The Day in the Life of a Potter's Wife

It Has Been A While - AGAIN!!!

2011-02-03T17:51:00.009-05:00

Okay - I know it has been awhile and I am sorry. There is a lot to tell, but today I am just going with - this is what The Potter's Wife is having for dinner.

Tonight I made Chicken Enchiladas - The Potter's Wife style. I only have a picture of the enchiladas before they went into the oven and then when they came out. Sorry for not thinking ahead. But here is how I made them.

First, I baked two skinless, boneless chicken breasts sprinkled with salt, cumin, and pepper. I drizzled it all with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and baked at 375 degrees until done.

The next step was to shred the chicken in a bowl. To the shredded chicken I added two wedges of Laughing Cow Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle cheese and two handfuls of Four Cheese Mexican Blend fancy shredded cheese from Harris Teeter. To this I poured the liquid from cooking the chicken breasts. I mixed it all together, making sure the chicken was moist.

For the tortillas I used Tumaro's Gourmet Tortillas - Honey Wheat (8 inch). I cut them in half and put some of the chicken mixture on the tortilla and rolled it up. I placed the rolled up chicken tortilla, seam down, in my pottery casserole dish (that I made). Back up - first you need to spray the dish with cooking spray and pour enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom.

After making all the enchiladas, I had a little chicken mixture left and I just scattered it across the enchiladas. Then I put a couple of handfuls of the shredded cheese over that and poured the rest of the enchilada sauce over all. I baked the enchiladas at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. You know until the cheese is really good and melted and the enchilada sauce is bubbly. Yummy!!!

The picture on the top is before cooking and the one on the bottom is right after taking it out of the oven. Notice all the pottery serving pieces. I made the casserole dish, the bowl with the cheese was made by Marsh and the piece with the cherry tomatoes was made by Tyler. Of course, the berry bowl holding the grapes was made by the true potter - Mac.

While the enchiladas were cooking I went over to one of my favorite blogs - The Happy Housewife to find her recipe on how to make my own refried beans since I already had some pinto beans cooked. Here is the link -http://thehappyhousewife.com/cooking/refried-beans/. (They were awesome and the best part - I know what was in them!!!!)

Now to set the table and finish up getting the lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and extra shredded cheese to go with the enchiladas and refried beans.

Ready for dinner. Notice the plate - pottery by Palm Tree Pottery!!!

For dessert, we had brownies and homemade Peppermint Ice Cream that I made over the weekend. Because I had left over candy canes from Christmas I decided to try this recipe I found at another of my favorite blog spots - Finding Joy in My Kitchen. Here is the link for the recipe - http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/peppermint-ice-cream.html.

Really easy to make and so,so good.

So there you have it. Hopefully, I can get back to some posts on pottery.

Thanks for stopping by. Until the next time . . .

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Getting Ready for the Woolly Worm Festival

2010-10-12T18:43:00.000-04:00

We are busy getting ready for the Woolly Worm Festival this weekend in Banner Elk, North Carolina. If you have never been you should make the trip. It is in downtown Banner Elk (which is beautiful in itself) and so much fun. They actually race woolly worms. (That is what is going on in the picture above.) There is a cash prize for the top winner of the day. When I was an assistant in kindergarten, I would always bring back a live woolly worm for the kids to see and show them how they are raced. They race up a string attached to this huge board. It really is fun and everyone has a great time.

This weekend is supposed to be very nice and sunny - unlike last year when it snowed!!! We are in our same spot, booth number 5. We would love for everyone to come to the festival and if you do, please stop by our booth and see us. You could even get in a little Christmas shopping -preferably with Palm Tree Pottery :) Really, there are great vendors there and you could knock out some of your shopping while enjoying the beautiful mountains and watching the woolly worms race.

Just to catch up since the last blog, we have changed our booth at Artwalk. Not the actual booth, we are still in the same spot, but the "decor" if you will of the booth. We think it looks really good. When you are in Boone, please stop in and see what we have done. (Actually, we need to get one more piece of furniture - the tall skinny one - and then it will be finished. It is hard to buy furniture and visualize it at the same time.)

