We all know what it is, even if it's something a little different for each of us -- and no, we're not talking about the oh-so-cleverly named coffee place down the street.

For some, it's 9 to 5. For others, 8-4 or midnight to 8 (it was not one of my favorite shifts).

And it could be Monday-Friday or Tuesday-Saturday or, in some unfortunate cases, Thursday-Monday.

You know, the work week spent chasing the American dream.

And it's not at all the grind we're talking about.

Instead, we're talking about the grinding Marcia did one day to transform a rather plain clay pot into something striking and unique.

It started when we spied a white pot that we immediately fell in love with. The pot itself was rather nondescript and not really a good fit in our garden, but it had something special we just could not resist.

Now, before you get all judgmental -- why buy something just to change it? -- this bears repeating, slowly:

I don't care what something costs originally, 70 percent off is too good a deal to pass up.

It's like half off, then 20 percent more off on top of that. And yes, math majors, I do realize it's not quite the same thing.

Anyhow, when Marcia bought the pot, she already had an idea of what she would do with it.

So it came to pass that, on a Monday, grinder in hand, she began the transformation.

While I was at my day job, partaking in the daily grind.

I am always on the lookout for a beautiful pot and a good deal, but not necessarily in that order.

This pot came into my life because it was both, but it was also very, very white; so white that it wouldn't fit into most landscapes.

I loved its shape, quality and price and I thought what the heck, I'll experiment with it and if I wreck it, I'm only out $21.

I was a ceramics major so I knew it was thick, solid, excellent quality stoneware from looking at the interior, and I thought I would try grinding the white glaze off of it, leaving a textured surface.

I tested the glaze for lead with a kit I bought from our local hardware store, and even though it didn't have lead, it could have other nasty metals in it, so I covered myself from head to toe like a Puritan at a bachelor party. In spite of the 90-degree weather, the only thing you could see were parts of my face peeking through.

I used a hand-held 4" angle grinder and first tried a 100-grit concrete polishing pad, but decided that wasn't giving me the texture I wanted, so I switched to a diamond grinding wheel.

The wheel is a lot more heavy duty, so be careful, because it could grind a hole right through your pot in a flash. Experiment on the bottom of your pot first to get a feel for what you want.

I wouldn't recommend using this technique on terra cotta, porcelain or low-fire ceramics, but instead only on thick, higher-fired stoneware pots.

I really enjoyed this project. It took all of 45 minutes and, after planting it with a few succulents, it transformed a very, very white pot into something very unique.

In fact, it will be auctioned off for a very good cause at this year's Impact Northwest Garden Party.

1. Use a thick-walled, stoneware pot. Do not use terra cotta, porcelain or low-fired pots, which would probably chip or break.

2. Test for lead with a kit from your local hardware store. Do not grind anything with lead in it.

3. Use a 4" hand-held grinder with either diamond polishing pads or a diamond grinding wheel. The pads come in different grits just like sandpaper. I tried a 100-grit pad and it wasn't giving me the texture I wanted, so I used a wheel instead. The pads and wheel can be bought at some hardware stores or online and are usually used for polishing and grinding concrete counter tops.

4. Use a mask, eye and ear protection and cover yourself from head to toe like a Puritan at a bachelorette party. I even used disposable nitrile gloves.

5. Put the pot on an elevated surface upside-down and experiment on the bottom of the pot first. From there, decide whether you want to use pads or the more aggressive grinding wheel, and slowly work your way around the pot. Flip the pot top-side-up and finish it by either grinding off all the glaze or doing what I did and making a pattern in the glaze.

6. Hose everything down thoroughly and plant your pot.

What: A benefit for Impact NW, a home-grown non-profit organization that serves 30,000 people a year with services that take on critical needs such as homelessness, domestic violence and employment. The event includes farm-fresh food, live auction, garden container contest, locals wines and craft beers.

When: Sept. 9, 5-9 p.m.

Where: Portland Nursery, 9000 S.E. Division St.

Online: For more information, including purchasing tickets, go to

Marcia Westcott Peck is a landscape designer (

) and Dennis Peck is a senior editor at The Oregonian/OregonLive.

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