Jefferson Monticello

Dana Turrell - a wonderful person, friend, and vice president of Cawood - came over to dinner a couple of weeks ago. She wanted help with planning a trip back East. We talked about all kinds of great places to visit. But one place that I definitely thought she should include in her itinerary is Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson - outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Back in the late 70's I was a student at the University of Virginia, which was also designed by Thomas Jefferson. Since I am a huge fan of anything historic, I just loved the buildings at UVA and Monticello. You can't even imagine how proud I was when we were contacted last year by a buyer at Monticello, who inquired about us making a custom piece for their gift shop and catalogue. We recently heard that the coffee canister which we made for them - complete with a pewter faceplate featuring one of Jefferson's quotes - has been a top-seller in their catalogue.

 



 

Here is their catalogue description:

Store your favorite coffee beans or ground coffee in this handy stoneware canister. Hand- glazed by an American potter, it has a pewter plaque bearing Jefferson’s quotation, “Coffee, the favorite drink of the civilized world.” The pewter scoop has a Chinese fretwork pattern on the handle. Food safe; hand washing recommended. 11 1/4"h, 5" dia. Handmade in the U.S.A.

Although it's great to visit their lovely web site, I would also suggest that you request one of their catalogues.They really do have a lovely collection of products - many of which you may not have seen elsewhere.

Circle of Life

I met Jim in grad school at the University of Oregon in 1981. He balanced his time between parenting two young kids, being a student, and earning a living as a woodworker. On the week-ends, he usually headed up to Portland to sell his wooden lamps at the Portland Saturday Market. One Saturday I decided to tag along. I was a pretty serious graduate student, immersed in French literature (and probably a bit full of myself). I thought that setting up a booth at a street fair was kind of a curious way to make a living. In fact, I thought the best part of the day was when we headed to a local bar for some post-market food and drink. I can't remember much about the bar except that I met a couple of potters that night - a husband and wife, who were the same age as Jim and myself. 

Now, here we are, 28 years later...and that same potter, Carl Warne, is about to move his pottery next to our pewter studio. He is the talented potter whose great skill can be seen in each piece of our American stoneware. We can't wait for him to be right next door to us. We're going to have a big old pizza party the day he moves in. The crazy thing about the pizza party is that we are paying for it with proceeds from the sale of some of Jim's oldest woodworking tools. It's our own little Circle of Life, I guess!

Out of the Blue

Last month I had a few hours of free time before my flight left from Atlanta. I jumped in to my rental car and headed north to visit historic Blue Ridge, Georgia. I just had to see what Out of the Blue was all about. I had met Sarah Auman, the owner, at Americasmart a few years ago. She came into our booth, took a look around, and commented, "I don't buy anything from anyone who isn't fun. Y'all look fun! Let's write an order!"

Since then, she has become one of our regular - and favorite! - buyers. In fact, if a new buyer comes into our booth and is kind of on the fence about carrying our line, Sarah will jump right in and do the convincing for me. She is awesome!

So, how do you describe her store? Her website claims that:  More of an experience than a store, Out of the Blue is your destination for extraordinary gift giving and bountiful living.






I couldn't agree more. Anyone who wonders about the future of the independent retailer needs to take a lesson from Sarah. She knows something about every single product she carries. She makes shopping SO FUN you just feel happy being there. And...as if she wasn't enough of a show, her assistant, BT, might just come flying up to help you - on his roller skates!  

Next time you're up for a road trip, make sure you head up their way.

Cooking with Kids

It's so cool how kids are fascinated by cooking! My grandson was at our house this past week-end to celebrate his 3rd birthday. Although he didn't help make his birthday cake, we did make pancakes together in the morning. I let him stand on a chair by the kitchen counter. He just loved mixing up the batter and then scooping it with his (Tin Woodsman, of course!) measuring cup into the pan. I know, I know, he doesn't look full of joy here. But that's because this photo was taken when we were at the tricky part. Karim was completely focused on trying to drop the batter in to the pan- without touching the hot edges at all.  







Karim has been great at going to photo shoots with me. He and his little friend, Presley, are naturals at demonstrating what to do with our baby products!





Karim and his parents left yesterday to spend two to three years in Niger. My son-in-law works for Mercy Corps and decided it would be a good time to spend some time in their office in Niamey. Mercy Corps is an amazing non-profit organization that helps people both at home and overseas. If you have a moment, I encourage you to visit their website: MercyCorps.org. We will miss them so much but at least we know they are helping others.