Smokin Lucky

I used to have an electric Little Chief Smoker which I used for years to smoke fish. I had that smoker before Gary and I were married. I'd smoke trout I caught in California streams and salmon I got at fish markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. Later when Gary and I were married I'd smoke fish for us on occasion too. Folks raved about my smoked salmon and trout. Autumn seems the time of year I am called to smoke fish. Perhaps it's my Native American roots which unconsciously bring me back to preparing fish to preserve for the winter season.

Years later at a gathering in a former workplace I brought some of my smoked salmon with cream cheese on crackers, everyone raved about that smoked salmon and wanted to know how I made it. I told them about the brine I made and about my smoker. My boss asked to borrow my smoker, so I lent it out. A few months later half of the staff were laid off from that job, including myself. After months of calling to ask for it to be returned numerous times, I finally got my smoker back from my former boss. It was so dirty and damaged we had to throw it away. How could someone borrow something from me and return it in such poor condition? C'est la vie.

Since then for many years Gary and I dreamed of having another smoker to use but could never find another smoker like the one we had or justify the price of others we saw. Just the other day we looked at a few smokers at Lowe's but decided we didn't need to spend the money to purchase one.

I can't believe how lucky I am, sometimes it just boggles my mind. Gary and I went to a couple of estate sales last Friday hoping to add to our repertoire of items to sell at flea markets. At the first location we found this electric smoker for $12. This smoker was never used and sells new for about $300. We were going to sell it, but we decided to try it out just one time to see if it compared to our old smoker in quality.

A few weeks ago I purchased some salmon in the frozen section of wally world for not too much money (wild caught in USA - check labels carefully) putting it in the freezer to thaw out at a later date. We happened to have some hickory chips in bags we've had for years, saving them for that time when we got another smoker. I thawed out the salmon and put it on some tin foil and used some of those hickory chips I had from long ago. I smoked that salmon in less than an hours time in this new smoker. I didn't even make a brine. I just smoked the salmon the way it was.


Oh my goodness it was so good. Gary and I were in heaven eating that smoked salmon. It brings back so many memories of the smoked fish we used to eat in California. Thanks to the universe for this wonderful gift. We're keeping this smoker; sorry flea market junkies. I know this may seem like an insignificant happening, but to us it was a wondrous thing. Sometimes the little things in life make up for all the drudgery we wade through on a daily basis. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Crawl Glaze and Tiles

This fern tile is 14 by 8.5 inches and is very thin. I used a real epiphyte fern which I impressed into the clay and after bisque I hand brushed multiple glazes for the fern and background. I think this thinner tile would look nice with a recessed wood frame with about 2 inches of wood showing around the tile rather than having the edge of the frame right up against the tile. I can also imagine this fern with a darker background color glaze.


This tile is about nine inches square and is also very thin. The one inch flowers are applied as sprigs and are attached only in the middle, the rest of the flower juts forth. There's a matt clear glaze fired over the top of the bisqued underglaze colors. I used commercial underglazes and I can see some of the brush strokes in the green. I'd like to make the same type of wood frame for this tile as the one I described for the fern tile above. Oh I just had an idea looking at this tile, make that two ideas, it's never ending. Ha.

Macabee 5 clay is great to work with because it has a long working time before it dries out and it doesn't have much grog which comes to the surface. But I just rolled out another slab and it is full of air pockets, not just a few but hundreds of them and there are spots that aren't mixed well. Wonder if that's true of just the Axner clays or the other Laguna clays too. I was using B Mix 5 which seemed to be mixed better. Is anyone else having problems with commercially prepared clays from Laguna? Also the shrinkage rate for Macabee is 13 percent and the other clays I use are 11 percent so that means I can't use this as the inlaid clay, but maybe I'll try a test to see if it works.


I tested some Coyote crawl glaze in white, black, and green on this textured tile. I think crawl glaze would be better on a more smooth surface. If I used the white crawl glaze over a contrasting slip color it would emphasize the fissures. Some of the glaze started to flake off as I applied it. I remember reading on Zygote's (king of the crawl) blog, about crawl glazes being particular to application. Any thoughts? Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions, I really appreciate your input.

Nerikomi and Firing Temps

For the nerikomi platter pictured above I brushed different glazes on the flowers, stems, and leaves. The background has another glaze brushed on. The background glaze reacted with the minerals in the red clay and essentially is a neutral color but still appealing against the color of the flowers. This piece has me thinking about geometric shapes for a tile wall hanging and I'd like to try inlaid clay on a vertical surface. Every piece I make elicits exponential numbers of ideas.