This is our booth before.

Here are my guys doing the work.

Here is the finished booth.

Hope to see you at the Woolly Worm Festival!!!

Until the next time . . .

The Potter's Wife :)

Palm Tree Pottery

Sawtooth School for Visual Art

2010-09-29T16:43:00.000-04:00

This fall Mac is taking his first official pottery class at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. We found out about the classes through a mutual potter friend, Gaff Pearce. Gaff is the teacher of this class and he owns the Lazy Lizard Pottery. We met him and his wife, Martha, at the first Seagrove pottery show we did in Greensboro, NC. They do beautiful work. Anyway, we like their style and Mac decided he would like to learn from Gaff.

We had never been to Sawtooth and when we got there, we were in awe!! They have just renovated their pottery studio and it is fantastic. We wish we had a studio that large. There are windows all around the area where the potters throw. It is very open and well laid out.

I know Mac will learn a lot from Gaff. He has already taken away some new techniques and there will be more to come. I cannot believe we have had our pottery business for seven years (we incorporated in 2003) and Mac has been throwing since 2000, but this is the first official class he has ever taken. Too bad they cannot help me!!! Actually, it is a good thing. If I could throw, I am sure there would be another wheel bought and I would be put to work more than I am now!!! Really, I wish there has been either a handbuilding class during his or one on precious metal clay jewelry. Those are the areas I would be interested in.

The picture of Mac shows part of the windows behind him. You can kind of imagine what the studio looks like.

Until the next time. . .

The Potter's Wife :)

Palm Tree Pottery

It Has Been A While

2010-09-28T20:45:00.000-04:00

Okay, I have not been very regular in my blogging since the summer has ended. I am going to catch everyone up on what has been happening with us. First of all, my "baby" - Marsh - turned 17!!! I do not know where the time has gone. He is taller than I am and such a nice looking young man. Of course, I have the same thing to say about my 20 year old also. The week that Marsh turned 17, I also had what everyone else has had around here. I think I spent two days in bed that week. I did make it to Bible Study, though. We started our ladies Bible study at church for the Fall that week. We are doing the Beth Moore study Stepping Up - a study of the Psalms of Ascent.

On Friday of that week, we noticed that our cat, Mau was having trouble jumping up onto a stool. I took her to see our vet and he ran a blood test on her. He could tell on examination that she was anemic. The results were back on Saturday morning and she was in renal failure. I had had her in three weeks prior and she had a urinary tract infection. We gave her some antibiotics and she perked up. My vet told me then that if a cat lives long enough and nothing has gotten them, usually renal failure is what does and when you find it out, it is too late. Anyway, we decided to try giving her fluids under her skin because she did not look or act like she was sick. The first few days she perked up, but by the end of the week she quit eating for me. We ended up having to put her down on Saturday. She was eleven years old. Needless to say, it was a very sad weekend in the Hester household. We got Mau at the shelter. Tyler, Marsh, and I went the day before school started that year. Tyler was going into 4th grade and Marsh was going into 1st. As we walked into the shelter, there were two cages on either side of the door with kittens. As I walked in, a paw came through the cage and swatted at my hair. My reaction was "that cat will not be going home with me". Well, that kitten was Mau and the last one we looked at. It was like she was saying "Hey, I have picked you to take me home with you". She was a great cat and we are and will miss her very much. Izzy will miss her also.

We are still making pottery - since that is our business. We got another new store through Wholesale Crafts. It is the Cottage Craftsman in Bryson City, NC. Also, the Woolly Worm is coming up October 16 and 17 in Banner Elk, NC. If you are in the area, come and see us.

Until next time . . .

The Potter's Wife :)

Palm Tree Pottery

This Little Piggy

2010-09-08T21:02:00.000-04:00

Today I have been making piggy banks. Mac throws the body and I put all the attachments on to turn a "vase" or "bottle" into a piggy bank.

The top picture shows all of the attachments that I have to make to put the pigs together and the bottom shows the body before attachments begin and after legs have been put on.

