Just a quick update

Just a quick recap of the events leading up to today:
On June 21st of 2013, Calgary and many surrounding areas were inundated by a vast quantity of water in the form of spring melt run off as well as pretty heavy rainfall in the mountains. The result was pretty horrible. My main floor condo was flooded (7ft or so of water filled it almost to the ceiling) and I lost pretty much everything I owned.
It is now 19 months later and I am still not back in. I came close to moving back in October last year, but there was a mysterious water leak that showed up that destroyed my hardwood floor and required that all of the base kitchen cabinets be removed. The source of this water was never found, but possible sources were eliminated. The only remaining cause is human error & or negligence on the part of the contractor.
The good news is that we now have a new contractor & they will be starting next week. The cabinets are to be installed the week of Feb 16th and the flooring will go in 5 days after that. IF everything goes according to plan, I could very possibly be moving back home by the first week of March. Some good news for a change.

In the studio, not much news to report. I was busy making open baking/serving dishes last Sunday, and here is a shot of a few drying their bottoms on the plaster and one that is all handled and just hanging out. I made about 8 of these of varying sizes and shapes. They are mostly round with an altered/pinched rim, but I did do a couple square ones. I do like the round ones the best. These would be good for a shepherd's pie, mashed potatoes, a deep apple crisp, stuffing, anything really.

Condo rebuild status

As you may or may not be aware, my condo was flooded last year on June 21st. There was 7 feet of water in there and reached almost to the ceiling. It has now been 1 year and 2 weeks since the flood and this is the state of the rebuild. It has been a long haul, and it looks like it will be a bit longer until I can move back in. I was told we would be in before the summer, well, that deadline was missed. Then we were told we would be in by July 4th. That is tomorrow, and by the looks of these pictures, that deadline will be missed. I don't have any expectations now that I will be in before the week of the 14th, but that might not be the case either. The City needs to sign off on the inspections, and the contractor does not want to bring them out until there are at least 2 completed units ready to go to grant occupancy. So, it is close, but still far away. I had a somewhat early welcome back to my condo gathering at a local pub with some of the people I work with at Ceramics Canada last night. Those people are fantastic and if you ever get a chance to go there for clay or other clay related items, they will help you out with all your clay needs. They truly are great.

Here are a few shots of the current state of the rebuild
This one shows the kitchen with the redone tall narrow cabinet, and the silly upper corner cabinet that needs to be revised...

And this one is of the partially completed bathroom. The toilet is in the bathtub right now to make room for the cabinet installer...
 

I'm 1/4 Scottish, spending money is hard for me...

I was out spending money last night. I had to select, at minimum, a fridge and a stove. The kitchen cabinets are going in pretty quick and they needed the dimensions of the appliances before installation. So I bought the fridge & the stove, then I got a table and 4 chairs. The table is pretty much what I have been looking for, but had not been able to find anywhere until now. It will be tall enough to act as a counter as well as comfortably seat 4 people. It has two 13” leaves, so the table will be short for the most part, but if I want to have a dinner for more than just me, I can. Before, If I wanted to have guests over we would have had to eat in shifts. While I was there, I tried out some living room furniture. I did not think I would buy anything, but there was a leather sale going on. I have not paid for it in full, but have put a down payment on it and will clear up the rest in a couple of days. My bank card just can’t handle that much activity in one day. I got a leather sofa, large leather chair and an ottoman. I may change my mind on the ottoman, we’ll see. Next up, a mattress, bed frame, side table, floor lamps, area rug, etc etc.

So close, but still so very far away

It is almost 8 months since the flood, and itt will be exactly 10 months since I was told to evacuate my condo on April 20th. I had a meeting this morning regarding the rebuild stage and although I was not given an exact timeline, it has been estimated that it will take 3 months from Feb 3^rd before we will get occupancy for the units that were destroyed. So I was a little off on my Easter guestimate, but notby much. If all things go as planned, with no supply hiccups, or subtrade shortages/difficulties, I might be back by May 3^rd. My fingers are crossed, but I am not holding my breath. Once the dry walling starts (possibly next week if inspections are ok for the fire stopping work that needs to be done), that would only take a couple of days apparently. Then we will begin meeting with the contractor to discuss finishings etc. The thing that might tip me over the edge will be the 7am weekly meetings with the contractor and the owners. I don’t get out of bed sometimes until 7:30 am. That is going to be tough, but I will just have to suck it up.

On the pottery front, I have bisqued round one for the galleries, but I still need to glaze. I am in the middle of getting work ready for the second bisque firing and it will have large bowls, platters, casseroles etc in it. I threw some really lovely 7-8lb bowls over the last week, as well as some large 5-6lb platters and a couple more teapots, ‘cause you just can’t have too many teapots in my opinion.

No pottery pics today, so here is a puppy pic…

My new T's arrived in the mail yesterday....


I was not able to decide which one to get, but as it is for a good cause, I bought both of them.
I got the link for the t's from Carole Epp's blog Musing About Mud, however, I just checked and unfortunatly it looks like these limited edition t-shirts are now all gone :(