Kiln cooling, tiles drying

Before we left town to be with Anna and welcome baby girl, Mara  Jade,to the family we rolled out some of the tiles for the back splash.  I had figured out that covered tight they would wait until we were back to add the pattern and carve.
After loading up the kiln the other day I uncovered the tiles and put them out for another section of the pattern.
They were at a good stage, but dryer then I would like to work on alone.
Mark jumped in to help one day and then I called my wonderful assistance and sister Lee.
The best part about doing this project with her is sharing the work as well.
When she has some free time she just packs a bag heads over and helps me.
( plus she brings artichokes and avocados, my two favorite food in the A list!)
It also gives her time to work on her own series of tiles.
In cause you have missed it, she drew a giraffe a day for the moth of May.
They are a lot of fun and I think she needs to put some of them together as a dinner party or back yard cook out. They all have such different personalities.
So yesterday while most folks were cooking out, spending time with loved ones and remembering family we set out to finish up a section of the tiles.
It feels pretty good to see things moving along.
These are now under plastic and towels and just hanging out to dry slowly.
This will give me time to finish glazing some pots for a cone 6 load.

I just checked on the big kiln and the temperature is just over 800 degrees.
It will still take all day tomorrow for it to cool down  and it will be Thursday before we unload.
I did take a look through the peep bricks and all seems good.
We had loaded the kiln, checked the weather and all look great for Monday.
Well Sunday fooled us and was calm and no winds.
I hate when that happens because we all know that you don't get that twice.
It seems that the weather stalled and we were in for some storms yesterday.
One moved in with quite a bit of wind and Mark and I were out there to make sure things were as well protected as possible and hope for the best.
The wind can really play havoc with the glazes.
At one point I was holding  the tarp and the wind was trying to whip it away.
I thought I was going for a ride.
We secured it all blocked what we could and waited for the storm to pass through.
It came and went and just left rain pouring down and no wind.
YEA!- then about 3:30 this morning a big storm came in and dropped bucket loads of rain.
That can be a problem right after we have fired if the drainage around the kiln is not clean.
Mark took the time before he fired and raked out all the leaves and debris that had built up. Good move on his part.
We have watch steam rise like fog off the kiln before.
We have been lucky.
We had a friend who had rain from a storm run under the kiln and brake every pot in the load.
So today with tiles resting, kiln cooling and the storms gone for now things seem pretty good.
Anyone up for a cold one?