Project 365 ~ Week 35 ~ Rodents, Cast Iron and tired fingers…

I am starting this weeks pictures with one left over from last week. I had already completed last weeks post and it was too late to revise it when this photo-op presented itself.

Saturday, August 25

For weeks we have been clued into the presence of some critter in the back yard. The borderline obsessive compulsive behavior of the dog as he attempted to learn how to climb the trees in the back yard trying to get what ever it was that had scampered out of his reach. His focus was so intense that on almost every occasion we have to get the leash and flashlight and head into the dark backyard to retrieve the dog physically to get him into the house at the end of the day. Try as we might we could not see whatever it was that was driving the dog to distraction, until Saturday evening.

He was outside doing his usual attempt to climb the trees (leaping, jumping, barking like mad, he has even learned that if he leaps in the air and grabs a branch securely in his jaws he can tug on the tree to hopefully attempt to shake what ever is in there out, I thought that was a bit ingenious, way to problem solve Buster!!!  Well Saturday evening the Girlchild had gone outside to haul Buster back in the house when she came in and announced that she had solved the riddle.

We all three donned our shoes and headed out to the backyard to see this poor little mouse clutching onto the tops of the Rose of Sharon tree for dear life.

The Hub’s is now doing a perimeter sweep of the exterior of the house to make sure that said mouse/mice remain outside….

Monday, August 27

If you are on Pintrest then you probably saw this Pin. It is a tutorial on how to recondition a cast iron skillet. I love cooking with my cast iron, however I have always wondered what the proper way to recondition them was. Click here for the link to the tutorial.

I had purchased a double sided griddle several years ago and because of my lack of experience (at the time) working with cast iron I did not get it properly seasoned. Over the years of my misuse it was in very poor shape and had become crusted over with icky crud and had several places that were just horribly hard to clean not to mention just plain nasty looking. I was very happy when I ran across the tutorial on Pintrest. I rushed out and purchased all the required supplies, oven cleaner and distilled white vinegar (you will also need a sturdy pair of rubber gloves, steel wool and a paint scraper or sturdy wire grill brush, but I already had those) so it was an inexpensive fix too!

It worked like a charm, however it did take almost a month. Just a few FYI’s. You can learn from my mistakes. I started with off brand oven cleaner, a BIG no no! It just did not have the strength to work through the baked on gunk. Take my advice and go for name brand oven cleaner. Easy Off worked great! When all was said and done I had to do about four applications of the oven cleaner.

My second tip, if your piece is big like mine was make sure you have enough distilled white vinegar. This comes after your piece if completely cleaned! You will need two parts hot water to one part vinegar, enough to fully submerse your piece. I ended up using about 64 ounces of distilled vinegar, my advice just buy the cheep gallon jug of vinegar. It will save you a trip to the store.

It is a wonderful tutorial and I highly recommend it. Just be sure you follow the steps exactly or you will find yourself with a nasty rusty mess on your hands! The other reason my process took so long was because I was also dealing with the fact that this was a two sided grill. There were lost of nooks and crannies on the grill side but it was also in very bad shape.

It looks brand new and I am getting it all seasoned back up with each new use!

 

Before I started the process you could not even see this writing on the grill, I actually did not even remember that it had writing on it to be honest!

Tuesday, August 28, Wednesday, August 29, Thursday, August 30

I have decided that for the sake of all y’all sanity and also trying not to be redundant I will only post pictures of my completed pottery pieces once they have been glazed.

Really, pictures of wet drying clay….REALLY!

I found myself with several days san’s Muffinhead so I seized the opportunity and spent three days at my friends studio. I have progressed from 1 pound balls of clay and moved on to 2 pound balls of clay and I am branching out trying to make other things beyond the small little bitty pots. 

I have to confess, I am having so much fun and am TOTALLY giving praise to the Lord for opening up this opportunity to me. It is really something that I have wanted to peruse for such a long time. I am borderline obsessed with it now. I find that I wake up with thoughts about trying to make a coffee mug or tea pot or….y’all get the idea. It is never far from my thoughts these days. 

Friday, August 31

One of the very small perks that come with the Hub’s job are the free sample he brings home from time to time. He went on a service call with one of the new guys this week and came home with a few freebies.

Ask and the Lord will provide. With all the exercise my old fingers have been getting over the last few day I was very happy to see this show up.

After three days of non stop work on the clay my fingers needed a little medicinal help! God is so good y’all!

Saturday, September 1

Saturday was a whirl of activity with no pictures. We are having some folks over for a Labor Day cookout, there was cleaning, putting away, grocery story and a very short trip over to work on the clay. My friend is working on getting together some pieces for a small sale. I have been tying to help. There is a second woman, her name is Allison, who works with her in her studio too. It’s really a free standing garage that has been converted into a clay and woodworking space. Ann has been working with the clay for a very long time so she is very good, plus she has significant inventory as well. My small additions will be a drop in the bucket by comparisons to Ann and Allison offering.

Well that’s my week!

For more P365 y’all head over to Sara’s and ling up!

Blessings

R