June 2025: Welcome Summer!

Mary
Jul 27
4 min read

Updated: Jul 28

I’m pretty sure it was iced coffee and matcha lattes that got me through June. With my parents still in China for the first three weeks of the month, the summer heat, and end-of-year events at school/daycare, it felt like I was always running around town, sweaty and late for something. While summer didn't officially begin until June 20th, by the solstice it felt like we’d already been in the season for a while. A useful self deception, I think, to stretch time against all other forces and distractions.

Mom Life

At Jasper’s school, there was Donuts with Dad for Father’s Day, a lemonade stand, a bake sale, and the Moving Up Ceremony marking the end of 3K. It’s important to us to attend these events because the smile on his face when he sees us is a life highlight. The kids were too adorable at each of these events, lopsided chef's hats, uncoordinated dance moves, scream-singing, and pure earnest effort through it all.

Rowy got more comfortable walking, followed quickly by running and climbing. He's beginning to understand so much of what we say to him. I think it's safe to say that he is fully out of his baby phase and into his toddler era. He nods yes now, slowly and with great intent, his eyebrows going up and down to lead the rest of his head. When he wakes up the first thing he does is lead us to the closet where we keep his fruit puree pouches, nodding along the way. He can even open a door - he comes bursting into the bathroom whenever he pleases, the widest smile spread across the widest cheeks.

Pottery & Shop

On the ceramics front, I began to shift from intentional practice to production in my pottery making. I turned out my first batch of Ghost Mugs in many months, sculpted coffee scoops two or three at a time, and continued to make (but mostly lose, to my frustration) the ever-popular oversized Farmhouse Mugs.

Coffee scoops, specifically the Mona and Cassini, will be offered in a couple of new colors this fall/winter season: jade green and morel. I may add another one or two depending on the results of some more testing.

Without the level of childcare support that we usually have, pottery time is the first on the chopping block of my weekly schedule. It makes me sad that I don’t have the ability to dedicate more time, and that the time I do carve out means something else goes unattended. While I don’t think I’d want to make pottery my full-time job at this point (it would destroy my back, for one), I do long for a more sound justification for time spent with clay - even if only to justify it to myself. There’s a more conventional sense of purpose to it when it’s your primary income stream. As it stands, pottery time feels indulgent, like “me time” or “self care”, terms that are self-centered. Where does any of that fit among my responsibilities?

As a a result, my pottery time of late has been carved from my sleep. After everyone else in the house has gone to bed, I'll stay up an extra hour or two for a throwing session, to pack up orders, or to trim and finish pieces. I'm looking for a better balance in this area - let's see how I do.

Tiny Garden

In the garden, strawberries and snap peas dominated in June. I loved picking handfuls of snap peas for Jasper to eagerly snack on, and the odd strawberry here and there from my potted plants, all of which were chosen for their distinct pink and red blossoms to differ from the typical white.

Towards the end of the month we got the first Afternoon White cosmo as well as my second gardening surprise of the season: poppies! What a delight - I’d forgotten that I’d sprinkled some seeds in the spot where I discovered them. Because of their toxicity, I'd never grow them in the backyard where the dogs roam freely, but the side and the front yard are fair game. I plan to sow more seeds this winter.

Et Alia

Two links for fellow potters:
- Cone 5/6 glaze recipes by Yoko Sekino-Bové
- Firing schedule for cone 5.5 - which I've found is the sweet spot for several of the glazes and clay bodies that I work with
M Wells, a restaurant that began in LIC overlooking the LIRR tracks, moved into MoMA P.S. 1, then to Brooklyn, returned to LIC in June, popping up twice a week at a local wine bar. Kev and I first dined with them at their original location many years ago, and it was really nice to bring Jasper to this iteration, where we enjoyed delicious bites from a small, simple menu.
We went to the North Fork for a week in June as well, something that's becoming a tradition for us. More on that in a separate post.