tails from a SUPER SWEET DOG that I am very proud of

The vet was here this afternoon. Our vet is like the BBC production of James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small". She comes to us! And does her thing in our kitchen. As you can imagine, when a pet passes, it is far easier if they are home. Ditto the exam. Vet offices smell of fear, probably, to your sweet dog or cat, who can smell the thousands of others who have come to get shots and other such unpleasant  things, whereas in this case the vet comes over to play with you and while you are getting jabbed in your kitchen papa is feeding you cookies....

ANYWAY, it was just over a year ago the vet was jabbing Penny and Penny was acting like it was the BEST THING since sliced ham and the Dr said "Penny is so friendly!  She should become a therapy dog at Longview Senior Center and a Cornell Companion therapy dog...".

And we did.

We started visiting Longview right away, and there are several pictures below from our weekly visit there this morning.
Cornell Companions is a program to train therapy dogs by the Cornell Vet school...and Penny, as many of you know, passed that program with flying colors, as did I!  Then I went through weeks of ADDITIONAL training to visit a facility where people are very ill.
I am prohibited by federal law from describing what place that is, who is there and what is going on, for the sake of patient privacy.  Anyway, the training was like going back to college and learning all about one of the most interesting things you can imagine, a part of life that nobody ever thinks about.

Longview is all about sharing the good times, and everybody signs a release when they move there, allowing photos and publicity.  The place I visit afterwards does not allow ANYTHING, but I think I can describe some conversations I have had there.

The first week Penny and I visited the new place after my training finished, the nurses sent us into a person's room.  I knew they were very ill and expected, what, a depressed person?  Morose?  I don't know, but OH MY GOODNESS what a delightful and lively person!  Penny just crawled all over them and they laughed together and had a great party!  The second person we saw was not feeling well and told us to go away.
I saw the first person the next week.  The second was no longer there, the room empty.
Each week for 5 weeks I have visited the first person and been told of their cats in the pictures at the bedside, had laughs, Penny has played with them, just the most lively person you have ever seen.
Last week we had a message that they would like a visit, and the person was at first out of it.  The nurse was talking to them, and Penny was at the bedside, and there was sudden awareness and again, the party was on!  I learned all about the sweet cats in their pictures...Penny was stroked and loved by this lively, wonderful person.
Today that person was not asleep, but was staring at us, not really seeing.  Like they are not there.
We met a new person today.  This person did not want us to visit, they did not feel well, so we moved on to another room.  THIS new person, again, is terribly ill BUT OH MY GOODNESS so delightful and lively!  I was told
"God is all around us and I have had the best life.  I have never hated anybody, everybody is just so interesting!  Why do people bother with hating others?  Next week I will have to get video of you 2, I can't wait to show you guys to my family! And now I have 2 new friends...."

without the wife around to dress me, do I look like an idiot?

Probably!  She is one of those "black belt goes with black shoes, brown belt with brown shoes" types of people.  I walked around all day and realized I was wearing brown pants and black shoes, what would she say??????

PITA, what does it mean to you?  NO, it is not the animal rights group, and sure, in the right context it can mean PAIN IN THE AZZ or ankle as the wife puts it, politely...but really, what I mean is the little mid-eastern flatbreads, the pocket things, right?  I wanted to make whole wheat pitas in a regular oven, and thanks to the interwebs, of course there is a variety of good recipes out there!  Oh man, if you are used to making bread and pizza from scratch, MAKE pitas!  Its really easy....some recipes are easier than this one, but I find this one reliable  and plenty easy
/http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/whole-wheat-pita-bread-best-pita-bread-recipe/

What is the value of a pita, you ask?  WELL, there are sandwiches and wraps and pocket sandwiches, of course, and since a recipe like this makes 8-10 pitas which can be saved, there is, as many parents might know, PIZZA in the blink of an eye.

I student taught in college in the pre-k and kindergarten.  The kindergarten kids who stayed all day (just a few, most were only morning for that little school) made their own lunch.  (NEVER WILL I TOUCH apple juice again...they loved it, they mixed it from concentrate so that it was like syrup).  They liked tuna fish too (I never did like fish of any kind, and well, I am veg anyway) and I can remember the gag inducing moments of finding play dough or crayons in the communal tuna fish.

