Empty Bowls

Fun morning at St Andrews Service Worship.  15 people gathered to make clay bowls for Interfaith Community Service's  "Empty Bowls" Event coming up in March.  We pinched, rolled, molded clay into bowls, textured and added underglaze to almost 40 bowls.

We carefully wrapped up all the wet bowls and brought them back to my house to dry and fire in my kiln. These bowls will be bought by ticket holders at Empty Bowls to benefit ICS community food bank.

Felt like I brought my whole studio to church but so worth the effort. Everyone had a good time that participated.

Back yard quail

Sitting on the patio with a cup of tea and watching a family of quail devouring our bird block.  Feeling pretty smug about being here and not on the East coast digging out after 20 plus inches of snow.

Desert Hikes

We have made a point to do some desert hikes this winter.  These two were in the last couple of weeks. The morning air is crisp and cool and the sky is phenomenal right now. These trails are hot and dusty most of the year but right now they are pretty nice.

Sweetwater Trail overlooking Tucson.  Actual morning fog that burnt off pretty quickly.  We were up and on the trail early enough to see sun come up thru it.

Romano Pools has lots of water after winter rains. 

Snow melt running at Catalina SP.  Got our boots wet getting to the trail.

Stephanie is back in Bloomington

She is back after a successful 6 month Sabbatical.  And she hit the ground running as classes begin almost immediatly.  She did not return alone, however.  She got a new car.

She actually got home in a bit of a convoluted way.  She has been without a car since last spring and planned to maybe get a new one when she finished her time in Asia.  She and Will were researching cars while we were together and after much searching and dilegenice they found the perfect car. .perfect  model, perfect make,  perfect color. .  in Kansas City. Deal struck via internet. Papers FedEx'ed overseas.  She flew home thru Kansas City and drove her "new" 2014 Subaru Cross Trek 8 hours back to Indiana. Pretty cool.

Made a day of it

I had a scheduled appointment with Dr Wasif at Mayo Clinic yesterday in Phoenix.  Just keeping on top of on-going concerns after last summers unusual circumstances following my perforated appendix.  Have a more extensive scan coming on on the 28th. All good.  Visit with doctor didn't take long, so we had afternoon to enjoy.  Went to Panera for lunch then to nearby theater to see Star Wars.  We purposely waited until long lines were gone. In fact there were only maybe 15 people in the whole theater. We did the 3D showing which made it more fun too.  Now I liked it a lot, both my kids and I are Star Wars fans from the beginning.  There have been some sequels that were not up to originals but this one did not disappoint.  A lot of it, I will admit is nostalgia factor, in a lot of ways it is almost a retelling of first movie.  All the old standby characters make an appearance and new ones fit in nicely.  Harrison Ford might have aged a bit but he's still Han Solo at his best!!
   Maybe the best part was meeting up with Teresa and Jeff Ellington and thier lovely family for dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Central Bistro.  Whole family out to Arizona for the holidays.  Rachel wasn't feeling well so stayed at thier condo, missed seeing her but such a nice evening with the rest of the family.

Rain and blossoms

It is raining today and suppose to rain more this week.  It really rained hard for a while. Unusual weather here.  . .just like everywhere else,  I guess. Freezing temps last week, unusual highs before that. Flora of the desert has responded and my lemon tree is already blooming. Ripening lemons and blossom at the same time.  And had to stop and take a picture of desert wildflowers in bloom along our road. That shouldn't happen until March!!

"Blue eyes", poppies, desert marigolds  and brittle bush.

Weekend project

Will installed a new awning on our patio. It's retractable, has lights on underside so we can use patio table for romantic evening dinners, and looks really nice. 

Such a beautiful day that we both worked outside all day. He was focused on getting awning up, but in between we scrubbed and cleaned the accumulated dirt on patio furniture, brick floors, light fixtures. Washed windows. Went to store and got some pansies to fill up planters and rearranged garden art.  Finished the day's hard work with a glass of wine and a beer out there. 

Glass

Will has been busy working on a new panel that  incorporates a slice of agate, to match the two side windows in my kitchen.  It really turned out pretty.

He also used up some scrap glass to make a decorative plant hanger to hang in a window.  They turned out so well that I talked him into making a few more.  We filled them with clear resin and added an artificial succulent and some beads and  WAA-LAA. (How would you spell that  word?)

Hey. Look at this

See the ad!!  That's Tammy's. . .big banner across the top.  Good omen for a good year ahead!!!

Happy New Year 2016

Quiet New Year on Maya Court!  Judy M.  came over for the day.  We had a casual soup lunch and then went to a movie.  Saw "Concussion" about the NFL owning up to the injuries it's grand players suffer from years of playing professional football and the people who brought it to light.
  As the credits were rolling in the theater Will said, "Now I am going home and watch the Rose Bowl."  UGH. I am not a great football fan but will be watching it with new eyes from now on. Anyway was painful to watch this particular game more because Iowa didn't do so well.
  Will and I reflect on this past year with nothing but thankfulness.  It's had a few rough spots but we have been blessed beyond measure. PTL.