After I attach the legs, I go ahead and sign the pig. I want the future owner of the piggy bank to know that it took two people to make this pig, so I came up with the above. For all of you who do not know, my husband, Mac (aka the potter) calls me Pudge and that is what I sign my pieces of pottery with.

Here I am putting their ears on.

And here they are finished. Aren't they cute!! They will have to wait to dry and be fired twice before they are ready. The best part of our piggy banks is that you do not have to break the bank to get your money out. It just comes out of their snouts. (I guess I am a poet and didn't know it :)

The picture below is just to let you know what the potter was doing while I was working!!!

I guess he had worked all day, so he deserved a rest.

Thanks for reading! I love y'all!

Until next time . . .

The Potter's Wife :)

Palm Tree Pottery

Labor Day

2010-09-07T17:37:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. We spent ours in Montreat. If you have read my blogs during the summer you know how HOT it was in Montreat. It was a very unusual summer in that way. Well, this weekend was a typical pre-fall weekend. The weather was great. The air was clear, the sun shone and best of all the temperatures were perfect. It actually got down in the 50's and maybe even lower at night.

Of course we ate at my favorite mexican restaurant - Ole's Guacamoles. As usual the food and service were excellent.

We did a lot of walking which helped with the eating!! It was so good to be back in Montreat. After one of the long walks we all took a siesta (aka a nap). It was hard to come back to what I call "reality". We now really have to get back to restocking the pottery shop as our shows are looming on the horizon. The first one is the Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC, Oct. 16 and 17. We would love to see everyone. If you are there, please come by and speak to us.

Tomorrow, I will have a post on my work in the shop with the pigs.

Until then...

The Potter's Wife :)

Palm Tree Pottery

A Relaxing Place

2010-09-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

Before school started, we took our last vacation at one of my favorite places, Atlantic Beach, NC. We stay at this great place called The Atlantis Lodge. We have been staying there for at least 15 years. It is on the ocean and they furnish lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach. They even have an attendant who will put them out for you. The best part is that they are pet friendly and Izzy can go with us.

The Atlantis is family owned and they know us when I call to schedule time there and when we walk in the door. It is like coming home. We even stay in the same room, so we really feel like we are at home.

One of my favorite times is early in the morning before anyone else is up. I make my coffee and take a cup out on our deck. I read my devotions to the sound of the ocean. There is just something about the sound of the ocean that is soothing to the soul. Here are some photos so you can enjoy the view also.

Some of our favorite places to eat at the beach are The Clamdigger, The Crab Shack in Salter Path and we found a new place (to us) in Morehead City, The Ruddy Duck.

To end this post, I am going to share some pictures of the Atlantis and the beach.

The picture on the top is looking from our deck. The picture on the bottom is the section we stay in. We stay in the middle room on the top floor.

The top picture is looking from my lounge chair back to the Atlantis. The picture on the bottom is looking out to the ocean.

And last, but not least, Miss Izzy resting in the room. She loves the beach, but has to stay in during the middle of the day.

Until the next time ...

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Cooking on the Chicken Cooker

2010-08-23T21:07:00.001-04:00

Finally I am going to show you how I cooked a whole chicken on the chicken cooker.

First, I filled the center cup about 2/3rd's full with white wine. Then I mixed some Polaner's Seedless Raspberry All Fruit with some Jack Daniels Original Barbecue sauce and added it to the white wine in the cup. (Sorry, I did not get a picture of the liquids in the cup)

Next I rinsed and patted the chicken dry and then rubbed the entire chicken (inside and out) with Emeril's All Natural Chicken Rub.

I placed the chicken cavity over the filled center cup of the cooker with the legs pointing down and pulled forward. I then tucked the wing tips behind the chicken's back (as best as I could).

Then I placed it in a preheated 350 degree oven.

And I cooked it for 1 1/2 hours.

This is the finished chicken. It was very moist and delicious. Above all, it was very easy and did not take alot of my time.

You may use any combination of liquids, sauces, and rub you would like. The above is just what I had on hand. The next time, I am going to baste some of the fruit/barbeque sauce on the chicken along with the rub.

