ok, so the last post was more or less a recap of the post before it.
And that was, what, 4 months ago now?!
Sigh.
Pathetic, i know.
And, due to my laptop's untimely demise in Florida last month, there are no pictures for this post...

So this is just a quick review of the past few months here in Pigville:
I'm still alive, more or less healthy.
Still married, still living in WVa. We still have Bran/Jillian living here too. We're still not done building out the apartment above the studio for her. We're still broke. We're still making pots & leather & are still really disorganized about paperwork.
D & i are still fat. We still have 2 dogs. One cat seems to have gone missing though. That's sad.
We're telling ourselves that she just moved over to the new neighbors, but we haven't verified that, cause we're afraid it won't be true.
I have a few new tattoos, but no pics, cause of laptop death.
We bought a 16' travel trailer in October & took it down to Florida in November, where we attempted to sell pots & leather. Didn't do very well sales wise, but had a great vacation & got to know some good folks better- that was great!
The trailer is tiny as these things go (a 92 Sunline i think) and very sweet. It was owned by a boat builder before we got it & he put in all sorts of cool storage bins & other boat like modifications. It's our WVa version of a little houseboat/sailing sloop. We've named her the Eddie T. after Blackbeard aka Edward Teach.
The other big news is that i've got dreadlocks! Yep, Darrell cut his off & i missed them so much that i had to get them for myself. Sorry, again with the no pictures. Will try to remedy that soon. The dreads look pretty good, if i do say so myself. They fit well into my master plan of not aging gracefully. And i'm sure i'll rock at the Fairie Festivals this spring. I've already exponentially increased the strange looks i get in the local Walmart & i count that as a "GoodThing"
On the Darrell front, he's happily preoccupied with building up his leather business (which saved our butt saleswise in FL this past trip) and brain tanning & hanging out with his Native American pals. He shaved off his dreadlocks when he did his affirmation ceremony/ sweat lodge this past September. He's now a card carrying Indian, a member of the Munsee Delaware Indian Nation based in central Ohio. I went with him to the ceremony & was very glad to have gone. The whole hanging with the Indians has made him pretty happy & much more spiritual & grounded than i've seen him in a long time. This, also, is a "GoodThing" in my book.

Not much else to report, at least for now. I'm gonna sign off for the time being with the usual promise of more frequent (& picture filled) posts to follow.
Remember though, if you want to contact us in any sort of a timely fashion, phone is the only way to go: 304-377-1952
Missing all my online pals!
I gotta go make pots so Mamma can get a new laptop! (and thus, stop having to invade Jillie's private sanctuary to get online)
Love & cyber hugs & kisses & seasonal wishes of good cheer.
Blessings too.
Va/amber

Hello Friends. It's been awhile since i've updated this blog. Much has happened, but as is typical, i haven't made time to sit down and post.
So, let's try to catch up:
I don't think i've mentioned it here yet, but Darrell had dreadlocks for most of the summer.
I do use the past tense, cause the dreads are gone.
It was like this. He wanted dreads cause his hair is pretty curly & knots up alot if left to it's own devices, which it is when i'm not around. So, we ordered lots of stuff from dredhead.com and followed their instructions. Bran & i invested three days (ok, really evenings) of our lives to getting the dreads in & started. They looked good. Very piratical!
But D. didn't spend anytime keeping them up. And it turns out that dreads need alot of time and attention to get started & just to not look like shite. Who knew? And we just didn't have that kind of time. And then MDRenn Fest started. And it was hot hot hot opening weekend.
That was enough for D.
The dreads went two weeks ago.
i miss them, but i don't miss cringing every time i look at my husband & wondering when i'll find the time to fuss with his hair.

