Garden Projects Two - 2010

pretty

This is the bird house Bill used for a pattern for the one he built.

very cool

I love that picture, Ge. Looks like one I would see in a favorite magazine^_^

I agree---needs to be on a calendar---just beautiful! Patti....I'm drooling over those pots....if you're selling, let me know! Bill, C. Celebration is not a climber---it's a shrub, & my older one is about 31/2' tall by about 21/2 ' wide. It bloomed way into Nov.

Bill, I love your birdhouse. Just fantastic! What talent you have. I'm green with envy. I'm not so great with stuff like that.

JoAnn, yours that Bill modeled his after is wonderful, too, and I love those roses. Do you know the variety?

Patti, your pottery is superb. I used to do pottery myself, as well as sculpture, stuff from molds, etc. I miss doing ceramics, but I don't have a studio I can use for kiln, wheel, etc. That takes a lot of space. If you're selling, I'd like to buy eventually, when I have money. Financial woes are plaguing me now, but soon enough I will finally catch up with the bills. Hopefully sooner than later. I'm hoping to get it all straightened out before April. I need some extra hours at my second job, or maybe I can sell some daylilies on the LA. Will see what I can do to get some extra cash.

Karen

Good luck, Karen!

Thanks, Victor.

Karen

My sister had blue bird houses up for a few years before she had birds build in them. She has had families for the past 2 years now. She lives on 30 or so acres though, surrounded by woods.

blue birds need open fields near by which we have here.

i think we can do a swap patti:)

Karen thats not my bird house or rose.I visited a friends garden and she didnt give the name. She does have many Davis Austins tho.

Thanks for all the kind support. My are pots getting better, but still too heavy. I don't have a studio. The space I had dreamed to use in our basement got turned into an independant school back in the 1986, so I just gave up the notion. The school still exists, but not in our house and it now has165 students through grade 8. That dream flew high.

I started using a coop studio space in Brookline Ma in October called Feet of Clay. I use their glazes and electric kilns and wheels. They fire at cone 6. I love all the random potters from young to old, from full time potters who make their livelihood from the sale of their work, to those like me who just love the process. I go up and stay overnight at my BIL's house and spend a couple of long days whenever I can. I have been getting in around 20 to 30 hours a month. The space is open to members 24/7 so often very early in the morning or late at night there is no one else is there. Wonderful. The 120.00 a month membership includes, for my amount of production, everything including firing & glazes, except the cost of clay.

The glazes are labeled as to whether they are food safe or not. I have been avoiding all the "not food safe", except on one flower pot. Not sure if the lithium would effect a hippeastrum. The studio glazes are made up by a the full time studio potter as his job. They do have classes for beginner. I took one of those in Oct to get me started again. It is not like riding a bike! I forgot, completely.

Ge1836, love seeing that you found your missing photo. I was missing one too. It was the original photo of some green tomatoes on my counter that I posted on DG and then you did a splendid water color of and sent to me. Lucky me. I had looked everywhere in my files, to no avail. It appeared this morning attached to a travel file, Scotland. Too weird. But here it is for all to see. Thanks again, Patti

So when will you start on my oil jar?? ^_^

I am just catching up but wanted to say those jars are wonderful Patti! Don't change a thing, they are perfect just as they are!!

Bill, sell those birdhouses...you'd be surprised how fast they will go!

ebay would be a good start

I think you could sell them to all of us first. I will talk to your DW. Here are a few more pots. Chips and dips and cheese platter. Not close to being able to throw anything really big, yet. Patti

Very nice, Patti. I like the patterns and colors.

Me too---colors would look perfect in my kitchen! And Bill...forgot to say how nice your BH was....yes, you can sell them!

Patti - I'd buy one of your pots too. They are very professional-looking! I love those colors, as well as the blues.

JoAnn - beautiful birdhouse with roses....really pretty!

Karen - what is the LA where you might sell some daylilies?

Patti
The glazes for "not food safe" would only be harmfull to humans if the reciepe contained acid foods like tomatoe sauce or pineapple. It would take years for the effects of lead poisoning to be visible , many times the pot is broken before anyone gets poisoned. Look at the number of early colonials whe made and used earthenware plates and serving pieces glazed with those cream slip decorations and coated with clear lead glazes.
These guidlines were set up when the country was lead and mercury scared.
High fire glazes melt off the pot in fireing if the glazes contain too much lead so its rarely used in high fire reciepies.You and your plants are safe.
Mexico uses lead in their glazed highly colored wares.
In the 70's when I was there I realized why their pots were so toxic. They need to use lead to melt the glazes at a low temp.
They didnt have the technology to fire kilns with fuels for high fire.
I saw a kiln being fired with old oilfilters from cars and other vehicles.
My thought at the time was" they are never going to get to 1800-2000* at that rate.

Nice job,Patti!

DH and I drove by a house Saturday and I noticed a rather large 'fairy ring' in the front yard made of rocks. In my quick glance I thought mushrooms, but they were very crudely made and I thought to myself that Wha's look ever so much nicer. The caps were just sitting on top. I could see air. All that in a quick glance. But, I knew that the care and time were not invested into them as I have seen on here.

I've seen stuff like that too Jan and wonder why did they even bother? Maybe they got finished and it didn't come out how they pictured it would look like.
There is a town north of me and there is a gorgeous Tudor house, they built a stacked stone wall on either side of the sidewalk but it just ends, looks so unfinished, wondering if they ran out of $.

No one is better at fairy stuff than Bill. ^_^

Low blow

ROTFLOL

Good one, Victor!

JoAnne, I know also that pottery fired at low temps will crack from the stress of heat and cold much easier than will the high fired stoneware. You can leave high fire stuff out all winter, but the low fire stuff will all come apart. The glaze just pops off of it.

Karen

cruel statement, but very funny! Can't wait to hear Bill's response!

)(*^@$%#*(&^)_&)*&%^$@*)&^*)%$&^#*(&(%(&$!!!!

(_*()^$(&*%*%^*%&*(^&$^$&(*^%^$#&^^&$#&^%!!!!

Hee hee! Who loves 'ya baby?!!!

^_^ Sorry, Wha, I set you up for that. I should have just said a ring of mushrooms, knowing V would jump on the fairy ring mention. But, I didn't think twice about it.

You get the assist, Jan.

i would like to see a pic of those jan if you ever get the chance - just curious what a fairy ring looks like:)

This.

your wife let you put that up?

Too funny!!!! ROTFL!

Bill, I was at the Philadelphia Flower Show last week with a few MAs. There was a celtic vendor who had antique staddle stones(?) from Ireland - they used them to prop up hay bales. They were priced at $1000+, and reminded me of your mushrooms! Terri

Wow - did anyone buy them??!!!

They were still there when critterologist and I were leaving - I'm sure he'll ship them to you if you want - just tack on another $500 :-)

Can't imagine anyone paying that. Crazy.