I think it's the hat!

I put together a Mad Hatter outfit to take a picture with these Halloweend characters..Anisa..tall gal in the back is into Steam Punk and I can best describe that it seems like a Victorian Era futuristic way of thinking. Next weekend is a Steam Punk convention with bands, etc. She also likes Irish drinking songs..maybe in an effort to be so different from other teens she is becoming very eccentrically apart..this is like Star Wars and Star Trek fan groups; but hey, I don't really know what it's all about. In orange is Trishana, as a hockey goalie, between Anisa and I is Jack, the Ninja, me, the Mad Hatted person and I didn't want to clean orange gunk out of my hair! Oscar is the Zombie who looks like he's eating the puff balls on Kawailani's Toff costume, and Lehua has tried to take off the armor of Suki, a Kiyoshi Warrior from Avatar, the Last Airbender from the Nickelodeon cartoon series..I dressed to be a part of this picture and to hand out candy...though I would have done better to walk off some of the sweets I've been having for the last few days!! As usual, a good time was had by all as we had franks and beans and chicken and dumplings for dinner. I will need to search for something GREEN and healthy to eat for the next few days!

November is the month our family has 4 birthdays!!! And these kids were talking turkey already!!

Halloweenie!!

high and dry..Halloween at the Frontier building.

Getting ready

This is my effort for a Mad Hatter topper. It's still a bit rough, but should be ready to go. I took a paper mache` box, it was an oval that I cut and taped into a circle and added the brim, then cut some tapestry and lace and glued the entire surface. I think I'll keep this idea and embellish upon it for next year!  Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter had several pretty spiffy outfits!

Non-clay projects

Spent some time with friends today and came up with these..finished projects. I've been quite brainless lately and it was hard to focus on these! Thanks, Mel and Diane! Mismas is coming!!

Project BIF--birds in flight

Ahhhm...don't nobody look up!!

I've been to Florida and must've seen pelicans there but this seemed special for me..to see them here in Washington State.

Westport Boat Harbor Area

So I met this guy..he's a Bennett Brother and they have this restaurant and a steak place in Grayland. Place is awesome. I took pictures. When he stopped by our table to see how we like his place I told him I like the ambience and the plating and presentation of their food. "You must be in the business," he said..."Nope, just an artist". I haven't referred to myself as an artist, I surprised myself.

inside Bennett's..

I liked the use of the building materials from corrugated iron to floor sheathing used as ceiling material.  This was stained and framed in with trim.  Plywood was nailed to the walls and painted black.  The place was very clean inside and out!

the food??

This is a bacon cheeseburger
and Trishana has clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. 

Yes, I know the picture is result of camera shake, but that's the effect of the fat in this thing...I ordered a crab and cheddar sandwich, it was made like a grilled cheese sandwich and I tasted red onion, mayo and cream cheese used to make the crab mix!!!  My cholesterol count went up a few notches, though I managed to eat only a half sandwich!  The taste??  Literally to die for!!

NOT a beach in Hawaii

Ya gotta wonder what these places were set up for...Bonge (pronounced bong-ee not BONG), Toqueland, near Westport and Grayland. I dunno what people who live here do....when most close down in the fall and wait for the surfers and tourists of spring and summer! We stayed at a nice place called Le Chateau....I think I would in a cottage with a workshop area and just camp out here for a month in the fall and maybe winter..I'm betting it would be quiet except for the rain and pounding surf, and that an artist could get a lot done here...there were a couple of great eating places and 1 Red Apple Market...with exhorbitant prices, except for the pvc clam guns were only $15!!

Cranberry Festival--2nd annual

This celebration on cranberries included vendors with baked goods, elephant ears, beads and rocks, smoked turkey legs, jams, candles, crochet items, honey, rush baskets, etc. and though it was pouring down rain all over the place, it was a great thing!! The bottom picture is of tide clocks....we tarried here awhile trying to figure out what make them TICK only for the tides!!

In a jam??

OMgoodness, these made me want to rush out and pick huckleberries!! I so love shelves and shelves of canned stuff in canning jars!! Of special interest were the pepper jellies...laced with jalapenos they were so good! Apricot pepper jelly, green pepper jelly..lots of zing! Paired with cream cheese these are great with crackers...oh yeah...no supposed to do all the sugar, or the HEAT, or the refined flour carbs!! I know!

Tweaking MUGS!!

When I get around to perfecting the mugs in skinny shapes and lightweight forms I will try and tweak them on purpose...Kendra had some suggestions for my oversized walls and bottoms and we came up with these! She's so nice! She says hers are so thin, she's not able to carve them out like this...and turned my disasters into cool stuff..and I felt complimented! But still, I need to learn to throw thinner! I'll never be a porcelain feminine thin walled potter..I don't aspire to be one..but I should learn the art and technique, just in case! It would save on clay AND I could have more pieces!

bowls

I did this with 3 pounds of clay..and put it away in a damp cupboard...and now I cannot find it!! Maybe I loved it too much!! BOWLS are too cool...like mugs....I want many and many of them to have and to give away!! Sometime I'll learn to pile on 3 or 4 more pounds and manage to throw mixing bowl sets!!

In progress..second ginger jar

I think there's money in urns...but this is my second ginger jar..shorter and squatter with a mushroom type lid. We'll see what it's like when finished!