It's a cold day..

so I stayed inside with my bud.

Gideon's urn

                             Loops and knots.

                      Net.

                                      You can see how the lid is warped in this pic.

                And it wasn't warped before - live and learn!

I made Gideon's urn.  The first I made this spring, but I wasn't quite happy with it.  The second I think turned out good.  Unfortunately, the lid warped in the glaze firing, and that has complicated matters a little.  The plan was to use yarn made of Gideon's hair to tie the lid on, but with it being warped, that doesn't quite work now.  I figure I will use wax or something else to hold the lid in place, and the yarn will still tie it on, but I am still unsure what to do with the yarn from a design perspective.  I have a plan for adding beads as well, it's kind of my signature to bead on pots. 

Anyway, if you can imagine the yarn being tied to hold the lid on, then what about the ends of the yarn? Do they hang down, how long, what about something more creative? I initially imagined swirls of yarn, but it will not keep a curl forever. Then I thought about a net-like design that is somehow knitted (woven) or tied (with loops) to reflect the branches of the tree (the urn is in the shape of a tree and decorated with leaves.)  Not sure, I think I will let my mom, who crochets and knits and who is used to working with yarn figure it out, but I am unsure even how to send it to her!  It's hard to describe, but I have to thread the yarn though the holes in the lid and base and then do the beading, well, that's kind of hard to do with Gideon being in there first.  So, need to overcome some final technical difficulties:

1. How to keep the knots tied tight?  Maybe mom knows knots.

2. What substance should we use to keep it closed?  

3. What to do with yarn - crosses? knitted/woven net? loops and knots (with beads)?

I guess I should say I made Gideon's urn as a tree thinking of him - he loved to be outside and just the "tree of life".  Inspiration for crosses is obvious, loops and knots reflect his curls which captured us all, and the woven net just seems to fit and is something I think mom could do well with.

Oo! I got a sticker!

Summer solstice, oh wait, winter

Winter solstice?  It doesn't feel like it here.  Okay okay, by my aunt Gina's standards it would be way too cold, but by Kodiak standards it's great (except for those who want a white Christmas)!  For the month of December, it has somehow been that it rains (or pours) everyday, except for Sunday, on which it is sunny.  Every week it has been like this.  

Abigail's new hat

Wearing a hat and washing hair are Abby and I's biggest disagreemnt.  While I think she should have her hair washed and she should wear a hat (whether it be for hot or cold), she insists should not!  My mom sent this hat and in recent times it is the only one she will wear.  I am happy about that, especially since she looks so cute!!!

High Noon

This is what high noon looks like. No! Yes! But just this one day, and it did brighten up a bit after that. However, the weather has been great! No complaints about that.

Ha ha I got it!

Steamy

The sun popped out today and Abigail and I went on a walk.  I call it sun chasing.  You can see how low the sun is, just above the trees, and there are places where there is light, and places where the sun don't shine.  Actually getting to the sunshine can be hard.  The low sun makes  really dramatic lighting.

                             Cloudy by the time we got back.

Pinapple express and 24 hours of darkness

How are you enjoying the 24 hours of darkness you ask? Kodiak does not get 24 hours of darkness like northern Alaska, until two days ago that is! A blast of a "warm" front from Hawaii brought monsoonal rains which melted all that ice we had from the aforementioned storm. Most of the other locals don't like it though as like they like to ski and ice skate. For me, 35-40 degrees with intermittently rain is fine (better than the alternative). Anyway, it was so rainy it never got light out!