Well, it's been a month, but we're still really missing our Ani. In fact, our pain is "fresh" in some ways, because D & I got tattoos last week, in honor of Ani. Our friend Jill (an amazing, aspiring tattoo artist) designed the butterflies for us-- we told her we wanted black and white butterflies with attitude.
Black and white, cause those where Ani's colors. Butterflies because a) Ani loved to chase them b) they are beautiful but short lived, just like her c) At quote from Philip Pullman's beautiful novel, The Golden Compass that resonates with me so much. It's a witch (who lives much longer than humans do) explaining to a girl about why witches fall in love with men even though they know they'll die very quickly..."men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that our hearts are continually racked with pain. "

We put a bit of her ashes in the ink, so she'll always be with us.
This is what they look like...
this is mine:
















and the hairy back on the right is Darrells:

In loving memory
Animosh aka little girl aka Monkey Girl aka Poopie Head
February 1 2006-- September 27 2006
"Such a long long time to be gone and a short time to be there"

The newest member of the Dancing Pig family left us on a sunny late September weekday. She ran out onto the road, on her way home from the bone stash (a spot about 1/4 mile from our house that folks have dumped deer carcases for years-- our dogs head down there, grab some leg or rib bones and bring them back to the house for an afternoon snack... this is life in rural WVa). She was hit by a passing car and died instantly. Her head was crushed, and our hearts feel as though they were crushed as well.

Ani had a brief life with us, but it was a very full one. She went about everything full tilt. She was full of energy, piss and vinegar and she was the boss of our house. It was fun to watch her torment our big dog into playing with her. She weighed 25 lbs. when she was full grown and B. was at least 130 lbs for her whole life. But even if she wasn't large, she was in charge, and she hung off his tail or pulled at his ear till he did what she wanted him to.

Ani was a great snuggler, and slept in bed with Darrell and I everynight- under the covers if it was cold, on top, usually in between my legs, if it was warm. I don't know how i'll manage sleeping without her.

We got Ani at a flea market near Charleston in early March of this year. She was only 4 weeks old. She had been weaned early by her mom cause her whole litter had sharp teeth. She weighed 5 lbs and won our hearts right away.

Ani was allegedly a Cocker Spaniel/ Jack Russell mix. And she did seem to have the fierce independent spirit of a JR terrier but also the heart and eyes of a Cocker Spaniel. She took herself down to the river every day as soon as she was large enough to get down our porch steps. We still have sand in our bed, because she'd come home covered in sand and dirt from her river adventures and hop right onto the bed for a post swim nap.

Ani didn't like to have her belly rubbed. She'd growl and mutter and carry on, but D. "gots the tummy" every day. It was usually what i woke up to: D. rubbing and carrying on, Ani wriggling and growling, trying to get away and enjoying the snuggle all at once.

Ani was a mamma's dog. She always wanted to go with me, wherever i went. She'd get bored in the studio after awhile though, esp. late at night or in the middle of the afternoon. Then she'd crawl up under my wedging table, which is where i stashed abundant stock of empty plastic bags (clay comes in 25 lb blocks inside these bags. I go through 4,000 to 5,000 lbs of clay a year- i have lots of these bags). Ani would crawl into the crinkly pile and rummage around, arranging a nest just so, and then she'd nap till it was time to go into the house. I relished her quiet company & it's just one of the many things i'll miss about her.

She was our heart and our soul, the love in our house flowed through her and we will miss her so much more than words can express.

Fare Well, my brave little one, and know that you were loved and cherished here. We will always love you and look forward to many more belly rubs and river adventures in the Summerlands with your distinctive fiercely beautiful self.



The following is from Philip Pullman's beautiful book THE GOLDEN COMPASS. This is a witch, who lives much longer than regular humans, explaining to a girl why witches take men as lovers, even knowing that they will outlive them:


You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but i shall tell you anyway and you'll understand later: men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that our hearts are continually racked with pain. We bear their children, who are witches in they are female, human if they are not; and then in the blink of an eye they are gone, felled, slain, lost. Our sons, too. When a little boy is growing, he thinks he is immortal. His mother knows he isn't. Each time becomes more painful, until finally your heart is broken.
Perhaps that is when Yambe-Akka* comes for you. She is older than the tundra. Perhaps, for her, witches' lives are as brief as men's are to us.

