My Mom has taught me many things. One of which that really has stuck with me is to appreciate the fine art of hunting thru the "scratch and dent" section at stores. My favorite of these scratch and dents is the plant section at the hardware store. I cannot tell you how many plants I have gathered from this area over the years. These plants are often a bit neglected or over watered, underwatered, or given to much light or not enough. Most look pretty haggered but the joy for me is taking these plants home, cleaning them up, and watching them grow. It is so rewarding and has become something that I am a little obsessed with if I am honest. 

If you are here at my site then you have probably noticed that I am a ceramic artist and really one of my favorite things to do is make pieces with a fun purpose. The image with this write up is known as French Watering Cloche, or Watering Pot, or (my personal fave) Chantepleure. I came across these by happenstance on the internet and discovered that these are from the middle ages (I am also kind of a history nerd) and were used quite often for watering plants. People had standing water around and rather than trying to lug that about they would use this device to move water.  If you ever did the straw trick as a kid, this works the same way.  By sealing the top of a Chantepleurewith your finger it stops the air above the water from exerting force which leaves only the upward force of air from below which is stronger than gravity, therefore essentially trapping the water inside the pot. Release your finger and the air pressure from above does its thing, seal it off again and the water is trapped once more.   

I will admit that at first, when I made them, I thought they were a little silly and just sort of a fun way to water because, lets be honest, who really has any standing water lying about anymore. However, now that I have used it, it is a really handy way to water! I grab a pitcher, fill it up with water and let the Chantepleure do its thing. I am better able to control where the water goes rather than just dumping the water from the pitcher right into the pot. 

It is also a rather satisfying action. It slows the watering process down and these days, anything that slows me down I am really learning to embrace!