A BLOG IN THE MAKING

I would like to start off by saying 'THANKS!" to Carol and Sharon who encourage me to continue with my written nonsense.  I think of these two women when ever I am in the midst of a blog in the making. I chuckle to myself thinking how much they, and the rest of you, will enjoy the latest ridiculous situation I find myself in. And that encourages me to write about it rather than go screaming off into the sunset.  

Take this morning for instance . . . It is HOT here in the UP today. Not Florida hot but hot for this part of the country.  It's 72 degrees . . .   NO, just kidding, it's actually going to be in the 90's today but in the shade with the cool breeze off Lake Michigan it is just glorious. The Man is one of those people who decide they are hot or cold by looking at what the thermometer says or what the TV weather man tells them rather than sticking their head out the door.  In spite of the fact that he was told it was going to be HOT today The Man got up and put on jeans and a long sleeve flannel shirt.  Don't ask !  I just roll with it. Because it was going to be so hot The Man decided it would be the perfect day to go down into the cellar and sort through some pottery making supplies that fill almost a third of that space.  Along with bead work, weaving and spinning, cooking and baking The Man's wife was a master potter. I'm talking taking raw clay and making it into some absolutely beautiful pottery. She had her own potter's wheels and kiln along with a multitude of other necessary items to create such works of art.  All this is stored in the cellar on metal shelves collecting dust.  

Each year that I am with The Man he is loosing up a little and letting go of some of the craft items and supplies. Two years ago I got him to let me post some weaving items on Facebook Market Place and he realized he could make some nice money from all this stuff that is just laying around. Last year we sold   more weaving and spinning items and this year he is letting go of all the pottery stuff.  I have squirreled away some of the small pots and bowls that Freddie, his wife,  had made so that I can share them with my friends.  These things are just too beautiful not to share.  (This past Christmas I gave Jeanne a bowl that Freddie had made and Jeanne actually cried. You just don't get that kind of reaction from a plastic bowl from the dollar store.)

So there we were at 10:30 this steamy Michigan morning digging through shelves of dusty boxes in the cool damp cellar.  Working with The Man is always an adventure. The Man is easily distracted these days, I think perhaps because of his reduced oxygen levels.( I would hope this was not the case when he was flying helicopters for the Army.) 

As per my instructions this morning I was armed with a large pad of paper and a pen so that I could take inventory of what we found. I also had my phone to take pictures of each batch of items so that when we post the stuff we can accompany the items description with a photo. This process has served us well in getting rid of lots of things so I hope it works with the pottery.  We spent over an hour digging through things, writing descriptions and taking pictures with constant gentle reminders to stay focused. (I was doing all the writing, photographing and reminding while The Man wandered from shelf to shelf discovering long lost screw drivers and dried up cans of paint.) It was a delightful morning in spite of how it sounds so when we finally decided to quit for the day we came to sit outside in the shade for a few moments to warm up and breathe some fresh air.  

It was at this point that The Man said, "Don't post any of this on Facebook yet. I'll see if maybe someone I know would like this stuff. They can come out here and take a look at what we have".  

HELLOOOOOOOOOOO. . . . .  Did I not just spend the entire morning writing down and photographing all this crap for the soul purpose of posting it to sell ?????????  Oh My !  Deep Breaths Cath . . . 

But it does not end there.  As I sat doing my deep breathing The Man suggested we now go out into the parlor to see if there was any pottery out there.  (I knew for a fact we had already gone through that room but hey, who am I to question the lord and master of the domaine.) As soon as we walked into the parlor The Man focussed in on three LARGE garbage bags sitting on the treadmill. (What else would one use a treadmill for?) He asked what was in the bags and I told him two were filled with yarn and one had clothes in it.  Not to EVER just accept what I tell him, (and rightfully so because I do keep some things "quiet"), The Man needed to look in each of the yarn bags, item by item to make sure it was "just" yarn. Once done with the yarn he had me take out EVERY item of clothing from bag #3. EVERYTHING in the bag belonged to The Man and he just couldn't figure out why his clothes were in this bag. I reminded him that we had gone through his closet and dresser last year and HE had put these clothes in the bag with the intention of donating them to St. Vincent de Paul. He looked at me as if I had lost my mind and was lying to him.  (Once again . . . "patience" . . . ) The Man then proceeded to take several items out of the donation bag so he could return them to his closet. One of the items being his old Army dress uniform pants that he will NEVER fit into again. My thought was that maybe he will want to be buried in them but then he doesn't want a viewing or anything, just cremation, so who knows.  

There were many many times during this mornings adventures that I thought, "This is a blog in the making". And so here I am, sitting outside under my favorite tree writing and shaking my head while The Man takes his afternoon siesta.  It is exhausting keeping me in line and getting me to do all these tasks just the right way.  Life is tough !