Turn It Down, Man!

At pottery I got Ms. Fish on the rack of shelves where we put things to be fired. I managed to get it arranged so that it only cost me four tickets. Between that and my caladium, I now have two tickets left. There are ways to get more if I need them. 
Lizzie wasn't in class because she's on her way to British Columbia to see one of her sons and his family. I am so incredibly lucky to have all my kids and grandkids living right here. But Lizzie loves to travel so it's all good. There were several other missing people in class so it felt different. No one was using a wheel. There was lots of glazing going on. There was chat. It was pleasant and we did laugh a lot. 
And what could be better than that? 
I really didn't know what I wanted to work on today but before I left home I picked five magnolia leaves and I am trying to make a dish out of the clay leaves I made, using the real ones as templates. I got the clay rolled out, cut the leaves, trimmed them up, smoothed them, drew in their veins, and tried to stick them together to make the dish I have in mind. 
To stick two pieces of wet clay together, one uses a substance called "slip" which is nothing more than clay mixed with water. It's clay glue! You have to score the pieces of clay where you want them to be attached, spread on the slip, and give them a little squeeze. Then smooth them out again. 
I'm pretty sure I'm one of the messiest slippers in the southeastern area of the US. 
I don't think "slippers" is used like that but so what? 
Now the hardest part of what I did today was to try and create the arrangement of the leaves so that they will not only be somewhat bowl-shaped after firing, but that the individual leaves will have some cup-like shapes of their own. 
That was the idea. 
What I ended up doing was to put the entire arrangement over a bowl mold and then I used crumpled newspaper to try and create the three dimensional shape of the leaves. 
Jessie tried to help me by suggesting perfectly logical ways to do this and she absolutely has the mind to see what I don't which is how the dish is going to balance out in the end. I put three little knobs on the bottom of it which I am hoping will do the job. I am not seeking perfection here. 
And thank goodness for that. 

My brain just doesn't work that way. Jessie sees the parts that have the most clay and will be heavier, thus having the potential to make the dish tippy. And other things that could very well interfere with form and balance. 
So the whole thing is an experiment and next week it will be dry enough for me to see how it worked. If it's not completely useless, I plan on making a crow to perch on the stems. Perhaps. Or somewhere on it. I have no idea how to make a crow and it may well end up being a crow-like thing. If it even looks like a bird, I'll be pretty happy. 
I was telling Glen about this and he asked if the crow would look like a crow. I thought about that for a second and I said, "Well, it will definitely be black." 
And no matter what I find next week, I did very much enjoy the process today. And of course it is all supposed to be a learning experience but I'm not sure if my ability to learn from my mistakes is very sharp at this point. 
To be truthful, I'm not sure my ability to learn from my mistakes has ever been very well developed. It's just less so now. 

Today's lunch out involved Lily and Lauren and Jessie. Yes, we all just ate together with August and Levon two days ago but so what? We went to the sports bar with surprisingly good food and I got my usual, the Asian chop salad with ahi tuna. I was determined to get something else but that salad is just so damn perfect. 
A funny thing happened. Lily and Lauren were sitting on one side of the booth, Jessie and I on the other. She was sitting in the inside seat position, I was on the outside. Our server was a guy who could not have been more than twenty, if that. And he was friendly and helpful and attentive but my GOD! He was so loud. Like...his voice was booming. Every time he came to the table we all side-eyed each other. Finally, when we were almost finished, he came to ask if we needed to-go boxes or something but he began talking before he got to the table and he was so loud that I visibly flinched. It was a major flinch. It started out as an unconscious reaction but because I am who I am, I had to add a little drama to it. 
The ladies at the table laughed and I said to the guy, "Simmer down, man!" 
He had the grace to look a tiny bit abashed and said, "I often have this effect on people." 
I wanted to say, "Honey, that is not mysterious. It is easily solved. Just lower the volume," but I did not. I think I'd played my old lady card just about enough. 
And I left him a good tip so hopefully he'll realize that I wasn't mad. Just...overwhelmed. 

So that was my day and I did not go to either Publix or Costco afterwards. I just came home. Mr. Moon caught me up on a situation he'd been trying to take care of for A. and his wife that needed taking care of. It had not gone smoothly. 
Of course. 
And he is not very happy about it. He'll figure it out though because that's who he is. 
I think he's heading back to Gainesville tomorrow afternoon as A.'s wife has an appointment she cannot miss and I think Glen will stay Friday night too. 
You know what really amazes me? The man does not moan or complain or talk about how difficult this is or how little sleep he gets in the ICU or anything like that. Not one damn thing. 
I would be martyring all over the damn place. "Oh, look at me! Look at what I'm doing and going through for the sake of my friend!" 
Nope. He just does it. 
I really do not understand how he does it but do it, he does. 

I'm going to go cook some scallops and pasta, a salad, and some more of my very, very special oatcake bread! 

And yes- I am feeling better today and I thank all of you for listening to me whine and bitch, or as you Brits might say, whing and moan. 
Same-same. 
I doubt it will be the last time. 
Y'all are precious.

 Gecko on the screen. 

Maurice in the garden. She is not dead.

Love...Ms. Moon