sorry i havent blogged in awhile,, but i was bustin' butt for the 3 day extravaganza and then 4 days later i had to deliver pots to the Backus museum for my ''pioneer days'' appearance,,,

anyways im sorta caught up for the moment [4 more days till my next trip to the Backus] so Im updating you on my super funtastic weekend!

as soon as i got to the Museum on Friday, and debuted my 24 assorted Seminole indian maiden vases,, the gal at the front desk started calling folks to let them know i was in town w/ new pots,,, i was told to report to my tent on saturday morning and set up and ''throw down''
i got to my tent bright and early ,, it was about 40 degrees w/ an icy wind blowing off the the water and grey rain-spitting clouds,,i wore all the clothes i brought at once including my PJs,,, it was miserable friggin cold as hell,, by the time i had gotten set up i was besieged by customers wanting pottery,,, every sale had to be NEATLY written down on the sales sheet and sent in to the cashier,, i was just a writin' and wrappin' like a crazyfool,,,[and smilling from ear to ear!]

THEN! i start hearing loud CRACK after CRACK like fire works w/ lots of whoopin and hollerin so i ran to the street to see the parade of cowboys coming down the street,,,over a hundred men, women, grandpas, kids,, all riding into town on their horses,, and twirling lassos and cracking their whips

you see Pioneer Days in Fort Pierce is all about the annual cracker cowboy ride from Bradenton to fort pierce,,, they ride for 6 days and nights camping out under the stars just like cowboys did for decades herdin the cows to market,,

it was exciting as hell!!! i wanted to jump on a horse and join in the whip-crackin fun,,  [ok i am scaird of horses, but i still wanted to]

anyways for the rest of the day the cowboys were riding up and watching me make pottery,,, all ages and shapes and sizes,, and theyve all been making the ride since they were kids,,, so i got to meet and talk to lots of them,,, i shook lots of hands and thanked them for keeping the tradition alive,,, [i sure as hell wouldnt spend  all of last week camping out in the freezing cold],,, so it was lots of fun,, AND i was in the tent next to the st lucie historical folks so they were lots of fun to hang out w/ [and they had a bigass propane heater!]   by 2 oclock the rain was pouring and the tempature dropping even more and the wind was really blowing,, i was determined to embodie the pioneer spirit and keep throwing them pots!!!!!

but then i changed my mind as i could no longer carry on a conversation as i was shivering and teeth chattering,,

so it was a super fun weekend,,, there was lots of stuff happening,, whip cracking lessons,, horse rides for the kids,, story tellers,, no indians,, and a cowboy poet reciting his poetry,,, and i brought back seminole indian pot holders for clint, mandy and my mom,,

it took me till sunday to get warm again,, saturday night we ordered in pizza AND lasgana,, [i was hungry] i did eat a pork samwich at the  park and tasted ''swamp cabbage'' [its an aquired taste, so they say,,,,,,]  Poor Bob brought along his golf clubs to play golf and spent most of saturday driving around waiting for the weather to clear up,,, but alas,,

what else?  the Extravaganza was kinda boring,, it was my 21st,, and the thrill is gone,, but trent,, [my 8 yr old pottery apprentice] kept me entertained ,, he drew monkeys all weekend and ran and got me food,,

as you can see by the picture im still working on my big seminole indian maiden,, shes firing in the kiln right now,,, it will be a pottery miracle if she makes it through the firing and glazing and firing again,, but i hope to have her finished by next friday

alright its cocktail time,, so i gotta go [im gonna get me a whip and lasso on ebay and learn  how to use em,,, oh yeah and i didnt debut my blindfolded pottery throwing trick,, i figured throwing pots outside in frigid wet weather was daredevil enough