I am here to report that I am ALL FIRED UP! There are so many things to be fired up about these days, it is like a Thanksgiving feast. What has got me fired up? Let me count the ways.

American politics. I can hardly believe I have said this. Less than a month ago, I was in Tucson and found that I could barely stand to watch the news. US politics has been a dreadful pit of negativity for so long, that I was in danger of succumbing to death by doom scrolling. Now, I am filled with hope. How absolutely inspiring to see policy and joy replace posturing and hate.

Leah is here! A visit from one of the kids is always lovely. We have been quietly enjoying the last week with her, cooking, talking, reading, and lots of Olympics watching. We have also managed to have some fun. Doug and Leah took an amazing cooking class taught by Ryan and Liam of Orwells Restaurant. We completely love Orwells and always enjoy chatting with Ryan and Liam who are fun and super knowledgeable and very down to earth. Both Doug and Leah had a blast. Here is Leah filleting a turbot:

Leah and I have had some fun visiting her favorite London spots: the British Library and the British Museum. We hadn’t been to the British Library in a while, and had a grand time.

The Museum was super crowded, but we picked our rooms carefully, to avoid the crowds while still hitting Leah’s favorites, like the Assyrian exhibits. We chose a great day to be in London, and spent time just wandering around, soaking up the sun and people watching.

Leah will be here for another week and a bit, so we still have time for fun and exploration. And Emma will be coming next month! Good times!

The Olympics. Okay, I admit to being a complete sourpuss about the Olympics before it started; I was just not into it at all. In general I think the event is too big and too commercialised, and I get annoyed at all of the emphasis on medals, and stupid commentators who say things like “Oh no, so-and-so has screwed up and now has to settle for a silver medal. Fifteen years of struggle have been decimated in a moment.” I admit, however, that once it started, I have rather enjoyed watching it. In particular, I have enjoyed watching the athletes themselves cheering on their competitors, being joyful and friendly and exhibiting sportsmanship. Maybe this joy thing is contagious, no?

Actual Firing Up. Doug’s birthday is coming up, and for his gift, we bought him a Barrel Firing Workshop. Thus, while I have been metaphorically fired up, Doug has been literally firing up.

The workshop took place over two Saturdays. On the first day, they learned how to do terra sigillata, a technique for coating the greenware to prepare it for firing. Here are Doug’s pieces before firing (top shelf):

The following weekend, they wrapped the greenware in a variety of organic matter – coffee grounds, seaweed, avocado and banana peels, etc. In the barrel firing the organic matter oxidises and gives colour in unexpected ways. The piece below incorporates a scrap of knitting (something I had frogged) which he has soaked in an iron oxide solution, in addition to wool and banana peel.

They chopped a lot of wood (Doug, having actual experience chopping wood, was the primary axe wielder in this task). The prepared pots were placed in the 45 gallon barrels, surrounded by sawdust, and then covered in wood and set to blazing. The fires were carefully tended to make sure the temperature was right (about 700C).

The next morning, all was revealed. The barrels were opened, the pots were dug out of the ashes, and carefully washed. It was a great moment of discovery, because there is no way to predict how the pot will fire or how the colours will develop.

Here are Doug’s finished pots:

Cool, huh? We are firing on all cylinders here!

Knitting. I want to end by saying I am fired up about knitting. I must admit quite truthfully that this does not apply to actually doing any knitting. In fact, over the last two weeks I have negative knitting content. How can that be? I have knitted 8 rows and ripped out 12. Alas.

However, I am totally blown away this weekend by these two new knitting patterns, and that is getting me all fired up for the fall knitting season:

The top pattern is the Lilleke light sweater by Aleks Byrd and the bottom one is the Paulie Cardigan by Amy Christoffers. Wow! Seeing these two patterns pop up in my feed made me so happy.

Leah loves Aleks’ pattern. She is here for 10 more days. Doug’s comment this morning when I showed him the pattern was: “Can you knit that in 10 days?” Ha ha! Oh ye, unrealistic one; I laugh at your naiveté.

I am enjoying being fired up (in a good way) these days. How about you? Any patterns firing you up?