PERFECT DAY

I was reading the NYT review of a revision of Dale Carnegie's book about winning friends AND influencing people, and it boils it all down to: "be a good listener, admit faults quickly and emphatically, and smile more often, among them —"
Good advice, eh? My cat Spike has got it DOWN, and you can see a mug here inspired by my cat Spike and dog Penny...they love each other so much. Having a perfect day together.....



Lou Reed
Transformer (1972)
Perfect Day

Just A Perfect Day,
Drink Sangria In The Park,
And Then Later, When It Gets Dark,
We Go Home.
Just A Perfect Day,
Feed Animals In The Zoo
Then Later, A Movie, Too,
And Then Home.

Oh It's Such A Perfect Day,
I'm Glad I Spent It With You.
Oh Such A Perfect Day,
You Just Keep Me Hanging On,
You Just Keep Me Hanging On.

Just A Perfect Day,
Problems All Left Alone,
Weekenders On Our Own.
It's Such Fun.
Just A Perfect Day,
You Made Me Forget Myself.
I Thought I Was Someone Else,
Someone Good.

Oh It's Such A Perfect Day,
I'm Glad I Spent It With You.
Oh Such A Perfect Day,
You Just Keep Me Hanging On,
You Just Keep Me Hanging On.

You're Going To Reap Just What You Sow,
You're Going To Reap Just What You Sow,
You're Going To Reap Just What You Sow,
You're Going To Reap Just What You Sow...

plotting an exquisite weekend :)

Not much on the plate, other than WORK. These photos show some things I was working on Thursday. Yesterday the clock hands just flew around the dial, oh gosh, so many items to finish. I am very excited about the flower shaped black vase in front of that trio, it was my first attempt at that shape--and you might see it amongst the unfinished pots, where yesterday I tried turning it into mugs, WITH GREAT SUCCESS! The rest of the pics show before and after with a bunch of pieces.

The Christmas season, which us retailers are deep into, keeps us BUSY indeed, but a person can have fun. I hope you can have fun too, what are you planning? Tell us in comments.

in which my imaginary long lost uncle finally dies, leaving me a million dollars...

OK, my dream house, maybe yours too? We are driving down the road a few miles from home, on the way to the wife's office, and I see that my dream house is FOR SALE. I am guessing "1.8 million, so gorgeous, great yard" and wow! Whatta steal! I check the listing, not 1.8 mill at all, only a few bucks under 700 thou...gotta keep hoping powerball pays off........if we played....

or some relative I have never heard of mistakenly leaves me a fortune...

And in my new driveway???? The mini cooper coupe, OH YES....

Penny and the superbig, super scary spider!!!!

Before we talk about the big horrible spider, here is a pot or 2. I told you Elizabeth asked for a berry bowl and I made some with grapes. They are a good medium-large size, holes in the base, with a dish under. You dump in your fruit, rinse it off, drain it a bit, and set it on the dish on the table, voila!
ALSO, I had told you the wife needed a pencil cup, and I was like "make it a beagle!"

OK, let's talk spider...scroll down to look at that monster. Penny wanted to eat it, I would not let her. Later she ate a fly and a moth, so she still had a good day, but what is that thing? I need to check with my pal Erin, otherwise known as Summer. She is, for real, a PHD student of bugs at Cornell...and I am sure she might be able to help with giant arachnids.....
this has basically an unmarked black-grey body, with black-grey legs that have white stripes. ICK!


You might need these mugs, for sale now with other great stuff, at my online etsy gallery!

the wife was WRONG

Point A: I am showing the wife this adorable tee shirt online, it has a polar bear on it! I want it for her, bad. I LOVE THAT POLAR BEAR!!!!!!!!!!! But she is like
"I don't wear orange" and I am like
"its not orange, they say it is 'terra cotta'" and the wife is like
"right, ORANGE! No thanks" but it has tormented me for weeks, I love that polar bear! the problem is
POINT B: Well, it is true, I am a compact person, and sometimes, to be honest, I wear kids' sizes.
So, I, um, ordered this child's tee shirt for myself. The important thing about
POINT 3: kids' sizes is that they are cheaper than adult clothes!!!!! and
Point 4: there is no question, some kids' clothes are flippin' FUN. But why should kids have all the good times?

magnificent apple pies!

