holiday check-in

Wow, things have been crazy around here. My surgery was cancelled and now is resceduled for December 27th. Good thing though, because we spent all of the day Saturday in the ER with Paul. We were getting ready to go see a movie and as his was walking upstairs he pulled something in his back and couldn't move his arms or left leg and it hurt to breathe. Panic set in....we were thinking, ok he pulled a muscle or a rib popped out, no problem, it will pop back in in a couple of minutes. Nope...so I had to put his shoes on him and help him hobble down two flight of stairs to the car and off the the ER, no Chipmunk movie for us. Because of Paul's cancer history, they took tons of tests. Thankfully, no cancer spots on his lungs or any problem with his bloodwork. Just excrutiating pain. Caden was an angel throughout the whole ordeal. The doctors do think that it is a soft tissue issue, but we are going to be on the safe side and Paul is seeing the family doctor today to schedule an MRI to rule out any herniation. It is a very high place to be herniated, so I have been hoping and praying it is a rib out and will heal and that will be that. Rib injuries are really painful. I have had a laminotomy at the T10 area and I know kinda what it feels like to have a disc problem up there...I hope he heals fast and doesn't turn chronic.







Ok, in happier news, I finished the ornaments I was working on for the 2007 Ornament Swap.

I made ceramic snowflakes, with holiday sentiments like "joy", "sparkle", "ho, ho, ho" hand embossed and glitter snow imbedded in the glaze.



here is an example:





and wrapped them all up like this:



I sent them off to locations from Hong Kong, Australia, and all over the United States. I have received some beautiful ornaments in exchange. I really enjoy doing this exchange!



I made 25 more snowflakes and a red-nosed reindeer that are in the kiln right now for the bisque fire. I numbered them 1 through 25 and I plan on making them into an advent garland for Caden where he would move the red-nosed reindeer each day to countdown the Christmas. I know, I am pretty far behind for it to work for this year :) but he will enjoy it next year! Maybe he will be able to countdown from 24 to 25!



Caden had his first stage performance last Wednesday. He and his first grade class sang a rap song called "Ribbons and Bows" in the school Christmas program. He hammed it up!





the pre-requisite goofy pose pre-performance! Like any six year old would want to have a plain smile for the camera!



He really really wanted a tie, he was the only one with a tie, but he loves wearing ties like daddy does. I had to pry it off twice before school, he insisted he needed to wear it to school, with a turtleneck, quite a style. That is Caden though, our little style maker.



Because it was a rap song, they put sunglasses on during the performance. Caden insisted on wearing my sunglasses, so they kept slipping down his face! Here he is, isn't he cute!







I was also the lucky winner of some beautiful ceramic loot from Linda at little flower designs



so so very cute, she is very talented:



(this is her picture, but it is the stuff she sent me, it is too dark today to take a decent pic!)

The little scoop with the bird face on it is adorable! I have the wee vase by my sink with a flower in it, it is perfect for that! And the ornament, oh so cute! So well made, and packaged with such love and care! I love to see what methods other ceramic artists use. She is very prolific and creative! Thank you Linda!

Well Paul is off in South Carolina, so far so good. Although we all are a bit discombobulated....

I read "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" By Mo Willems (a fantastic book!) to Caden's kindergarten class today. He beemed with delight! It is the small things in life that mean so much, isn't it?

I had my nerve roots injected at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. I received four injections instead of two, so that was surprising. They seem to be helping. He hit the bone several times during the injection, and I was only given a valium, so I wasn't something I enjoyed to say the least.

I habe been working on a quilted pathwork duvet cover as well as wall organizers, pictures to follow....it is much too dark to take pics right now. I am awaiting the arrival of a tabletop slab maker for my ceramics. This will be so make it much more easy physically for me to roll clay slabs. It will also speed up production. I am thinking of making ceramic magnets also. I have a tiny kiln, so I am limited to small items, but I am not complaining, there are endless things you can make with a hunk of clay, you are only limited by time and imagination!

Well, just a quick update. I will include pics tomorrow or so!

Thanks for stopping by!

news.....

The image above is by my new-found ceramic hero Rae Dunn.

Ok, on to the news. I had my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon. He took one look at my MRI and said that I definitely had a problem with my fusion. It seems that the bone did not grow in my fusion. They had used cadaver bone, and, apparently my body rejected it. After three years there is hardly any bone growth in the fusion. So, basically, that is a failed fusion. He is 99% positive this is what's the problem. I have a special kind of Cat Scan scheduled for tomorrow to confirm the diagnosis. We will find out the results and where we go from there on my next appointment on March 6Th.