This platter is a continuation of my ongoing experiments with nerikomi or inlaid clay. Years ago I made several plates with inlaid clay which were fired to Cone 10. Now that I'm working at Cone 6, I decided to do some tests several months ago where I inlaid circles of white stoneware into red stoneware clay. My miniature test bowls cracked after the glaze firing and the inlaid clay was beginning to jut out of the red clay. I also made a window with a red clay frame and white clay curtains and the red clay shrank and cracked the white curtains. The shrinkage rates for both clays were the same at 11 percent so I wondered why that happened.


After looking at the cones of the previous firing, cone 5 on left and cone 6 on right, I decided the kiln fired at too high a temperature the last time. Cone 6 is melted over.


I decided to reduce the hold time and raise the bottom cool down temperature by 100 degrees. From the left Cone 4, then 5, and 6. The platter fired without the previous problems of cracking and pushing the embedded white clay up. If you recall the glaze on the tin cup from this firing was shiny. With a longer hold time the glaze would be more matt. In the future I will have to fire the work according to how I want the glazes to turn out, some with less hold time and some with more.


For the bisque I used the cone fire program of 04 already in the kiln and cone 05 and 04 are melted over. I think my kiln fires hotter than the program says. I'll check the manual to see if I can adjust the programs to match the cones. How long do pyrometers last? Or how many firings should they last?


For this 10 inch bowl I impressed leaves into the wet clay. After bisque firing I hand brushed different glazes on the leaves and on the background and I used a different glaze on the rim and underside. I used the same color background glaze on this bowl as the platter above and it's essentially the same color as the clay but with a nice sheen. It has an earthy look which I find appealing. There are a couple of spots where the background glaze turned a darker burgundy color.



This textured platter came out nice because the red color of the clay shows through the texture giving it an antique look. More results from this firing tomorrow, so stay tuned. Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions, I really appreciate your input.

State of Affairs

We took a drive in the country yesterday. We passed a local tourist shop and stopped because we were drawn in by the larger than life fiberglass sculptures of shells and fish.



There were shells, totems, wind chimes, wood carvings, and more all from foreign countries. The only locally made items being sold were these cedar bird houses. The woman who made them happened to be there to collect a check. She said she used to be a farmer but was too old to do that now. She said years ago her father told them to plant the cedar trees on their land for their old age. Now she said they cut them down and mill them to make the bird houses. She said little did she know they'd actually need those trees in their old age. Somehow I knew the woman really needed the money from the bird house sales.


Farther along we saw a guy selling fish alongside the road. We recognized his old pickup truck from last year around the holidays, so we stopped to see what he had. Last year we bought some lobster from him to celebrate the new year. This year we bought some fingerling lobster tails. He said his permits run $1200 a year to sell fish on the side of the road. Permits from weights and measures, fish and game, health department and one other I can't recall. He said he doesn't fish commercially any longer but buys from the big Florida fish companies because it is too expensive in permits to fish and the quotas are too small to make a living. He started fishing in Florida in 1959. Somehow I knew he missed being a fisherman in the gulf.


It was nice to take a drive in the country but sad at the state of affairs of so many. On the way home we saw a mature bald eagle on the side of the road checking out some road kill. We drove by too quickly to catch a photo of him, but it was a joy to see our majestic national bird. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

A Myriad of Mugs

Gary took some great photos of the mugs for me. I like testing the mugs to see how they feel in my hand. This first one doesn't have a handle but it's a happy feeling cup because of the color and the heavy texture. I think a few of the other textured mugs would also be good without handles.








I had a great firing; everything turned out well. One mug's handle is too small to get my hand in but maybe it can be a child's mug. I didn't post a photo of that one.



I liked making these mugs. I got to experiment with shapes, textures, slip colors, and later different glazes. I can fit quite a few in the kiln so I'm able to see the results quickly. Not sure why I never made mugs before, perhaps I wasn't ready till now. Next week I'll examine them more closely and see which ones I'd like to make more of and how I can refine the shapes.


This tin cup didn't disappoint and the handle works well. Three small spots resisted the glaze on the front which adds a touch of wabi sabi. Up next more fired work so stay tuned. Hope you're having a great holiday weekend. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Fool's Gold

Don't be caught buying any fool's gold today, please buy local and handmade. That's where the real gold is. I forgot to post this box with a pyrite handle the other day, but it's the perfect lead in for my post today. Pyrite is actually quite a beautiful mineral in it's natural form and is often found close to veins of real gold.


