Ho! Ho! Ho!

This morning I found a pumpkin I’d forgotten about on the porch. I popped it in the oven to roast on its way to becoming pie. That pumpkin was a hold-out. I know it is time to put away all things autumnal and to get with the holiday program. Last week dozens of ornaments (expect-able items such as snowflakes and gingermen, but also no few starfish, bears, and hearts) went off to a ministry in Pennsylvania. This week’s challenge is Santa hats. A man called wanting Santa hats, which was my excuse to get a nice copper cookie cutter. He sent his list and I decided I’d make one as well. I think by the time I complete all the Santa hats, I may be more than ready to move on.  On the other hand, ornaments are a lot more fun since I realized that the backs don’t have to be plain.

To prevent pottery from sticking to the kiln shelf, the bottom of each piece remains unglazed. The glaze is a layer of glass that forms as the glaze melts and matures at high temperatures. We brush “kiln wash” on the kiln shelves in case a few molten drops hit the deck during the firing process. That is far better than having them adhere to an unprotected kiln shelf and then remelting and sticking to an unsuspecting pot that comes along in the next kiln load. To prevent that, the drops of hardened glaze are chipped off with the protective layer of kiln wash. What is the point of this glaze talk? It’s my revelation that I could use glaze to decorate the textured backs of pieces without having them stick to the shelf. The ornaments lay flat on the kiln shelf, but the glaze stays in the deeper indentations. I simply thoroughly wipe it off the areas that actually come in contact with the shelves. 

So now I have a list with about fifty names, each destined to adorn a Santa hat with the year and, for many, “LRV” for the Lost River Valley. There will be some added snowflakes, of course; those are more fun to make than to shovel, for sure. The finished ornament is then fun and interesting on both front and back, as well as personalized. I’ll let you know how I feel about them when I get to the 49^th name.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

Celebrating fur friends

Janet is a veterinarian who often comes to play in the clay with me when she has a day off. She is very creative-- and surely the only vet I know who actually makes “abodes” for toads!

Most of us have had beloved pets over whom we’ve made hard decisions and then grieved. I still miss Atticus years later, and long after adopting another great rescue dog. I can only imagine how hard it is for the veterinarian whose job it is to facilitate those end of life choices, and I know I have been most grateful for those who truly empathize with the pet owner’s loss. It means a lot when a vet (like other people) communicates that he or she feels that loss with you. It’s not just a medical intervention; it’s a personal experience—and a tough one.

Janet recently decided to begin making ornaments with the pet’s names to give to the people who have had to make those judgments and are missing their animal friends. A simple heart will never make up for the loss after some cat or dog or other creature has left paw prints all over our hearts for a good number of years, but it can go a long way toward letting someone know that you care and share in their mourning. I have made several grave markers for friends’ dogs when they died, and they have been much appreciated by Gus’s, Fancy’s, and Benjie’s people. A marker can be quite a job (and being thick, it takes forever to dry), but a small memento can mean a whole lot too! They can be in any shape and perhaps don’t even need the pet’s name on them. It’s the sharing that counts.