...and a Blackbir-rdd in a Pine Tree.

Actually, five of them, although I believe I was promised 12 of them, but in the wacky world of Christmas Carols, who's counting?

Wacky is right. Exactly what are turtledoves? Do we have these in the Frozen North? Turtles I get, and doves. But turtledoves? Things that fly, but re-e-a-l-l-y slowly??

French Hens, no problem. We're bilingual here, so maybe the hens are too. I'm good with that.

But calling birds? Don't they all call? I guess these days they all twitter; nobody phones anymore.

And what will I do with all these birds? I have enough trouble with fur from my cat and dog, don't want feathers as well. They'll all have to stay outside, so I hope they're tough. It's freezing rain tonight.

Never mind, let's open the rest of these parcels. Ah, a whole mess of people in strange costumes. Let's see, some drummers, some pipers, some lords, some ladies and some maids. Those lords will come in handy, assuming I can get them to stop that silly leaping. There's a whole pile of partial bags of clay under the table they can soak and wedge and then maybe I'll finally get around to throwing some planters with it. In fact, if they have any natural talent, maybe they can even do the throwing.

The pipers could be useful, too.

If they are anything like a certain Pied one, maybe they can pipe the squirrels, chipmunks and beavers into the next township. Or farther. I wouldn't want them to stop too soon as then the rodenticals might just turn right around and come back. And of course the pipers will have to either stay away or keep marching, because if they come back here, so will the chewy ones. Good, because I'm getting concerned about how I'm to feed and house all these people. Hopefully some of the ladies are good cooks, and some of the maids can earn their keep by dusting and the like. Plenty of dust around here.

Don't know where the swans are going to swim, unless the beavers do come back and keep the dam in good repair and the pond filled. The geese can join them. Maybe they can indulge in some of that True Love and we can have swan/geese hybrid chicks, egg-layers with elegeance. I'll need a lot of eggs to feed all those lords.

And five gold rings! What the heck do I do with five gold rings? Do I wear one per finger? Then there aren't enough of them, True Love. I have 10 fingers. Or do I wear them all on one hand? Now if one were a diamond, one a ruby, one a sapphire and so on, it could look pretty good, but all the same??? Maybe I can run them down the local pawnery and use the proceeds for more glaze ingredients.

Ah well. True Love never did run smooth.....

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

More About Christmas At Pine Ridge

My other two guests at my Christmas At Pine Ridge sale are Martha Fraser and Renee McMeeken.

Martha will be bringing some of her paintings and a selection of her special hand made soaps. I'll let her tell you about her soaps:

 

 "I began making soap because my own skin needed special attention. I researched the subject of soap making, and became very interested in the properties and benefits of the
different vegetable oils and plant-derived essential oils and how they act in the soap making process. This led me 
to many years of experimenting with various oil combinations.

Currently I use pure essential oils for their subtle natural scent and their healthy benefits to the skin. Some of my soaps also include aloe vera distillate, making them even more soothing to your skin. All my soaps give a soft creamy lather and are gentle on your skin."

But the soap making is only one of Martha's talents! She will also be showing some of her paintings. I love her paintings, full of grace and mystery..... if only I had more wall space.....

Renee McMeeken will add a little bling to our Christmas sale! She makes amazing jewelry out of beads and other goodies. Here's a necklace, very striking in its simple colours:

Wouldn't that be the perfect finishing touch to that perfect Christmas outfit? 

And pottery? Well, there will be some..... ok, there will be lots! All of it at 50% off, and some as seconds at $1 each. There is quite a lot of my Red Fox design still available, which looks like this:

 We all hope you come to our sale! Bring a friend or two.... your favourite Mom..... your dog.... no, leave the dog at home.  But do come!

Getting Ready for My Christmas At Pine Ridge Sale

The Carp Farmers' Market Christmas Market was awesome! What a crowd! And lots of them liked pottery, so I came home very happy. Tired, but happy!

Now I'm getting my house and studio ready for my Christmas at Pine Ridge sale this weekend. Four friends, I am delighted to say, will be joining me with their work. They will be set up in the house, so I am busy getting it shipshape (always a challenge in my life) and doing a bit of Christmas decorating. This morning, to my surprise, I actually Found A Sock. Usually socks just go missing.... I'm convinced there is an alternate universe somewhere where socks appear instead of disappear. Dryers, I believe, are the connecting mechanism. We grumble because we do a laundry and come up one sock short, there they grumble because they do a laundry and find extra socks. It's the only thing that makes sense. Anyway, this sock was stuck under one of the slipcovers which I took off to wash, and, will wonders never cease, I actually had kept its mate. So I feel like I have a new pair of socks to wear!

But I wanted to tell you about my guests at the Sale this weekend.

