off white

While I was busy cleaning out some stuff and making space for the new junk, I came across my USA journal where I had written stuff that needed to be posted in the blog. I was so into pottery in Charlotte, so here it is, the new post.

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After reading the title, you must have put two and two together and arrived at the conclusion that the Potter’s Wheel is the name of the studio I had begun my journey as an amateur Potter. It is not actually Potter’s Wheel, but I have named it so for privacy sake.

There I was, just out of the cab, with my off-white canvas tote bag, stuffed with my black striped apron hanging out. I didn’t waste a minute and began walking towards the studio in-front of me. That was when I saw him!

He looked round, well fed, dark, with shiny eyes, waiting at the studio portico, for unsuspecting innocent people like yours truly, QueenBee!

I walked past him, trying to look breezy and cool, kind of aloof. But secretly I was observing his every move, from the corner of my eyes. I thought I had escaped his attention, but I was wrong. He followed me to the door!

Yikes!

I looked over my shoulders, as I typed the security code in a jiffy. He was neither tall nor trained to know the security code…..

I opened the door after the beep, enough to let myself in and shut the door behind me in a hurry. I could still see him looking at me through the glass doors!

Breathe, breathe, damn it, I said to myself….

I think I have an enemy on my hands, I thought.

I reached my station, took out my bag of clay and began kneading and measuring clay for use. I set up a bucket full of water near my wheel, ready to throw clay on the wheel. (Throwing is the term used by potters, when they begin to make shapes out of clay)

My dream Pottery studio looks something like this – Pic Source : Google

Then I remembered that I had items to be bisque fired. (Clay is first kneaded. Then potters throw clay to make bowls etc. Then the bowls are bisque fired. Then glazes are used to colour the bowls, then fired again. The final product is then ready to be used. Each article goes for firing at least twice.)

Here I was taking my bowls for the first firing. On my way to the firing station, I saw that he had entered the studio! Someone must have opened the studio door and let him in. (Such ignorant people) Once again, he began to follow me, in and out of the firing station. I could hardly concentrate on anything.

‘Meow‘, he said at-last, probably bidding me goodbye, before finally ditching me . He met new people, probably ‘cat people’, to stalk. He got many rubs on his back. He got all the attention he needed and that must have satisfied his ego!

Thank God, I sighed. So much for the Potter’s Wheel bully!

P.S:

Although I am an animal lover, I never go too near either the cats or the dogs. I don’t mind touching a fish or sting ray for that matter, but I stay away from cats and dogs. I can even baby talk them, but I refrain from touching them. I prefer cows! (When Mr.Bee and I visited Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and also in Charleston Aquarium, I got the opportunity to touch sting ray and a medium sized fish. They felt rubbery!)
I dearly miss pottery. I would have probably become a master by now, since in 2 years I had graduated to intermediate level.
*PJ alert* Incidentally, I am a hobby potter, who is a Harry Potter fan!

Till the next post…cheerio friends.

Before I start today’s post, let me tell you that, if you ever read any post titles, which sound at once intriguing, rest assured that it is related to the kids. This is one such incident I would love to elaborate on…

The daily routine of GBee is, to wake up at 7 a.m. Laze around on the bed, planning ahead, about what he is going to do for the particular day! Then after much coaxing and coddling, get out of the bed at 7:40 a.m.

The next step is to run around the bed, either to wake up his baby brother KBee or to bring his school bag, open the pouch and begin sharpening his pencils and chatting all the while. He has his pouch always filled up with atleast 10 pencils. He writes with a different one each day. (Never buy kids pencils in various colours, they ask us for one in each colour. Buy them boring pencils in same colour and they never ask for another. Don’t repeat my mistake! I bought him colourful pencils and now he has one in each colour ready for any emergencies and still asks me for more!)

When we first joined him in school, he would cry incessantly and always plead me not to send him to school. (I spent many nights wondering if he would ever make any friends or go to school at all!)

Because he manages to cry a lot, he would throw up before going to school, each day. So feeding him breakfast early in the morning was a bad idea. In his early school days, he never ate anything before going to school and always brought his tiffin / snack box, as it is, without eating. (For a week, it felt like he was fasting and opposing the school, in his silent way!)

That’s when I decided to just give him milk before going to school. To make him slowly begin eating at school, I would send his box filled with his favourite cookies and pooris in the shapes of hearts, squares and circles. The little GBee, never liked Pediasure to begin with. (Any new food / beverage never interests him. He has zero interest in trying new food) To get GBee interested in Pediasure, I bought the Vanilla flavoured one and would mix it in milk and give it to him before school and slowly he began drinking it. He never knew I mixed anything in milk, because, vanilla flavoured Pediasure was off white in colour.

Just as I was getting used to him having his morning cup of milk, one day ….

A white leaf!

Since I was busy packing his snack box, I really didn’t understand what he meant at first. My mind was occupied.

He was referring to the layer of protein on the milk, a White Leaf!

Milk Skin = White Leaf

I say ‘sad’ layer because, I hate the layer of protein on top of milk. I just hate when the milk skin forms on milk. Or even tea for that matter. I exaggerate and tell everyone who listens to me, that milk skins suffocate the throat, so I can’t have it! (which is a lie)

After he complained about the ‘white leaf’, i filtered the milk for him and then and ‘only’ then did he drink his milk.

That, dear readers, is the Tale of the White Leaf!

P.S:

I was inspired by ‘The Tale of Two cities’ of Charles Dickens while naming the blog post. I may read it in future.
The milk skin infact has a scientific name, Lactoderm! But, as usual, I love the one coined by GBee, ‘White Leaf’. He also calls grey hair as ‘White Grass’!
Do you know ‘the Order of White Lotus’? If you are an Avatar geek, you may know it. If you are not, it a secret society of intellectual people who share knowledge. It is part of the ‘Avatar’, the anime and not the James Cameron Avatar.

Till the next post!

Tag: off white

The Bully at the Potter’s Wheel

The Tale of the White Leaf!

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