Bottoms Up

I was digging around in the back of some shelves and found this mug I made a long time ago, back when I was just starting in ceramics and thought making mugs was a cool thing to do. The shape isn't bad and the blue glaze is interesting. However, gripping a handle that looks like an alligator's tail is not exactly what I want to do with my morning cup of coffee. Not to mention the fact that the glaze job is pretty pathetic on the inside. And I had to ego-trip my intitial on the bottom, prompting Susan to say it would be my job to wash it anytime I used it. It has become a give-away to my green-thumb friend, Maria, who will plant something little in it.

We did get a blast of rain last week but it wasn't enough to keep us from having our drought alert and burn-bans extended through all of July. That means no more raku firings for me unless we get a heavy-duty load of rain and the burn-ban is lifted. I don't know what this bush is, but every summer it comes back to our front courtyard-- it seems to like the heat.