"Nothing Says Lovin'...

..Like Something Fresh From The Oven". This fine looking set of oval bakers just came out today. Notice they have a "grill" pattern in the bottom which makes baking fish a little nicer.

Even after all this time I still try different cycles of working to see what works best. Since I have not been firing the wood kiln, I was trying to do a more 7 to 10 day cycle, throw a load, bisque, glaze, fire. Lately it has been drifting to more of a wood type cycle, even though it is all gas fired. Throw a whole lot, fill the shelves, then set up to bisque, bisque, fire, fire til they are all gone. I have fired two *10's in the last two days and will at least fire another Wednesday (maybe one more Thursday if needed). That longer cycle is what I was used to for lo' that many years, and maybe it is still the best for me. Time will tell.

If the slip trailed plates turn out, I will post pictures in a few days.

Shop is getting a crowd as weather lets up. Thanks to everyone for their support.

Rite of Spring

About this time every year, its time to get ready for the upcoming season, so out come the bags, the scales, the screens, the buckets, and the chemicals. I go through all the old glazes, clean and screen, add fresh, discard the old, make some tests, and do an inventory of dry goods. Went to Highwater last week and brought home about 600 pounds of dry goods, so that is set. Decided to move up to these nice 20 gallon Rubbermaid barrels. The old 5 gallons work real well for liners and small dips, but these babies are 16" diameter at the bottom meaning I won't have to be pouring glaze from pan to pan.

Ok, clean up time. Weather has turned real nice, surely the worst of winter is behind us. Wood kiln should be ready for a pre-Easter firing, people are getting out and dropping by the new shop, so here we go.

Progress

Progress on several fronts really.

Shane needed his saw back (understandably s0), so with that motivation and a little good weather the kiln rebuild made a nice jump. Got down to the last bit of brickwork, relaid the block steps for both chambers, hauled away some rubble and trash, and broke out the hose to wash things down. The end is in sight, and hope to fire in April as spring comes on.

Hopefully spring is coming. Starting to have a few decent days mixed in with the cold. At this point I would say last winter was worse overall, but the first two weeks this year were tough.

Shop is improving and filling up, please stop by and see us. Thanks to everyone for their support.