We were actually surprised by the lack of trick-or-treaters in our new neighborhood. It seems everyone goes downtown on Halloween in this part of Concord. Oh well, more dots for us.
We've had a beautiful Indian Summer, where we frolicked outside to our heart's content, basking in the sunshine and taking walks to the grocery. I was in painting mode, so I didn't get to spend as much time throwing as I would have liked. I did get an amazing amount of stuff finished , even if it did mean staying up until the wee hours waxing and glazing. I actually did a firing on Halloween (which worried my little superstitious heart) and it turned out beautifully, despite an agonizingly long firing time. Yes, I had the thing jammed with plates and packed to the hilt. Then came the cold again. I didn't have to look at the kiln to know that winter is right around the corner. That would be 37 degrees inside the studio.
I'm relatively tough if I have a bucket of hot water and a space heater, I can handle it down to freezing if need be. This past week has tested my limits, though, and taught me a thing or two. If I wasn't such a dingbat, I would have been able to puzzle this out before I wasted a day of throwing. I spent Tuesday making dinnerware sets and was so proud of myself, never thinking that there might be trouble if the highs were only in the 40's. I put myself to bed without a care in my head, went out the next morning to tragedy and massacre. Guess what happens to wet pots if the temps get down to 18 degrees? Give you a hint: ice does horrible things to most everything.
I was actually impressed by the destruction after I had some time to get over it. Hey, every day's a new lesson, right? Anyway, one thing that I had tried on the day of great freezing that was so much fun was Christmas ornaments. I had forgotten how much I liked to throw wacky shapes for kicks when I was apprenticing until I stumbled upon this idea. Of course, most of the ones I tried were broken up or had a weird scaly, almost furry surface, so I ran out today while Wren was napping and tried again. I got about ten of them done before she awoke and felt completely refreshed. Nothing like a completely non-functional goofy challenge to put a new perspective on your working life. Of course, mugs are going to seem such a chore now. sigh...
I ran into the house and scooped her up, took her outside before it got really cold again, and had a blast raking leaves. I made huge piles for her to jump in (leaf piles are meant to be jumped in with wild abandon and anyone who would deny a baby that is just wrong), and found a bounty of nuts underneath. I now have an entire Trader Joe's bag full of pecans, and there are still plenty on the trees. I sent a bag home with my mom today, begging her to shell some and promising many more to come. Finding them is better than a daily Easter egg hunt, but shelling them is a different story. Especially with so much to throw and so much to knit!