Until next time.

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

This post linked to Tasty Tuesday at beautyandbedlam.com

Sorry For the Delay

2010-08-19T21:50:00.000-04:00

I have been very delinquent in my blogging. Since the last post we have done quite a bit. We took our last summer vacation, school started - for Marsh, our senior in high school, Tyler starts next week - and we added a new store through Wholesalecrafts. The store is in Holland, Michigan and it is the Thistle Gallery.

We have been very busy or shall I say Mac has been very busy in the pottery shop building back the inventory. It will not be long before I am back out there because soon there will be pieces needing handles and I also need to make some trays to put back on our shelves.

A few blogs ago, I started showing you the process of a chicken cooker being made. On that blog, Mac had made the cooker and I had attached the handles. Here is a picture of what they look like after the first or bisque firing.

Here they are after they have been glazed fired and ready to come out of the kiln. Sorry, I was busy when he was glazing and forgot to get a picture of that part of the process.

On the next post, I will show you the chicken that I cooked on one in the oven. I will also tell you the ingredients I used in cooking it.

I hope everyone has had a great summer. It is always sad when it comes to a close, but I do love the fall and winter. It is hard to decide which season I like the best because there is something I like about all of the four seasons.

Until the next post - I promise it will not be as long as it was this time.

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Just Another Day

2010-08-03T20:47:00.000-04:00

Here at home things are winding down from summer heading into my children going back to school. In the pottery shop we are trying to re-stock our shelves. Even though we are still in high 90's in temperatures, we are starting to think about the fall and the shows we will be doing. It is better to make the pottery now and have it fired the first time and have on the shelves to just pull and glaze for orders that come in, for the shows we will be doing, and also for the stores we sell out of.

For those who do not know, here are the stores that sell our pottery: The Montreat Bookstore in Montreat, NC; The Weaving Room in Crossnore, NC; Artwalk in Boone, NC; The Corner of Art and Function in Chardon, Ohio; Cornerstone Rustic Gallery in Elizabethtown, New York; and last but definitely not least - High Point Jewelers and Fine Gifts right here in High Point, NC. We actually took some pottery to them today. If you have not been into their store, you need to go. They are located at 800 North Main Street. Joe Hubay is the owner and his assistant is Bobbie. We just love them both. They both worked at Perkinson's Jewelers until it closed last year. Joe has done a wonderful job with his store and I know you will find it to be the best jewelry store around. We do not just love the store because they sell our pottery, but we love the whole store. They have great gift ideas in all price ranges as well as jewelry. I bought my niece's and nephew's graduation gifts there and not only was I pleased, but they both loved their gifts.

Can you tell I like this store?!

Okay, back to earth. If you are in any the above locations, please stop in and see our pottery.

The last few days I feel like I have run my washing machine and dishwasher continuously. No, that does not have anything to do with making pottery, but it has all to do with having a child come home after being gone for almost three months - no he did not save everything, but he did bring some laundry home. Oh, the joys of being a mother - I would not have it any other way because they will not always be here - I love having my children home. I am the mother who always liked when there were days off from school and mostly summer because my kids were at home. I do not like when school starts back.:(

Until the next post . . .

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Back to School Shopping

2010-07-31T10:02:00.000-04:00

Well, we did our back to school shopping. This is the last actual "school" shopping with my children since Marsh is a senior this year. Walking through Staples, I walked by the bins with all of the pencils, pencil pockets, crayons, markers, erasers, etc. All the things we had to get when they were in the lower grades. To think this chapter of my life has come to a close, is very sad. I remember the Augusts where we would head to Staples, Wal-Mart or whatever store had what we needed with our lists from school in hand. This time, Marsh had his own list in hand and we went our separate ways in the store. He to find what he needed and me to find the things I needed for Palm Tree.

While out shopping we ran into some of our friends - the Welborns, Meredith, Whitney, and Kylie. They were in Omega Sports. Whitney is a senior this year and I had Kylie in kindergarten. She is going to be a freshman in high school!!! Where did the time go. She is also taller than me (although it does not take much to be taller than me - so they say). We ran into Kissie Stroup in Staples. We talked about the kids growing up and she told me I could take her two youngest school shopping to easy my pain.