I got this recipe from a magazine, probably like Martha St3wart. It is a recipe to make little apple pies with little kids, immensely EASY and with very little other than apples and a little dough, immensely healthy too. It is the opposite of store bought pies, (with a few tiny apples chunks floating in unidentified sauce) and like I say, EASY!!!!!!

I started, of course, with picking apples off the tree across the street and it helps to have a beagle with you when making apple pie.....

Gary's baby apple pies

-prepare dough with half hour to spare:

--use a fork and mix in bowl 1 1/3 cup flour, 1 tbs sugar, 6 tbs. margerine, 5 tbs. water---when it looks doughy and combined, set into fridge for at least half hour

--later that same day! preheat oven to 350

--in another bowl, chop 2 apples, mix in 1 tbs. lime juice, 1 tbs. sugar, 2 tbs. flour, allspice, ground cloves and cinnamon shakes--stir to combine nicely

--take dough out of fridge, form into a sausage, chop into 8 approx. equal parts

--using 4 little pyrex custard cup thingies (or two 4 inch pie pans), line each cup with a dough section--the dough is usually very elastic and easy to pat and push and spread to cover most of the cup

--fill cups with apple mixture, pat down--it should fit into the 4 just right

--pat the remaining 4 dough bits into round patties, press onto top of cups (I am lazy about this but you could be very careful--does not matter!)

--set cups onto baking sheet and bake about 35-45 minutes, until they are nicely golden brown on top, remove from oven and you can top with a pinch of cinnamon sugar, oh boy! let cool, then eat!

--

UNmentionables and YOU

SO, once again, the wife is talking with her pal Zee, and the subject of UNMENTIONABLES comes up. Unmentionables is usually, well, undies or lingerie, right? Or like Maya Angelou's grandmother would say, as she and her brother headed out to the washtub in the yard for a bath "wash as far as possible, then wash possible".

But when you think about it, unmentionables could be anything, like politics, religion, family, your spouse's new leather boot fetish, ahem, etc etc etc.

What is your unmentionable story? When I think unmentionable I think "SEWAGE. I do NOT want to talk about sewage." So here is my sewage story.

Back when we lived in the woods of New Hampshire, we had a stretch, as you do, of weather below zero for a few weeks. When we flushed we didn't get no satisfaction! We had a septic tank out there somewhere, and a pipe leading from the house out to it, and, well, you know, what should only go OUT of the house wanted to COME BACK IN. We suspected freezing down the line somewhere, and the plumber came out. Friendly guy, but old and creaky. He was like "where is your septic tank?" and I waved vaguely at the side yard, covered with, no joke, 3 feet of snow. He was like "well, I have to get into the top, you need to find the opening. I'll be back after lunch" AND so, I started with the snow shovel, clearing an area about 8 X 10 feet of the snow, looking for approximate and unmarked spot where I KNEW THE TOP OF THE SEPTIC TANK WAS. The ground was frozen, and therefore, clearing the snow had been the easiest part of the job.

I used a pick of some kind, to hack through the first layers of ice and dirt, then started shoveling. Luckily, i did not have to shovel the whole 8 X 10 foot area, just about 6 X 10...and after 2 hours, I found the concrete top of the tank, and the plumber came back. I was more tired than in my whole life, 2-3 hours hard labor in my snowy yard, but that is not the unmentionable part of this story.

The plumber pops the lid open in 2 seconds, which is as it should be, then SLIPS ON THE ICE and his whole left leg, and nearly the rest of him, falls into my septic tank. Par for the course for a plumber, eh? I mean, why else would they charge 90 bucks or more an hour? They flippin' earn it....

ANYWAY, so the plumber gets himself and foot and all out of my septic tank--seemingly unconcerned about where half his body had just been and what was on his boots-- and he is peering around in there "oh, we didn't need to get into the top of the tank, I got something else I can try that should work" and I am gaping down into the hole, looking at what was, well, it had been mine, but I had given it up. I did not want to see it ever again, what was in my septic tank, I had said goodbye and good riddance long ago....

ANYWAY, in slow motion, just like his foot and leg slipping on the ice and falling into my demonic septic tank, I watch from several feet away as my shovel decides to...slowly...slowly but gathering speed, slide down the ice and into the gaping top of my septic tank, splashing into it with a loud and noisy PLOP.

