I wrote last week about my anxiety about participating in an art class at a local studio here. Well, my worries were for naught. The Raku class was fun, and far easier than I imagined.
The class was taught by a local artist who makes a lot of pottery. He is a retired electician who teaches how to be an electrician at a nearby technical college. He gives all sorts of art classes at his studio, which is in an enormous barn on a former horse farm just outside of town, and was filled with paints, glazes, potters wheels, kilns, etc.
We had to choose a pre-cast figure to glaze. I chose a dragon and decided if it turned out I would give it to my grandson. Boommate chose a vase. We were given a wide variety of glazes to choose from. I chose two glazes that were supposed to turn multiple colors. Some glazes were just single colors. We had to give the figures two coats of glaze. It dried really fast so we could fo two coats in quick succession. There were about 12 people in the class, including teens and adults. Many had been to his classes before.
The figures were fired in a kiln set to 1850°. There was fire shooting out of the top of the kiln. As they finished firing, the figures were placed in buckets, and we had to throw pieces of paper on them, which burst into flame and did something to the glaze finish. When they were a liitle cooler and the paper was all burned they were hosed down with cold water. Then we had to scrub them with soap and abrasive cleanser to remove any ash.
You can see my dragon in the header photo. My lack of artistic talent is well known in the family. Daughter commented “YOU painted THAT?!!” when she saw the photo. I am pretty proud of it. Boommate and I decided we will probably go to a winter class.
What have you made that makes you the proudest? What is your favorite kind of art?
Quite a few years ago I had DNA testing through Ancestry. Over the years there have been reanalyses of results. I believe it has become more accurate, and the area of my Europe my ancestors are from matches family history and lore. Both sides of my family come from northern Germany and the Netherlands. We are North Sea/Baltic Sea people. There is absolutely no evidence that my father’s family is French. That is a long held family myth. They are Dutch and Ostfriesian. My mother’s people come from the area around Hamburg and Bremen, and Schwerin, a town in northern Mecklenburg.
Every so often I get new results from Ancestry regarding DNA linked traits that I might possess. I don’t know how much I believe in the accuracy of the results, nor do I know how the results were derived, but some are spot on. I just don’t know how DNA influences them. For example, just last week I learned I had a new trait, that of not liking scary movies. Well, I really dislike scary movies. My mom didn’t like them either.
Some of the traits I allegedly possess that are consistent with my experiences are being likely to drink caffeine beverages, having good eye-hand coordination, being unable to smell asparagus metabolites, being unlikely to enjoy watching sports, enjoying cilantro, being likely to get cavities, having high pain tolerance, and being able to wiggle my ears.
According to my Ancestry DNA analysis I am unlikely to go grey early and unlikely to have pets. Well, neither of those are accurate for me. I started going grey in my 30’s, and I have had pets all my life.
I take the trait reports with a grain of salt. I think we have more free will regarding how we function than our DNA dictates. Nature vs nurture is hard to discern. I am often sarcastically thanked by our children for giving them my gene for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I think I would rather say it was in the DNA, and not how I raised them .
What traits do you possess that you think are inherited? What did your upbringing contribute? Can you wiggle your ears?
Over the weekend I finished No Two Persons by Erica Baumeister. It’s for my “other” book club. The author refers to it as a connected collection of short stories, but it really didn’t feel that way. Alice is the first character we meet – she is an author – and in the rest of the stories we meet those who read her book. Even though it was clear that it wasn’t a novel in the traditional sense, it felt like much more involved than a random group of short stories.
Even towards the beginning it seemed that the various people in the book were connected in more ways than just being readers. I was keeping track of them in my head and when I got finished, I realized I really wanted to see those connections on paper. So I pulled out my markers and post-it notes and made a chart. Nothing fancy, but it did the job. The two smaller post-it notes are fairly minor characters but since they both touched more than one life in the book, they got added. Miranda got two lines because she had a “give back” connection to Alice. I can’t say more without it being a big old spoiler alert.
Language in the book was wonderful; I really felt like I got to know each of the main characters and what was motivating them. None of the individuals felt stereotypical – Baumeister did a good job of making them real to me.
It was a pretty quick read because I was really drawn in from the beginning and I’m recommending it highly. 5 stars. Absolutely sure this will make the Top Ten list this year.
Do you like charts? Have a favorite kind? Pi charts? Venn diagrams? Bar charts? Scatter charts? Remember the last time you MADE a chart?
Our church participates in the St. Dysmas ministry at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. This is a ministry focused on prison inmates. Our church sends parishioners to the prison for services. St. Dysmas was the name given to the prisoner crucified on the right side of Jesus who repented of his crimes.
Husband is interested in participating in this ministry. In order to do so he has to submit a quarterly background check request. His record is blameless, but the authorities may have some issues with his wife’s last name.