On other matters, the chicken cookers are still drying. Hopefully they will go into the first firing by tomorrow. This is a slow process.

Tyler is coming home from Montreat tomorrow - YEAH!!! He will be bringing the tiles I made in the class on Monday. I will be glazing them when Mac glazes this week. I bought my grout from Lowe's yesterday, so when they are glazed, I will be ready to put my mirror together.

Looks like today is going to a very cloudy day and we are getting a break from the heat. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Chicken Cookers

2010-07-29T20:06:00.000-04:00

Everyone has heard of the "beer" cookers for cooking whole chickens. We make a pottery version of this. The next few posts will be taking you through the process of the chicken cooker being made and ending with me cooking a chicken in one.

My brother-in-law, Oma Hester sent Mac a picture of a chicken cooker and asked Mac to try and make one. Mac made one and sent it to Oma (who by the way could be a gourmet chef). He in turn tried it out on his grill and sent us the recipe he used. So began Palm Tree Pottery's chicken cooker which comes with its own recipe. The cooker can be used on your grill (over indirect heat) or in your oven. The recipe you get with the cooker is actually Oma's.

Yesterday, Mac made seven chicken cookers. That means I had work to do today. They have to sit and firm up (that means they have to dry some) before I can put the handles on the sides. Here are the seven cookers waiting for their handles.

Today, I had to extrude handles from the extruder. I cannot pull handles like most potter's do, so I have to use our extruder. It is like using the thing you put Play-Doh in when you were a child and used the slide with cut outs to make the play dough come out in different shapes. Only our extruder is a little on the larger side as it is bolted to the wall!! Anyway, I had to put the handles on the sides of the cookers. This way you have something to hold on to when you are moving the cooker off the grill or out of your oven.

Now they all have to dry completely before being put into the kiln to be fired for the first time.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the process in making our pottery. I should have been out there when Mac was actually making them to take a picture, but I was paying bills, I mean which is more important!!!

Hope everyone is staying cool. It was really hot in the "studio" aka the garage, when I was working today.

I do not even like thinking about tomorrow - we have to do back to school shopping! Where has the summer gone?!

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Another Weekend in Montreat

2010-07-27T15:35:00.000-04:00

We just got back from another weekend in Montreat. It was still unbearably hot, but we did at least have some rain. We had to deliver an order to the bookstore and it gave us a reason to go.

We spent time with Mac's Dad, which is always fun. He lives at Givens Estate, which is a very nice retirement community in Asheville. We had dinner with him on Saturday night and he came over and went to church with us on Sunday morning, had lunch with us at the Inn and then went back. We surprised him by going over on Sunday night to visit him. Mac, Tyler, and Marsh played pool while Elliott, Izzy and I watched.

We enjoyed spending time with Tyler since he had Sunday and Monday off. He is in his last week of work at the Inn. He will work next Sunday and then head back home.

While we were in Montreat, I did something that I do not usually do and that was to take two classes on Monday at the Pottery. I took the tiled mirror class on Monday morning with Mary Moore. We had a great time. Of course, I left my camera at the house!!! We made clay tiles that will be bisque fired this week. The rest of the class will hand paint glaze on their tiles on Thursday. After being fired Thursday night, they will meet on Friday to put the mirror together with the tiles. Tyler is going to pick my tiles up along with the board and mirror that I will need to complete my project. I will glaze my tiles here in our studio and fire them in our kiln since I am not there.

The other class I took was hand building an owl out of raku clay with Mary Kathryn. I made two and hopefully they will raku fire them this Thursday so Tyler can bring them home to me on Sunday. Anne Stone is going to glaze them for me. I really appreciate it. When I get everything back, I will take pictures and post on a future blog.

Today has been very cloudy and off and on raining. We have really been busy and the heat had drained us. We have just been taking it easy today, but tomorrow it is back to the real world - paying bills, washing clothes, - you get the picture.

