Salsa Verde Vegetable Medley

Several folks remarked about all the seafood recipes I've posted. Lest you think that's all we eat, here's my vegetarian standby, Salsa Verde Vegetable Medley. Take one shallot and a portion of fresh ginger and chop fine and saute in butter or olive oil or rice bran oil. When softened, add two chopped zucchini and two crookneck squash. Chop up two fresh tomatoes and add those into the mix. Oh I also added in one cubanele pepper. The cubanele pepper is similar in taste to a red bell pepper, but is elongated instead of round. I also find them easier to grow than the bell pepper.

Add in some spices like ground cumin, chopped bay leaves and more. This time I even added in some caraway seeds. Add half a bottle of green chile verde sauce then cover and turn down the heat to a simmer. Meanwhile in a separate pan cook one cup of brown rice.

When the vegetables are softened turn off the heat.

When the rice is cooked pour that mixture in with the vegetables. Fold the rice in gently and there you have a spicy meal all in one dish. I add the rice to thicken up the juices of the vegetables and the salsa verde.

Here's a photo of Binky and Butter taking an afternoon nap. Right after I took this photo of my two cats I happened to check in at Smart Cat's blog to see how her ceramic house was coming along. Be sure to stop in there, the house has so much color and detail I am amazed. Oh and I saw a cute photo of her two cats. Seems we both were admiring our respective cats at the same time.

What's the difference between copper carbonate and copper oxide used as a wash? I was putting some red iron oxide and copper carbonate on some greenware pendants and wondered what the copper oxide would do if I used it. Oh I know, you'll probably tell me to just try it. I didn't realize it's a leap year till today. I've got an extra day, yippee. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Aqua & Orange Painted Lady Lidded Box

Here's a sneak peak at the first painted lady. Now you can see a little of what was in my mind from my post about making some painted ladies. I thought about adding some words, but I like this piece without words. It's aqua and orange and is a large lidded box about 12 x 7 x 6 inches. There are three different ladies in silhouette or cameos and the fourth side has a bird in the frame. I still have touch up to do on the under glazes and stains. It almost seems to be a combination of Art Deco and Asian styles. As I mentioned in the last post, the lid was an after thought but now it's growing on me.

Remember I said I wish I had made feet for it? I could make the same shape as the handle but upside down. What do you think about that idea? Or I could just have square feet. And the feet would be orange. Maybe I'll take a straight on photo and print it out and draw in different feet to see what they look like. I already have many more ideas along this painted lady theme. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Tarragon and Mint Marlin & WIP

Here's an unusual combination of spices which turned out rather tasty on marlin fillets. I sauteed ginger and shallots in a saucepan and then sprinkled the marlin fillets with tarragon and mint. Once the ginger and shallots were soft and just browning, I placed the marlin in the saucepan to cook over medium high heat. When one side was brown I covered the pan to cook it through since the marlin is a thick fillet. Don't over cook marlin otherwise it will be dry and tough.

I started to make a painted lady today, but somehow I ended up with a large square canister. This one is about 12 x 6 x 7 inches. I'm not even sure what a canister this size with a lid would be used for. It looks art deco in style with the handle shape. I planned on three colors but the thin strips I cut out and stained dried out so I couldn't use them. So I've used two colors, orange and aqua. Well there is some black but I planned on using gray strips over the orange sprigs. I'm going back this morning for more deco (not sure what yet) so this is only a sneak peak through the plastic..

Later I decided to make a lid since the embellishments I planned didn't work out. It was getting late and I was running out of clay which was firm enough to use so I had to improvise. I put two pieces together for the handle and made a raised stand for the handle to make the opening big enough to fit my hand. Then I had to make a gallery out of several pieces of clay. I never seem to cut out enough slabs for these large pieces. I think feet would be nice on this piece but too late now. Maybe I can add another material like metal or something after firing. Oh well, better planning next time. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

More Than Meets the Eye

Some things can't be seen all at once, there's more than meets the eye. All the photos in this post are the same tree, much too large to capture in only a single photo.

