Painful

My week started off with me feeling a little off kilter. I knew that I had been dealing with a kidney stone on the move. There had been the lower back pain that shifted with time, as well as other telltale signs that I had a kidney stone.

Tuesday I was dealing with the knowledge that it was about ready to pass. I was feeling quite miserable and only got about 2 hours of very interrupted sleep. Wednesday morning, it was still there... they finally passed on Wednesday afternoon. A horrible feeling. I do not wish that on anyone. I have experienced it worse a few years ago, but this was pretty bad as well. And no, I was not at home waiting on it, I was at work, trying to keep a cheerful face for those customers I helped that day.

As I said, THEY passed in the afternoon. And the smaller of the two was JUST as painful as the larger one!

The rest of the week has been much better!

Let's give this the old College try...

Here are the not-quite-finished ceramic angels I made for Christmas 2014.
They were so popular from their photo-op, that I received orders for more.  (Those are currently in progress.)

My poor blog has been neglected, yet again.  This year, I have joined a group to help me kick-start my blogging again.  This is important to me. 

Now these angels have their heads & halos... plus a touch of gold.

Here is to a blog-tastic 2015 & beyond!

One step at a time

It is cat & house sitting at the lake time again... it is so peaceful out here.  Especially compared to the festival I had my pottery at today.  The photos are from before the crowds arrived and the group at the food booth featuring foods from Bangladesh was packed (they were right next to our booth.).

I had a very successful firing of the new Red Silk Porcelain pieces.

Red Silk Porcelain Sake Bottles with & without glaze on the shoulder, roly sake cups and a scalloped pin/sauce dish.

Red Silk Porcelain Sake Bottle with clear glaze on the shoulder & neck.

Red Silk Porcelain Sake Bottle and 2 roly Sake Cups with no glaze on the outside.

Scalloped Red Silk Porcelain Pin/Sauce Dish.

It was a breezy & sometimes windy day, luckily, I had nothing break.

My small display at the International Festival at Clemson University.

My new Deep Purple glaze on one of my scalloped Ebonyware Porcelain bowls.

I have had a bit of a creative block lately, working 6 days a week is not allowing me the time to create.  I love my job & my customers and I cannot think of anything I would rather do.  But, the creating of my pottery is something that re-charges my soul.  I am so exhausted in the evenings it is difficult to create then.  My only day with any time at all, is Sunday, my only day off, and the only day I can run errands I cannot get to during the week.  Do I stay home and create?  Do I run the necessary errands?  I only wish that business at the store was strong enough to hire someone two days a week so that my sister and I can each get a day off.  We both work hard.

I think that I got past the creative block for now, which is good, I have a big show in Clayton, GA at the end of April... I need to get a lot produced between now and then!

Next weekend is Spring Jubilee here in town, we will have the store open on Sunday as well... that means no day off until the 2nd Saturday of April.  I can do this, I have been doing this, I will do this... one step at a time...

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for listening.  I hope you are all well.

Til next time...

Has it really been THAT long???

I guess I have been sucked into the easiness that is facebook and not taken the time to come over here and blog...  that is not good.

In the year and a half that I have been absent from here, I have been still creating my pottery, the most recent addition has been the Crimson Velvet Porcelain.

Crimson Velvet Sake Bottle $85.00

This extraordinary color is quite expensive and I will only do small pieces.  The Sake Bottle pictured here has just a clear glaze inside and on the top portion of the bottle, ending just below the shoulder.

I am still teaching a variety of classes at our store along with my sister and a few talented friends.

We painted the inside of the store this summer...

As well as re-arranging the floor plan a bit.  We are quite pleased with the results, it gives us a more open space and more flexibility.

My ex-husband passed away unexpectedly this past summer and I made a quick trip to Alfred, NY for the funeral and to visit with the Higgins side of my family.  Yes, a divorce severs legal relationships, but it cannot sever the feelings of family.  I wish I could afford the time and money to visit them more often.  I just do not want it to be for such a solemn occasion and I definitely do not want the flight headaches I endured on this trip.  (Another story for another time... maybe.)