The plumber looks at me, and says "you want your shovel back? I could probably fish it out if you have a rake" and I am like "NO NO! No problem!!!!!! Forget the shovel!" and the plumber replaces the top of my demonic septic tank and from under the house uses high power water to melt and dislodge ice in the outflow pipe, EASY and done in five minutes (why didn't he try that FIRST???) and I used ...my OTHER shovel...and filled back over the top of my septic tank, but put a large marker on top...just in case.....

PLEASE: tell us your very fascinating UNmentionables story down in comments!

cracked rear view with pink lacey undies

Part of this story has to do with UNmentionables (check in first thing Monday for a LOT of unmentionables!) You know as well as I do that YOUNG people are different from people like US. We are so much cooler. And more sensible! (on a cold day) You will see me and the wife here digging Starschmucks' wickedly deep and dark brews, me in my new EGGLANT PURPLE shirt, when the moon in all its cracked glory rose behind the wife. The place was crowded, just off campus, and the young gal behind the wife was, you know, bending over and showing the room not only the low cut jeans, but the, well, to put it bluntly, lacey undies and, well, that which she should share only with her doctor or significant other, you know? MY POINT? Check in Monday for a complete discussion of unmentionables.

Meanwhile, other than Spike getting the lovin' and messin' around, you see me finishing a dog cup for the wife's new office. She wanted a small thing to keep pencils in. I had already given her a hippo for the paper clips. A beagle pencil cup sounded like a great match for a hippo jar...new idea for me! I gotta make it a little bigger, with the tail forming the handle...have a great evening, see you Monday!

le tiny ROAD TRIP

Me and the wife went to Syracuse yesterday to buy the clay from Clayscapes, which has all things delightful to potters, including clay and such, but look at the wife in their awesome gallery, checking out somebody's awesome cat sculptures! Then we went to upstate NY's BEST restaurant Strong Hearts, which happens to be all vegan, and had, if you can believe it because it was NEW to me, peanut butter and jelly French toast...with bananas inside! Probably the cleverest and tastiest restaurant meal I have ever had in my LIFE.

And, OH MY, isn't it a shame that those boots from the vintage store don't fit the wife? She NEEDS knee high goth boots...ahem.....

oh boy!

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
Why YES, yes, this spring green celadon is about my favorite glaze, esp. when I blob a little blue accent on to it.....
that's the look of love darlin'......have a great weekend!

le weekend looms ahead....

SO, like I was saying, the wife sews all kinda stuff, like this faboo blue patterned shirt here! You are jealous, aren't you?

In other news, suddenly this week fall hits you over the head with brilliant colors, typical of the end of September, and here are 2 shots from my back yard. I love the deep red vines contrasting with the yellow and orange maple leaves.
And finally, Elizabeth is like "I need a brown berry bowl" ....
well, I don't really do browns too much. Nor do I do berry bowls too much, but Elizabeth is awesome and I explain about the color, and go back ten plus years to, as you see, my grape design for pots. I am wondering if I will do the full monty with painting the grapes and leaves like the sample tile, or will I just be lazy and go with mainly green and a little blue.....looks good so far, hmm?

SPIKE gets crafty, do YOU????

Golly, nice response yesterday :) From my side, commenters all seemed to be SMART AND SASSY women, as I guessed. THANK YOU. I am embarrassed. :)

More important things, do you get crafty? Are you artsy fartsy????? I bet you are. Many of the readers that visit here do so for that reason, sharing the creative inspirations.

The wife took these photos of Spike cat helping her sew a blouse. The wife has her mother's anique sewing machine...and her grandmother's antique sewing machine. Both in great working order. Somewhere around the house is a new machine for zig zags and things, but those ancient machines are used most of the time. She can sew anything, she is awesome that way. I think she may have first started sewing as a child, with her mother, sisters and grandmother, but there is more to it than that. I, for example, am a few years younger than she, and all kids took home ec and wood or metal shop. Wood and metal shop were FANTASTIC, to my mind. They included side doses of photo developing, drafting, tin smithing and a little ceramics--and our teachers were fantastic, really favorite classes of mine. For home ec, it was a hard job for the teachers because boys had only just started having to take home ec, and it was an uphill battle for them to get most of them to behave. Well, I remember one of the teachers we had was BABE-LI-CIOUS, so boys liked her class. I mean, BABELICIOUS. Anyway, I made, what I thought was, a FANTASTIC stuffed elephant in her class, and she only gave me a B! I will never forget that.....

