Baby Alex digs SPIKE for heavy Metal Monday \m/

SO, like I was saying yesterday, Baby Alex comes visiting for the weekend with his mom Tiffany and aunt Julie, our great pals. Baby Alex is a STAR of course, walking at 8 MONTHS! 7 teeth already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEVEN! WALKING! And saying things like, um, CAT (sorta) and DOG (sorta brrr brrrr dog sorta). He visited the studio, and was wondering when HE can work in clay....seen here with his aunt Julie....I was thinking, actually, that Tiffany is one of those great moms. She goes visiting, and basically, the baby is welcome to move around and talk to everybody. He is Mr Social.



Our old lab Buster was glad to meet Alex, but, you know, a little unsure of what a small grabby human is all about...Spike the charming cat and Penny beagle were quite psyched....




Speaking of Alex's mom Tiffany And bearing in mind that it is HEAVY METAL MONDAY, we were all chatting a couple of months ago:
(Tiffany's sister Julie, looking at me): Nice tat there GR, M for your wife Maude.
Gary: gosh, THANKS! Do you have tats?
Julie: Tiffany got her first on her 18th birthday! She went right down to Stiehl's body modification!
Gary, turning to Tiffany: and got Iron Maiden tattooed on your !!!!!!!, right? (motioning across, well, you know)
Tiffany, almost pulling down her !!!!!!: Why YES! Yes I did get Iron Maiden tattooed across my !!!!!!!

when Baby Alex met Penny.....

You will recall my best pal Baby Alex, now aged 9 months, a frequent visitor here. Baby Alex is so funny! His mom, our absolute best friends, Tiffany and his aunt Julie came up from NYC for the weekend, and we had the greatest afternoon. Alex was here before, but he was a big belly bump at the time.....now that he can move around a little more easily, he can play with Penny beagle.....

you always wonder, if your dog is not used to babies, will my dog snap? Will my dog behave? You monitor things closely. Penny was curious, but as usual, she was adorable and playful. And lemme tell you, beagles have plenty of ear for babies to grab...and lips...and tail, and Penny was really sweet about it. She didn't move away but wanted to cuddle and play.



Baby Alex is looking forward to working with clay. I was making a cup on the wheel here, he was really watching, as was his mom and Julie...

And, well, diapers happen....we made sure my extra-large sized sock monkey Jacques Le Soq was out to play, but frankly, why play with a sock monkey when there are beagles around? TUNE IN TOMORROW for: When Baby Alex met Spike....

workin' it......

Like I say in the post below, Stev0 the photographer met me over at the Cornell pottery studios where I was working Friday, then off to his party...nice shots, hmmm?

Stev0!

My pal Steve Gallow is a photographer and he entered a photo competition and was one of the winners this week. We met up at Cornell on our way down to the party at State of the Art Gallery. Good thing he had his camera when we met...because there were LLAMAS hanging around Cornell. You never know when you might see a llama! We got tto the gallery one minute till 5, and it gave us a chance to get a pic before the party started, because after 5 it was PACKED. The whole city came out to see the show!
Anyway, Stev0's pic is most incredible, and they hung it right up at the front door! Somebody already wants to buy it!
You will see, of course, Stev0 and Brett gettin' down for HIGH FIVE FRIDAY...

beagle-o-rama!

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
Later today? The wife will see that picture of herself with Spike and be like "OH GOD, that was up all day?". Looks TRES ADORABLE to me. That was last night. This morning Spike made this LEAP of several feet and landed on some books but it came crashing down and he hit his back on a table and the table broke...and you are ten feet away, and like "OHMYGOD!!!!" because you love the cat so much, and anybody else would be dead. Spike is fine, however. 9 LIVES ALRIGHT!
Dig these adorable doggy shots...

Happy High Five Friday! 0/\0

You earned it.
High Five Friday, as the urban dictionary tells us, is a chance to breathe the big sigh of relief, bond with the friends, slide into the weekend.

just ducky......

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
I was in the mood to, you know, make some pots with ducks, so I did!
"get down mama..."

make good decisions

Don't just buy art, buy good art, like my teapot or something like it from my etsy gallery.
(new teapot by Gary Rith)

a couple of birthdays

The wife probably does NOT want me talking about the fact that she is now deep into her 50s, and for a month she is 7 years older than me. WOW! Looks like she is 20 to me :) To celebrate her birthday I made her favorite chocolate cookies in Mickey Mouse shape, as you see below.

Buster, our old black lab, turns 12 today. He is so wonderful, the best dog you have ever met. Never has misbehaved, always sweet and friendly...and enormous. His mother was a 126 pound rottweiler, actually, and he was once nearly that heavy.
Buster actually inspired me to put the animals on the pots. You see a pic up there in the collection showing him hanging over the edge of his playpen. (I carred that group of pics to shows for years, telling why I put dogs on pots etc). When he was 6 weeks old, Buster had been hit by a car at our neighbor's house and his leg broken and a concussion. They were just gonna put him to sleep rather than treat him, but we took him to our vet who said he would be fine, and he has been, for 12 years! Always had a small limp, has typical hip problems for a big old dog now, but always active.
Buster has had a tough winter. In December the vet said his kidneys are starting to fail. He fell going down the porch steps on the ice a couple of times back then, so he has not had any walks in the snow, we just go out walking into the yard. I am glad he is making it to this spring, we can walk more easily, but I am very sad to think it may be his last.