Every 50 years or so...

Whether you need to or not, every 50 years or so you should clean up the shop.  Well, that's my dad's idea of "spring cleaning" anyway...

  The second week of February is when you should be turning...especially when you have a show in March.  But Dad is a really great procrastinator...(as several of you who have ordered custom items can attest) but he procrastinates in such a way that you don't always notice he's not doing what he's supposed to be...because he's usually busy doing something else!   Hence the storyline of this blog entry...

  The Hilton Homeplace has been not only home to 4 Generations of Hilton potters, but it was also declared a century farm by the state of North Carolina in 2013.  There have been Hiltons living, farming, and "potting" there since the civil war.  

Do you know how much "stuff" accumulates in 100+ years?  A LOT!  Dad's shop...back when it was HIS grandfather's was actually the chicken hatchery...(where the baby chicks live until they move into the chicken house with the adult chickens...which is now the Gallery).

 

 My grandfather (Poppie), Boyd S. Hilton, turned it into his pottery studio many many years ago and after dad, Boyd R. Hilton, graduated high school he and Poppie added on to the original shop creating  the space we now use for slab work, glazing, and firing.  (Some 50 years ago) 

  Now, those of you who know dad, know that "spring cleaning" is more likely to mean "getting rust off of springs" than what you and I consider "spring cleaning" and yet the glaze area had taken on a life of its own...and kiln stilts? Forget EVER finding 2 the same height!  Things just kinda end up where they were last used...

..."Dad, have you seen"...(insert item you are looking for here) "sure Heather, it's right there!" (Dad points to the below pile)

  So Saturday dad and his long time "right hand" Dan decided to build new shelves...that apparently needed to be able to support the weight of my car...to hold glaze & kiln stilts.  (Hmmmm, could this be a productive form of procrastination?) 

I have to say, these 60+ year old men worked me to the point of exhaustion, but we can actually get to the things we need now.  

Although I am still convinced it is more of an excuse not to start turning, the shop is ready for glazing...(just nothing made to glaze yet!). So lesson learned...in 2064, I guess we will "spring clean" again? 

"Hairy" Houdini...

  This is how my Saturday turned into "Caturday".  Allow me to tell you the tale of this hairy little escape artist with a fluffy little tail...

  A few days ago this little black cat started showing up around dad's looking for someplace warm and mybe some food.  Not willing to let the poor thing starve dad started feeding her...(mistake #1) then we got snow...and dad didn't want her to freeze so he let her in to eat food before he put her back out...

(This is still a pottery blog...I'm getting there)

  So now, having been invited in, this little monster knows how the "other half" lives.  Not willing to be cast out into the cold she finds a broken window pane and chews her way through the "temporary" replacement pane and finds her way back into the house after 2am...not once, not twice, but 3 times between 2am and 4am.  (I might mention here that upon each successful breach the barricade to keep her out became increasingly Macgyver-ed)  In a house already full with 2 dogs and another cat, there were loud objections to this "cat burglar" waking the entire house each time and earning her "Houdini" name...

  Ok, you have been patient and we are getting to the pottery part...I finally had some time to come visit dad and start turning a few things today.  When it became evident that turning pots from frozen and thawed clay was not going to work in my favor, I switched to hand building. 

  This...is where "Hairy" Houdini comes in. Sweet as can be, but the most mischievous cat I have seen in a long time Houdini decided she should help me...by walking all over the drying racks!  

  So this October, if your platters and trays have "paws" on them, now you know why!