Dad retired from the store this past Spring, leaving Terri & I both working 6 days a week.  I am glad he has the time to do the things he wants to do.  It does, however, make it a little harder to get work done on projects that require longer amounts of time than an early morning or an evening.  Our friend Phyllis was so kind to come in and work on Mondays through the Christmas & Holiday shopping season so Terri & I could alternate Mondays off and get some things done.  We are ever so grateful!

Speaking of friends helping out.  We have the most wonderful group of customer/friends who come to our aid when one of us is sick (Terri got hit hard with a stomach bug during the holidays) or needs to be someplace (for me, one of the 2 shows I do each year, or this weekend, Terri was at a retreat.)  Our friends who are like family step in to help man the store.  We can only say that we are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.  And to all of you, thank you for all you do!

I designed some beaded pieces for classes...

Abstract Narcissus Square Stitch Pendant

Ornament Cover 2013

All in all, It has been a busy year and a half.

I am not going to make any promises about blogging more often.  Let me just say that I will try.

May 2014 be off to a positive start for you and may it continue to the end.

Home again!

Terri came home (well... to our house) on Thursday.
She is getting plenty of rest & plenty of spoiling from all of the wonderful people that know & love her.
The pathology report is due tomorrow, and her follow-up with the surgeon is late Tuesday morning.  We will know more then, hopefully.
Yesterday she conserved her energy so she could go with us to our usual Saturday night restaurant, New York Pizza, in Anderson, SC.  The owner & staff are like family to us & she wanted to be able to show them she is doing well... (and, enjoy their awesome pizza!).
We sure have good luck, Karma, angels, God, good spirits or what-have-you on our side.  This has been such a whirlwind couple of weeks & our true friends have emerged once again to give us support, love & assistance.  We could not ask for more (well, that she never had the tumor might be one request, but we learn from adversity...and we cannot change what was).
(I guess it makes me feel a bit like a wimp with migraines... LOL)
Friends have offered to help at the store & refuse payment, one thought I should not have given her a discount when she bought her items at the end of the day, another said she would be insulted if we even offered to pay.  But their help is worth a lot to us all. To Terri so she can feel less stress about the coverage at the store, & Dad and I so we can at least take a few hours off each.
Dad is a real trooper, he has worked just about every day (except Sunday) for 2 weeks.  I am grateful to Phyllis for helping me watch the shop yesterday so he could have a break.  I was able to get a couple of hours off Friday morning thanks to Mary for being an extra set of eyes at the store & a real help for anyone looking at the stamping supplies.
I have tried to keep up with updating everyone about Terri's progress, but it is not always easy to find the time when I have the energy.  Please forgive me if I missed anyone, it was not intentional.
Yes, this post will be cross-posted to the store's blog...

If anyone wants to help out at the store, please email the store ( mercantinc@aol.com ) with days & times so we can have a written list.  A few of you have told me days, but I for some reason cannot remember when they are...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have been lax about posting lately.
I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Try not to over eat too much! Enjoy the company of the loved ones around. And if you do not practice a christian religion, I wish you a very happy, safe and enjoyable day. To everyone, a wonderful 2010!
(I hope to be better about posting in the new year!)

Please be patient with me...

For those of you who are getting some of the stoneware mugs, I should have them ready by the end of next week, or beginning of the following week. I had some problems with the clear glaze on the inside and am expecting the new glaze to arrive soon. I checked with the 'experts' and they are recommending this new-to-me glaze for this clay. I didn't think anyone wanted to have mugs that leak... or maybe you do... (PS - Phyllis, the problem occurred because I didn't want to have to fire twice like I did yours...)
But, as a result of this set-back, I need to make a BUNCH of new mugs to glaze with the new glaze. The decorative glazes on the rim are no problem, so those of you who have specific orders, I can still do those. I know Rick needs his 2 for guessing the Carolina Wolf Spider with her babies, and Matt wants 6 or so for a gift, Janie wants one for her mug collection, and I need to get some more over to the Arts Center in Clemson for their Holiday Show & Sale.
It was so hard for me to literally throw away a dozen mugs and a sugar/creamer set the other day. But I can't sell them or use them, so I just took a real deep breath and dumped the whole tray into the garbage can...
I am working on finishing up some custom bracelets for a customer to give for Christmas, but I am working on the mugs in-between.
Oh, by the way... where in the world did 2009 go?
(I repaired the link to the Arts Center... typo will mess it up any day...)