Echo

A quick post and birth announcement, much delayed. Echo Lark Callahan was brought into this world on September 20th with some coaxing, cajoling, and prodding. When that didn't work, we resorted finally to inducement and vacuum suction. At 10 lbs, 6 oz and 22.25", she was no lightweight and is looking about four months old now. Throwing is still not an option, for numerous reasons biological, logistical, and meteorological, but things are slowly being listed once again on etsy. Hooray! And, maybe, painting can start again after the holidays. Once Echo starts having a normal bedtime (other than the newborn standard of eleven o'clock), it should get easier. One would hope! Right now, I'm just looking forward to that time when a little normalcy kicks in, which shouldn't be too long. Echo is a very easy baby, sweet natured and mellow, and has settled right into the family without much fuss or upheaval. Life is happy. And so is Echo.

hiatus turns extended leave

Well, this year has gone fast and completely unproductive (as far as pottery goes)! I think I should have expected as much, seeing as I did almost nothing when I was carrying Wren as well. But I did have high hopes. Once I finally got over the first trimester doldrums, I thought I would be back at it and going strong. Little did I know that Mother Nature had a different idea in her mind. Because, precisely when I stopped being ill and flopping about was the time the 90+ temperatures kicked in and have been unrelenting ever since. No kidding, I don't think it's often been below 90 degrees since April, with many of them approaching 100 or above. Add pregnancy to that and it feels like it's about 125 in my studio. No thank you. The only times I've been outside this summer, I have been in a swimming pool. Total weather wimp? Yes, why thank you, I am this year.

The other surprise was how I carried Doughnut, Wren's choice of name for her little sister to be. I went straight out and low very fast, with the rest of me stubbornly staying the same. I had to include one of the lovely pictures my friend Sharon took as a testament to my burgeoning belly. While this may be interesting, visually, it completely destroyed my stomach muscles as soon as I started to show. I've been in the studio twice this summer, only to find it impossible to center with such a weirdly proportioned burden in front. I tried everything, even throwing on my knees, and could not make anything to save my life. Until delivery, I'm afraid my center is pretty skewed.

However, it's been completely worth it and I cannot wait to meet the little creature who has given us such an adventure this year. Which should be soon... I only have two weeks until my due date! And pottery will come back as soon as I get my life balanced again and can fit it into my mommy life with two little beings to care for. I'll try to post as soon as she makes herself known!

hiatus

Okay, some people may have thought that I have been an awful slacker since Christmas, and they would be right. Except, I have an excellent reason for my lack of interest in pottery production. Well, a couple of reasons. First of which, it has been ungodly cold in these parts lately, with weeks of freezing temperatures and even the occasional appearance of snow! We usually see one slushy event per year if we're lucky, but this year we've had a couple of impressive snowfalls, much to Wren's delight. No point in throwing a bunch of stuff if it's only going to freeze, though, and I haven't felt like schlepping things back and forth from warm house to studio.

Second reason for my winter hiatus was the New Year's day surprise we received:



Yep, we found out that day that we were once again expecting. This time, things seem to be working out a bit better (fingers crossed, elbows kissed, and wood knocked). I'm at twelve weeks right now and the last ultrasound this week showed a healthy looking kicking monkey. I am, needless to say, cautiously thrilled. But, I am also exhausted. It's really been all I can muster just to keep up with daily life, so pottery is taking a bit of a back seat for now. At least until I get some energy back.

Added injury and illness would be the devastating case of bronchitis I came down with this week, which completely floored me, and the horrifying news that one of my family members was life-threateningly ill and in the hospital. This week has been a little much.

Hopefully, I can pull it all back together and get cranking again before I get too huge (and I feel that may be sooner than I'd like to think) or the weather goes straight to hell hot again!

Busy busy busy and stop

I had a wild couple of weeks before Christmas trying to get everything painted and fired and baked and wrapped and sent and... Christmassesd. So, I'm cutting myself a bit of slack now and falling into a bit of burnout phase again. You know, sinking into the couch in front of the fire and knitting. Instead of braving the 30 degree highs and getting out into the studio. But, hand building may actually be accomplished this week. Maybe. We've got a new challenge for the mud team, a kiln god swap. Let's see if I can pull it together before the 18th...

Sooo, you may wonder, what kinds of things did you make for friends and family this year? That's the fun of Christmas, making new things and patterns up for my loved ones. For my precious child I made the half sized mug:


And the tiny starry tea set:



For my sister, the fetishghost inspired footed pedestal cup:


For my mom, the soup mug:


For my sis in law, the night garden mug:



Hopefully, everything will be enjoyed and used. Wren has already been loving her new Wren mug for the purpose of hot chocolate. I'm just hoping that it warms up enough that we can resume our walks around the neighborhood soon! Nothing like taking a long walk and coming home to fire in the fireplace and a nice mug of cocoa. I'm about as dull as dishwater right now, so will write again when I find my normal wittiness.