Was it worth the sweating and swearing?

Yes I think it was.

Mark says there was a little trouble setting reduction.
I can see that most of the glazes loved being reduced more with the exception of one.
It seems to have reduced right off the pot. It's okay, no real worries there.
We are pretty happy with the new way to load the top of the kiln. Maybe next load there will be no S&S.
Cheers!
M

While the cats away

 the mouse stays busy making pots.
Mark has been steadily working on the days that I am gone to teach.
He has made pots, but is kind enough to wait for me to make some before he fires the large gas kiln.
While he waits for me to get some pots made he has glazed and loaded the small gas kiln with some pots.
We added some test glazes to this load in order to figure out if we could come up with something that would work on the bottom shelf. We both figure that lowering the glaze melting temperature might be the only way to fire this kiln. We tested a few cone 8-9ish glazes to see if those would work on the bottom.
It is frustrating to have most of the pots down there come out under fired. We either have to fire them again in the large kiln or hit them over the head with a hammer.

If we ever get this kiln worked out for firing it would be a  good way for Mark to fire smaller loads and not even wait for me.
 I have one day left in the summer semester then I am off for 3 1/2 weeks.
I have a lot of things to catch up on during that time.
Let's see how well I do.

Blueberries are here.
Just in case you missed this recipe because you hate facebook, TB, I am posting here as well.

Blueberry Crumb, no, I did not follow the recipe, more like a crisp, very tasty!

Preheat oven to 375
Filling:
1 tsp butter. I used a Tbs. ( I know shoot me)
2 pt.blueberries, I used what the pan could hold- somewhere between 5-6 cups
1/2 cup sugar, I used 1/4th and I used brown sugar
1 TBS. cornstarch, I did this once and don't like the flavor, I used 1 TBS. flour
1/2 cup apple cider, I used one fresh lemon with 1/4th cup water.
1 tsp. vanilla extract, I added 1/2 tsp lemon extract as well.
Plus: 1 good size tsp. cinnamon

Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour, I used 3/4 cup and 1/4 almond meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, I used 1/2 brown and 1/4 raw
6 TBS. butter- yep!
1/2 cup rolled old fashion oats.

 Put the butter in your pan- 8x8  works well mine is larger since I use more berries, and rub it all over the pan.
Make the filling and gently fold it all together, set it aside.
Then before you make topping add to pan.

Make the topping, get your hands in there and make crumbs until it is like peas.
Dump that goodness on top and bake 30 minutes.
I turned the oven back to 350 after 5 minutes and added another 5 minutes to my bake time.
You want those berries to bubble.

Cool enough to eat.
You can cool and eat with good ice cream or you can make this:
1/2 container of good, the real stuff, yogurt.
Take it and strain it through about 3 coffee filters by placing it in a berry bowl ( Made by yours truly),set over a bowl, until most of the water drains out.
It should be nice and thick.
You can now add my favorite maple syrup, or brown sugar to taste ( my taste is 3 TBS.- less if using sugar), then hit it with more cinnamon.
This is a great topping for any pie or fruit.
You really want to kick it up add about 1/4 cup cream.

Next up we are going to talk about making jam.
Are you in?
M

Me, do you want cake or cookies for your birthday?

Him, " I don't need a cake."

I think I can figure that one out.
There are a batch of cowboy cookies resting in the refrigerator for me to bake later.

On another note, we played tag with the weather while we figured out the best day to fire the kiln. I think we found it would be today even though it is his birthday. He was up, not at the crack of dawn, but somewhere around 1 am to start the kiln. I did not notice until I woke up cold and alone at 5 am.

The plan was to load part  of the kiln yesterday and then finish off today making it 2 easy days. Then as I was listening to the radio they talked about today being a good day weather wise with winds moving back in on Thursday. Time to crank it up and change the plan. We just kept up the pace and had the kiln loaded with the door bricked by 4:30.

 Here is the back stack waiting for the "crown pots" to be placed. This one was a 17 inch crown.

Today it is his birthday and although a person should get the day off on their birthday he has a witch of a boss and working it is.

To help him through the firing there will be cookies. What else could a person want???

A little bit of a close up shot of mugs and things.

Middle stack in and ready time for a break.

A closer look.
Wee teapots, fingers crossed that they come up and the top ash glaze does not run too much.

Me, " Oh! I forgot to take a picture of the front stack!"

Him, " Too late!"

Fire today, cool down Thursday, Friday, open on Saturday.

Come on over and  we will let you help.




Happy Birthday Cowboy!
XXOO,
M

Unloading the kiln

Mark took out this plate and I wanted a quick shot- funny the only wall space was next to this wall vase which still  has a patina of smoke on it.
There were a lot of pots that were coated with smoke and creosote from the fire.
The best part was most of the pots just needed to be run through a bisque fire to burn that all away.
But this piece, a commercial wall vase, took on a look we like so we keep it smoke and all.

Back to the kiln load.
Most all was good and it is sanded, priced and in the studio.
I did lose a jar to the green crawl......

Who knows why- the lid came out great and this glaze did not crawl on anything else.
Who knows- I guess you have to sacrifice something up to the kiln gods.

So here is Mark's plate without company.
The electric kin is cooling.
Fingers crossed, I have some of sister Lee's first tiles inside.
The pressure in on!