Our New Pottery

Good Mornin'

In catching up on all the blog posts I want to write about at some point, I am remembering a trip, fairly recent, when I drove back to Ashland and picked up some pottery I bought from a friend. I wanted to write about the trip and then show pictures of the fantastic pottery I purchased.

Well, I did give money for the pottery, but my friend threw in extra pieces and then sent me another piece a few weeks later and didn’t charge me! She is very gracious and generous and a damn fine potter!

I’m going to list her ETSY Shop link at the end of this article. I hope you go over and have a look. Maybe you’ll see something you’d like. We were at the dinner table last night and our napkin holder, the orange plastic one that came right out of 1962, was being the centerpiece of jokes and laughter. I mentioned that we might need to find one in pottery, especially since we have this beautiful pottery around now, thanks to Eli.

I asked for and bought a tea set. I saw her work and wanted a teapot. She said she had cups to match. It is a beautiful set. She had a sugar bowl that I fell in love with. Then, I asked for a cream pitcher. She sent me one. That’s the piece she never charged for. I’ve used the teapot a few times.

I love the ceremony of boiling the water and brewing the tea. Then I like pouring cup after cup into the little bowl like vessels. Her creations had a design that doubled as a thumb placement for holding the cup. Sometimes I use cream and sugar, but if it is a good hearty leaf tea like Darjeeling or Oolong, I don’t need any condiments at all.

My youngest Grand daughter, Gracie Jayne, likes to have tea. She has a party when she serves. She usually uses her own service, the plastic stuff out by the sand box, but she occasionally will set up the kitchen table with my new tea service, invite her friends and have a ball.

(Author's Disclaimer: I do want Eli to know that we use this beautiful pottery ourselves and that I didn't buy it for use solely as a toy)

In the photos below, Gracie serves a few of her closest friends. I thought these pictures a good way to show off Eli’s pottery. I’ll be traveling up towards Ashland again soon and see if she has a napkin holder. If not, I’ll commission her to make me one and insist on paying the full and fair price. Not sure what will happen to the orange plastic one. Pity the poor kitchenware, banished to a place where ridicule rules.

Enjoy the show:

Gracie using the new tea service with her "friends"


One of the party visitors enjoying a cup of tea


She is very careful and never spills a drop


These bloaks showed up and behaved themselves nicely. (L to R: Fat Bastard, ((From Austin Powers)), Wolfie and Cat)


Yoody was there and seems to be enjoying herself


Gracie wants to invite YOU to the next party


If you like this pottery, or pottery in general, check out Eli’s ETSY Shop. Her name is Elisa Wilson, but she goes by Eli. She has some fabulous designs and all her stuff is wood fired. The name of her business is Soulfire Pottery and she is located in Washburn, Wisconsin, on beautiful Chequamegon Bay on the Great Lake Superior.

I met Eli when I lived in Ashland, WI. I had an old Ford pickup truck at the time. Eli worked next to the Black Cat Coffeeshop on Chapple Avenue. One morning, I was at the shop ready to order my usual, the small double Americano, Eli turns to me and asks me. “May I tell you something?”


One of my former, (and sometimes current) hangouts. The Black Cat Coffee House, on Chapple Avenue, Ashland, WI, USA

I didn’t know her, but I had seen her around. Eli is a beautiful woman and I was flattered that she’d ever have anything to ask of me. Then I wondered if she was going to tell me I had bad breath or that I smelled bad or something. I risked the inevitable and answered, “Sure”

She told me that she really liked, no, loved, my red and white pickup truck and that if I ever was going to sell it, she would buy it. Now I had some hot cars in my day. My convertibles and muscle cars when I was still a teen, and a few classics. You’d think these wagons would attract the girls, but no, it was this lowly, old, rusty but trusty, plain jane, (sorry Jayne, youngest daughter doesn't like it when I reference an automobile this way, but it is part of the vernacular), Explorer and Eli loved it.


My old pickup, the one I sold to Eli, in front of The Cabinette

I eventually did sell it to her, and gave her a great deal. I think it still runs, but the body and everything else rusted around the motor. The gas tanks leak and as far as I know, it sits and will become a flower planter in another life.

Have a great day, all of you. Thanks for stopping by. I wish you Peace.