Winter's Comforts

Here is Hermanito keeping watch on the fire. Sometimes he gets so close to the very hot cast iron that I have to catch my breath. He is 17 years old as near as we can figure and he wont even go outside now unless one of us is with him to insure his safety. We live in an area of prowling Toms and dear Hermo knows he is no match for any of them. In the summertime he will "help" John in the garden but this time of year he won't leave his spot by the stove for anything but food. Smart cat.
This is a composite photo of one corner of my studio; the one with the little wood stove. Dont worry; the photo is deceiving. The stool on the right is actually smaller because of the splicing of the photos and it is not sitting dangerously close to the stove. Behind it is a ceramic piece by the local ceramic artist Deb Norby. Some years ago she was the artist in residence at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. I was studying ceramics then too. Here is a close up of her piece called "Kabob". I really enjoy it.

After I shot these I continued my wander through the house. Here is a shot of the top of a chest that sits by the entrance. The drawing of my daughter is over 20 years old and was sketched off quickly on a sheet of typing paper as she dozed. Amazingly, the paper has not degraded although I am sure it was of the cheapest kind.

Kim Murton of Vancouver did the two little ceramic faces and John Taylor of Seattle did the big face jug.
The wall doll and milagro cross were collected somewhere in our travels in the southwest or Mexico, I no longer recall which.

As I write this John is out in the kitchen cooking Urud Dal (spicy Indian soup with asophedida and peppers). He came in with these enormous beets (wine glass for scale only - ha ha) and said to tell my blog that the mighty hunter went out into the darkness with his blunderbuss and returned home with this "game". So tonite it's soup, squash and beets. Nice visiting with you. If you live in the northern hemisphere, keep warm. If you live in the equatorial or southern climes, well you lucky dogs, enjoy your paradise.