BUT their favorite?  It was also our favorite when the wife and I moved here and had no idea where our cooking stuff was packed:  pita pizzas! Or with an English muffin or bagel!
Any kindergarten kid could scoop out some sauce onto a pita, lay on a little topping, then cheese, then into the oven on a cookie sheet for a few minutes, and everybody has their own custom pizza!
THAT is why you want to have a bag of pitas sitting around, and if you want to top it with play dough, go nuts.

BONUS:  I made hummus too, which I like almost as much as peanut butter! So easy! Recipe follows****



That sandwich for dinner was stuffed with hummus, grated carrot, diced red bell pepper and 2 kinds of olives, yum!

****hummus Gary style

-drain and rinse a 14-16 oz can of chickpeas, set them into a sauce pan covered with water and boil and simmer at least 20 minutes.  Don't fart around with this (haha! don't fart around! as any vegetarian will tell you, if you prepare beans correctly, you will be no more farty than the general public is....but GOOD GOLLY the people who make hummus that is more like wood chips can certainly guarentee their guests an evening of gas----I have rarely seen anybody's recipe for hummus that boils canned chickpeas, they just chop them as is...believe me, go the extra boiling step for marital and personal happiness)
-let the chickpeas cool or rinse them in cold water
-toss them in the blender or food processor with:
-garlic
-tbs each of tahini, lemon juice, olive oil
-spice, like cumin, hot pepper flakes, basil, black pepper, tabasco--I am low salt, and find that tabasco is enough added salt
-grind the mix up, adding a little water from time to time to get a nice mix, that is IT!  some people add more oil or lemon or tahini, but whatever....

"OMFG nobody told me???" and selfies....

(NOW, selfie with cat on lap and selfie with wife in background.  Yes, NOW.  read what the screen says, I am typing this!)

selfie, according to an entry in urban dictionary:

When someone takes a picture of themselves looking ugly or funny and sends it to their friends to get them to laugh. People who do this are not trying to look good and usually don't. The typical selfie face involves a peace sign and duck face.

Let me spare you the duck face! 
The wife goes out of town and here I am, taking pictures of myself.
Of course, you will have noticed, I am pretty good at taking pictures of myself even when she is around...the wife, hundreds of miles away, will see these and be like
"he got a haircut Friday...too short!  And he hasn't combed it since!"
I do like it short, then I never have to comb it or think about it.
I don't think I look too bad here, though, AND I am trying to make the point, right?  

LIKE OMFG how come nobody told me how easy and FUN it is to make corn chips in your own kitchen???????? Buzzfeed had this terrific article around May 5 for making your own corn tortillas and corn chips, but I only got to it Saturday.  

What you need to know is this:  in just a few minutes you can make hot and crispy chips that are better than the very best socks, if you know what I mean... (do men get old and embarrass themselves by getting more excited about FOOD than socks?  WTF am I revealing here?  better get back to the food...)

OK, what you need to know is this: (whoopsie, quick break to make the cat comfortable on my lap and take a pic...as you see at the top of this post...)

-preheat oven to 400

-take 16 corn tortillas (it was just me....2 seemed enough and was, with my leftover chili which I FINALLY finished after 4 days) and cut them into smiley faces KIDDING! little triangles
-brush a little oil on each side of the triangles, lay onto a cookie sheet and bake about 8-11 minutes--our oven is hot and 8 was exactly right
-pull out of oven and sprinkle with a little salt and also lime juice if you want, let stand cooling to become more crisp!  I ate them hot and crispy alright, HOLY CATS!


In other news, one last selfie--all these elephant items came out of the kiln and I had this clever idea, all of them lined up with me...not such a great pic, but anyway, have a great Sunday!

3 in bed....

I am the main housekeeper here at Casa Rith, which does not mean that I am good at it.  I am quick and efficient!  But beyond that, I am also lazy, sloppy and impatient because cleaning is boring.
The wife makes the bed  and so, when she leaves town?  The cat, the dog and I end up in this tangled mess of a bed that gets worse every day....because I am a creature of habit!  The wife will return from partying with the cousins out of town and likely have a big job in front of her...
Let's talk mugs here...and have an awesome Saturday!

the BEST little gems

Let's start with a haiku, hmm?

And my wife is off
To see cousins and party down
While I stay home....

