated #1 in the South by Southern Living magazine. What a treasure...I'm heading to D.C. tonight for an opening and I just might have to stop in again...

9 different kinds of pie with the option of crumb topping or pastry. I prefer the later, but really, I'd suffer through any of 'em. I once discovered a fried pie shop in southwest Virginia. That was mighty fine as well.

Pick Berries

It seems to me that I'm not the only blog writer who finds that as the days have grown longer (and hotter) there is less time for sitting in front of the computer to record the events of the day. I continue to be in a construction/organizing mode and I'll eventually post some photos. I also seem to be in a 'meetings' period, with lots of time spent talking about fund raising and business selling and studio rentals and computer issues et al.

And then there is the World Cup!!! 3 games a day is just too much goodness and I decided that I had to upgrade my TV capability so that I can now record games all day and watch all I can stand at night! I'm actually a bit weary today from getting up early to watch the 7AM games live. I think sports is an incredibly creative and expressive outlet for we humans and soccer/football is definitely "the beautiful game...". It's great to see how interest has grown over here and it's great to see so much of South Africa being beamed to our living rooms.

A couple of days ago when I got to the studio I found the title of today's post spelled out using old wads from the last firing. Words to live by. I turn mine into purple smoothies....yum.

Bread Plates, Bowls and Folk Art

More work from  firing #8 and my photo studio. Last night was our First Friday Reception in the gallery at Libertytown and I put together a good looking display of work for sale. Lynette and her husband bought the extra large and extra juicy combed vase and a few other new pots found homes as well.

The plates and bowls are about 7 1/2" across.

The bird sculptures are only 5-6" tall. 

The little man is a first for me. Beth thinks he is a donut salesman!

The last one is a 'Perfume Bottle', the top being a stopper.

Everyone Needs a 'Different Dave'

Hollis was reading my mind as I wrote last...Doug Fitch often writes about his friend, Dave, who always seems to be coming over to build a shed. I haven't built anything in years without the help of Michael Littlefield, MY great friend and builder extraordinaire. We finished the portico (sounds much more expensive than shed!) Saturday afternoon and I finished up the roof on one of the wood piles. One more building project and then it's back to making pots. I can feel my mind slowly shifting gears from thoughts of building with wood to building things with clay.