In May, 1991, my father was asked to give a lecture on becoming a sports official and the intricacies of being a referree, to prisoners at the SD Penitentiary. He gave his lecture to about 30 male prisoners. It went well, he thought, and he gathered up his things and left. Within minutes after his departure there was a very serious prison-wide riot. He wasn’t blamed for the riot, but I imagine his name was mentioned in the report on the riot.
Dad’s friends thought the timing of his lecture and the riot was hilarious, and teased him about it with great relish. There wasn’t any connection between Dad and the riot, but was a pretty interesting coincidence. I worry that if Husband has to list my last name on his background check, he may get turned down for participation in the St. Dysmas program.
Ever been in a riot? Ever visited a prison? What might you like to give a lecture on, and to who?
Sure has been beautiful weather. I’ve seen just a couple fields of soybeans standing yet, a lot of corn has gone out. The dry weather has been perfect for the farmers with cattle on that make round bales out of the corn stalks. It’s been dry and they haven’t had a rain threat and it’s really been nice for that work.
On Wednesday we had two groups from possibilities out for hayrides. It was much nicer weather than the previous week but some of the clients still expected hot chocolate and while I am out doing the ride, Kelly is making hot chocolate. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Tuesday morning daughter and I saw a bald eagle as we were headed in, and then Wednesday on the hayride, they got to see another bald eagle.
Friday morning we did another group, a little windy but certainly warmer than they would’ve had last Friday. It can’t last forever, but it sure is nice while it does. This group also had hot chocolate.
After the hayride, I loaded up some scrap metal on a trailer and hauled that in. Finally got one thing off my list. Then I picked up the fence scrap that I tore out last weekend, the cattle panels, and an old bulk tank that had been used as a water tank, loaded that on the trailer and will get that delivered at some point.
Going to the scrapyard, I followed a combine and a big tractor about 2 miles on a busy county road. It was quite a line going at 20 mph. Corn heads come in different widths, and a six row corn head, at 30 inch rows, is about 15 feet wide. That’s pretty much a full lane of traffic. Anything bigger than that and they take the head off before driving on the road. Many farmers have 12 row corn heads. There’s a few 16’s and 18’s. But that’s a lot of weight, and a lot of corn coming in, and you need a pretty big machine that can handle all that. The big thing now is folding corn heads. So on a 12 row head, three outside rows on each side fold up over the middle making it about as wide as the machine itself and then they don’t have to take it off to travel on the roads. They’re very popular for the convenience factor. Seems like they’re also very expensive. Google tells me a slightly used 16 row folding head is listed at $254,500. Honestly, when you think about the engineering involved to make it fold, it’s pretty impressive.
Photo courtesy John Deere
FB image. Head folded and traveling. They do seem to obstruct vision a bit.
After the Wednesday hayride, I needed to put the wagon back in the shed. Because of where other machinery was parked, I had to make an S curve backing into the shed. If you look at this photo, the purple line was my intended route. And the green line is how it really went.
I do like to challenge myself… There’s a big difference between backing a 2 wheel trailer vs a 4 wheel wagon. Two wheels are easier. When I was a kid, there was a tractor rodeo at the fair. It involved backing things up, two and four wheels. Around corners, and into spaces and Dad really wanted me to do it. I refused. Eventually I got pretty good at backing things up, but it takes practice and I didn’t have it at 14. I’ve never like competitions. And judging by the green lines, I’m out of practice again. After Friday’s ride I put the wagon back in the shed. I did better. Practice makes perfect.
I’ve kinda run out of music in the theater shop lately. I just can’t find anything really interesting to me. Nothing turning my crank. I did some Latin Jazz, I did Rush, I tried Johnny Cash and nothing is really floating my boat this week. I’m saving the soundtrack of All That Jazz for next week. That will be tech week. “Nothing is personal during tech week.”
Freya is extremely food motivated. I’m pretty sure if I left a 40-pound bag of dog food open in the kitchen, she would eat until she popped. She’s not eating me out of house and home, although I’m going to need a separate line on my budget for dog treats. The good news is that combined with her smarts, it makes it very easy to work on training.
Of course, I’m not sure who’s being trained.
Nimue is not all that food motivated. If she feels like it, she’ll show up at meal time but sometimes she comes down later to partake. She does have dry food out all the time so she’s certainly not going hungry. She does have one exception; she loves her Friskies Party Treats. If I shake the jar (I keep them on my bedstand), she comes right away.
The treat parade started when Guinevere was young. If her stomach went empty too long, she’d throw up bile – ick. So I began giving her a couple of dog treats in the morning to tide her over an hour or so before breakfast. This was when I started giving Nimue a couple of treats as well. Took a few tries to find that she loves Friskies. I’m not sure when the two of them convinced me that they should also get a few treats at bedtime. 7:30 p.m. to be specific.
