This thing is freaking cool.

I don’t know what it’s for, but it’s better than a lava lamp, and I want one in my living  room.  It’s in one of the labs with the freeze dryers and centrifuges, but this is the first time I’ve noticed it.

In other news, I finally managed to make something on the wheel in pottery! Okay, there was that one cup thing a few months ago, but it’s way too small to be useful.  Tonight I made 3 bowls! Actually I made 4 bowls and a cup, but one of the bowls collapsed when I tried to knife the bottom, and the cup was too thin and would have cracked during firing.  I present to you my new cereal bowls:

I also picked up a bowl that I glazed last week which may yet become a christmas gift, so I don’t want to post it, and Mom’s birthday present is finally finished.  I’ll post that before the end of September, but I don’t her to stumble across it and ruin the surprise.

No, not an emo post.

Today I finished putting all the gypsy moths in individual bottles, and of course had to dispose of the empty pupa shells:

Looks tasty, doesn’t it?

I also took some shots of one of the nicer shells, from a large female:

And her final molt:

I like that you can see the split in the head where she wriggled out.

I haven’t been able to post much of my pottery lately because I’ve been making gifts instead of stuff for myself.  Justification for the expense of going to the open studio sessions!

However I did make a couple of pottery fridge magnets to add to my already somewhat embarrassing collection:

Also featured: whiteboard fairy panda by Jonathan, teenypandapair by Ben, assorted round magnets by Mehoi, a wee guide book to opening caek boxes (for wee kitties and pandas) by maggie, and some magnetic bookmark pandas from a bookstore.  Oh, and emotional ballet panda round magnet that I picked up at a craft show.

Monday! Time to quit slacking.
Spent a few hours at the greenhouse, grinding poplar leaf samples, then preparing oak leaf samples for freeze-drying.
Saw a cute bug and let him crawl all over me before letting him loose in the lab. Pictures of him will follow at a late date, because I took them with the proper camera rather than the iPhone.
Watched some guys do roadwork.
Ate a huge yummy sandwich. Brie, ham, caramelized onions, granny apple slices on focaccia.
Going to see Moon with Jonathan. Yay!

Pictures all in a jumbled heap: