Far far away clay

My newly aquainted clay friends do not know much about me. So here's a background story for you. Maybe I'm just the nosiest person ever...I don't know. But I really enjoy hearing the personal stories behind crafty creations and their creators.

My wonderful husband, Aaron, is in aviation. He repairs and modifies the skins of airplanes. Which means any part of a plane that is metal...he can change it, repair it, modify it, build a new part from scratch, install it...you name it! His job enables us to move a lot. We go where the good jobs are. (This is why I've been homeschooling our 1st grader.) The last job took us to Arkansas. We were *this close* to moving to a new location when my renter decided to vacate my house in Oklahoma.

Aaron and I both owned houses in Oklahoma prior to getting married. Both homes were rented until January, when my renter LEFT! We decided to remodel my house and sell it. We thought it would be a quick (2-3 months tops!) remodel. We opted to move into the house while remodeling. In the meantime Aaron would work in Oklahoma City (60 mile commute from my house) to pay the bills. Unfortunately, our "plans" have gone horribly wrong. Aaron is working 80 hours each week! 6 days a week! Plus commuting 2+ hours each day! He is NEVER HOME. I am trying to work on the house. Trying. But my job is 24/7/365....homeschooling and an 11-month-old baby AND being pregnant....leaves very little time for painting and that sort of labor.

Now let me back up. Because we were expecting to be here 2 months, we left 90% of our belongings in storage in Arkansas! We were planning to finish this house quickly, go back for our belongings, and move on to the next job. This means: my beloved clay and ALL my supplies are 300 miles away. Most likely curing and ruining in a HOT metal storage facility. The price of gasoline and renting a Uhaul truck and TIME!! is preventing us from retrieving our things from storage.

A few weeks ago we visited Michael's and I bought some clay and a crappy Amaco pasta machine. Just to get me by for now. I desperately needed my creative clay time. I get VERY little clay time, but very little is better than NONE! Everytime I use the pasta machine I curse it's name. However! It's better than no pasta machine.

I get to work on a cane for 20-30 minutes at a time. Before getting pulled away for various things. Consequently, it takes me days to finish one simple cane. But I will triumph!! I am determined! So far I've made a tulip (for the 1st time), 2 leaf canes, and I'm currently working on a dragonfly (for the 1st time). I hope to have pictures to share very soon.