House Highlights

Inspired by a reader request, I felt compelled to tidy the front room of the house and show you some of my favorite things about it. Please don't ever think my house is this ship shape - we typically eat at the coffee table like most people our age (according to my unofficial poll...you do too, right?) and have the usual clutter of opened mail, pairs of shoes, and other things that don't make it past room one after work.

Welcome! This is where we spend most of our time - eating, relaxing, watching Game of Thrones. It has great light from the east facing windows in the morning and a cozy fireplace for chilly nights. 

The cats like to hang here as well. Boo (little pirate cat) practices parkour on the couch like a crazy person and Cat likes to curl up on a pillow.

I recently rediscovered a wool Pendleton blanket that made it with me from Portland. It's toasty on chilly nights and I'm a big fan of the white and navy design.

On the mantel I have some of my favorite pit fired pots. I love the orange and gray marks that came out of their firing in sawdust and salt. 

And this Voluspa candle is amazingggggg. I picked it up in Hawaii but you can find lots of heavenly scents  at Anthro. My other fave is Baltic Amber (thanks, Chic!).

363 Days Later...

Oh hey! Thanks to all you faithful readers who have checked in over the last year despite the lack of posts. You are too wonderful for words!

We've been up to a lot lately. A pumpkin carving party, to see David Sedaris read some funny stories at the Landmark, a dance party concert with Capital Cities, and most recently to Charlottesville to see Georgia Tech play UVA. But mostly we're doing normal home-ownery things like remembering to water our newly seeded lawn and picking out tile for our upstairs shower. Oh, and getting totally sucked in to Game of Thrones.

I hope to be back here more often (thanks to a handy Blogger app) to make it worth your while for stopping by. Be well friends, and see you again soon!

Autumn

We've had crisp days and we've had 80 degree days. Now we're due for a hurricane colliding with a cold front that could bring rain, wind, and snow. Eeek! But the fall colors around Richmond have been beautiful this year.

Happy Feet

My phone always dies by the time I get to the studio, but I was able to take these photos of trimming and foot-making before the battery bailed today. 

I start by making a bowl on the wheel, using a wire to remove it and letting it dry under plastic for a few days (or on a nice Saturday, in the sun for half an hour). When it is pretty stiff but not totally dry (deemed 'leather hard' by the pros), I flip it over on the wheel to make something out of the flat bottom.

I make sure it's centered on the wheel (no wonky feet here!) and put some clay down on the sides to keep it in place.

With the wheel spinning I trace the outline for the foot with my pin tool, clearly outlining where I will trim off the extra clay.

With a trimming tool I take off all of the extra outer clay and shape the bottom of the bowl where it meets the foot.

Then I do the same on the inside, being careful not to trim too deep that it would leave the bottom too thin or make a hole in the bowl.

Since this is for a berry bowl, I cut little notches in the sides to make a space for the water to drain. I score it in thirds and take my larger hole cutters to remove the clay.

Voila! Next I'll add handles and cut the holes to make it a berry bowl. After a day or two of drying, I'll smooth it with a brillo pad and put it on the shelf for its first firing.

Farewell Squirrels

Squirrels season has come to a close. We went to about 10 games over the summer, but I always say to Chris that we could tally up how many $8 charges we have on the credit card to figure out the number of games we've attended because without fail I always order a Super Pretzel and a jumbo Diet Coke. I have enough souvenir Nutzy cups to sell a collection on Ebay.

At our final game I popped into the shop with my friend to grab some extra souvenirs to tide me over until next season, including a shirt that says "RVA - Proud home of the Flying Squirrels" and this ridiculous Nutzy hat. I put it on immediately and wish you could have seen Chris' face when I was climbing back up the steps to our general admission seats. His expression said "thank goodness you're cute because right now you're insane." I justified the purchase as planning ahead for this year's Halloween costume.

Hawaiiiiii

A lot of our vacation time this year is devoted to weddings and holidays. Chris' sister got married over the summer and my sister is tying the knot in October - both extremely exciting and joyous occasions! But with Christmas around the corner as well, all our extra time has been wiped. We had hoped to plan another trip to Europe next summer since we have a lot of frequent flier miles from a crazy sweet American Airlines deal, but when one of my best pals announced her plans for a destination wedding in July, Hawaii became our next big adventure. Hawaii is one heck of a trip from the East Coast, so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to invite our West Coast family members over for a big family reunion. It's the perfect combo of wedding, vacation, and family time over the span of 14 days. In Hawaiiiiiii.

Eeeeee!!!

Immediately I started researching flights, places to stay, and island info. We found a one way flight on the day we hoped to depart with the lowest amount of American Airlines miles needed and booked it on Thursday. We also had some old Alaska Airlines miles that were just sitting around (Alaska only lets you redeem miles for cities Alaska serves and Richmond isn't one of them) that we used get tickets back from Honolulu to DC. So as of right now we'll have the cost of a rental car to get us back to Richmond from DC and the $10 per person round trip tax cost. That's twenty dollars total for round trip flights to Hawaii. Mind blown.

[Images of the wedding beach - Waimanalo, Oahu - via Yelp]

Lately

Here's what I've been working on in the studio lately.
Perfect for summer!

Table Project: Part Two

The legs arrived last weekend! I was so excited that I immediately started wiping off the grease and took them outside to spray with a clear finish to help prevent the steel from oxidizing. 

Chris and I had a small miscommunication about the correct screws to buy, so we had to make two trips to Home Depot and drill pilot holes before securing the legs to the table. (For the 3/4" wood and 1/8" metal lip from the legs, we got #10 x 5/8" pan head screws, in case you were wondering.)

I did the first three coats using a rag to wipe the stain on which I initially liked, but I kept getting a blotchy sheen.

The fourth coat I switched to a brush and the finish is a nice, consistent satin.

Right now we have an eclectic mix of chairs, but I'd love to save up to get these Tolix reproductions as seen in Sweet Fine Day or these World Market ones.

Table project completed!

Cat Mail

dear anonymous reader,

i was ecstatic when i opened the flat envelope  on my doorstep this afternoon and found the cat print inside! what an unexpected monday surprise . it's already displayed proudly on the wall.

you made my day!

with much gratitude,

cat's mom

Whiskers on Kittens

We had thunder like cannons right above our heads last night around 5am. Immediately after blinding flashes of light we heard the sky rip open with fierce intensity. Cat joined us and cuddled close - I felt like Julie Andrews.