I love my husband. Today, if it’s possible, I love him even MORE.

As we feasted in honour of our 13th wedding anniversary:

J: “I made a decision about what to do with that extra cash” (selling stuff on kijiji is lucrative)

C: “Oh?” (this was in a tone attempting to be casual without being “oh crap, what the heck are you buying? A taxidermied duck? A boat? Gun? Hookers?)

J: “I want to buy a new wheel. Happy Anniversary.”

C: (stunned silence)

J: “Yes, really”

C: TEARS OF TEARS WITH MORE TEARS

I’m awestruck. A new wheel is better than any diamond, especially after the drama of my current wheel going off level and my intense emotional reaction to not having a wheel for even a few days (reminder: my reaction was panic and attempting to use socket wrenches and lots of prayer to every god/goddess I could think of)

I wasted no time and I quickly found a thrice used wheel that needed a new home.  We brought her home last night.

Introducing my new (still nameless) Shimpo VL-Whisper:

She runs in near silence. I mean, SILENCE. I wouldn’t know it was running if I wasn’t sitting right there with hands on the wheel-head. I tried her out last night and after having the rattling and humming of my current wheel to intuitively judge speed and power, the Silent Queen was a big change – I was zipping way too fast, not realizing the speed or sensitivity. It will take a few pots before I adjust to the power, the silence and the responsive pedal action.

I am so excited that I’ll be able to listen to audio books while throwing.

Jay pointed out last night that the wheel just looked familiar . Well, duh – she’s destined to be mine so of course she looks familiar! On second inspection, sure enough, this is the style of wheel that I learned to throw on so many years ago. It’s fate, people.

Can I cancel our family vacation to stay in the studio and play with her? Every two year old would rather play with clay rather than go visit dinosaurs, right?

So today while I daydream of my new wheel, the bisque kiln is started and I can’t wait to get this load glazed and up for sale. There will be  some really cool mugs looking for a new home and with the new wheel, much more functional pottery produced in the next little while as I completely immerse myself in my new girldfriend.

I’m off to find a Giffin Grip – is there any place to find such a thing used?

-Cara