Stuck

Gaaaaaaackkkkk! Ugh, I feel like I am stuck in the worst combination of writers' block and just mental disorganization. I guess I've got so many projects going on at once around here that I literally can't think straight, much less form any kind of sensible writing. I have at least, been trying to focus on my studio and the goings on there this week and I have limited my gardening to after 'work' hours or the weekends. I am trying to maintain actual studio hours like it's a job. Because it kinda is, if I am going to try to make any money at it. So, one project is to lay up this small block wall in the basement. I may not have shown many photos of my basement/ studio but it is not a full basement. The concrete floor exists only in half of the space. The rest is storage over dirt floor. Anyway, this little knee wall will divide these spaces and give me a clean, defined edge for the working area. I am going to backfill with gravel and then pour a little concrete pad on top, which I then will install metal shelving on top of. I am in great need of shelving to organize my tools and hardware. This will also give me a little more space because now those shelves sit out on the concrete floor. Now, I ain't no block mason, so don't be dissing on my block work. It is functional but it ain't purty. It is fairly straight though. After I laid the first course I drilled the floor about every other cell and drove in rebar to anchor the wall. I then laid the next course and will fill each cell with concrete.

I have also been throwing as regularly as I can, in between all the other stuff I've been doing. This is the bisque load that came out this morning. I spent most all day today glazing and getting ready to fire again tomorrow. I felt like I was really making some progress but as I was cleaning up this evening and putting the glazes away, I came to a very discouraging realization. I have two glazes, a slate blue and an oatmeal, that look almost identical in their liquid states and.....yes, I had mixed them up, thinking that I had glazed certain pieces in one color when in fact, it was the other color. Now, had these only been glazed in that one color, it wouldn't be much of a big deal. But no, I like to mix colors and double dip some stuff for effect. So, the secondary colors I used, that go well with one glaze, don't necessarily go with the other glaze. And it goes on and on. One glaze must be applied thinly etc. Blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, I get to wash all that glaze off the pieces in question and start over. Damn.

So, anyway, other things are going well. Jack is experimenting with sprouting seeds for eating and I'll show that soon. He is also building the coldframe for me. He kinda fusses about actually building anything for me because I think, he thinks, I'm going to criticize his work, seeing that I am a carpenter, but as long as it holds together and looks halfway reasonable, I am okay with it.
And I think he came up with a good idea for the foundation of the coldframe.