Come Away With Me

This is sort of a two-part post, which I meant to do in two, completely separate posts, but time got the best of me and so ya'll will get it all in one, jumbled entry. The photos may not be in sync but once again, Blogger is being screwy and I still can't figure out their apparent new code for uploading photos in the sequence you actually want. Also, please forgive me for not answering all comments lately and for not making the rounds on your blogs either. I have been very busy the last week, the reasons for which I will explain as we go on.
As you can tell from these photos, Jack and I took a little road trip up to Chattanooga for a couple of days. I had been to the aquarium a while back but he never had, so we remedied that. I always enjoy Chattanooga. It's a great little city. Full of lots of fun things to do. We relaxed and had a great time.

I love how playful they were with the construction. I wish my company got to build such fun things. Instead, we get hospitals. Which are important; just not fun.

Lots of great art to see. These were actually in the aquarium exhibits. If I had tons of money, I would own these things. Beautiful craftsmanship.

Before we left I had a large firing to do myself. I made up two new glazes to test, which I thought came out very well. I am trying to come up with some brighter, more vibrant colors for my work. The green and gold on the square bowls are the new colors. What do you think?

Beautiful craftsmanship here too; just not by human hands. These were infinitely easier to get a decent shot of than the fish! They were very mesmerizing though.

These guys were just hanging there, so easy to shoot. If you live anywhere near Chattanooga and have never visited I would encourage you to do so. It's a lovely town.

We caught the free, electric buses that cruise the city and rode down to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo for breakfast. The Choo-choo is an old railroad depot that they turned into a restaurant. Great food and a cool place.

They have two rows of old railcars that they renovated and you can spend the night there if you like. Well, for an appropriate fee. These were part of the gardens in between the cars.

More alien creatures. I could feel my blood pressure slipping down, down, down watching these.

I love this guy's work. His name slips my mind at the moment though.

This piece looked exactly like it was made up of old driftwood but it was actually bronze. the patinas that can be put on metals are amazing.

This is the pedestrian bridge (there are two other bridges for vehicles) but we did not walk across it. I kinda wanted to but it was only like 1,000 degrees that day and getting later in the day, so we needed to head home.

This is the contemporary wing of the Museum of American Art. The concrete and metal work in this place was great! I enjoyed looking at it as much as the art itself.

So, you may ask yourself, what prompted this little excursion? Well, Jack and I wanted a little vacation before things change a little and we don't have as much time together. See, Daddy Rabbit called me a couple of weeks ago and he needs a certified welder on his job in a bad way. So, I agreed to go back to work. I know some of you may screech and moan at me but I figure maybe I should go. I'm not making much money with my pottery and I need the funds to finish this house. I have saved enough to finish this half I am in now but would really like to actually build the other half. Plus, it's for Daddy Rabbit. In a lot of ways I don't want to go. See, it's in another city far from here and I'll have to leave my home and Jack for maybe up to a year. It is in this state however, so I'll get to come home on the weekends, usually. But, that's the life of a construction worker.
So, I have been very busy trying to get loose ends tied up before I leave, plus do all the paperwork etc. that the company requires to come back on. I am going to try to maintain the places where I have pottery but I wanted to get a large inventory out before I left. I have also been trying to can and put up as much stuff out of the garden as I could. Jack will continue to harvest things and maybe I can do some more when I come home. I hate to leave him with all the responsibilities of this place but he says he's up for it.
I will continue to blog but my postings may be sporadic for a while, (as might my comments on your blogs) until I can get settled in the place where I am going stay. So, that's what's been going on here.