A happy kiln-opening crowd and day of sales ...

... followed by a night of heavy snow, the same storm that hit our North Carolina and Virginia friends. So we've cancelled the second day of the holiday open studio sale. We have at least 18 inches of snow on the ground here, with a thoroughly clogged driveway and treacherous roads, and the snow just letting up about 11 a.m. So we've called Bryan, Kim, Tamara and Ruth and told them not to try to come here and sell today. If some rugged Cape Cod four-wheeler outdoors type shows up to buy art, we'll guide them through it and take their money. But I think that's unlikely.
We've already poured mimosas (got the OJ from the cooler on the porch by sweeping aside a couple of feet of snow drift) and are hoping to get the truck out of the drive to get our friend Patricia to the Boston bus some time after noon.
We opened the kiln yesterday at 11, with a bigger crowd than we've ever had. People jammed themselves around the slab roller and the wheel and the mess around the sink and the glaze table. Lots of laughter and talk, fueled by coffee and mimosas and the baked goods that were brought by practically everyone. Brenda brought bourbon for the eggnog, Janet brought toffee, Tiffany brought home-made baklava (BAKLAVA!!!), Jess (who comes with Bryan) brought some delicious sweet thing, Donna brought a plate of more delicious sweet things, Kim brought stuff, Ed brought good hot dogs and buns to go with the chile ... I'm sure I'm missing someone here. There is always lots to eat on these events.
Our neighbor Howard and Donna helped empty the kiln and people were seen grabbing pots off the table and clutching them to their chests while we finished emptying. I love that. Good pots always go out of here before I've seen much of them.
Upstairs, Kim and Bryan and Tamara and Ruth were apparently doing well. That room seemed to be crowded all day with buyers. Good thing, since today will be a zero.
Our friend Patricia Jones, visiting from Boston, decorated with greens and spent a couple of long, cold hours up at the road at the end of the driveway, getting people to park off the street, shuffling cars about and dealing with the ever-friendly Falmouth Police officer who visited us three times to make sure we were keeping the streets accessible and passable. (I'm not being sarcastic about this; Officer McGuire was as kind and reasonable as he could be in making sure we did what we needed to do to keep the streets passable and not discourage people from coming to the event.)
In the end, lots of pots went out the door with apparently happy buyers. This event is always gratifying because it's all about local folks coming to the studio, hanging around the kitchen, eating Ed's chile dogs, drinking coffee and other things, buying pots and other art, and seeing friends.
In the photos above: Dee this morning, with the candles she lit in the fireplace; Patricia with some of the greens she splashed all over the studio and house; the view to the gallery this morning, after the storm; new pots in the kiln; Bryan's witch balls hanging in the snow-dimmed window.