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June 1
June 2
June 4
One cat still missing, the other staying at the vet with
diabetes... The car that broke down in S. Dakota with a bad alternator
had the alternator light come on again.
In counterpoint to the downer day, I recorded some banjo-guitar
videos which are posted at my video links (at top). It was a lovely
day in spite of it all...
June 5
Today it drizzled continuously, with about an inch accumulation.
I went to the Bluegrass Association picnic (wetnic) and jammed for about
3 hours this afternoon, which was considerably better than watching the
rain...
June 6
One cat is back from the vet, now with instructions and
insulin to treat it for diabetes. At least it's not as costly as
I imagined...
A person stopped by offering to sell me firewood today.
Early June isn't the time you think of getting firewood for winter, but
it beats doing it in the snow in late November, so I told him to bring
it on... Our area is growing so fast that I think firewood will become
scarce within a few years, although it's still amazing how much gets burned
in slash piles. As fossil fuels become more scarce, eventually anything
that burns may become a commodity. I do feel badly that corn is changing
from cheap food to cheap fuel, including stoves designed to burn it, as
well as the ethanol plants. Back when farmers used to dry their corn,
on the cob, in cribs, the cobs were used for fuel sometimes--burning hot
but briefly. I remember visiting a friend's cellar in Brookings that
had some corn cobs in the (by then) deserted coal bin... In this
rambling reflection, it reminds me of the way heat sources have changed
fairly frequently. I remember liking to sit on the metal grill in
my grandparents farm house over the coal stove, and I'd look at the bucket
hanging there which supplied a bit of humidity when filled with water.
We were "modern," having the green tank of stove oil in the basement, with
a furnace. The dog and I would share the living room heat register
on cold mornings, and I'd play cards with him--games like Crazy 8's and
War that need no real thought on the dog's part to play...
June 7
Or mine either, to finish the thought from yesterday...
Today my son and I went to a Woodie Guthrie tribute concert
put on by the local public radio station. Woodie and Leadbelly were
the start of a lot of folk musicians, myself included, in spite of neither
of them having made any high quality recordings. Leadbelly took a
song from the 1800's and made it into "Irene Goodnight." Woodie heard
Leadbelly's song and made it into "Roll on Columbia." Nowadays such
things are frowned upon by lawyers so it's harder to pay musical homages
without lawsuits... Woodie was more of lyricist than a tunesmith--as
Arlo said in the movie accompanying the concert about Woodie's work with
the BPA--"In the mystic crystal glitter of its magistical spray, men have
fought the pounding waters, and met a watery grave"--where did that come
from?
June 8
I'm not a fanatic birder, but this year for some reason I've been more aware of birdsongs than previous ones. As I stepped out back to go to work this morning, I heard a new song about a block away, so I grabbed my camera and went to look for it. This was about the best I could get of it, as it was high in a big tree. When I saw the orange I thought it might be a Bullock's (or Northern) Oriole. The orange splotch on the back of the head is confusing. Paging through the bird book later, I realized it might be a Black headed Grosbeak, though it doesn't show the splotch. I've posted a short movie of it singing at Youtube.com.
June 7
It rained a half inch again today, postponing serious
watering for another few days... The lake remains at full pool.
There were more geese hanging around the mill pond when we walked there
this evening than are typical. For my Minnesota relatives--the
mosquitos came out finally last weekend, but I have yet to get the first
bite--our mosquitos are not as bloodthirsty as the Minnesota ones...
June 10
I added 5 more guitar videos today, some of which won't
show up until tomorrow. The active ones are available off my video page...
It rained just enough to curtail outside activities--hence the videos.
The rain was also good for our local retail sales. The best order
I've gotten recently was for a tiny teaset for a neighbor with two toddler
children who like to have tea parties.
June 11
June 12
Because we put up signs asking the city not to spray
our areas adjacent to the road for noxious weeds (which are plentiful whether
they spray or not), I've felt some compulsion to keep the grass and weeds
near the street trimmed low. Since there are lots of rocks mixed
into that area (partially as a result of the city grading the gravel streets),
the regular mower complains mightily if used in that vicinity. So
for the last year or so I've been struggling with weed wackers. Yes,
I did get 3 of them from Ebay, all with important defects. The last
one, though, has finally come through for me (that means it runs for 10
minutes without a major meltdown). Today was a milestone--I bought
10 heavy lines for it ($6.00), and went to work with the Death Ray.
It's a curious thing about weed wackers--they're heavier than the scythes
that they replaced, and since you have to hold them pretty steady, it's
fairly strenuous to use them. We still have two of the old style
swinging manual weedwackers, and I began to wonder if they weren't really
faster and easier. But there's no trigger to push... So I got
the weeds wacked using only two of the 10 lines ($1.20). That much
money spent on gas would mow our whole lawn...
I know it's a weird world because my shorts were wearing
out, and I went to the store to buy shorts, and all the shorts there were
more worn out than the ones I was replacing... I guess guys are too
busy sitting around to wear out their own shorts anymore...
June 13
It's two days now I haven't picked up our 3rd car at
the mechanics, since he starts late and closes early, and I've been caught
up with other things. It will be nice to temporarily have all 3 cars
working again. So instead of picking up the car, I was glazing two
kilnloads of pots this morning, and watching the shop while making quiche
and rhubarb pie this afternoon.
