Ok, so it’s been a little over a year since my last post. The world sure has changed and the change continues. It seems quite surreal if I let myself think about it too much.
It’s been a year of limited possibilities, and full of challenges and disappointments.
In January, I made my first sourdough starter and baked some pretty delicious breads.
In early March, I was gosh darned sick for 2 weeks. Covid? I don’t know, but I can’t taste good dark chocolate these days. Bummer
In early Spring, I made cloth face masks. Who would’ve thought?
In Spring and early Summer, I began to learn to throw clay on my potters wheel.
I started to glaze my first bisqued pieces when…
In mid August, our coastal mountain community suffered another blow in the form of a major wildfire. We were evacuated for 2 weeks while our local volunteer fire departments along with CalFire bravely fought to save our small towns and as many homes as possible. We are very fortunate. Our house and neighborhood were spared. Too many were not. 925 homes burned in our close knit community. (On the map below, our house is represented by the lower black dot. Our son’s, the upper dot.) Again, we are very grateful and thankful to the amazing work of firefighters from many agencies!
When we were allowed to return home, we found everything covered in ash, burned leaves and debris that was carried in the air. Spot fires still burned across the valley and the view is forever changed. We were very humbled and grateful to be home, even when we opened the refrigerator that was left without power for the time we were away. I bet you can imagine the sights and smells. My husband Mike and our son Noah are my heroes. They pulled out the rotten food and hauled the fridge outside to hose it out, clean it and let it spend a few days airing out. 5 months later, the smell is finally gone.
In September, I made a new sourdough starter and scanned our family photos. It took a couple of weeks, but now thousands of scans are on a thumb drive with our Go Bags.
In October, I finished glazing and firing my wheel projects and began the design and stamp making process for this year’s annual porcelain ornament. No trick-or-treating with the grandkids.
In November, I made porcelain ornaments and kinda celebrated Thanksgiving, dropping off our traditional casserole from my Mom’s recipe and an apple pie with a quick outdoor visit with the family.
Lots and Lots of ornaments!
In December, I made more ornaments than ever. This year’s design celebrates Home. Fitting, as so many of us are spending more time at home and especially so as many in our community have lost theirs or like my family are truly grateful to have ours. Christmas was pretty much an indoor, mostly distanced repeat of Thanksgiving with a few gifts exchanged. So much for the holidays. New Year’s Eve was the best 2020 had to offer as we said goodby and good riddance to a year less than – well, just less.
Cheers to a brighter 2021!
❤️ Carol
carolmilich.com 