Lets see, since the last firing, I've been busily working at the day job putting new doors on an airplane hanger, gotten rear-ended by a car that got smacked by a motor home that somehow didn't see the two of us stopped for a turn, photographed and listed about 15 new items for Etsy (some of them photographed twice because I messed up camera settings the first time) and fired ANOTHER cycle.  Oh, and a round with a stomach bug.  All this in two weeks. Plus assorted phone calls to insurance and the normal run around you have to do to get estimates.  

With my schedule and Chewy's (cohort at work) schedule, its been tough to find a block of time long enough to push the plane out, drop the old door, pull out the good materials, rebuild the door, then get it back up.  The real kicker is that once we get it up, its been taking a couple hours to get it fitted to where it has to live.  Nothing like an old settled building...  On average, the doors are an inch bigger from one end to the other.  The front door is an inch shorter overall than the inside door.  The rails the doors ride on and the overhead guides are uneven from side to side AND FROM EACH OTHER with the most narrow spot in the middle....  In other words, each of the three door is very customized.  It took 10 to 12 hours on each door!   Anyway, the hangar doors are redone, and now we're replacing rotten footers on the hangar walls.  Too much fun!  (NOT, since there are rodents, powder post beetles, ants, and dry rot involved.)  I've still got a bit of painting to do on the doors, all big roller work so it'll go fast, then we've got to replace footers on  another wall.  

The accident happened one afternoon as I was going up to the airport to prime plywood, and boils down to the nudge in the motor home wasn't paying attention and came cruising over the hill at 45 mph.  In a 35 MPH zone. I'm guessing he really did miss the two (TWO!) 35 mph signs as well as having brakes that were not quite up to stopping at the bottom of a hill while he was towing a small SUV.  Oh and he missed the fact that there were two of us stopped...  Sigh, tourists.  Its either that or motor homes really DO have it in for me, as this is the SECOND time I've been crunched because of one.  At least this time my truck is drive-able, only $1,700 worth of damage to the back bumper and rear passenger quarter panel.  

I'll have a picture of this load out of the kiln tomorrow!  Tonight I'm done!

Unloaded the kiln today!  I finally got a big orchid pot done thats been just hanging around, its going up on Etsy soon!  Its a red clay, stained with iron oxide and a touch of cream glaze on the top to hide where the seams weren't cleaned up as well as I liked... durf, no shortcuts, I do know better!  It looks great now.  Also a bunch of kusamonos and the trays I did a few weeks ago at the studio tour.  They're pretty generic so people can mix n match, the tan clay with oxide on the outsides and some with color, some with clear on the inside.  My thinking was they'll go with most anything, we'll see if they're a hit or a flop!  They should also work for kokedama (moss ball plantings)  which might be interesting!  I've GOT to get a kokedama made so I can use it in photos...

Also fired up a nice matte green DEEP scoop that was a back up for a custom order that I somehow forgot to get fired with the rest of the order, so its a good thing the customer was happy with the other one I did!  

Somewhere in the past few weeks I saw a reference to something called a 'String Garden' that led to a google search.  That search crossed with something I've heard of in the past connected with Bonsai and Kusamono plantings but never really explored, called kokedama, or moss balls.  Well, apparently these 'string gardens' are just hanging kokedama and they're becoming 'a thang!'  There's lots out there about these!   I don't have pictures right now, but I will have some soon!  I want to try this out!

Anyway, these moss balls involve sphagnum moss, which if you've never run into it, is NOT the same thing as sphagnum PEAT moss.  Sphagnum moss is the green growing form of a moss that has natural antibiotic properties, is very absorbent, and tends to grow in damp forest areas.  It grows wild around here, but a few years ago when I was looking for it to use in an air layer for some bonsai, I had a very hard time finding the dried stuff.  Recently though I've seen it available at several places locally so I know its out there.  Usually if I can find it here in the back of beyond, everyone else has had it for ages!  You need to handle it with gloves and  not breath the dust, there are some chances you'll get exposed to 'sporotrichosis' (a fungal disease, from what I'm reading) so its better to be cautious.  Sphagnum PEAT moss on the other hand is old sphagnum moss that has been dead and decomposing in a bog for quite a long time.  Its great for holding moisture in regular potting mix and things like that, but its broken down and not as good as the fresher stuff for this use.

The theory is, you take a plant, knock off the dirt, wrap the roots in damp sphagnum moss, then you can tie that ball together with string so you can handle it, but don't get too carried away.  Next you need to chop some more of the sphagnum up or use regular potting mix or even peat moss, and mix it with just enough clay so the muck will hold together but still let water through to the roots.  Make a ball of muck big enough that you can put your mossy root ball inside, then split it open and make a pocket to put the root ball in.  Cover the root ball with the muck.  This is the messiest part, in case you hadn't noticed!  

Once your root ball is covered with the clay muck, you'll want a sheet of 'live moss' to wrap your kokedama in.  This can be moss you collected or sheet moss that you've purchased, but you'll need enough to cover the whole thing.  It should stick pretty well, but its a good idea to tie this sheet moss on with some string or twine.  To make a hanging kokedama, you'll want to tie your string so that the plant balances where you want it which can be tricky.  You can display the moss covered ball on a plate or a nice tray, or hang it!  

The best choice for plants are going to do well in a mossy area, so something that can take filtered or low light and lots of moisture.  I've also seen pictures of these planted with air-plants or succulents, and I suppose it all depends on if you are excited by the moss or just view it as a container.  

ANYWAY, one of the projects I've come up with after looking at these things is an idea for small hanging planters that will give you an easy way to support the moss ball.  I've built a bunch of little ones today, so we'll see how it goes!