In other news, Paul has accepted a position in South Carolina. Yes, South Carolina. It is not set in stone yet. But we are preparing mentally and researching possibilities. Caden and I will stay at out home in Michigan for at least three months. Caden needs to finish kindergarten. We also don't want to put the house up for sale and move our entire life if the job isn't what Paul really wants. There are a couple of opportunities for local employment, and one that would allow for Paul to work from home for three weeks a month and be in Wisconsin for one week a month. So far though, all of the opportunities have been in the Charleston, South Carolina area. We love the ocean and I have heard that there is a lot of interest in art in the area, so it sounds great, we just do not want to risk making a mistake.

So what does this mean? I have no idea. We are just trying to stay afloat here! I have no idea what will happen if I need surgery. I cannot live on the medications I am on for all of my life, if I do, I will have a much shortened life. We love Michigan, especially where we live, on the lake shore. That said, the economy here is struggling, and we struggle along in it, and we are tired of living like this. The business would be successful if the clients could pay there bills, but it is just not happening. We even had a client that paid us in product from his former job as a sales consultant for Hobby Lobby. It is just that way here.

Ok, enough of that! Paul is feeling a little better, but hasn't fully recovered from the pleurisy yet. Caden is great, growing leaps and bounds, right out of all of his pants! :) He is a happy kid and so very intelligent, strong-willed and independent.

It is time for me to go and count the food in the food pantry at church, so that we can fill it up with fresh groceries. Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!


PS. thank you all for the kind comments and emails about my artwork. It really encouraged me! I have been focusing on my ceramic art lately, but overworked the clay yesterday and only produced two pendants. I am trying to create a cup that I had designed, but the clay is not cooperating!

Thankful.

Today I am thankful for just being alive. I am thankful that I went to my regular pharmacy with a new prescription. Had I not, well, I probably would not be talking about it today. My regular doctor prescribed something that has a lethal interaction with one of my ongoing medications. The pharmacist caught it, very luckily. Needless to say, Paul was irate, we went to the doctor's office today and let them know. Wow, certainly got me thinking about mortality. Speaking about medical stuff, I have an appointment on the 20th with my orthopedic surgeon to see if repairing the herniated disc and removing scar tissue around the fusion and the nerve is an option, or if it will cause even more scar tissue and make things worse....we will see....

We have had about two feet of snow in the last few days. Starting this weekend will be five days of below twenty degrees with the nights dropping in the negatives. This is the coldest it has been here in about 12 years.


Paul plowing the driveway, a daily necessity!


I just think the trees are so beautiful when the branches are full of snow.



Suki is still at the shelter, she has to stay there until she is done with her antibiotics and she is given a clean bill of health. I miss her...

I have been busy down in the studio creating my ceramic wares. I have been making "flower buckets"

this hasn't been fired yet. I want them to look like fabric boxes, kinda loose, after the glaze fire I will add ribbon handles or wire handles. I also have been making small embossed tags that can be displayed in multiples. (I use my handmade stamps and antique letterpress for the images). In addition, I have been making small tea light "bags" that can be hung on a nail or set on a table. I have had a lot of breakage lately, because I am trying to make the clay as thin as possible, but it is still fun. I think the challenge makes it exciting. In the mix is also some pendants and even a bracelet. I will update pics when I can. As you can see, I haven't perfected photographing my ceramics, the lighting is horrible down there.


This is a small shoe that I hand crafted. I guess I will use it as a paperweight :) I just made it without thinking, it was just an image stuck in my head....

Tonight we get to bring Caden to a Rain Forest animal performance that they are having at his school. After that, Paul and I will be going out on a date night, the first in quite a while! Yay!
Have a great day!

PS...Happy Birthday Grandpa-lini!

progress

Our amaryllis is almost in bloom, just peeking through. It doesn't look like spring here anymore. Winter has come back, we are expecting snow for the next week or so. Once the lake effect snow kicks in, it stays for a while. This has been a really warm winter.

Caden is so excited, he gets to go to a birthday party. This is the first class party that he has been able to attend. And the birthday boy, Chaz, is one of Caden's good friends. It works out great, because the kids do not have school Thursday and Friday.

