Red lentil soup feeds the pot cleaning crew

The pots are out of the kiln, from the 75th firing of the original salt kiln Mark built 25 years ago. There are hundreds of them, big and small - three very large vases, two ‘Monsta’ planters, two tall umbrella pots, several 10 gallon vases, and several jars and vases that are a new size Mark calls 6 gallons. The shelves in the workshop are full and all the pots (about 1500 of them) are getting a thorough going over with black emery paper to make sure they are nice and smooth to the touch. It’s hours and hours of work, and we have a great crew. Mark, Joseph, Alex and Eryn who made all the pots are here of course. Terry and Susan come out on the Tuesday after the unpacking three times a year to help out. It wouldn't be the same without them. Chad is here for the first time, so that made eight of us for lunch. I'd made a big pot of red lentil soup with vegetables last night, and a dozen cheese and chutney croissant sandwiches this morning. I’ve planned the menu for the Preview and Kiln Opening, and done most of the shopping. Tomorrow is another day of cleaning pots, then Thursday we price and arrange them all. Thursday night and Friday is food prep. Spinach artichoke dip, brie with pesto and pine nuts, double chocolate scratch brownies, cream cheese, chutney, and toasted almond cheese balls, and crudite and dip. I'm still working on the perfect recipe for chai for the Friday night preview. 120 scones for Saturday morning are done and in the freezer, along with dozens of cookies. Something about the cold weather calls for cookies.

I found poinsettias today, and hope one of my orchids is ready at the Orchid Gallery down the road. It's beginning to feel a lot like....winter!

We’ve sent out over 6000 postcards and about 1300 emails. It’s like throwing a big party. The invitations are out and now we wait and see who comes! Let’s hope we get some of those bright, sunny warm winter days.
I love this time of year!