Reno Inna House, Studio Has Mouse; and Seder Plates

Forsythia and daffodils are blooming yellow, and here are those blue starry flowers whose name I don’t know, too. Spring arrived before Passover, which is great, because all the prep work is lightened (I almost said leavened) by the growing awareness of leaves and blossoms around me renewing themselves with young energy.

Remember I asked What is It? It is a Seder plate, of course. I ended up not making the little bowls that go with it- yet. After Passover (ironically) I will have time to do that. Meanwhile, a few of these Seder plates are drying in the studio this week. Too late for this year’s Passover, they are good items to have on hand all year for the random customer looking for “something else.”

Considering that I am still evolving a Seder plate design (it’s YEARS in the evolution!), the shank bone, parsley, egg, lettuce leaf and horseradish root look okay, but that bowl of charoset…not.

I kind of like the double rim. I am reserving overall judgment on these plates till they have been glaze-fired.

All but Passover prep and kitchen renovation are put aside for now.

As for the process known as kitchen ‘reno’, first comes the ‘demo’ of everything but the cabinets, then installation of the ‘lino’. Counters and appliances (that get no abbreviation- except the ‘fridge’) are in, and eventually we will get the friendly old farmhouse wallpaper (with its stripes of red, yellow and blue fruit) removed, and paint applied.

This has consumed lots of mental energy. If not for the occasional walk in the great outdoors, I might’ve missed the daffodils in the back yard, which I culled and planted years ago from my friend Thea’s daylily bed. Thea is gone, but the daffs keep opening their bright sturdy ruffles every April, reminding me as always of Thea’s feistiness.

There were signs of a mouse- named, in the absence of a vote, Melvis- in the studio, but luckily for the little rodent, now it seems that Melvis has left the building. With the renovation going on, and doors open, it must have scampered right in, how-do-ya-do, and its one foray into the food pantry (“ooh, Swiss Fudge cookie! Squeak squeak happy happy!”) got me calling the exterminator in a blink. No house friendship with mice, no matter how cute they are in the woods. If they have been reading kids’ books and getting ideas- “Come inside, Mr. Bird,” said a mouse. “I’ll show you what there is in a people house,”- they’d best forget ‘em.

Eleven days to the first Passover Seder. Digging out from under the (not quite complete) reno. Buying groceries, planning the menu, cleaning everywhere, hoping to have a kitchen to cook in soon.