Loaded and Fired

Last Wednesday was my loading day. It all started early...9:30 am at the kiln. Too much snow to get my little honda up the hill so it took some time walking all the boxes of pots up to the kiln...which was ok, because the activity kept me warm in the cold air. I think it had to be in the high teens as far as the temperature. One of the highlights of the processes was the realization that everything was freezing.. from the glue, to the wadding and even my beer. I had a nice fire goin next to the kiln and Crista was there to help me as much as she could. It took a long time to finish up but we had the kiln burning wood by 7pm. Matt volunteered to take the over night shift, which I happily agreed to. I asked if he'd wake me up at 3 am which I felt would give me enough sleep to complete the rest of the 22 hour firing. Matt let me sleep until 8:30... so I was fresh as a daisy with a whole day of firing ahead of me. Scott came and went a few times, mostly the two of us yacking away between stokes. The pine I was firing with was nice and dry. It was, again, a pleasure to fire this little kiln. I think I've got it dialed pretty well. So it was a 22 hour firing and two pounds of salt when cone 9 was bending. I held it for a bit longer and when I saw 11 going down on the top I said that's enough. Unloading probably this Saturday- I hope.. or maybe Sunday.