Friday, April 10, 2009

Lemons to Lemonade


I'm a firm believer in turning lemons to lemonade, especially since I love lemonade. My Meyer lemon trees happen to be producing lots of lemons this year. So I think I'll squeeze some and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. I just know those ice cubes will be so refreshing in the summer. There are all kinds of wonderful recipes using lemons; I came across this article in the LA Times, 100 things to do with a Meyer Lemon.

But seriously, I do try to think of ways to improve or work around problems I'm faced with. You might recall when I made this vine pitcher I wasn't happy with the shape of the handle. Later I decided to make two cups to go with it since I took the time to make the pitcher. I thought the pitcher would be nice to serve some lemonade from in the heat of the summer.


Now that I'm looking at the cups and pitcher together I was thinking the handle could have had a curve to it similar to the seam in the cups and that would have added a bit of whimsy to the set. I noticed the handle looked like it had a separation where it was attached to the pitcher so I added a little bit of slip.

I made two pinched pillow boxes a while ago, one box dried just fine, but this one separated at one of the seams.


I decided to see if I could repair it by putting some thick slip in the crack. I just checked the box and its drying with a crack again, I'll have to add more slip. I'm hoping to turn this from lemons to lemonade, I'll let you know what happens.


Here's a vine platter I made and attached some feet with the same decor to the bottom. As the platter was drying it started to lift in the middle and I thought about scraping the whole thing.


But I decided to put a bag of rice on top of the platter as it was drying to weight the middle down. Now that the platter is almost dry, the feet are all touching on the bottom, lemons to lemonade.


Remember my post on details, here's how I made the feet for the platter.




I am on dial up at this location and earlier this week my modem was zapped out by an electrical storm. When we move I plan to switch to wireless, but until then I make do with dial up. Anyway, while I was without my Internet all week, I took a trip to the local library and used their computers and, of course, I perused the ceramics section and brought home two ceramics books to read. I'd never even been to the local library and was pleasantly surprised at the resources there. If my modem hadn't of broken, I probably wouldn't have gone to the library, a little more lemons to lemonade for me.


I was mentioning I worked in clay to the computer repair person. He told me about the bones in his writs which are deteriorating and said he can't do woodworking any longer, but that I had given him an idea that he might want to try working with clay. So I invited him to come back for a visit when he had more time to let him try working with some of my clay to see if he is able to do that. He said he would really like to do something creative with his hands again. Sounds like he wants to turn lemons to lemonade too.


Have a great weekend and Happy Easter. The rose is a Cecile Brunner which has just opened.

9 comments:

  1. You've been selected for a Kreativ Blogger Award. See the details here:
    http://finemessblog.blogspot.com/

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  2. What a great post! What do you not have at your place? Lemons, lavender, wisteria... Wow. I also laughed as I continued to read your post, amazed at your creativity and also at the continued theme. And, I really like those feet and the cups in the second pic and that seam on them. When's your next barrel firing? Happy Easter to you, too!

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  3. I love your pitcher and cups, and I have those books too!

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  4. fixing those cracks can be extremely frustrating... although i've not had 100% success, sometimes if you make a little paste out of a greenware shard and some white vinegar, it ends up shrinking less.

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  5. Hi Lori, thanks for choosing me and my clay blog for the award. I am truly honored and am working on the details right now.

    Hi Amy, we have just about everything here; what can I say I was a plant-a-holic, now I am a clay-a-holic. Thanks about the cups and the platter feet. I wanted to do a barrel firing today, but I want to soak some rafia in salt and wrap it around some pieces like I saw the guy do that I sent the info on. I am soaking the rafia and burlap today and when it dries I can wrap it around the pieces and fire them. I have to do it quickly as pretty soon our burn days will be over. We got a lot of rain this week so I have a small reprieve before the burn bans of the summer.

    Hi Gary, thanks about the pitcher and cups, I am slowly trying to improve all my techniques.

    Hi Jim, I have put slip in the pillow box three times, now so far it has held. Thanks for the info on the vinegar. I heard about using vinegar before but have never tried it; if it cracks again I'll try your technique. Won't know if it is truly successful till after the bisque firing though. We shall see.

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  6. Happy Easter from P and L.
    Meyer lemons are commonly grown in many parts of New Zealand. Some people can grow them as far south as us if they have a reasonably frost free spot in their garden (we haven't!). I like Meyers and have been known to eat them raw without sugar if nice and ripe.

    Congrats on the well deserved blog award. You are making life better for many people through your writing and photos, and your comments on other people's blogs.

    I've never had much success with repairing drying cracks, so am watching your progress with the pillow box with interest. I have heard of people using paper clay for attaching to clay at all stages of drying, and wondered if it would have worked for you with that open seam.

    The handle idea for the pitcher (with curves like the seam in your cups) sounds great.

    Best Wishes,

    P.

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  7. Lemons to Lemonade all the way through! Such a good way to look at life. I will think of you this summer pouring lemonade from your pitcher while you sit in your shady wisteria arbor.
    Thanks for the link to 100 ways to use Meyers. Nothing smells better than coming home to a bowl of Meyers on the table. House perfume.

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  8. Sounds great about the next barrel firing, Linda. I'll reread about your barrel firing soon as we're having another one in a few weeks. And, I'd like to buy one of your pendants from it if one's available. The colors were so rich. I'll email you about the one I like to see if that's a possibility.

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  9. Hi Amy, thanks, send me an email. Did you get that comment I made about the guy who does kind of a wrapped saggar in his pit and barrel firings, it looks promising.

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