inspirations, Take Aways, Reflections & the occasional rabbit hole

• 📝 October 2026

  🤔 What Projects Can’t I Stop Thinking of Trying?

  Ornaments inspired by aerial hammock and silks! In my head I think I know how I’d approach it, but I’m nervous about the reality of the difficulty. Hand-building isn’t my strong suit (yet), and I’m worried about the small mass and complex shapes breaking more easily than most other pieces in transport to the kiln for bisqueing, which I have pretty bad luck with. I really want to give it a shot though because my dance studio has another showcase and artist market at the start of November, and I’d love to tantalize my fellow aerialists with an ornament that represents the beauty of that art. I even ordered ribbon with my logo for it to double as the apparatus the ceramic ornament twists around and the hanger for the tree, so I suppose I’m already committed.

  📚 What am I currently collecting references for?

  Since I’m already thinking about ornaments, I’m in a Christmas/winter headspace (despite it finally being early October); so I’m looking at gingerbread icing piping patterns, snowy/icy effects with glazes, and unexpected details for traditional forms that screams Christmas magic. I just trimmed a really sweet yarn bowl yesterday (yay for me getting into the Studio! More on that struggle below…) with its spiral cut-out for the yarn going to be “tied into” a string of Christmas lights, and also a large serving bowl that I’m going to attempt the frozen pond effect with and paint a happy family ice skating in the center. I hope I don’t bite off more than I can chew!

  😒 What studio task has been disproportionately annoying lately?

  Wet cleaning! UGH! I’ve been extraordinarily bad with this recently. It actually makes me nervous because I’m aware of the dangers of silica dust and silicosis, so since I can’t be bothered to clean up lately I’ve been having my Corsi-Rosenthal cube on 24/7 and I open the window in my studio when I’m in there. It’s not a replacement for proper studio cleanliness and it’s not energy efficient, I know. I’m not even going to justify it; I’m being honest.

  I’ve been avoiding it because I’m tired. R has been in a particularly frustrating and demanding phase the last couple of months, Mr. E has gone back to college and we see him for all of an hour total Wednesday through Thursday, and my patience is thin at the end of the day, so I’m proud of myself when I even get in the studio at all. Some nights I just say “F*** it,” break out my markers and coloring books, and put on Bob’s Burgers for the night. When I do convince myself to get into my clay clothes, I try to get as much done with as much quality as possible until I inevitably hit my wall sooner than I expect, at which point I just want to be done and not have to spend yet another 20 minutes cleaning up. I’m really trying to break myself out of this pattern, because I know it’s dangerous long-term; I just haven’t yet.

  Checking In With The Human Behind The Clay

  🍃Plans For The Garden

  🧄 Last year I planted three different kinds of garlic and harvested about 40 heads this summer; while I’m happy I got a harvest at all considering I barely did anything with them while they grew, I was still a little disappointed that they were quite small compared to grocery store garlic. I’ve learned they needed more nutrients early in the spring than I gave them, but I’m still changing the types of garlic I’ll plant this fall for next year since I want something stronger in flavor too. Last year it was Chesnok Red, Russian Red, and Russian Giant; this year it’s Georgian Fire, German Extra Hardy, and Inchelium Red garlics. I also got some Dutch shallot and saffron crocus bulbs! They’re all going in the ground soon!

  ⏳ What am I trying not to rush?

  Mornings. With Mr. E back in college, R and I will stay in our jammies until after his noon nap when it’s just us. We’ll spend the first half of the day snacking on fresh apples, watching Simon’s Cat (R’s absolute favorite show), trying to coax the kitties out of hiding, me drinking back-to-back mugs of coffee, and playing with magna-tiles. As sweet and easy as that all sounds when written out like that, R has been pretty volatile which overstimulates me pretty quickly, so staying in PJs until he’s down for his nap is a survival strategy.

  💖 Something I treated Myself to recently.

  I asked my husband to take over the “default parenting” duties for a Saturday morning so I could go take a solo hike at Blandford Nature Center. We used to live within 2 miles of this nature preserve and since moving last year (wait, it’s been almost two years already?!) it’s been much more difficult to visit my happy place.

  I happened to come on their Native Plant Exchange day, though you didn’t actually need to bring anything to swap since they had so many freebies they wanted to give out. I didn’t end up bringing anything home with me because 1) I wasn’t prepared for it, and 2) I’ve already got all the bulbs and seeds I’m planning on planting for next year.

  On my much needed parenting break, I saw many mushrooms, a deer, and was surprised to see the bridge on one of the trails had collapsed into the creek! (Yes, they had it blocked off and are working on repairs.)

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  I love this place, especially this time of the year, because of all the sounds! When we lived closer, I would regularly attend a forest bathing group that would meet at this preserve for this very reason. The psithurism, the acorns falling, the crunch of leaves underfoot, the sound of a rock tumbling down the trail, and birds galore (even owls!). It’s especially lovely under a full moon and/or in the fall when you’re blanketed under a spectacular canopy of trees changing colors. (Have I convinced you to check it out yet?)