don't have time for a long post today, but had to put in this link, it made me smile!
http://www.nataliedee.com/062806/fortune-cookie.jpg

this chick is wickedly smart, witty & funny! no, i'm not talking about myself. Check her out, go out, git...

Road Trip!
Dancing Pig "hit the road" yesterday (aka Tuesday June 27). We went north and bit west some 150 miles to Weaver Leather, Darrell's idea of the promised land.
This mecca of all things leather is in eastern central Ohio, smack dab in the middle of the largest Amish enclave in the US. In 'downtown' Mt. Hope, there were actually more horse drawn buggies than there were cars! It made the trip there and back again very scenic and picturesque, but it also made me feel very much like a tourist, so i didn't take any photos of them, even though i wanted to. We did see some very beautiful horses and lots of Amish kids hanging out or walking down the road, including one really cranky looking girl, who seemed about 14, in a huge hurry, striding down the pavement on the side of a country road, barefoot, scowling and looking as if she was going to kick someone's ass! Glad it wasn't me on the recieving end of her wrath!

It took us almost 4 hours to get there, but it was worth it just to see how happy it made Darrell! We got to go into the back and pick out leather from the piles and piles of it- all sorts of dead cows, pigs & even kangaroos!

I'm trying to figure out how to add photos into the text, so please bear with me. This should be a pic of the wall o' suede:




Woot! i think i've got it! The blue in this photo made us think of our pal Morganna/Mavi & we almost got some for her. But we'd spent too much money already, and made the very patient Amish man who was helping us add more leather to our tab 3 times before i found this corner of the warehouse!




Anyway, here's a last photo of the pile o' leather that both D & i kept ourselves from jumping into & rolling around in, but just barely:


So, that's what we did yesterday. Oh, yeah, on our way back we stopped off at a fireworks place and loaded up for the weekend after the fourth party we're planning out here. (and to which anyone who wants to come to is invited! email me for more details!)

Now you know what we do when we have a bit o' cash! Pay bills? Nah! We go on a road trip and spend our money on dead things and dangerous bits of cardboard that go boom!

This _should_ all pay off for us by Pennsic, when D will have lots of new product to show off! So be sure to stop in and ask what's new! (and to inquire after all our fingers and eyes after the firework extravaganza!)

OK, that's enough for now! I gotta get to work in the studio! We have to unpack ALL of our pottery, let it dry out overnight, then replace any pricetags that got all runny and blurry in the deluge, inventory and then repack the suckers.

Did i mention that D. got rained out big time this past weekend at the Celtic Fling?!? He said that they had rain coming down in buckets while they were loading out! We have inches and inches of standing water in the plastic boxes that hold our pots, thus the need for unpacking and draining the suckers. Water doesn't really hurt the pots, but it can make any leather or corks packed in with them get all mildew-y and gross and in general it's just kinda nasty and besides, i have to inventory anyway, so i can get to work on what to make for Pennsic and MDRF... no rest for da' pig. Or, not much anyway.

My first show report!


Dancing Pig attended the first ever Western PA Fairie Festival a few weeks ago. This happened June 10 & 11th, at Cooper's Lake Campground, about an hour north of Pittsburgh. Yes, that's right campers, the same place that hosts Pennsic.

The weather was great, even a bit chilly if you were in the wind.
The crowd friendly if a bit sparse. The merchants awesome & the mood suitably festive and fey! Our sales could have been stronger, the crowd could have been larger, but all in all a postive experience. We'll be back next year. Hope you come on out too!


We had lots of fun! This fairie house on a turtle's back was amazing! Don't know if you can read it, but the yellow sign says "Fairieland or Bust!"

Darrell got inducted into the B. O. G. (Beloved Order of the Greenman) aka 'Groved' which made him very happy! We really liked the two oak trees that we were set up under. It was fun being in Eastrelm Royal as a lowely money grubbing merchant!




















and here's one last picture of me, doing what i do best,

especially at a slow show on a sunny day!
Naptime for me! Speaking of which....

So, the plan is to try to keep this blog up to date about the goings on and upcoming events here in Pigland, aka Dancing Pig's World Headquarters/Compound located here in the suburbs of Arnoldsburg WVa.

First the big news flash: we're going to be at the Celtic Fling this weekend!!! We're sharing a space with our pals from Foolish Oak Designs. Since this is a last minute event, we're not going to be listed on the program or anything, but the important thing is that our pots will be there. So you should be too!

Here's a link: http://www.parenfaire.com/outdoor/CelticFling/Celticfling.htm

Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, i should clarify this. Dancing Pig will be there. Our pots will be there. Very cool other stuff from Foolish Oak and friends will be there. Big D will the there. But i will be at home, basking in the glory of my air conditioned studio and frantically making pots for Pennsic. But as i said above, that shouldn't keep YOU from being there. So go already!