Time for throw-backs

Years ago, in college, my boyfriend introduced me to the true art of the pumpkin. He took his carving very seriously. It rubbed off on me and I became semi-fanatical about pumpkin carving. Now some years have been better than others and nearly every year I try to do too many. The problem is, once I find a PERFECT pumpkin, it must be bought. However, if 2nd, 3rd and 4th PERFECT pumpkins cross my line of sight, they also must be bought. It cannot be helped! Last year at the pumpkin patch we ended up spending a fortune on something close to 8 or 10 pumpkins (I lost count). Ridiculous. This year we very nearly passed it up altogether but then decided on the spur of the moment to get A COUPLE, and that turned into 4 which turned into something like 6 or 7. Whatever. Here they are, chronological. Don't judge the photos, it's very difficult to get a good shot of a pumpkin lit up.


2003 the beginning.

2004- The Frankenstein on the left is probably one of my all-time favorites. Adrian's always have the goofy expressions so you can guess which ones are his.

2005 (Just one good pic from this lot. Hard to tell, but it's Edward Scissorhands.)

2006 in the light (the far left was supposed to be a killer klown... didn't turn out, as you can tell... but in all honesty, I think that one was Adrian's... haha).

2006 in the dark

2007 (a sampling)

the record of 2008 has been lost. Don't ask about it.

And finally 2009. Adrian's idea was for the pumpkin totem. All his work. I've decided to lay off of the fancy, incredibly labor intensive designs for a few years of just the oldies but goodies.


Not a great pic of the totem. We need more fire-power to light up the top. They don't have bottoms so just the candles in the big guy light up the whole totem. Cool idea.
The display.
From the old days on my mom's kitchen floor with large sharp knives in inexperienced hands, I've always loved pumpkins. Maybe someday I'll get artistic with mine again, but for now...

Pooch Pool Party

Back in August, Adrian, his dad, and I took Molly to the Pooch Pool Party in Nampa. Nacho stayed home for a number of reasons based largely on his disdain for most bodies of water and his inability to play nice with others. Molly had a GREAT time. I meant to post the pictures and video sooner but you know, life happens.

That's not Molly next to him, just a friendly guy looking to snag our ball.

Five Years

Tonight is the five year anniversary of the day Adrian and I met and subsequently had our first date. We were set up, of sorts, by a friend who had known both of us for years. I had recently broken up with a long term relationship and was in no way looking to get fixed up. She gave him my number because regardless of what I wanted, she just knew that he was supposed to be my husband. He called one day and left me a message while I was at work. Like the chicken that I am, I called him back at a time when I was hoping to catch him at work so that I could leave a message and be done with the whole hairy business. But he answered and I suppose it was pretty much down hill from there. He wanted me to join him for his cousin's wedding the following Saturday. I resolutely refused. I would have felt like some kind of wedding crasher, in addition to the stress of meeting him as well as ALL of his tremendous family at once. Over the week we continued to talk and he eventually wore me down and I agreed to meet him after the wedding. I nearly canceled on him a dozen times. I thought I must be crazy to go on a mostly-blind date. The reception was at the Basque Center downtown so the plan was to meet him on the corner out front. I remember my first impressions of him as I approached the corner. He was tall, built like a body builder and handsome as I could ever imagine. As it turned out, it was one of the easiest dates I'd ever been on. We walked around downtown, had a couple of Italian sodas, and rounded out the last several hours into the early light of morning at the glamorous airport Denny's. I can't explain it, but by the end of the night I just knew I'd met my husband. Two-ish years later he proposed on that same corner.

We went down the the Basque Center tonight and had a drink before spending our anniversary date in much the same way as our first. We walked around and had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory (a little classier than Denny's). We've been married 2 and a half years, but somehow the anniversary of our meeting almost seems more significant to me. It certainly hasn't always been easy. But ultimately, there still isn't any doubt in my mind that he's my perfect other half.

Great Adventure

Adrian and I decided to celebrate our end of the summer by taking my nephew Zac and his nephew Isaiah camping for two nights near Idaho City. The week leading up to our departure had me re-considering, wondering what the hell we were thinking! But I'm SO glad we did. We all had so much fun!

The boys wanted to help crank up the tent.





One thing continued to surprise me... the sheer amount of dirt these boys managed to accumulate on their bodies, not to be bothered by it. We'd wash them off and within minutes they'd look like this again. I eventually accepted defeat.




Target practice. All of us had a turn.



A snake that had all three of the boys giddy with excitement.


Too much excitement.

Not sure about this face... but we were sure having fun!


Last morning fun on their rock.


We all had so much fun it's decided that this needs to happen every summer! But Adrian and I are both so glad to be home, in the quiet, with our nap time intact.

Dog Park

Nampa just opened up a dog park this summer and it's really close to our house. Initially I didn't think that we'd be able to partake in the joy because Nacho has such a big-dog complex that he's aggressive with anyone but Molly. But Adrian thought if we bought a soft muzzle that he could still enjoy the time off of the leash without landing us a big lawsuit. Unfortunately he still really isn't very social. He growls a lot, and rubs his face in the grass constantly. Plus, he's the only dog we've ever seen there with a muzzle. But at least he gets some exercise. Molly gets a little overstimulated and foams at the mouth the entire time we're there so people are a little wary of the long strings of goo hanging from her face. It's very exciting. The other night there was a huge crowd there. It's just a riot to watch all of these social dogs, even if mine isn't one of them. And some of the breeds are really surprising.

Raspberry Festival

We had another great year at the Raspberry Festival. From what I hear, sales were down from last year for most of the vendors. I didn't see a huge drop from last year's sales. I would say it was pretty comparable. With all of our expenses and the amount of time I spent on my work I'd say I only broke even. But as I've been telling everyone, like teaching, I don't do it for the money. I do it for the love and the fact that people from all over the country have a little bit of my world in theirs. That part is pretty darn cool.



What was left...One surprise this year... My plates that were so desired last year did not sell! I sold one of the 7. The mugs did well and the neti pots about the same as last year. The minis, as always, were a hit. So I don't know what I'll do for next year, but I'll definitely focus on the completely functional, like mugs, perhaps a teapot or two, and spoon rests (by request). I guess I have a year to figure it out.

Post-Glazing

I unloaded my kilns this morning and was fairly happy with what came out. Of the 10 mugs I made, 4 handles pulled away and can't be sold, but the rest held up ok. I was happy with almost all of my glazes. There were a few things that I had greater vision for that didn't quite get there. But my plates all came out great, as did the Neti pots. Once again I must admit that I am no photographer, so please do not judge the quality of the work based off of the quality of the photos!


These netis along with the mugs glazed like them are a little disappointing. I did not go heavy enough with the top coat so they didn't reach that toasty marshmallow look I was going for and the wheat carving underneath disappeared almost entirely. A shame, but at least they didn't crack.
This glaze looks like boring black but in person there is a hint of deep blue around the neck.


The color in these two photos doesn't show the blue glaze very well. I bent my rules a little bit and made 3 or 4 pots in blue. They actually look kind of pretty in person. You'll just have to trust me.
I have 4 plates with these interesting leaves that I found on our camping trip last week. The backs of them were really deep with veins so they made for a fantastic texture and they were huge, the biggest one being 10 inches across.

This is an urn for a dear family friend who lost a little dog that was close to my heart. I don't feel that the carving does her justice, but she was a slick-coated black dog which made her one of my most challenging carvings yet.
We're heading up to Cottonwood on Saturday for Sunday's Raspberry Festival. I made a mock-up of my display in our living room and my two tables are packed! It's going to be a great display. I hope my sales improve this year.