Paul has been interviewing for lots of jobs. We are madly trying to stay in Michigan, but so many jobs are out of state. Michigan has the worst economy in the US. Wednesday, Paul has a very promising interview, so please, if you can, join us in good thoughts and prayer. Otherwise, we will be forced for Paul to work out of state and live separate. Because of our health issues, it is difficult to get health insurance through our business. Paul has been doing plenty of consulting work, but we are just striving for a stable existence. We don't want to leave our home.

In other news, I did the final glaze fire on my last round of ceramic prototypes.






I had some stain issues, I added more frit, so I think that I have solved that issue. I also have decided that I like a more matte appearance. So, that means more supplies. Hopefully I can order some more glaze this week. There are not any local places that sell glaze. Ugh....the only thing is, with Internet purchases, the shipping is slow and costs a lot. So, when I do order, I am going to get everything I need so that I don't waste anymore shipping. I am getting matte transparent, matte white and four other colors that are included in the package. I am also going to get a thinner gauge high temperature wire. I found that my holes were too small, that combined with shrinkage during firing, caused me to break several pieces when I was taking them off the bead tree post glaze fire. I am also going to work on a couple of matryoshka like (but animal themed) pieces that you can put a tea light in or just keep small trinkets in.

I have another nerve block on Thursday. I get to meet with both my usual doctor and the doctor that is replacing him. We will also discuss what to do (if anything) about my disc that has become re-herniated. I thought that my fusion was supposed to prevent this from happening, but apparently not.

That is enough for now...I think that I have blurted out just about everything going on with us...
sorry for the long post....thanks for stopping by!

putzing along...

I am finaaly getting around to glazing some of the buttons and pendants that I have been making. I ordered mason stain and once it arrived, I realized that I needed to mix it with a "flux" to make it stick. Ugh. I didn't know what to mix it with, so onto the beads of clay yahoo group. Such a helpful group if you are interested in making ceramic art, especially beads. They also have a flickr group. So long story short, I was able to start the expiramenting today. I have found that, for me, I have had to do a lot of expiramenting to find my true niche. I am so excited to get back working with clay. I have decided that we really need a butter dish. So instead of going out to buy one, I am going to create one. Sure it may take me a couple of months (I am pokey), but we have lived this long without one, a couple more months won't hurt! But, I am most excited about a new concept I am working on, "nesting dolls" but in animal for, like a little bird that can open up and you can place little trasures inside etc. I think that, for me, jewelry was limiting me, slowing me down. I love to make jewelry and will continue it, but I want to also make small ornaments, candle sticks, figures etc.


This is a picture of some of my glass collection. I have been trying to imbed the various glass beads and shards into glaze. I have found that some colors work better than others.


These are the next set of expiramental glass imbedded pendants, they are glazed and ready to fire. I will show you all the results later, I am not sure if I am going to fire these separate from the pendants above.

Thanks for stopping by..have a great day!

ceramic doodles...

I worked on a reference sample board of all of my glaze over the holiday break. I made ceramic earthenware tags painted half with one layer of glaze, the other half with three layers of glaze and the bottom with a clear over glaze. I was really surprised at some of the results. It is good that I did that, I think it will save me some tears in the future. A couple of the under glazes actually fired shiny without the over glaze. This seemed to happen in the darker colors. I made some trial ceramic pendants with various glass fused in the clear glaze in the second firing. That was not as successful as I wanted.

Please excuse the horrible picture, but I thought I would give you an idea of what I was talking about. The greens/blues turned out ok, but the darker red glass discolored and muddied. I will need to work on the firing process. I will probably add glass to a third firing and do it at a lower temperature as to not "burn" the glass (I don't know, it is all an experiment, but it is fun though!)

We adopted a nine month old Siamese mix kitten. We named her Suki. She is slightly cross-eyed and has huge pupils, I really wouldn't have noticed she was cross-eyed right away if they wouldn't have listed it on her records. She is so cuddly and affectionate. She has brought out some better traits in our other cat, Zoe. They, amazingly look like twins, except Zoe is long haired and bigger.

This is Zoe, just a couple of minutes ago, attacking the camera cord!


This is Sukie, lounging in the TV cabinet, she is a perfect fit for our family. We were not seriously looking, but she stuck in our heads and we went back to get her three days later, literally seconds before she was going to someone else. She is the first cat that I have had to train no to get on the counter tops, and she has discovered notorious BOB (our boogie-eyed goldfish). She is mischievous, but cute, affectionate, comes when she is called, and fetches!


another Sukie, picture....

Needless to say, Caden is also very happy with the new addition, she likes to play a lot, just like Caden!

Thanks for stopping by, talk to you soon! Have a great weekend!