Other news. hmmm.
I've got yet another new dog.
He's amazing. I'm really hoping this one will take.
He's a purebred German Shepherd. He came to us with the name of Triton. That's more or less been changed to Tristan.
It was like this:
My neighbor who is also my electrician, has this amazing German Shepherd named Bob. I've had a serious doggie crush on Bob since i met him 2 years ago, when Rick showed up with Bob in tow to put in the 220 lines for my kilns. Such a serious crush that in complete violation of all my "don't breed or buy while homeless animals die" beliefs, i told Rick repeatedly that if he ever bred Crazy (Bob's Mom) again, i wanted a "Bob dog" of my very own.
So, in June i guess it was, Rick shows up at our place with "not Bob", another beautiful German Shepherd in tow. It turns out that this is Triton, Bob's littermate.
Triton's owner was having a rough time & Rick was watching Triton for a few weeks while she (the owner) sorted stuff out.
Rick told me he was working on getting her to give Triton to me, for purely selfish reasons-- it would mean that Rick could come visit Triton/Tristan whenever he wanted, we could watch each other's dogs, all sorts of good stuff like that.
And so it came to pass. In mid July, Tristan came to stay with us. It took about a month for Tristan to figure out that he was staying, but now he's very much my dog. And an amazing being at that.
I've never had a pure bred dog. It's a very different thing from the mutts i've owned & loved in the past. I don't know if it's the breed or just this family of dogs, but Tristan is so smart and funny & loyal & neurotic. I love this guy with all my heart. I think i've become a GSD devotee after just a few weeks with one homeless, not at all housebroken, neurotic, noble, sweet, devoted, aloof & totally dependent upon me representative of the breed.
Tristan is so madding & wonderful all at once.

And that's the doggie news update. I still have my Bug-a-loo, my WVa mutt with her sweet eyes & snuggly demeanor & i wouldn't give her up anything. But i also wouldn't let Tristan go either. Our canines seems to have completed our family in a wonderful way & i'm really happy with the doggie status quo around here right now. (though i will confess that Tristan & Bug make a pretty funny looking doggie pack when they hang out together).

There's lots of other news, but i think i'll save it for another post, as i'm still stupid busy with Renn Fest-- in fact, i should be making pots RIGHT NOW.

Let me just sign off by mentioning that i've become a twitter-aholic. It's great fun & if you ever get sucked into it, let me know & we can keep in touch with that. It's just about perfect for my attention span these days. Check it out: my homepage there is: www.twitter.com/mudcelt

Hope to see you soon in the twitter-o-sphere!

hah! it is as i suspected/feared/hoped:
according to this, i AM a southern girl. I AM!!!
I suspect this is all due to D's influence...

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Southern People used to hate Southern accents but now everyone wants one.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

i can haz cheeseburger new dog?!!!

hopefully, i can!
This is Tritan.
He's a goof, a great big galumphing mutt & for the moment, at least, he's all mine.
It's like this:
I've had a really, really bad dog year. You can review some of the stuff below, on this blog. But after our most recent rescued dog had to go back from whence he came, ie, Cincinnati, i resolved to take a break. No more doggies for me for at least 4 months, till after Renn Fest. I needed to work out some doggie karma. Obviously this whole rescuing adult dogs thing wasn't working so well for me, and my one remaining dog, Budgth, could really use some one on one time and attention.
So, resolution made.
Two days later, my whacked out (in a good way: hi Rick!) neighbor & electrician, Rick, shows up with an amazing German Shepherd in tow.
I should mention that Rick has the Best. Dog. Ever. in the form of Bob, Rick's German Shepherd. From the moment i met Rick and Bob, two years ago, i have had a HUGE doggie crush on Bob. This crush is so severe that in violation of all my beliefs and principals, i have repeatedly told Rick that if he ever bred Crazy, aka Bob's Mom, again, i needed one of the pups.
So, about a month ago, Rick shows up with "notBob" gorgeous German Shepherd. And Rick tells me that this is Tritan, Bob's littermate. Tritan was spending some time with Rick cause Tritan's owner was going through a rough patch in her life at the moment. Rick told me that day that there was about a 50% chance that i might be able to adopt Tritan.
I was ecstatic and stunned, overwhelmed by his offer.
And today, almost exactly a month later, D & i came home from dropping off the recycling to see Rick and Tritan in our yard, hanging out with Jill.
Rick asked me if i was ready for my dog.
I stammered, hemmed & hawed and said "sure, i'll give him a try"
So, as i type this, i have an amazing, only slightly skunky smelling dog sleeping at my feet.

