New Mug-New Mud

Never a dull moment at Cabin Tranquillity!

My pottery collection is growing! This is my latest and it is a crazy pinch bottom mug. Even the glaze is special! Al delivered my pot the other day when I was still napping and left it in the buggy. What a wonderful surprise this was! It holds exactly 2 cups and looks tipsy but isn't!

It's raining again after my yard guy just cleaned up the mess from the clogged catch basin. This time it ran down, across the road and over on my beachfront and onto the dock!  He took this photo after I had called the township supervisors to unplug that grate. They don't do work on the unused property above it as it is privately owned. Hoping for the best this time. Nature rules. 

And What's New in Your Kitchen?

Yeowie! It's a good thing we have a freezer!  Deliveries today even include a new mug from my favorite potter. 

When Fed Ex comes way out here, you just know it will be something delightful!

The new mug holds 16 oz. and will be wonderful in the morning when filled with special coffee and slurped with my scone.

The cake was a surprise because I thought the succulents were perfect! She said she couldn't resist.

please enjoy the treats with me by tapping on an image

Gift

A recent blog from an artist: Click on this link to read all the way through.    

A Moving Story by an Artist

"And as I pull the first mug from the kiln I knew things would slowly get better. I packed up that first mug and Frankel’s book and gave it as a summer reading gift to one of my customers and supporters. So maybe sharing with community was some symbol of beholding the stars even though the the night was still a bit overcast."

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The mug and book were given to me!

The Gift

Sunday Surprise

Today the potter stopped by to pick up a box and packing materials that I had saved for his reuse after he delivered my fermentation pot on May 3. He came with a surprise for me. Another first! This little mug has the same rutile glaze as the other pot but it is special because it is a first try at using the speckled clay with manganese which gives it a peppery specked look on the bottom where there is no glaze. His composition is really pleasing to my eye with the ribs in the center of the body. Best of all - it is one of his "wobbly top" mugs. Yes, the rim is not a perfect circle. It feels really nice when I hold it in my hands. It hold 1 1/3 cups of liquid.  I treasure it already. I love my gas fired mug gift! These are his pictures of my mug. 

He also brought the gift of a book that he read and I already had it on my library list to order: "Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl. I look forward to the read.

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Someday, 100 years from now, a little glazed mug will be found among stuff saved in an old barn or home, and the finder will say, "I know who made this! It is a clay artist from the year 2020, you know, the COVID-19 Pandemic year! He did great work and everyone loved his creations. This is valuable in many ways! His name was Al Wayman."

Cheers!

For several years when we had our place at the beach in SC, we used to go to Pizza Hut with another couple. Although I rarely drink beer, I enjoy it in a frosted heavy glass mug. I like this type of mug so much that at the end of the meal I boldly asked if they would sell me one. Nope, they couldn’t, according to the waitress. Then they thought it over back in the kitchen and she said they could give me one and write it off as being broken. Ok, so I had my very own mug. Took it home in a paper bag so other customers couldn’t see and want one too!

I tried this again another time with different management at the same place with the same result! Now I had two of these mugs!

I brought them back to PA with us a couple of years ago. I’ve only used one at this time of year for the Sam Adams Octoberfest (in a bottle of course). I don’t like drinking out of a bottle now but that beer sure is great in the glass mug. I realize there are many other "Oktoberfest" beers but this one is fine for us.   

What I’m building up to here is what happened last night when the Mister asked me if I would like an Octoberfest and I agreed. He took the bottle top off and brought it to me at the dining room table with one of the frosted mugs. I started to pour it and…WHOOPS! My mug was overflowing! What??? I had a mess but the question was WHY? I thought I had frozen water in the mug at first, instead of giving it a rinse before putting it in the freezer. Nope. Look at the pictures. Which mug would you pour your beer into?

Joke’s on me! The Mister had put the mug on the table upside down and neither one of us realized it. Wasted some good beer, dear! 

Mugged

Mugged

On January 14, 2012, I received two 15 oz. mugs I had designed and ordered online from Shutterfly. I chose this pattern because it was simple and red and white - the cabin's theme colors. I also like a large mug with a large handle so I can insert four of my fingers through the large space.  Tea, coffee, soup, milk, these are my mug beverages because hots stay hot, cold stays cold.

The first two mugs depicted my cooking and baking photos from the year before. The first one had three photos: applesauce, pecandy pie and persimmon pudding. The second one showed my ginger snaps, horse puckey fudge, and oatmeal raisin cookies. 

I loved these mugs and have used them for exactly one year, when I saw a "special offer" on the site for the price of mugs. I guess the sale is on because it's after the holidays. The price was right so I ordered four more to have a complete set of six. 

Number three had photos of tube pan carrot fruitcake, spice cake with icing and pumpkin pie.

Number four included meatloaf, turkey noodle soup, and barbeque roasted chicken tenders.

Number five showed a pot of bubbling barbeque sauce, baking soda biscuits, and corn bread muffins.

Number six consisted of iced spice cupcakes, raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies.

So you see, I planned to have a nice set!

When they came I immediately saw a difference between the first two and the last four and wasn't happy. 

First two 

Second four 

Different    

I went to the site and had a nice live chat with customer assistance and explained my dilemma. She researched both orders, understood my problem and referred me to the technical team because she had determined that there was a manufacturing error in the first order - from a year ago! 

When I explained it to the next customer service person, she IMMEDIATELY re-ordered my first two mugs and there was to be no charges at all. That was two - TWO days ago. The new ones came today! How good is that service??? Free mugs - Fed Ex delivery overnight - no returns of first two - WOW!

I have great reasons to love Shutterfly. They promise 100% satisfaction guaranteed and they keep their promise. Oh what to do? I now have two "extras!"

Matched set

(click on photos to see detailed versions)