Every once in a while something happens to my camera and the photos aren't quite in focus. I must press a button and I am not sure which one it is. Hopefully it will return to it's original setting real soon. Hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for photos of some new work. I fired the kiln yesterday and it's down to 350F now. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Thanksgiving Inspiration

Finally I had the courage or confidence to assemble these pieces. I've added semi precious stones, fossils, or sea creatures (ones of natural demise) to accent a group of pieces I handmade months ago. This slender multi colored vase is adorned with sea urchin spines I collected in my travels. Although the vase appears black, it's more of a bronze with some dark tones of blue, red, and brown in the glaze. I should have taken a close up photo to show you.


I might have posted a couple of these before but I never attached the stones permanently because I was afraid I'd ruin them. I've attached a piece of British Columbia jade to mimic the curve of this tall narrow box and complement the color of the handle.


This small pinch bowl is accented with two pieces of jasper. Perhaps you recall I got the semi precious stones from Dan the Rock Man in New Mexico. I plan to get back to using a few more of these stones from time to time. When I make a piece, I take out a stone and lay it on my work space. I think about what clay shape or form might enhance the stone. It's meditative to contemplate the different colors and shapes of these stones imagining all the work it must have taken Dan to collect, cut, and polish them.


This small lidded box is adorned with a quartz crystal handle. The quartz crystal has some pink and lavender hues which I really like. The quartz crystal reminds me of the rocks I used to collect from old hydraulic mining pits in California. Veins of gold were found among the quartz rocks during the gold rush days and the quartz rocks were discarded. I collected the discarded quartz rocks and used them to build rock walls when I lived in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

Today I'm thankful to have lived a full life able to travel to many places and meet so many inspirational people, both in person and on blogs. I usually describe nature as the inspiration for my art, but as I observe people living in harmony with nature this seems to have a special meaning to me now. People with strong yet gentle characters, the creative spirits of folks in today's world, are the ones who inspire me with their words, their actions, and their art. I hope you have a relaxing and peaceful Thanksgiving. Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting on my blog and thanks for all your support.

A Good Cry Before Breakfast

The kiln is loaded for a bisque before breakfast and it's firing now. I wanted to get it started since I fire slow for the bisque. I didn't really have enough for a packed full load, but I needed to make some room in the drying cabinets. The green tile with the orange flowers is super thin, we shall see.


I'm anxious to see how some of the mugs and cups do in the firing; to see if my seams hold. I only made one angel now I wish I'd made more. She's holding a bowl, she must a potter angel. Oh, maybe I'll make more angels holding various pieces of pottery. Ha.


I bumped the roof of this cabin on the shelf above as I was taking it out and the side cracked off. I couldn't help but cry with all the work I put into it; it had dried so nicely. I'll have to make a few of these next time and then if one breaks it won't be so disappointing. When you only make one of something it seems a harder blow to take if it breaks. I may fire it next time anyway and see if I can glue the piece on.


Normally I use the self supporting cones. What are these type of cones for? They are thinner and don't have the base on the bottom. I seem to have gotten the wrong type several months ago and just noticed it now. Can I use them in a cone pack? Off to get my first cup of coffee, which I really need right now. I've got some pieces I finally got around to getting 'ready'; I'll take some photos soon, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Salad Plates and Bowls

Here are a few sets of salad plates and bowls I've been working on.


We're still harvesting some sweet peppers from the garden.


The one day it froze we covered the peppers with some thick clear plastic.


Since then they've obliged us with another crop to eat.


Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Gary's a Soccer Mom

Not too long ago I sold my big 4wd 3/4 ton suburban and got a 2003 Ford Escape to save money on fuel and insurance. I was looking at a used Hyundai Santa Fe's, but they were more money than I had to spend. With ethanol added to the fuel cars get 5 miles to the gallon less than what they are purported to get. My Escape should get 25 mpg, but with ethanol fuel it gets 20 mpg. Scratch saving as much money on fuel as I thought.

Right after we got the Escape we did something we've never done before, we knew it needed tires when we bought it. We've always said safety first and have always ran new tires with a warranty. But Gary went to the junk yard and got a set of new tires for less than half the price of new ones. There is no warranty we'll just have to take our chances.