*Yambe-Akka is the witches' death goddess

Procrastination is a wonderful thing, ain't it?!
And now, i even have a doctor's note!
That's right, folks, i have a medical excuse for slacking off: Lyme disease.
Apparently, i've had this lovely tick borne bacteria making it's home in my body for the past year or two. Explains the lack of motivation, energy & stamina, huh?
Now that i know, i gotta take the nasty antibiotics to deal with it.
Yipee, a month of making war on my gut. All the little beasties must die- good, bad and indifferent.
But hopefully, once they are gone, i'll be back to my usual cranky but more energetic self again.
In the meantime, i'm sleeping too much and eating alot of yogurt.
And (yeah, yeah, stop nagging) trying to make some pottery when i'm awake.
Got another bumpersticker recently that applies to my life these days:
Consciousness that annoying period between naps.
Speaking of which, i think it's time for my post breakfast lie down!

We're OFF! and furthermore, we're leaving!
(sorry, i have a weakness for bad british humor)
anyway, the hard working folks at Dancing Pig are heading off to War.
Where, we can work even harder, party all night, snatch a few hours of sleep as we twitch to the pounding of the party drums, then get up and do it all over again! In the mud & heat! Isn't life grand?



This will be my 22nd consecutive year at Pennsic! (though i've only been selling pottery for about 15 years now) It's damn hard work, too hot, too muddy, too muggy, too loud & they don't allow dogs. Other than that, it's about the best time i've ever had & i (usually) manage to make money doing it! Doesn't get much better than that! Here's what we're leaving behind. I don't know what i'll miss more- my mutts or my bed!


So, i gotta go pack up pottery and clean underwear & wean myself off of air conditioning and indoor plumbing. I'll be back home on Aug 20th & hope to have a link to photos up soon thereafter Though, of course, once i get home it's a mad scramble to get ready for opening weekend at MDRenn Fest. But that's another post...

Early July Update:
We're having a great time here in the hills of West Virginia!
We're busy recovering from the invasion of friends and family and dogs over the past weekend- it seems like there where at least 50 kids and 30 dogs and not nearly enough adults running herd over them!

herre's what our house looked like most of the time:
(these guys are playing, i promise!)

Though really, i don't think we had more than 10 rugrats & maybe three extra bonus dogs and 15 nominal adults up for a camping/hangout weekend event.
We went kayaking and canoeing and swimming in the river and we shot off lots of fireworks. Cold frosty beverages where consumed and songs where sung around the campfire. Fireflies where chased and caught. We watched the moon rise over the mountian. We went hiking and ate too much and played alot. All in all, a very relaxing weekend!

And i still have hangers on! My sister & her kids are visiting from Colorado- they flew into Pittsburgh on Thursday night/Friday morning... ok, it was like this: They landed at 12:06 am Friday morning, but once we gathered up all the luggage and went to the pottie & loaded ourselves up and drove back down to Dancing Pig World Headquarters, it was 5 in the morning.


in this pic, D & Ani catching up on some much needed zzzs.

So, our sleep schedules are still a little screwy, but we're managing. And it's great to have the pitter patter of little feet about the place. I'm really enjoying time with my little sister & her wonderful kids!
We took some time to do a bit of sightseeing. Here's my niece, my sister & me at the overlook for the bridge over the New River (aka the Grand Canyon of the east) (how can the G.C.o.t.E. be in WEST Virginia?!) Anyway:

The nephew is 7 and is a total Harry Potter fanatic. We're dyeing his hair jet black this week so he can look like his idol.
Here's a photo of us "in process"

The niece is 5 and sweet as ever. She's into all things pink and kitties and dollies and is such a girlie girl that i am a bit taken aback- i'm not sure where all this girliness came from, but it is so adorable in her that i am smitten!

Here we are playing with hats at Tammark:



It's all i can do to drag myself away from them so i can work in the studio.
But work i must, for Pennsic LOOMS.
And, as if that wasn't enough stress, we've added two more shows to our schedule for July!
This coming Saturday, July 15 Darrell and the pottery will be sharing a booth with our friends from Foolish Oak Designs at the Adams County Irish Festival near Gettysburg PA: http://www.adamscountyirishfestival.com/
and then the week after that Darrell and the pottery are heading north, the furthest north we've ever been as a business in fact, to the Blackstone Valley Celtic Festival in Sutton, MA (yes, Massafrickingchusetes!) which is happening July 22 & 23.

So come on out to one of those shows and say hello! And i'll try to keep making pots so we have enough for War and the Renn Fest as well!

I gotta go make pots!