Janice Johnston is a painter. She lives in Fitzroy Harbour (very local) and does a lot of mixed media work. Here is one of her recent paintings. If you think the tomatoes look like you could pick them up off the painting, you are somewhat right! They are three-dimensional. But they are attached.

This painting of Janice's reflects her love of good food and her background in food and nutritional sciences. She has done others with titles like "It was a good apple"; "Pear-shaped"; and  "What shall I do with all these tomatoes?". This year it spilled over with preparation of preserves: dill pickles made with McGregor's cucumbers from the Carp Market, green tomato relish made with plum tomatoes from her own garden, traditional orange marmalade and salted lemons too. 

She's planning to bring some of her preserves to the sale as well as her paintings. I can't wait to find out about salted lemons!

Brenda Beattie is also a painter, and she also lives nearby. She lives in Constance Bay. Here is what she says about some of the work she will be displaying:

  "I have enjoyed doing little paintings of birds  this year. I can do them when I have a small window of time, can draw them at one time and paint them later. I  was able to find some small frames for these little paintings. Some of them are 3" x 4" and others are a little bigger, up to 5" x 7". These are watercolors but I also have some small acrylic on canvas paintings that come with easels. Some of these are of ice huts and scenes on the Ottawa River. "

Very affordable and great for small gifts!

Tomorrow I'll tell you about my other two guests! 

And Santas!

It wouldn't be Christmas at Pine Ridge without me making a quantity of little pottery Santas or Santa-like creatures. This year I've done some of these:

I had a few last year, and people liked them so I quickly ran out. Made lots this year! They are pretty small, but you can hang them on your tree or put them on a shelf which needs a little extra Christmas cheer.

They'll be on my table at the HOMEmade For The Holidays sale in Carleton Place next Saturday. November 29, from 10 to 3pm, Carleton Place Arena. No idea where that is.... in Carleton Place somewhere. I expect I'll find it!

Autumn Leaves

One of the things I've been busy with in the Studio has been pottery decorated with autumn leaves. Every fall I get an attack of leaves - they are so gorgeous outside that I have to go in and paint them on pots.  I use a stencil for the outlines of some of the leaves, but all the small details and the other smaller leaves are done freehand with a brush. Here are some serving platters, arranged (not intentionally) to look a bit like an old-fashioned hopscotch game:

"Autumn Leaves' platters

The hardest thing is to arrange the leaves randomly. I want a 'fallen on the ground' sort of look, but it is fatally easy to start to arrange the design elements logically. I have to watch myself!

These platters vary in size from about 8" to about 15". You could use them for any number of things: bread, cake, cookies.... fresh veggies.... a roast surrounded by potatoes and carrots.... a broiled salmon.... oooh, getting hungry.

Speaking of which, I made a couple of large plates with small bowls for veggies and dips. I left the bowl loose, which I think is more flexible and makes it easier to store and to wash the platter, but a nickel says customers will ask for plates with the bowl attached. I'll make a few like that next week, and we'll see which ones sell first.

"Autumn Leaves" Vegetables and Dip platter

Christmas Stars

I also had some fun painting some stars. They make a nifty garland or tree decoration, or just look fun lying on a table between the food dishes.

My first plan had been to give them touches of gold, but I like the white better.

Rustic, that's what they are. Rustic.

Hard At Work

Yes, really. I haven't been posting..... because I've been busy working! Never enough time in the days, or energy in the potter!

One of the things I've been working on, in between other things, is some new bonsai pots. I've just learned that, traditionally, evergreen tree bonsais are planted in unglazed pots. Unfortunately, I don't have to many clays available in my firing range (cone 6, oxidation) that are really attractive without glaze. These are OK:

Next week I'm going to get a couple of boxes of black clay and see how that goes. One thing I love about making pots - always something new to try. Well, most days I love it. Other days, I wish I could just do the things I know how to do.....

Over the next few days, I'll post some pictures of the other things I've been working on.

Knitting Bowls

Speaking of knitting, which we weren't, I've made some yarn bowls. Tomorrow is Alpaca Day at the Carp Farmers' Market and I thought some yarn bowls would be appropriate. Since I can't draw an alpaca to save my life, I finished them in plain colours although I did do a few with my cartoon sheep design.

This one is a left-handed yarn bowl, for the left-handed knitter. (All the rest are right-handers.) If the bowl is sitting on the floor beside the knitter, the yarn is pulled upwards and to the side, so the slot or loop has to be on the correct side. Other than that, I wasn't too sure of the size, so I made some Pair-of-Socks size, some in Hat-and-scarf size and some in Cozy-Sweater size.

Since I'm currently knitting myself a narrow scarf, I think I'll just go and test one of them!