Take care, until the next post.

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

The Dog Days of Summer

2010-07-21T21:10:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Pam (who cut my hair today - she is the best) for the headliner of today's post!

It has really been hot and as you can see, Izzy has been enjoying the pool along with all of us. We have been working in the mornings because the studio/garage is just too hot in the afternoon. I mixed the chemicals for two glazes this morning and thought I was going to melt. I have to wear a mask because of the dust from the chemicals, latex gloves to keep it off my hands, and then I had on my apron (you have not seen this one - I made it last year just for the pottery), so I was (as us Southerners would say) glistening - basically just plain ole sweating!! I then had to put all the parts on four pigs and do a special vase (I cannot tell anymore than that, because it is a surprise that someone ordered!!) which I carved on. By the time I was finished, I could have jumped in the pool straight from the shop. I did wait until I had eaten and had given my stomach time to digest before getting in.

I really cannot believe how hot it has been this summer. Our oldest, Tyler, is still in Montreat working and he told me this afternoon that it is still very hot up there. I am very thankful for air-conditioning.

Tonight we went to church for the first time in a few weeks. It was good to see our friends, Wayne and Nancy, and Tim and Elisa. I also got to have a few minutes to chat with my friend, Barbara. I usually work in the youth on Wednesday nights, but we are not having small groups this summer, so I will not be doing that until the fall.

Not really much to talk about. The kiln is running a bisque load right now, so Mac will be glazing in the next couple of days. Tomorrow night I am having two dinner guests joining us. They are two of my good friends, Susan and Sheila - that is right, there will be two Sheila's at our dinner table. I cannot wait. It will be a Girl's Night, although Mac and Marsh will be here. I am sure they will make themselves scarce, because there will be a lot of girl talk going on!

Until next time -

The Potter's Wife:)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Chiminea Pictures

2010-07-18T21:45:00.000-04:00

Right now we are in Blowing Rock for the night. We went and picked up our pottery from Lees-McRae. They seemed to have had a good show and we sold a fair amount of pottery.

Tomorrow we will service our booth at Artwalk and the chimineas will be a new item there - Nancy - we will make you another one!!!

We will have to hit the studio running when we get back. I have pigs to put together and glazes to make so we can fill the orders that have come in.

Below are images of the two chimineas we made in Montreat and glazed at home.

The glaze on the chiminea on the left is Lavender Delight, and the one on the right is Craggy Gardens. The left one is on our screened porch and the other one is on the counter behind my sink. You could also put them outside. Keep in mind, when you have a lit candle in them, the chimney part gets very hot. The candle in these was not lit long, but the chimney started getting hot very quickly.

Okay, Mac, Izzy, and I are outside in a swing enjoying the cool night air here in Blowing Rock. We had a nice dinner (Mac, Marsh, and I - Izzy had to stay in the room) at Six Pence Pub. We always enjoy the food there and the service is excellent. We also had for dessert - The Ultimate Chocolate Cake!!!! This is the best!!!! If you like chocolate - and we do - it is worth the trip just for the dessert. Their French Onion Soup is wonderful, also.

Time to sign off. Hope to be back this week with some cooking/recipes in our pottery to show you just how functional it is.

Until next time,

The Potter's Wife :)

www.palmtreepottery.com

Back in the Real World

2010-07-16T09:35:00.000-04:00

We are back home. What more can I say. We have just gotten an order off of the website and the Montreat Bookstore has given us another order. We are very happy to have these orders, but that means back to the potter's wheel and I am back to my slab roller!!! Our studio is our garage and no it is not air-conditioned. So, we try and do as much as we can in the mornings because of the heat. The first thing we had to do was to glaze a load. That will be coming out soon and I have a piece I have to deliver. Remember the chimineas??? Well they are in the kiln waiting to come out. Hopefully, the next post will show pictures of how they turned out. It is like waiting to open your Christmas present!!!

Just because I am married to a potter does not mean I do nothing else. Right now I am getting ready to do everyone's favorite activity - grocery shop!! Right. Anyway, that is part of my day today and we are having a dinner guest tonight, so I need to get in gear and get out of the house.