It took Freya about a day to realize that there were treats to be had when the kitty was getting her Yums. It took her about another day to figure out that 7:30 was the magic hour each night. So now, they are both presenting themselves at 7:30 for treats. See the header photo for the “Gimme treats” eyes. And they will both lie to me if necessary. Last night I got home late with Freya from dog class and Nimue blatantly lied to me about getting her treats. When I asked YA, she confirmed that she had given Nimue treats at 7:30 in my absence!
Clearly where treats are involved, I’m not in charge. And I’m not highly motivated to change that. Maybe I should get a treat at 7:30!
Do you have any nightly rituals (with or without pets)?
I must confess I am somewhat anxious for Saturday when I am attending the first art class I will have been to since high school. I took art history in college. I loved it. I hated every art class I had to take in Grades K-12 that involved creating art.
We had good art teachers in our public school. I simply have no talent for drawing or painting. My handwriting is awful. It is even a chore for me to do special decorations on cookies or cakes. We have a very active Communuty Education program here that teaches everything from seed saving to toddler management to learning MahJong to making your own bath bombs. There also are art classes, and Boommate strong armed me into taking a Raku class with her this Saturday. I think it only involves choosing a pre-made piece of pottery bisque and painting it to be fired. I think I can handle that.
In December I am also signed up with her to take a class in which we will create acrylic paintings. It is being held in the high school art room. If it is the same art room from when I was in school, I will probably have nightmares. I would much rather take a class in toddler management!
What does your town offer for Community Education? Ever taken any classes? What were your most and least favorite classes in high school?
Where is it written that people have to rake the leaves off of their lawns every fall, so that no leaves remain? We have neighbors here in MN and had neighbors in ND who worked daily in the fall to remove any traces of leaves. We are not raking people.
In our ND town the City was of no help to people who needed leaves hauled away. People had to haul them away to the landfill themselves. Of course, this was the City that wouldn’t remove snow from residential streets unless 4 or more inches had fallen. (It’s going to melt eventually anyway, and we don’t have it in our budget to plow anything but major arteries.)
Luverne has a much different attitude about this. I attribute it to the proximity to Northwest Iowa and a Dutch influence regarding neatness. The other day while it was raining we saw several street sweeping machines washing streets. The City sends out leaf suckeruppers several days in October and November to remove leaves that residents have swept into the gutter. Snow of any amount is also plowed up.
We like to leave the leaves for ground cover and pollinators. We sweep up leaves that collect on the sidewalk or deck, though. I remember the smell of burning leaves in the fall when I was a child, and loved it when my mom and dad would make leaf piles for me to jump in. Leaf burning is illegal now, I think. I am glad we have better things to do now than rake.
What are your leaf raking, leaf jumping memories? Are you a raker?
Boommate and I were driving past the high school yesterday on our way back home from exercise class when we noticed an ad for the upcoming high school fall play 12 Incompetent Jurors.
We both thought it would be a fun play to see. I looked it up when we got home. It is a parody of 12 Angry Men and is about the jury deliberations in a case in which a man has confessed to stealing a number of cats. One of the Jurors doubts the facts in the case and holds out on a guilty verdict. Chaos apparently ensues.
I never was in plays in musicals in high school, although I was on the speech team and gave dramatic interpretations of Anna Christie and Long Days Journey Into Night. As a musician I was in the pit orchestra for Li’l Abner, The Music Man, and Bye Bye Birdie. I was too introverted to try out for a role in the non-musical productions. Looking back, I regret that. Our children were braver. Our son was a dancing/ singing cowboy in Oklahoma and our daughter was one of the wives in The King and I in high school.
Were you in plays or musicals in high school or college? Do you attend productions at your local high school? If you could go back in time, what role would you want in a play or musical?
I have to admit it. I turned on the furnace last Thursday. It was chilly in the house, with a hard freeze predicted for Friday night/Saturday morning. I hate being chilly and just dressing more warmly indoors doesn’t help.
I set the thermostat at 70°. Who can argue about 70°? None of my housemates complained, not even Boommate who is always too warm. Now that it will be warmer this week, I doubt the furnace will kick in very often. But should the house temp drop below 70°, I shall still be comfortable. The dogs have been snuggling closer at night since the temps dropped.
I love fall weather. I love wrapping up in blankets. We have several Pendleton wool blankets, a really warm and fuzzy Norwegian wool blanket, quilts, and several down comforters. We are set for cold weather and chilly nights. I find my cooking plans have changed somewhat this past week, too, and I am finding soups and stews more appealing than salads. Husband picked all the tomatoes Friday before the freeze, and they are ripening in boxes in the garage. The Swiss Chard survived the freeze, but as I have frozen pounds of it already, I think we shall let it face its fate in the coming weeks. I, in any event, will be warm.
What is your cue to turn on the furnace? Favorite chilly weather foods? How do you keep your garden going through early freezes and frosts?
