2023

This year has gone by quite fast for us, although it seems that we say that every year, so maybe it’s just us! We hope that our gentle readers are content and at peace.

After much thought, we kicked off the year in January with bringing home an addition to the family in the form of a young pearl-pied whiteface Cockatiel named Possum. She quickly became a delight in our home with her particular nature, sweet temperament, and gorgeous coloring. Her personality has continued to blossom during the course of the year, as she’s learned to play with toys, steal food from our plates, and give voice to a variety of sounds to let us know when she needs attention.

To make up for the lack of learning opportunities over the past few years, Anna attended three different pottery workshops during the first half of the year and Greg was able to tag along on two of the three trips. While the potter learned about glazing from John Britt, making bigger pots with Nan Rothwell, and a fount of pottery knowledge from Bill van Gilder, Greg discovered and sampled local breweries to his heart’s content.

The last workshop was in June and we took advantage of the warmer weather and turned it into a camping trip with the Black Pearl, staying at a small campground in West Virginia. After a misadventure with the slide out, we enjoyed our stay in the area, especially watching the whitetail deer feed in the adjacent fields. Thank goodness for mobile RV techs!

Brodie celebrated another birthday in July. At age nine, our little brown dog is starting slow down a little, although he still loves to chase his Kong toy whenever anyone is willing to throw for him. And of course, anyone who comes to the house, regardless of the occasion, is there to visit him, so he’s always on the lookout for scritches (and someone to throw that Kong toy!)

Greg is still working from home with just a few trips to Maryland for meetings during the year. Flex time allows him to become the Pottery Roadie[tm] during both the Virginia Renaissance Faire (VARF) and Maryland Renaissance Festival (MDRF).

Speaking of the renaissance shows, Prancing Pony Pottery had record-breaking seasons at both this year, accompanied by the addition of new stoneware creations to delight customers. The booth we rent at VARF underwent some renovations – a new, enlarged roof and replaced decking made a big difference, as did new LED lighting, plus the platform and roof that we built so that the potter could have a better place to demonstrate throwing on her treadle wheel. One of the items that made its debut at VARF were Clay Buddies, which have elicited smiles and laughter all season long. MDRF felt like it whooshed by, even though it was rudely interrupted by Hurricane Ophelia. While Anna was home recovering from a sinus infection, Greg rode out the storm in the Black Pearl (and may have checked out a brewery or two before and after the deluge).

That weekend is also noteworthy because we acquired Duncan, a turquoise cinnamon Greek Cheek Conure. Duncan is an adorably silly bird, with a great deal of personality in a small package. He and Possum get along well enough, and we love spending time with both of our feathered babies. Brodie is still not quite sure about his feathered siblings, but we do our best to spread the love around.

Right after closing down at MDRF, Covid finally found us. Actually Covid AND the flu found Anna, ever the over-achiever. We spent our initial period of isolation / quarantine in the Black Pearl, as we had scheduled some down time with the trailer on our way home from MDRF. There was even time to sit around our fire pit and look at the stars most nights. Luckily, symptoms were fairly mild for each of us (Tamiflu helped a lot in Anna’s case) and we were able to get back to what passes for our normal in two weeks.

Which was a good thing because we had planned to visit the Carolina Ren Faire in November! It’s been a while since we’ve just walked around a faire as a patron, but we had a wonderful time.

Of course, no show season for Prancing Pony Pottery would be complete without the studio Open House, which has moved from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the first weekend in December. We were gifted with unseasonably temperate weather, the company of good friends, and many pots going to new homes.

For all of our adventures and hard work this year, the one constant throughout was the blessing of getting to spend time with friends and family even as the year rushed by seemingly at warp speed.

We hope that you enjoy the holiday season, no matter what holidays you are celebrating!

Anna Marie, Gregory, Brodie, Possum & Duncan