Perimenopause is a powerful transition. And sometimes, a challenging one. I can feel how much my body is changing. There are days when I feel tired — even though my sleep hygiene is solid. I nourish my body well. I move a lot. As a personal trainer, I also want to lead by example.💪🏻 Since my total hysterectomy about a year and a half ago, I’ve immersed myself even more deeply in women’s health — especially menopause, post-menopause, how training shifts, how nutrition needs evolve, and how we can support our hormones instead of fighting them.🙏🏻💛 And still… there are nights when cortisol has its own plan. Last night I woke up at 3:40 a.m.😞 I tried to fall back asleep. Had some water. Waited. It didn’t happen. I could have been frustrated. Instead, I chose differently.🤗 I hadn’t been at my pottery wheel for weeks. Yesterday afternoon I planned to sit down and create — but the weather was so beautiful that I spent hours in the garden instead, bringing it back to life.🌱 So this morning, before sunrise, I sat at the wheel. In the quiet. In the stillness. While the world was slowly waking up.🌅 And it felt like a gift. Of course, I could focus on the disrupted sleep. But I’d rather focus on what was created in that unexpected pocket of time. Now I’m heading to work — and later I can return to the garden without that lingering thought of “I really wish I had time for the wheel.” Sometimes the positive meaning isn’t in the perfect plan. It’s in how we respond to what is.🥰 Maybe one of the most important lessons of this phase of life is this: Don’t fight your body. Learn to work with it. 🤍

We talked about our favorite commercial glazes but who here also mixes some of their glazes? Where do you find your recipes for them? What’s your favorite that you mix? I love John Britt’s glaze book and I also use Glazy.org. Joe Thompson has really good glaze recipes on Glazy.. If you’re just starting out, his first five series is a good place to begin - five basic ingredients plus a colorant. And Glazy is free! I think my favorite that I mix is John’s Floating Blue 2 from John Britt’s book. Whenever I do a show, those are usually the first pieces to go. And if anyone requests a specific glaze, that’s usually it. Don’t get me wrong - I still buy a lot of glazes. But I also have a shelf of glazes I’ve mixed. So let me know. Do you mix any of your glazes? If not, why don’t you try? (That’s a question - why not?)

I’m currently watching Angela throw live on my phone — and it’s just the most beautiful thing. Gigi is there, Sarah, Pat, Denise, Mary, Ronda… and Lori from Wandering Soul too. We’re all in the chat together, reacting, cheering her on. And it hit me. We’re all there… but we can’t actually talk to each other. So let’s change that. 💪🏻 What if we start a weekly community call?🪿 We could pick a time that works best for most of us, and then meet once a week right here on Skool. Just one hour. Nothing complicated. Everyone who wants to can share their “Piece of the Week” — something you’re working on, something you finished, a struggle, a question, an idea. You’ll have the space to show your work, ask for feedback, and just connect.✨ No pressure. Just pottery people hanging out, supporting each other. What do you think? Would you join? 💛

I’ve seen so many beautiful chickens from you all and especially Andrea’s rocking chickens are so adorable and fun and Pat you found a cute template 😍. I just wanted to add to the fun and share another template from Ceramics by Jas that I made several years back when she had the pottery classes, community with members. Now she only have the templates and some videos online. I think Jaspreet is a great potter and she does so many beautiful things. Here is one of my chickens I did 🥰 🐓🌱 Here’s the template from Jas: https://ceramics-by-jas-learning.newzenler.com/courses/hand-built-chicken-holder-templates