Creative Mess

Pottery Madness

It has been a goal of mine in moving to Europe to collect dishes and cookware that I would love to use for the rest of my life.  All the finer kitchenware that exists is made in Europe and then shipped to the US and prices jacked up to 10 times the amount that you can buy directly from the source.

Nove would be a fine example of where you can buy Williams Sonoma, Tiffany, and Vietri dishes for a tenth of the price.  I have been once and it only whetted my appetite so we made the easy 6 hour drive back to finish out the collection.  It is like Christmas as my house today!

All drives to Italy must start the right way!

The Artisan workshop.

Kimmey and Paige's orders already set up and ready to go!  We went an email of what we wanted and they prepared for our arrival!  Awesome!!!

Fabulous blue pottery

plates and bowls galore

Here is what the pottery looks like before the glazing.  I love the brown clay and how it shows through.

Pottery going through the oven

Thought I would use the bathroom before leaving the factory and what I discovered was this Golden Shower Room.  I think I will pass because someone would have to give me a lesson in how to use this number.

We shoved massive amounts of pottery in a little VW Golf!  

We stayed in the walled city of Marostica which is famous for it large chess board in it's plaza.  They play chess with people on it once a year.

Notice the chess game design on the ground and on the hill in the skyline is the top of the castle.  We climbed a hairpin pathway to the top.

Fascinating food choices

The beginning of the stone path to the top of the hill

Looking back down from the top of the hill

Girl Gang

Cathy in front of the courtyard that leads to the Restaurant we ate at.  It was delish.  I of course ordered the 5 course meal and every single one involved fish.  

The best one was dessert.

Now that I am home all my beautiful presents are resting on my table for me to enjoy just for today.  I must find homes for most of it since it won't fit in my kitchen, but looking forward to the day that it does!

 

Proud Mama Bird

My offspring are finally starting to fly successfully from the nest.....

 

Bridger made honor roll for the first time and we were all thrilled for him and his accomplishments.  When I think about the journey we have made together over the years, it chokes me up that we have come this far.  Just to recap for dramatic effect, Bridger has struggled with school since day one.  His first elementry school convince me that he needed medication in order to learn.  Then I spent thousands at Sylan Learning Center because they promised me the world.  What a complete waste of money!  Thank Goodness that didn't last long before I took him out completely of school completely, took him off the meds and homeschooled him.  We did that for 3 years and enjoyed ourselves.  I learned a lot about Bridger and they way he learns.

 

Soon after Keith become adamant (with some prodding from his family) that he should return back to the school setting.  So I finally agreed to send him to a Montessori school a couple of cities away.  He did pretty well there and it gave him a lot of confidence.  After leaving Texas, he went back into the public school system where he will stay until he graduates.  

 

He has bloomed this year though!  He has joined several student organizations and is even an officer in one of them.  He plays several sports to include football and wrestling and loves them both.  I am stunned at his growth!!!!  And oh so proud!

Fly Bridger!!!!

Heart Stopping V-day!

Heart stopping because I just got done cooking 2 pounds of bacon for the kids and considered cooking another pound of sausage to go along with it!    One of their favorite things is a great home cooked breakfast where I don't ration out the meat.  And some pancakes to go along side the bacon.  They are going to be so excited when they wake up today! (No school either! How exciting)

Some other suprises....

I hearted them!  One boy style on girl style!!

And of course, just a tiny bit of candy.  I just can't resist the cute chocolate creatures I see everywhere this time of year.  Easter especially is ridiculous.  So I got Jadyn the bee and Bridger the fish, with heart gummies for both.

 

Wake UP Sleepy Heads!!!!!!!!