My brother-in-law and his family should be moving into the cottage in Montreat and we left them a note about the "bat siting". Just thought they would need a little excitement.

Hope everyone is still staying cool. Maybe we will get some rain today.

Until the next post - hopefully with pottery pictures,

The Potter's Wife

www.palmtreepottery.com

Winding Down in Montreat

2010-07-13T14:22:00.000-04:00

We are winding things up here in Montreat. This is always sad. I have been cleaning the cottage and getting it ready for my brother-in-law and his family. Mac went down to the Potter's Wheel to unload his pieces from the kiln and had to wait for the second kiln to cool down. While waiting, he helped instruct in throwing on the wheel. I am glad he can help someone else throw since he has not been able to help me!! He says I have the hands of a "logger"! Mac made two small chimineas that you could put a candle in and either have on a screened porch, on a table on your deck or wherever you would like to put it. After I decide how to glaze them, I will try and post a picture when they are ready. They will have to get home with us, be glazed and fired, so that could potentially be a week before they are finished.

We went to the Huckleberry last night for ice cream - my favorite thing to do in Montreat. If you are wondering, the Huckleberry is a grill here in Montreat that also serves ice cream. Everybody just loves the "Huck" as we call it. Anyway, tonight we will go over to Givens, where my father-in-law lives, and have dinner with him there. Givens is a very nice retirement community in Asheville that he moved to last fall.

I am in the Inn with Tyler using the internet. There are small groups all around us from the youth conference that is here. One group is talking about Job and the one behind me is talking about why do bad things happen to good people. I just wonder if the kids are listening or what is going on in their minds.

It is sunny with clouds, maybe a chance of rain later. There is a breeze, but the humidity is still high. I am under a ceiling fan and it is very comfortable. If I was in one of the small groups, I would be dozing because it is so comfortable.

I will be heading over to the Potter's Wheel in a little while to just sit on the porch and enjoy all of the creativity that is going on. This really is a piece of heaven on earth!!!

Until the next time -

The Potter's Wife

www.palmtreepottery.com

We Have Been Busy

2010-07-12T10:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, sorry I have missed a few days, but will fill you in on what has been going on.

We set up our pottery at Lees-McRae for the Craft Show for Frolic Week. If you are in Banner Elk or that area, please stop in for their craft show. Everything that we sell there, a part of the cost goes to the college.

I finished my apron on Friday morning and have used it everyday since. I just love it!! Here are a few pictures of the finished product.

This picture is of Mac, myself, and friends of ours on the porch at the Potter's Wheel.

Since then we have had our friends Alice and Nancy for dinner on Friday night along with two friends of our oldest, Tyler. Saturday night we had a pot luck with the staff from the Potter's Wheel at Will and Ann's. What a great time we had with everyone there!!

Sunday was a sad day as my buddies and cohorts in crime, Alice and Nancy headed back home. We went to the Auditorium for church and then to the Inn for lunch. Tyler did not have to work and his friends were still here, so that helped to make the day much better.

Sunday night we had Ann and Marilyn for dinner along with my father-in-law and my sister-in-law. We had a great time just talking around the dinner table until everyone was ready to go home and go to bed!!!

All in all, we have been having dinner guests, potlucks and just having a great time. Today, Mac does not have to be at the Potter's Wheel, but is there anyway to load some of his pieces in the kiln so we can transport them home to glaze there. While he was there I think they put him to work! So, I am at the Inn using the internet and I have to go back to the house to meet the guys from Lowe's Hardware to install a new refrigerator in my father-in-law's house. The next few days will consist of cleaning the houses getting them ready for my brother-in-law and his family and then back to our home and making pottery to restock our shelves.

Hope everyone is staying cool. It is overcast here today and they are saying rain for this week. It is still a little humid, but nothing like what it has been.

I am off to make sure the refrigerator gets here.

Until - maybe - tomorrow - I will try.