Cleaning the garage.
The dog vomited in bed
At four ten a.m.

Without thinking, I made enough chili and noodles to last an army a lifetime...I may be bored at mealtime this weekend....

Talking about little gems!  This teapot is a little gem.  Teapots in today's header are all little gems.  I actually made plates yesterday for US--NOT little gems.  Well, the small one is maybe.  My favorite work, as you hear me say, is to make a cute little thing with a fun shape and cute sculpture and great color...and it always takes a long morning of fiddling to make such things.  Plates, as the potter I apprenticed to will tell you, are as easy to make as falling off a log.  But to me, oh soooo boring....well, not boring if I am making them for US.  Then it is a treat...



I remember summer of 1979 we went on a loooooong driving trip all over the east plus the ocean in 2 states and finally up to far northern Maine.  I was always waiting for my favorite song of that summer to pop up on the radio, the Stone's Emotional Rescue, still a favorite.
Two years ago it was Fitz and the Tantrums.  It is STILL a thrill when you realize it is summer and gorgeous and you love one song they keep playing on the car radio and you will always love that song like you love summer.
These songs are little gems!
I realized day before yesterday when it was a PERFECT sunny day that I have my song of the summer.

  

dog day afternoon....

I should mention that my best pal Bronwyn is like "I am always sad that you change the pic at the top of your blog.  I get used to one and then you switch!".

Sadly, Bronwyn, the minute somebody says that, the perverse little rebel in me insists that I change that pic MORE often.....not to make Bronwyn sad, of course, but to keep EVERYBODY ON THEIR TOES!

I have all these pottery pictures to show you....but DANG, the weather was so good and my many dog appointments yesterday are SO MUCH more interesting!
Perfect weather the last 2 days (but here comes the rain today..) and I have been babysitting both Yogi and Nook...

One of the dogs I babysit is owned by somebody in an office.  I sent these pictures to them.  I said "Here is YOU, stuck inside all day listening to boring people telling their boring stories and I am OUTSIDE WITH YOUR DOG having good times in perfect summer weather!" which probably sounds wicked of me...taunting them....

Nook and I went to Cass park on the Cayuga Lakefront and the dog park....I love the old caboose near the dog area, and this may be the most funny picture EVER of Yogi and Penny...she was trying to pee and he POUNCED!  Puppies!  Penny was like "I have had enough puppy for one day" and went inside...

"cute but with a filthy mouth"

You will recall that I was a CHICKENSITTER over the weekend.  Babysitting chickens, right?  In the wake of that I was, naturally, doodling chickens.  One idea leads to another.....the wife is appalled that such a cute figure would say such a thing!


In other news, I am RACING AROUND taking care of guests, making pots, Annnnd babysitting sweet Yogi AND sweet Nook....I bump into friends, I swear I am not making this up, walking one dog or the other and they are like "who is this, another dog?" and its like "yep, 20,000 steps on the pedometer today, gonna sleep well today!".

TIME WARP TUESDAY: "how much you want for that jacket?"

Looking at the older photo you would think I have mounted and organized my old photos really well.  HA! NO!  This one was though.
Like I said last week:  a)  I was poking through the old photos and found a few forgotten ones and b) it is nice to see pics of first dog Petey, who we found July of 93 living on the streets of Chicago, a little beagle-corgi mix.  We lived just outside of Chicago's Loop....

ANYWAY the wife has had this jacket maybe 30 years....with the occaisional addition...somebody said last week when I was wearing the same shirt now as I had been pictured in 20 years ago that it is surpising that our old clothes fit.  YES.  Both of our closets have quite a few beloved items...

This jacket of the wife's always gets stares...she has other denim jackets, but this one takes it to 11...things fall off, she finds new things and adds them, it is an ongoing project.  I gave the wife the Led Zeppelin pin when we were dating (she does not like them, but she is a good sport), a friend gave his hard earned Boston Marathon pin, and Saturday we found a smiley face pin to add....

One day a woman on the street of NY in 1992 out of the blue said
"how much???" and it was a shock and the wife was like "?????"
and the woman said "if you ever want to sell the jacket, call me" and gave her the card, long since lost...

She tells me the lobster there was the first.  She bought it when she was a little kid visiting Maine...45 years ago.....

if you FORCED ME TO MAKE teapots....