You can't imagine how large this California sycamore, Platanus racemosa, tree is. I wish I had taken a photo of a person standing in front so you could see the comparison. The branch near the base on the left side of the tree is almost the diameter of a regular sized tree.

I love big trees, well all trees. But I admire a tree that's grown so long to get to this size, a testament to life and time. If you want to visit big trees in the United States, check American Forests Big Trees registry to locate the largest tree specimens in your area.

This specimen sits on the banks of Santa Rosa Creek at the Linn's Farmstore in Cambria, California. A photographer who lives in California, Gary Crabbe, has also taken a photo of this tree which you can see here on his site. 

I took these photos on a trip to the coast years ago when I could barely walk due to back pain. I'm glad I've recovered from that time. I'm thankful that time heals and life goes on. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

A Lantern and Teriyaki Marlin

I've been sorting through the photographs on my computer putting them in folders to make it easier to find what I'm looking for. I like using two different clays in the same piece and had forgotten about this piece. I came across the photo of this lantern I made in 2008 when I was taking ceramics classes at a community college in California. It's three pieces with the top and bottom made of unglazed black mountain clay and the middle is porcelain with a very pale blue celadon glaze and cobalt decoration. I may have to revisit this form again. It would be kind of cool to make a really large one of these lanterns to sit in the garden. I remember at the time I posted this piece as greenware Deborah of The Mud Pot blog said something on my blog. Deborah what ever has happened to you? 

I was going to BBQ this marlin but pan frying is so much quicker. Marlin is one of those fish you should never over cook otherwise it turns out just like an over cooked pork chop, tough as nails and dried out. A little pink in the middle when cooking this fish is a good thing.

A set of these corelle plates were in the cabinets when we bought this house. Then the other day I saw one of these vintage plates on Etsy for $9. It's called butterfly gold, although they look like flowers to me. It's vintage from the 1970s. Maybe I should sell them. Ha. I looked today and there are quite a few of this and other vintage corelle plates for various prices. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Telescoping Folding Hand Truck

Here's the hand truck I use to transport my pottery in bins to and from from galleries and shows. This cart is a lifesaver on the back. It's also light weight and versatile.

Lori Buff of Future Relics Pottery was recently researching hand trucks and I said I'd post the one I use.

This cart will easily hold 750 pounds. I used it when I was a professional photographer to transport photographic gear for still shoots.

This hand truck folds up compact for storage.

The cart also opens up nicely to haul whatever you might need to transport. The straps hook to the top handle to keep boxes from going astray.

It's well balanced and, when tilted, it glides along quite nicely. It's light weight but also very strong.

It's made in the USA by Remin in Juliet, Illinois and their phone number is 1-800-423-9328. It's called a Kart-a-Bag. I have no idea if they are still in business. I hope they are; this is a really great piece of equipment to use. Suzi just said they are in business so I have linked to their website, should have checked before posting this but was tied up with other things. This post is part of the weekly Mud Colony what's happening in the studio. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Cedar Waxwing and Cottontail

Don't the feathers of this cedar waxwing look like velvet? Such soft and beautiful colors. He's sitting in the Carolina laurel tree outside my studio window. The tree has ripened black berries from last year and is in bloom with creamy puffs of spring flowers all at the same time. I took this photo through the window so it's a bit blurry but you can see the striking markings of this lovely bird.

The little cottontail rabbit came back but I didn't see his friend. This morning I checked my raised vegetable garden and half of my sweet peas are gone but the lettuce is still there. Do you think the rabbit ate them?  It's up about three feet, I didn't think a cottontail rabbit would jump up that high. I may have to put up a fence. This garden may cost me more than I hoped to spend to grow some fresh vegetables. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Versatile Blogger Award

My blog received the Versatile Blogger award recently from two other potter/bloggers, Julia of Henhouse Pottery and Suzi at The Smart Cat. Thanks ever so much, your award means a lot to me, especially now. In my Etsy Shop for pottery I recently listed the mesmerizing floating blue green pools bowl above. This bowl was hand formed in a loose flower shape and glass was slumped in the interior which created the blue green pools which are wonderful to gaze upon. There are so many colors in this dish I can't describe them all. Below is a celadon green leaf serving platter which is approximately ten inched across.