The Potter's Wife

www.palmtreepottery.com

There is a Heat Wave in Montreat

2010-07-08T14:13:00.000-04:00

We are melting here in Montreat!!! I know it is like that every where else too.

We do not remember it being this hot here in a very long time. Thankfully, it cooled off last night, but today is another hot one.

We had a little excitement this morning at our cottage. I was up and getting ready (at 5 am- it is a habit) and I start to open the bathroom door when Mac yells "Don't open that door!!" Long story short, a bat had gotten into the house and he was trying to get it out. See the cottage is a summer cottage and not winterized, so sometimes these things happen. We have not had a bat in a long time. I am just grateful that it did not decide to take flight when I got up and headed to the bathroom or that it did not fly into the bathroom when I went in and shut the door. Needless to say, I would have woken up everyone on that end of North Carolina Terrace!!!

Tuesday night we went out to eat mexican in Black Mountain. We went to Ole's Guacamoles, our very favorite place. If you like mexican food, this is the place. It is AUTHENTIC!!!!! They have just moved into their new location on 70, (actually I think they call it State Street). Anyway, it is the old Olympic Flame building. They have a lot more seating than before and they still have their outdoor seating. You really need to go and eat there when you are in this area because you will not be let down. Not only is their food excellent, but their staff is the best!!

I have been sewing an apron with pink pigs on a black background - very cute - with pink gingham accent straps and pocket. My friends Nancy and Alice have been helping me. Once it is finished I will post a picture.

We are winding down our stay here. Mac has 2 days left as potter in residence and we go tomorrow to set up our Lees-McRae show. It always gets a little sad to have to say good-bye to our friends we see each summer, but it will not be long and we will all go back to our respective homes. Thank goodness for computers, email, and Facebook - what did we do without them. I know we did not have to walk to Assembly Inn with our computers and log onto the internet.

The picture above is Mac working on the wheel on the porch of the Potter's Wheel. This picture was taken by my friend Nancy. Thanks Nancy, I will miss you when you go home.

Until tomorrow - hopefully,

The Potter's Wife

www.palmtreepottery.com

Another Day in Montreat

2010-07-06T14:43:00.000-04:00

While Mac is helping everyone make pottery at the Potter's Wheel, I have been waiting for the repair man to work on our dryer. Marsh, our youngest (16), has been waiting for the UPS man to bring his new camera!!! The UPS man came and brought the camera, but I have not heard from the repair man. Oh well.

Hopefully, now that the camera has arrived, we can take some pictures and add them to the blog.

Again, I am off to see Mac at the pottery. I have been sewing potter's aprons at our house since all the sewing machines were taken yesterday afternoon in the sewing room. I think that is what I will be doing this afternoon, but maybe I will have to have a little siesta on the porch swing first.

Hope you are having as great a summer as I am.

Until tomorrow -

The Potter's Wife :)

http://www.palmtreepottery.com

Welcome to The Life of a Potter's Wife

2010-07-05T17:15:00.000-04:00

Hey I am Sheila Hester and I own Palm Tree Pottery with my husband Mac. I am going to being sharing what it is like to live with a potter and what goes on in our lives.

Right now we are in beautiful Montreat, NC where Mac is potter in residence for two weeks. We love the mountains and we love Montreat. He learned to do pottery here and comes back every summer to help teach.

In my blogs, I will be sharing with you when we are doing shows and where. As a matter of fact, we will be setting up this Friday at Lees-McRae for Frolic Week. It will be open to the public on Saturday, July 10 through July 19. We would love for you to come and see all the crafts on display. It benefits the college, so come out and see our pottery and enjoy beautiful Banner Elk, North Carolina.

This is a short post, but I will be back. I do not have a camera with me - our son just sold his - that I use - and his new one has not come in yet, but when he gets it, I will be posting pictures soon. Until then, please go to our website and see our pottery - www.palmtreepottery.com.

I have to close for now and go back to the pottery where Mac is working. I do not do pottery while I am here in Montreat -BECAUSE I LIVE IN IT!!!!!, but I am going to sew with my wonderful friends, Alice and Nancy.

See ya soon!!!

The Potter's Wife :)