Tritan was a city dog. He's spent most of his life in Charleston, chained up in an urban back yard. The last month, he's been getting into trouble out here in the country.
Apparently, Tritan is not Bob's favorite guest. Bob has taken Tritan on some adventures involving skunks & sharp rocks and at one point, while we were in Chincoteague, i got a call from our cat sitter telling us that Tritan was sitting on our porch, very muddy, skunky & content. Bob had lead him off, and gotten him skunked & then lost him out here in the sticks. We live 3 miles from Rick & it seems that Tritan recognized our porch from his previous visits with Rick & settled down to wait for Rick to come pick him up.
A sign, i tell you, a sign!
So, here we are, a girl & her dog, both newcomers to this whole country lifestyle, trying to figure it & each other, out.
Tritan chases rocks, is fascinated in a not healthy (at least, from the cat's point of view) by cats, loves to swim & is regal, aloof & very gentile & posh, except when he's not.
I really like this dog & am very much hoping that between us, we can make this work. I'd like to have another dog & Tritan seems like he could become not just an amazing being, but might actually become OUR dog.
Typing with fingers & paws crossed...

damn, i'm tired.
i know, i know, it's not really news.
But it is true.
Overworked, underfunded, overstressed.
My life & welcome to it!
Got back from an all too brief beach sojourn with my family on Sunday. (above, a portrait my nephew Will took of me-- uncanny, huh?!)
I had an awesome time, hanging with my sister & her kids who came all the way from Colorado. It was amazing, relaxing & too short. Will try to get some pics up soon.
(below, D & Will, the red croc wearing men of our family!)

After an almost tearful goodbye on Sunday morning, we crammed ourselves (including the awesome Jillie in this, she of 'platonic girlfriend' fame) into our tiny car & headed back west to our river valley. It was great to be home, but didn't get to savor it for very long. Had to get to work that evening. (nothing says panic quite like spending 7 hours in the car and then sitting down at the potter's wheel for an extra 6 hours of work on a Sunday evening) I really have become the 'mad potter wot pots at midnight'
Worked my butt off for a few days in the studio & now i've got to head up to Canada for my best friends wedding.
I am really glad that she's getting married, i heartily approve of this, but damn, the woman's timing sucks!!! She knows this is my busiest time of the year and yet she goes ahead and plans her wedding anyway. The nerve, i tell you!
Plus, my sweetie is getting sucked deeper and deeper into this whole Native American thing. He's going to an Sundance this week. He's not dancing, but he is helping his friend who is dancing. So Sweetie, aka TwoWolves, gets to literally carry water for his friend who is dancing for 16 hours a day for 3 or 4 days before he gets to the hard part of the dance, the description of which i haven't been able to sit through without cringing and whinging yet... i'll spare you the details, but what really freaks me out is that this version of the dance has been scaled back and is considered 'easier' than how it was done in the old days. {shudder}
Fortunately for the tattered remains of my sanity, Sweetie hasn't ever mentioned the possibility of HIS dancing a Sundance to me. Yet.
I'm really glad that he's getting in touch with his Native American roots & the spiritual side of him is re-emerging... he's much more the blue eyed Indian that i fell in love with 4 years ago, but it's also just one more thread in the very tangled, complex cloth of our life.
(above, the happy couple at the beach)
I remember a year or so ago bitching to Sweetie that he had become spiritually numb & that i wanted my 'blue eyed Indian' back. Well, careful what you wish for, cause i've got him & life is just more complex and complicated now, instead of less so.
Don't get me wrong, i wouldn't have it any other way. I just wish that while the universe was filling my requests (i've also gotten some wonderful for me dog news, more about that in another post. With pics, i promise!) that the one for financial stability, fiscal fitness as it where, had been closer to the top of the list. Cause things are very wonderful in life these days, except that the money issues are kicking our collective arse out here right now.
We're trying to coast through till Pennsic, but it's a hard run at the moment. Sort of like trying to coast UP a particularly steep grade this year.
Still, i'm pedaling and pushing with all i've got. And, while Terry Pratchett is right: "this isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic" and i do occasionally wonder where we're going and why i chose this particular handbasket, it has been an interesting and wonder-filled ride these past few weeks.
Will try to get some pics up from the beach and the wedding & pics of us dreading Sweetie's hair soon. But now, i'm going to sleep.
Love & exhausted, muddy hugs.
~Va aka the mad potter wot posts at 1:30 in the morning!