Unbeknownst to myself I am gathering quite a few collectors of my pottery from all over the globe. Folks from Canada, Brazil, Viet Nam, Europe, and many more locations. These folks are perusing my Etsy shop, my blog, and our local flea market looking for unique handmade pieces of pottery. Of course you all know my pottery fits that bill. Yesterday a businessman flew into town in his Beach Baron from Brazil (I am sure there is a story in that title) and raved about my pottery. He's coming back today. He was telling Gary he flew over our home this morning. And judging from the engine melody early this morning, I am sure he was correct in that assumption. Gary is definitely my marketing representative extraordinaire. Oh, here's one more dish I listed a shimmery gold and blue green leaf dish also in my Etsy pottery shop.

Anyway back to the seven things you may not know about me: My first job was at Kentucky Fried Chicken while I was in high school. To this day I cannot eat at that establishment or even go in there, something about the smell of the frying chicken. Maybe it was the colonel's special spices which he never revealed to me..

At nineteen I started out with $389 in my pocket, a bicycle, and one suitcase full of clothes. I rented a furnished (luckily) house which included utilities (luckily), bought a few household items at goodwill, got a job at a theater selling tickets, and later paid my junior college tuition. Two weeks later I started college.

I put myself through four years of college working mostly as a waitress, a couple of places being Bob's Big Boy and Dennys. I usually worked the swing shift and went to school during the day. I graduated with a bachelors degree in English and Psychology four years later. My last semester I took a student loan and later regretted it. It took me seven years to pay off that loan, remaining a waitress would have been easier. I've been back to various other colleges over the years for other reasons like landscape, horticulture, art, and pottery.

I lived in ten different states during my childhood and attended as many, if not more, schools. I took ballet and tap dance in kindergarten and art classes in summer school in every other grade just for fun.

I was raised a Catholic and attended Catholic schools from kindergarten to 10th grade. My last two years of high school were in a public school. At 19 years of age I quit going to church and have never been back since. About the only thing I miss is singing in the choir and church architecture. But I am a spiritual person. Now that I think of it maybe listening to a Latin mass might not be bad, something about the chanting of the phrases reminds me of a peaceful feeling - In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Dominous vobiscom.

I smoked occasionally my first year in college, maybe two or three cigarettes a week. One day a friend picked me up for college and I hadn't had breakfast. He said, do you want a cigarette? I started to say yes. Then I said,  no I've given up smoking today. I was thinking to myself, if I have a cigarette before breakfast I may never quit. So I quit and have never had another cigarette since.

Sometimes people misunderstand me or they think I am an extrovert. Little do they know, I am really shy and sensitive. Sometimes I clam up and don't know what to say especially in groups of people or I say the wrong thing. I do much better one on one, and I'm comfortable with my writing here on the blog. In the past I have pushed myself to do public speaking engagements just to improve. I can talk about horticulture or my pottery once I get started. I guess it's easy to talk about what I love.

Now on to my nominations for the versatile blogger award. This week I've been reflecting on kindness, inspiration, encouragement, and the human spirit, so I nominated the following blogs in no particular order: There are so many others I would nominate but either they prefer no awards, are on hiatus, have already been nominated, or I've run out memory space in my brain for the day.

Amy - Amy Huacani Pottery
Anna - Anna's Ceramics
Barbara - The Inquisitive Magpie
Janice - Ms Sparrow
Kittie - Kittie's Stories with a Dash of Insight
Mary - Play Off the Page
Michele - Meesh's Pottery
Patti - The New Sixty
Teresa - Teresa Evangeline
Turquoisemoon - Daily Om -  (I finally sent your package today)

Don't forget to tell us seven things about yourself and spread the love. Thanks for reading and for all your comments and encouragement. I read on Ms. Sparrow's side bar this quote which is so true: "Always be kinder than necessary, everyone's fighting some type of battle".

