First Bisque Firing

My good friend, Lee drove down from Nebraska for a visit this past week. He is a fun loving person and always a joy to spend time with. He is also very handy and helped me with a couple of things around the house (which I am very grateful for!). He installed hooks at the back of the shop to hang the ladder, extension cords and other tools on; he changed the water filter (I wasn’t strong enough to unscrew it, ugh!); and he added a few more shelves in the shop to store pots. Thanks, Lee!

I fired the first bisque firing in the new studio while he was here. Happy to report the old electric Cress kiln still fires perfectly and none of the pots broke or exploded. : )

I have been reading Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques by Watkins and Wandless. I had mentioned to Lee I was thinking of trying to fire in a barrel or pit, so (being the utterly sweet person that he is) he brought me a barrel. Have any of you done a pit or barrel firing? …the sunrise this cold and windy morning.

The sunshine was beckoning us…

…so I set aside the “to do” list and Brandy and I hiked around our place.
There is a dilapidated house on one corner of the property with a huge mulberry tree in front that buzzards like to perch in. It was built in the early 70’s when this used to be a pig farm and still has a couple of iron beds and antique trunks inside.
Below the house is a year round spring with dozens of trails leading to it. I keep thinking it would be fun to camp out there to see all the animals that come to drink at the spring, but, knowing there are bears, and coyotes, and bobcats (Oh, my!) on the property, we’ll leave that to someone braver.
Can you see the buck? Without a zoom on my camera, he is a little hard to make out. Nice of him to wait for me to get the camera out of the fanny pack to take a picture of him. Brandy was good and heeled when I asked. She understands that when I say an animal is our friend, she isn’t supposed to chase it, though I get tickled because she looks up at me quizzically as if to ask “Are you sure the deer is our friend?”
It sounds like all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families as did I. I had begun a post with a list of things I am thankful for (my beloved family foremost), but couldn’t seem to find an end to the list. : )

Thank you for all your wonderful blogs and for the fun, thoughtful and inspiring posts/comments! You all continually brighten my days!

I am planning on staying with my parents for awhile, so if you don’t hear from me…

Sweet Moments...

I love my studio! Lots of sunshine and the tables Dad/Mom made from scrap lumber are perfect! (Thought I better post a picture of the throwing area before everything is completely covered in clay) Still slowly working my way into throwing, but I think it is going well overall. Had a lovely visit with my parents today – I hope they know how special they are to me.

Last night Brandy asked to go outside at 3:00 am. It was a moonless night and not too chilly, so I stepped into some shoes, put on a jacket and we walked to the meadow to gaze at the stars. Brandy, in her loving way, pressed against me and I ran my hands through her thick, warm, soft fur. Enveloped in silence, I reflected on this big, wonderful universe as a shooting star streaked across the sky. A sweet moment I am happy I was present for.

Wishing you all days filled with sweet moments!