...all my life, I would be happy!  You hear me say things like "I am a teapot specialist" and "you get older and you don't wanna just make stacks of bowls, you wanna slow down and follow your imagination" and of course "I just wanna make a cute little gem".
I noticed yesterday that there were several cute little gems (1-2 cup teapots) hanging around the studio...


(teapots by Gary Rith)
AND, as I said last week, Catherine in Germany orders up the turquoise teaset...with UNmatching elephant cream and sugar...she needs to decide which creamer, big or small? The big one is huge, holding 2.75 cups.  Smaller is more like 1.25 cups.



(new pottery by Gary Rith)

FINALLY, Yogi visiting Penny in our yard, have a great Monday!

chickensit: a new one on the resume....

You will recall that I have somehow gotten into the business of professional DOG WALKER with a sideline in cat sitting, all of which I think is hilarious!  People hire me to...play with their pets.  I should be writing THEM checks!
OK, here's a new one, Paul and Julie needed someone to babysit their CHICKENS.  I know nothing about chickens, but this was an easy gig.  So easy I don't even want to go into details, but let's just say I PERFORMED MY DUTIES WITH GREAT SKILL.
Alright, I can admit:  the job was close them in at night, let them out in the morning.
Paul and Julie live around the corner.  Its one of those things you can multitask, as in do the chicken job while walking the dog and talking with the wife on the way to the post office...
Paul was like "They're really dumb.  It gets dark and they go in.  You close the door like this.  Next morning, you open the door and they come out."  Easiest YET most exotic pet job yet...

Friday we went over at twilight, wondering if there would be an hour long wait until they finally went in.  They are all beautiful, and do I say this?  Friendly?  They do have this attitude of "what's in it for ME?" probably because humans normally mean corn (they had plenty).  So we all said hello....and...it was SO cool, one chicken flies up onto the ramp to the coop.  Sort of a one foot jump with wings.  Moments later, another looks around, does the wing-fly-jump and goes in.  LAST was this black sheep of the bunch, this juvenile delinquent, who dawdled and finally went inside.  CLICK!  Door shut, all done.  I am soooo glad we were able to watch them in action.  Next morning they were glad to see us and we realized, knowing nothing about chickens, that one of the black ones might be a boy?  A rooster?  Is that what red head gear means?????

Today I am back to the old routine, with Puffy the cat.... have a great Sunday!

when 91 is NOT HOT ENOUGH...

Catherine lives in Germany.  She has the bunny mugs sent to Ottawa but she has BIGGER FISH TO FRY:
"That turquoise teaset you submitted to Cooperstown last month, did it WIN?" and I am like
"Well, it won a spot in the show but some ugly painting* won best in show.  Just getting into the show felt GOOD" (*kidding!  KIDDING!) and she is like
"I would kill for a teaset like that...." and I am like
"You don't have to kill anybody, just use paypal!" and so she asked for me to make some of the items looking like that set and then, naturally
"but for the cream and sugar, I gotta go ELEPHANT" and you know how that goes, when you can't decide which is better, so you get some of each?
and so I am like "BRILLIANT, a turquoise checkerboard teaset with elephant cream and sugar, makes perfect sense :)"

One thing most people don't realize is the fun dialogue you have with some customers.  Catherine takes it to eleven with the fun , she shares recipes!  She is like
"You eat all that peanut butter, you need my favorite soup recipe, tomato with peanut butter!" and I am like "OF COURSE I NEED IT and I am making it right away, even if it is OVER 90 stinkin' degrees" and she is like
"sadly, my son has a peanut allergy, so I cannot make it anymore! His brother sneaks off to his friends to eat peanut butter sandwiches (really!).  But the recipe is quite easy and delicious, a favorite, don't ruin it and make me a liar!" and I am like "pppffft, master chef, c'est moi"

IT IS brilliant and tasty delicious and went great with the wee bit of leftover green enchiladas we had...and you think "Mexico and Morrocco, HOT places...with hot food? Sure, why not..."
and we had a nice broiling hot spicy dinner...with the frosty brew = PERFECT, even if it was 91 degrees out there....

Catherine sent me her recipe card AND here is the progress on her pots---just made into the first firing, just glazed and into the glaze firing and then a minute ago, still cooling in the kiln after going up to 2200 degrees last evening...