When I got the car insurance bill I noticed it went up $32 dollars a month for a car almost 10 years old. It is 2 years newer than my suburban but the internet said a suburban insurance would be much more than the Escape. Gary's truck was a 1996 Ford pickup with a 6 cylinder which got over 20 mpg. Our insurance is $107.59 for liability only, we have no full coverage. If our cars are wrecked we have nothing, we'll just have to take our chances.

If we pay our car insurance by the month, they charge us more. There is a monthly fee added on, even though we are paying in advance for the insurance. If we pay our house insurance by the quarter they charge us more. There is a quarterly fee added on, even though we are paying in advance for the insurance. If we had enough money to pay our car and house insurance for a year in advance, we'd pay less. Right now that lets us out. Last week we switched home insurance companies to save a few hundred dollars and then we switched car insurance companies to cut costs.

Then we've discovered the Escape wasn't as comfortable as we thought after a longer trip sitting in the seats. Plus the car doesn't have much room to carry pottery or sleep in if we take a trip. Since we sold Gary's truck and only have one car, we decided to sell the Escape and get a mini van. Gary had been trying to talk me into getting a mini van for years and I just didn't want to get one. We ended up getting a 1998 Toyota mini van. After we got the mini van, I said to Gary, now you're a soccer mom. Ha.

About two months ago our well wouldn't work. We needed a new pressure tank and a regulator to the tune of over $600. You might recall last winter we needed a new well pump and that cost us a bundle. About a month ago our well wouldn't work again. Come to find out someone apparently spliced the wire that feeds electricity to the well and with the five inches of rain we had one day it must have shorted out the well. So we had to get an electrician to replace the wire which goes to the well. Gary dug up the fifty feet of wire to help save us labor costs.

Every day we find ourselves right back at the same point. Our conversations revolve around thinking and planning ways to save or make money just to survive. Which food is the least expensive, how can we reduce our electric bill, which gas station has the cheapest fuel, which insurance company has the lowest rates, who cuts hair for the lowest price, what can we sell in a garage sale or a flea market to make a few bucks. Luckily the mini van is turning out to be real handy taking stuff to the flea market to sell.

Neither Gary nor I have had any luck getting a regular paying job. One job for a ghost writer I applied for I was really excited about. Supposedly I was in the top two, but they never got back to me. I called and left a message and still they never returned my call. Hey, at least call me back and let me know. Four different companies said they'd hire Gary when business picked up. He stops by regularly but business hasn't picked up for them yet.

Some days we're optimistic and think things are turning around, we splurge on some fresh fish from the local market, or take a drive and think some good luck is right around the corner. I even remembered to say white rabbit several months in a row. I mean what's the point of living if you can't even afford your bills. We're so tired of worrying about what problem will befall us next. I read our illustrious lawmakers want to cut social security and medicare benefits on a sliding scale a little more each year. What ever happened to the golden years? If we make it to 90 perhaps we'll be able to afford to live in a ditch, if they don't kick us out for loitering. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Illumination in the Flatwoods

Last night I saw the Natural World special, My Life As A Turkey, where naturalist Joe Hutto lived as a wild turkey in the oak hammocks of Florida for more than a year. He learned much from the wild turkeys about living in the present and being keenly aware of one's surroundings. Hutto has written a book about his experience called, Illumination in the Flatwoods, available in book form or on kindle. Don't take my word for it, read the reviews on Amazon, you'll want to purchase the book. (Photo of wild turkey from wikipedia).


The wild turkey was an important food source for many Native American tribes and is a symbol or our present day Thanksgiving celebrations. The turkey feather above I gathered from the ground at my lavender farm which was left by the wild turkeys who used to visit me daily. According to Hutto the wild turkey is also much more intelligent than most folks realize. If you get a chance to see the TV film, do so. You won't be disappointed. Here's a review of the TV movie from Sam Wollaston. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Shelly's Seafood in Homosassa

If we can, we go to Shelley's Seafood a local fish market in Homosassa once a week to get some fresh fish. Our fish is being filleted while we wait.


We try to support as many local small businesses as we can. The fish was brought in as we drove up. How much fresher can that be.


In the middle is hog fish, on the left and right are grouper.


Almost everything in the case is local Florida fare. Mussels from Canada and lobster from Costa Rica were flown in.


Here's the building which houses the fish market on the bank of the river.


This brown pelican was hanging around probably waiting for a handout. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.