Just Claying Around

Clay. That's what the menu selection has been for a couple of weeks now. I thought I would enter a few lines to let you know that all is well. I have a show/sale the 2nd weekend in July here in Ft. Worth. There will be about 35 artists and just as many styles of work. We have some very talented people in the Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild (TPSG).

I would like for you to meet a new little critter called a "Smoochie". He will be stained green, 'cause he's a froggie. But his lips will be bright red: ready to give you a smooch. And doesn't he have the cutest little bum? I just couldn't resist a silly backside to match his front. (giggle)

Have a wonderful blessed day. I am going to clay to the sound of rain and view of grey, cloudy sky...One of my most fave kind of days. What was that? Yes, I know how strange I am. Thank you, for the compliment. ttfn (ta ta for now)

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

This morning started with the sky doing a sensuous veil-dance with the layered clouds- teasing me with the promise of sunshine. I got up around 6:30- sleeping in with three hungry 'alarm clocks' is almost impossible-to greet the day. Hey, it was 2 hours later than M-F rising time, though. I got the puppers fed and let them out to do what pups need to do in the morning.

After letting the Furkiddos back in, I headed for the shower with Hannah trying to climb in my skin because, just then, a new round of thunderstorms started rolling in. Hannah Ruth (Rotti-X) hates storms. She quivers like a fur-covered earthquake and pants like gigantic bellows which Paul Bunyan, himself, could use to stoke a farrier's fire. And she clings to me as if made of Velcro. I try to be sympathetic, but too much will send an animal into displaying this behavior even more frequently. So it's a fine line of "poor baby- it's alright" and "go away, you're fine".

The weather lady on T.V. started to announce a tornado just 15 miles away. OK...time to get dressed, get on 'real shoes', stuff the kitties in the carrier, put the cellphone in pocket, turn up the volume on the T.V. and get us into the closet or hall. When you live in a mobile home with no place to run or a ditch to jump into- this is the best that can be done. The house is a 2002, so newer tie-downs and wind resistance are built into it. But no house, 'real' or manufactured, will survive a direct hit. If the storm comes from the SW, then we get into the master closet. If, like today, the storm is coming in from the NW, then it's the hallway. The bathrooms have either glass shower-doors or is next to the large appliances. Exactly where you don't want to be in case of a roll-over.

The wind started howling and the trees we do have, were bending. I had opened all the shades to watch the sky for rotation through the sideways sheets of rain. I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a sight that just made me laugh. Neither torrential rain or gale force wind could keep a hummingbird male from trying to sip from the feeder. I say "try" because the feeder was a rockin' and the hummer was shooting past the holes with each attempted sip. He finally took refuge under the porch and landed on a garden-art stake. One shaped just like him and he landed on its 'beak' and remained there for about 25 minutes. That's him in the pic above. I took it through the window, as I didn't want to scare him back into the storm. Poor baby boy. He works hard for the 'honey'. (Actually, sugar, but honey fit better there. Honey is not to be used in feeders.).

All hands, paws and beaks are accounted for, Captain. All the pups are lounging on the bed, asleep. Not-so-little paws doing dream-weaving- maybe chasing big, bad storms away. Now it's just another Spring day in Texas. Sun's out and the birds and butterflies are doing their winged things. And I'm about to do my thing: clay. I need to make pots and platters for a sale in July. A blessed day to all who stop by.

Finding My Wings

I l♥ve the Sound of Spring. Wait. Shouldn't that be Sounds of Spring? No, I think of Spring as a whole package, crafted of layers. Separate- yet, connected with 'audio molecules', at the same time. An ambiance melange. But if I could somehow separate the layers- bird music would always come to the top like cream. A yummy feast for the ears and the soul. And joy calories are the best kind, don't you think.

Hummingbirds twitter-chitter at each other, noisily arguing over feeder rights. Their wings beat incredibly fast and the sound of tiny helicopters comes to mind. The picture below was taken just outside the kitchen window. (The same window that was at the top of the must-have-list when I had my home built.) The sip-meisters waiting to see who blinks first and then...Whirrrrrrrrrrr.



House finches, to my ear, have a most delightful song. I call them my 'redheads'. They are only here for a short while in the Spring, as it must get too hot in this area for nesting and baby raising. I have them at my work yard, now, and when Autumn arrives, they'll be singing again.

A couple of years ago, there was a sweet couple who would visit me, inside my workshop. The little male would fly in the front door and sing, brightly, for his lady to join him. And in she would fly. The first time it happened, I thought they would panic and fly about in distress. No, not at all. They did it several times that Spring. It was their concert, conducted by the Great Maestro, just for me.

Operation: Make a Butterfly

Sweet Mother of Pearl. What is that? That's my happy solution in the trying-to-grow-a -butterfly saga. Last Saturday, snow was on the Texas weather menu and caterpillars don't do well in possible freezing temps. I couldn't bring it in and I was fresh out of teeny-tiny parkas. Duct tape and a faucet cover sufficed nicely. And the elevation in property value...priceless.

I discovered Jay or Jaynette on Friday, April 6th. The little orange and black striped 'cat' was rippling along the siding. I thought- aw, wouldn't it be neat if it were about to make a chrysalis. Bingo.

About an hour later I found it in the "J" position, hence the original name. Apparently, this is butterfly lingo in the Entomologist world. The best I can tell from fuzzy pics on butterfly sites, is that it is some type of Fritillary.

Butterflies are treasures at my house. I love to watch them dance through my property bringing Spring on their wings. Last year, I had a Monarch hatch from my porch railing and I let the Milkweed re-seed itself.

I'll keep posting updated pics as he/she develops. Hopefully, I will be on hand for the unveiling.

This is just an hour after noticing it wandering about.

This was on Wednesday the 11th.

And With No Repeats

With The Hummingbird Channel gone for the season, I'm glad The Sunset Channel is still on the air. And no technical difficulties, ever. Awesome...thank you, Abba.

Up on the Rooftop- Drip, Drip, Drip

Oh my... is that rain?! My back deck has a metal roof and the sound now emanating from it, is ambrosial. Liquid manna from the Father's hand. My area of rural Denton county is down 34" of rain for the last 20 months. The "Goodnight-Loving Trail", a.k.a. my backyard, will become gooey toe-sucking mud. With three large dogs, one of them being an XL at 85 lbs., all of them have been taught the request- "show me your toes". Toes are then presented so I, The Mommie, can clean all the nooks and crannies of 12 pads and 48 toes. Old T-shirts and towels are always at the ready. With no grass in the dog area (a 365 ft. linear fence-line) because of the drought, it should be a toe-showing Autumn and Winter. But as I cerebally wander through my B.C. (before country) apartment life, I shudder and ecstatically proclaim "Let the MudFest begin!".