ANYWAY, my wife had to fight to take wood shop in Kansas City. She and her father wrote letters to petition the school district, and she was allowed. She was the only girl in a glass of thuggish and horrible boys. Obviously, laws changed, so that within a couple of years, as in my case, we all took both.

Both the wife and I remember drawing and making things ever since we were tiny. It is the most important factor of my life, being able to create, I am so lucky!

How about you??? What art to you create, what do you like to make? Cakes and cookies, beadwork, jewelry, pottery, sculpture? Can you go to comments and:
1) when I was little I loved making.....
2) and now I like to make......

"when I think of Gary, I think........"

I have to say, I relish your funny comments! I was sitting here in my little happy but sleepy bubble, wondering "what the heck do these people think of me, who do they think I am???" Please go to comments and tell me who I am. At least, how you see me, I am dying to know what impressions I give!

Just to be fair, and generalizing here, when I think of the typical reader of this blog, I think "blogging woman aged about 25-65 with a great sense of humor and fun, smart and sassy". That is YOU :)

question for YOU! (like, was I commando?)

Seriously! A question for you, but first, how dare you ask if I was commando in my jeans here? As Seinfeld said to Kramer "you mean, all that is between me and ...you...is that thin cloth?"
Get your filthy minds out the gutter!
Second, I show the car here to make my point: I really stuffed that car for the weekend fair, not even room for a peanut butter sandwich if you still wanted to see to drive...let alone, room for a large cat or small wife.....

And now we get to the point, the question of the day:
Again, the wife and her friend Zee are talking about "what is your oldest possession, why do you have it, how did you get it, how has it aged, why is it special to you?"

I have some items, of course, older than these jeans, but as the wife says, these are from the days, 20ish years ago, you could go to the store and ...get Levi's. Jeans were either Levi's or Wranglers, basically, aside from designer jeans, everybody wore Levi's. Made in USA.
So, these guys are so beloved and so worn out and repaired so many times.... I gave up on them once, but the wife took them out of the trash...and hid them....and months later I loved them again. The wife fortunately, a) has a pile of interesting cloth scraps, and b) has lovingly repaired them, at last count, 33 times. 33!!!! They are still a good fit, a little baggy, and now so old and beloved that some of the patches...need patches!

PLEASE: go to comments, tell us about your oldest favorite possession!

tales from a perfect weekend....

SO, as you have heard me say many many times lately, I was at the 2 Rivers Fine Arts Fest in Binghamton, NY at the Roberson museum all weekend. Considering the city was under water in the worst flood ever 2 weeks ago, including the back of the space where we were exhibiting, and that the street has condemned homes and wrecking and cleanup crews everywhere, tis a miracle the event happened as scheduled. But boy, what a perfect weekend, could not ask for a better crowd or weather. The crowd was down, less than half the usual, but I was in spot number ONE, next to the entry, and had great sales and a great time, lucky me! I gave up on doing most outdoor fairs like this one years ago, and we got rid of our large vehicle and the canopy has sat in storage since 2005---it had mice in it, eewwwww! But I got it all into the wee car, and it worked very well. I was reluctant to do an outside fair like this---worries about rain, wind, thieves overnight, but like I said, the weather and everything were perfect. This event is a very carefully juried art show, and the crowd seems to know it, compared with some fairs where customers might have more of a, how do you put it, garage sale sale mentality. This was a smart audience looking for beautiful things. Plus, you know, you see the lady with the six shi tzus....

In 1985 I worked as a useless apprentice to Dean White. I ran into him here, the FIRST TIME he and I have ever been at a fair together (outdoor fairs are his bread and butter). We keep in touch a little and I respect him and his kindliness immensely. We talked quite a bit, and this is what he told me: as a potter for 38 years, he has had hundreds of students and apprentices, but only ONE became a potter, ME. I was like HOLY CATS! Made me feel, I dunno, pretty flippin' awesome :)