Tag: takeaway

Day 4

'A Poetic Potter & A Potting Poet'Leave a comment

Writing again

It was snowing again this morning when I got up and I decided to take Lydia out straight away, in case it settled and the roads became impassable.

I put two layers of gloves on, a thermal pair underneath a fingerless pair, and my hands felt significantly less cold than they had the day before.

Lydia wore her raincoat again and we had a short walk in a field that I call ‘Quiet Field’ because I used to take her to it regularly when I needed somewhere that was fairly guaranteed to be away from the sight of other dogs.

The snow was still coming down and I was conscious of not wanting to be stuck on a hill on the way home.

I needn’t have worried as the snow stopped as we left the field and the day brightened up from there.

Lydia and I had another walk in the afternoon to make up for our shorter than usual one in the morning.

Taking on board some learning from last night’s Buddhist group meeting, I started to read again a book that I previously read some time ago: ‘How to Transform Your Life’ by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.

I also made some notes, to help with recall, and it felt good to be able to read again, as I haven’t been able to for a while.

So, all in all it’s been a good Thursday, rounded off with a Chinese takeaway – delivered – for me and Trev.

I also bought some new treats for Lydia to try, doing a bit of shopping on my way to a yoga class.

Just relaxing in front of the telly now. And tomorrow is another day.

 

Day 12

'A Poetic Potter & A Potting Poet'Leave a comment

Continuing the story of Lydia & Me

A pile of old bricks, a.k.a. my sawdust kiln

I set fire to my sawdust kiln this morning, having repositioned it away from the passionflower vine that is spreading from the back trellis.

Lydia has gone into kennels for three nights, so she won’t be adversely affected by the smoke from the kiln and I don’t have to worry about her getting too close to the hot bricks.  I’ll pick her up on Monday morning after the Aldborough & Boroughbridge Show on Sunday.

The kiln contains the 28 small pots that I threw on the wheel a few months ago.

I’ve experimented by wrapping some of them with copper wire and placing banana skin, wire wool, rice grains, and wood veneer inside in various combinations. I’ve also popped in a bit of Lydia’s fur that I’ve kept from grooming sessions. It will be interesting to see the different effects that these added materials make.

I’ll be using the pots as my version of a business card for the Show.  Inside I’ll place curled up slips of paper with my Instagram address and my blog address printed on them.  That way I hope to promote my work in words as well as in clay.

I like the idea of having pots to give away.  I’ve done it before and found that people are very surprised and pleased to be able to take away a pot that they haven’t had to pay for, however small.

I haven’t got much more preparation left to do now, but like to work at my own pace, with no pressure.  

All I have to do now, as far as the firing is concerned, is wait until tomorrow morning, by which time there should be no more smoke emerging from the kiln and the bricks should be cool enough to touch.

I get very impatient when I have a kiln firing on the go. Can’t wait to see the results, although – of course – that’s exactly what I have to do!