Pearls, Shrimp, Mushrooms & Capers

Here's another tray I listed in my Etsy Shop the other day. Sorry the pearls aren't included in the sale; I thought they looked nice against the shiny black surface of the vine covered tray. These trays or dishes have so many uses, soap, spoon rest, tea lights or jewelry organizers to name a few.

We purchased shrimp with the heads on from a local fisherman one day. From now on I'll stick with purchasing them without the heads. They tasted the same, but I was a bit squeamish about the removal process.

I tried to tell myself I was brave like Julia of Hen House Pottery about preparing my own food and I didn't even have to dispose of the live creature. It wasn't difficult, a little twist and they were removed.

Anyway the mushrooms and capers are delicious sauteed with the butterflied shrimp.

Be sure and drain the capers before adding them to the mixture towards the end. If you haven't had capers before, give them a try. These capers are pickled. They add a little twang to the dish. I also sauteed the mushrooms beforehand.

A little garlic and some spices tossed in and you have a wonderful dish. For a peak into the past, check out this vibrantly decorated ceramic tray at the End of History blog. I'm working on some new forms this week, more about those later. Thanks for reading and for all  your comments.

Stringing and Hanging Pendants

Saturday I spent time putting jump rings and stringing pendants on leather cord. I took more photos of the pendants with cord and uploaded them in my Etsy Pottery Shop. I took a few photos of the pendants on the vine trays I made. I think it helps to visualize the colors of the pendants when they are photographed on a different background color rather than the neutral burlap background.

I had previously purchased leather cord in black and brown already made up with chain and lobster clasps on Etsy. I have a hard time visualizing the size of items in millimeters so I thought if I could see some jump rings in person that might help me decide which size to use.

I went to Michaels to look at some jump rings in person and I took my pendants with me. Michaels has packages of jump rings in mixed sizes. Later I went to Hobby Lobby around the corner and they had packages with all one size. I ended up getting 9 mm jump rings from Hobby Lobby. 

Earlier on Saturday I put more pendants on hemp cord for Gary to sell at the flea market. I wanted a way to display them upright. I use the  hemp cord for the flea market cause folks are there for bargains, but the pendants look so much better on the leather cord I may switch over to that.

I had a canvas for painting and put some self adhesive hooks on the back. This is an inexpensive, quick and easy way to make up a pendant display. I have too many pendants displayed on the canvas right now but you get the idea. For transport I thought I'd just put a piece of painter's tape across the pendants to keep them from swinging to and fro. If the canvas gets dirty it can be painted or covered with another type of material. A frame around the canvas might look nice too.

The hooks are attached on the back at various levels so the pendants hand at different levels on the front and so the hooks and ends of the hemp cord don't show on the front..

These self adhesive hooks could even be put on the front on a nice piece of wood to hang earrings or could be used other ways. I ended up using some glue to make the hook attachment stronger.

Here's a quick photo (sorry about the lighting) of the pendants displayed with the leather cord instead of the hemp, they look better with the leather cords and not so crowded.

I finished smashing my pottery rejects and those pieces with cracks. Sometimes it's hard to smash certain pieces of pottery I've made. I'm finally getting around to sending out packages of pottery shards to several mosaic artists I know today. Gee, I wonder if the post office is open today? This post is part of Artists in Blogland show and tell Saturday. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Tilefish and Martha Stewart

I woke up this morning from a dream where I was in a crowded class and was painting on a large canvas with lots of color. Here's the latest fresh Florida fish we had, tilefish. Fished from great depths in the Atlantic Ocean, this fish is not often seen in the fish market but is highly prized. I  served it with some brown rice, tomatoes, and Haas avocado.

Tilefish live in burrows sometimes creating undersea pueblo villages. That line is taken directly from wikipedia and I just love it. They are creating villages, communities of fish under the sea. Something to be said for sticking together. My thought for the day is this photo I saw on facebook; boy is that true.

Anyway back to the fish. Here's the fillet I cut in half. Some nice yellow and black in a great pattern. The scales are uneven like the pattern on a leopard's fur.

The fillets were firm but light. I keep the skin on one side to keep the flesh from falling apart in the pan. I sprinkled chives, anise seed, tarragon, and lime juice on the fillets and sauteed them in butter with ginger and garlic, it was delicious.