One disappointment occurred in opening the kiln this
morning. I'd made a rather large thrown sculpture in the shape of
a chocolate chip, but I forgot to poke a little hole in the bottom and
it blew up in the firing. I was planning to glaze it with a gloss
brown glaze, then wrap it in aluminum foil. Maybe I'll try again--maybe
not. I'm not sure people would like a large chocolate kiss in their
yard or living room, might make them too hungry...
June 14
The key word about cars yesterday was "temporarily."
After driving one car 50 miles for its 1 week checkup for the transmission,
it wouldn't shift into high gear on the way home tonight... Kind
of went with the weather today--over an inch of rain in steady drizzle...
Actually the rain takes care of watering the garden for this week...
And it brought in customers in a steady trickle as well. It's an
ill cloud that doesn't have a silver lining, or something like that...
June 15
A blah day. Happens sometimes...
June 16
We had a gullywasher today-- 7/10 inch of rain in 10
minutes. Our old house had about 4 leaks in it, that only open up
during deluges. Some of the leaks were related to windows, as the
rain came with a strong wind. It's turning into a very wet June.
We came up with another idea for the new outside display
area, mostly related to how one adds a roof without needing to get a building
permit. The trick is to build it unattached, 10 X 12 feet or smaller,
which is okay by local code. We've been debating how to roof this
area for months, so now maybe will move forward on it...
June 17
We've never been ones to buy new furniture. This
is a corollary of the artist vocation... The only new furniture we've bought
was a mattress and box springs to fit a bed frame we were given...
But America is so full of stuff that it's easy to accumulate it.
Our new house has been almost totally stocked with furniture from friends
and relatives. The latest shipment came the other day, of various
bedroom furniture. Interestingly enough, because of its age and style,
a lot of the furniture, sorted into rooms, creates an eclectic but similar
ambience, such as the Oak room, the Danish Modern room... This is
good, because our property tax valuations came out last week, and we're
suddenly a lot richer than we used to be, so the interior decorations reflect
this... Valuations went up an average of 40% in our county last year.
Of course this sense of wealth will be diminished in December when the
taxes come out again. Long time locals are up in arms...
I choose 6 months of smugness--the despair can wait to December...
June 18
June 19
I spent a couple hours today waiting to hear that they
didn't know exactly what was wrong with the transmission, but I could throw
a couple hundred dollars at it and it might work. While waiting I
walked around an older part of commercial Spokane, and made a webpage to
commemorate it. http://sondahl.com/spratrent.html
June 22
Things are hopping now as the weather begins to heat
up. Today I set the posts in concrete for the new pottery display
area, as the brick patio and rock walkways are approaching completion.
Orders are coming in to keep the pottery flowing as well. Temperatures
are still in the 70's, but expected to hit high 80's in a few days.
Usually by now most of us are swimming (I'm a hold out, not liking cold
water too much). My son went swimming in cold Lake Pend Oreille today,
which was the first for any of us.
June 23
The Lady's Slipper orchid pictured at the June
1st entry is still blooming. Some orchids have a long bloom life--others
are gone in a couple days, like Calypso... I sanded and linseed oiled
my funky display shelves today, and built a couple oak surfaces for one
of our kitchens from the leftover oak flooring, in addition to the normal
pottery activities. This weekend is the first big influx of tourists,
with the national Ironman competition in Coeur D'Alene, and 3 on 3 basketball
Hoopfest in Spokane. Traffic becomes an issue, so it's a nice weekend
to stay home at the lake.
June 24
I got the new shelter done today--pictures will await
having the pots on display. I also took my first swim after roofing
it, in the 80 degree afternoon. This evening I noticed the burn pile
behind the hardware had a lot of dimensional lumber, so I loaded our van
up with it. It was mostly 2 X 6's, either good for burning or rough
carpentry... Some of it was redwood--weathered but serviceable.
Then I recorded two new music videos and uploaded them. They're
the 2nd and 3rd ones on my video page...
June 26
I had to replace a kiln element today. When I got
the kiln new, many years ago, I had someone pick it up for me in Seattle,
and in loading it they (totally unfamiliar with it) broke some of the soft
brick which lines the interior of the kiln and holds the heating elements
in place. So in one area of the kiln the wires get unruly and end
up hanging down into the the main part of the kiln, where they get hung
up putting the shelves in and out, and finally break. When I put
in the replacement, I followed my own advice which I dispense on my kiln
maintenance page and added some ceramic "roofing nails" to hold the element
in place.
June 27
June 28
I added a new harmonica solo at
Youtube
today, called Swedish Rhapsody. This weekend is usually
a big one in our area. When the 4th falls in the middle of the week,
as it does this year, it makes it hard to have a 3 day weekend, so I guess
it will be a four day weekend for those who can take it... I'm still
in denial as to what I'll do for the parade this year...
June 29
Today our cat, who is old and diabetic, slept out in
the pottery display room and greeted customers, all of whom petted her
and commented on what a nice face she has. As I type, she's in my
lap, watching my fingers wiggle. When she was diagnosed with diabetes
(this month, actually), I figured it was all over for her, but we've all
adjusted well to the shots, and she seems to be enjoying life more...
I'm still cranking out pots, but am beginning to think
there ought to be something more summer related in my life... Perhaps
longer swims, and trips to the mountains or other lakes, are appropriate
responses... I usually get this way when the shelves are full, which
they are. The next month will make deep inroads in them, and I would
benefit from continuing to make lots of pots, but it's hard when there's
no immediate need... That's why I slow down in the winters as well...
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