It doesn't hurt to have a Martha Stewart magazine article about the art and craft of pottery. At the grocery store I saw the latest issue and story "Clays well with Others" about David Steumpfle.  David makes big pots. Jeff Dean and Stephanie Martin were also mentioned. Meredith of Whynot Pottery took me to visit them when I was in Seagrove, North Carolina almost two years ago The article also talked about the Seagrove Area Potters Association.  

One of my vases will be making it's way to New York City so I'm getting organized to mail some packages. Today is going to be a smashing day. I've got to figure out a way to smash a bunch of pottery and not get it all over the place. Outside the sharp shards might give flat tires to the lawnmower. Maybe I'll put them in a paper bag. I've been adding jump rings and leather cord to my leaf pendants and I'll be listing a few of them in my Etsy Shop. I also rigged up a quick and easy way for Gary to display them at the flea market. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

A Poisoned Friendship

Back in the 1970s in San Francisco I met someone at one of my first jobs who I became friends with, fast friends, you know the kind. We were friends for over twenty years. We partied together, took trips together, supported one another, and so on. This person even lent me $500 to help me purchase my first home. I felt lucky to have a friend like that. We were friends through thick and thin. The office politics were rampant back then and it seems politics never do go by the wayside. We enjoyed quite a nice lifestyle in San Francisco, the restaurants, the concerts, the neighborhoods including the painted ladies. After all we were friends.

Years went by and I got married, then divorced and we were still friends. Then I married Gary and we were still friends. This person used to travel up from San Francisco to visit Gary and I in our home in the mountains of California for weekends and we'd talk about old times, have BBQs, take trips in the back country, and so on. You know we'd do things, things that friends do. 

Then Gary and I moved to Arkansas and we still kept in touch but not as close as before. While Gary and I were living Arkansas we heard from this person after some time had gone by. This person told us they'd fallen upon hard times. We invited this person to move in with us in Arkansas to help them get back on their feet. I was influential in getting them a job there and helping them along. A few months went by and one evening this person poisoned me. I fell ill and still suffer ill effects from that circumstance.

This person also stole computer files from us. When I asked them about it, they left without a word. I remember saying "Please, please, we're all we've got in this world, lets talk about this". Really isn't that all there is, the friendship, the coming together, the humanness. Imagine my chagrin when later Gary told me this person had asked him to take a trip to Europe without me. Perhaps this person was hoping I'd succumb from the poisoning. Neither Gary nor I ever heard from this person again. At the time I wondered what had happened, what had gone wrong, what could I have done differently. No communication transpired and all I was left with was an empty feeling.

Flash forward to now. This person tried to contact me recently as if nothing ever happened in the past. Twelve years later they have tried to contact me. They don't realize I know they tried to poison me. They don't realize I know they tried to lure Gary away. I can't believe them ignoring their actions, especially since I asked them to talk about what happened before they left. Them tossing our house keys on the ground at my feet as they drove away. Essentially they tossed me aside without a word. I wonder how it can be so easy for folks to toss friends aside?

Then again I'm not surprised. Suffice it to say I have come upon far too many instances of similar situations. Folks toss away friendships long or short as if they mean nothing. I don't understand the intricacies of politics and innuendos. Basically I've experienced first hand too many circumstances in my life most of which you'd probably be shocked to learn, but those are other stories.

I speak from my heart when I say I wish no one any ill. That's about all I have to give. As I move about my life in this universe I pick up vibes and feelings. I've found I'm almost always correct in intrepreting the feelings or vibes I get from situations and people I encounter. So I hope you'll bear with me in this tangent this week and know that it stems from circumstances which have surfaced beyond my control. The human mind is complicated and not easily understood. History repeats itself, but perhaps it can be stopped in it's tracks. I'm not perfect, far from it. But I try to live true each day.

This is a true story and an allegory for many more. Some friendships like the poisoned one are too far gone to salvage but others are not. Communication is the key. Let's all be friends and be kind to one another. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.