Like Buttah

Or at least for buttah.



There are some more waiting to be fired (Briesa, that means one for you). Thanks to Jen, my instructor, for the idea & lid template.

I also have some pitchers in the works. After all, it is white wine spritzer season. Or iced tea I suppose. Sadly, no pitcher pictures yet.

Riding my bike to save the world!!!

Though I haven't posted much lately, I'm still alive and kicking. I've been going to pottery every Tuesday and have some things in the works, mostly handbuilt. Hopefully some will be finished soon and I can post pictures.

But, this post is not about pottery. In the next month I am going to be participating in two bike rides that are fundraisers for two causes near and dear to me. I will be doing the Ride for Autism and Bike MS: Beyond the Beltway. Friends and family have been affected by both of these conditions and I am glad that I can do my part in helping. Here is some more information about each event.

Ride for Autism

Autism is a developmental disability characterized by atypical, repetitive behaviors and deficits in social and communication skills. Current estimates suggest that 1 in 150 individuals in the United States (and 1 in 94 in New Jersey) are affected by autism. There is no known cure for autism at this time, but early diagnosis and intervention can be effective.

The Ride for Autism benefits Autism New Jersey. Autism New Jersey is a non-profit agency providing information and advocacy, services, family and professional education and consultation.

If you would like to contribute towards my fundraising for the Ride for Autism, please click here.

Bike MS: Beyond the Beltway

MS interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and wears away the control a person has over his or her body. When someone is diagnosed with MS, it can dramatically affect their future, their career, and their daily life.

All donations support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which funds more MS research, offers more services for people with MS, provides more professional education programs and furthers more MS advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. The National Capital Chapter of the National MS Society serves many thousands of people affected by MS in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

If you would like to contribute towards my fundraising for the Bike MS, please click here.

I know that times are tough these days, but anything you could do to help would be greatly appreaciated! Feel free to pass along this post to anyone that may be interested in helping.

Thanks everybody!!

Woodfire Unloading

It was a fantastic firing!!! Everyone had wonderful pieces come out of the kiln and we are all thankful for that. It was another hot day as we unloaded the hot kiln. I'll let the pictures tell the story (as always, click to enlarge). Hopefully soon I'll have some set shots of individual pots.

Thanks to John Thies and all of the other workshop participants for a great weekend and firing! I can't wait for my next one.

Woodfire - day 2

The firing went very well. We built up the coal bed from about 6AM until 8AM. Then we stoked every 10 minutes until 3PM. The last stoke was allowed to burn until 3:25 and we shut her down.
The only dicey moment was during that 25 minute period. We were all sitting a ways away from the kiln when we heard a horrible crash from the kiln area. My stomach flipped as I thought a shelf had collapsed in the kiln, but it was just a wood pile falling over behind the kiln. Whew!

We will unload on Tuesday. At this point I do not think that I will be able to be there for the unloading, which really sucks. It'l like watching Santa come and leave presents under the tree and not being able to open them. But maybe I can finagle something at work and be able to show up.

FYI, for those of you who read the woodland mystery post, I found out what it was. Nothing too exciting, just some non-hazardous resin from a water softener, no creeping crud in these parts!

Woodfire - Loading the kiln

The report from Monocacy Pottery...

Here's the first stack:
Here's the second stack:

And here's the third and final stack:
Then the door was bricked and sealed with slip soaked newspaper. Makes for a quick and easy seal.I'll be back at the kiln at 6:25 tomorrow morning to begin the fire in the firebox. More to follow!

Before & After

Ahhh, much better. (Thanks Michele!)

Now that the hairs are cut, I can worry about the woodfiring coming up this weekend. The pots are all slipped, glazed and in the car ready to head up to Monocacy Pottery. We load on Saturday and fire on Sunday. It is a quick kiln. John Thies will have warmed the kiln in the wee hours of the morning and we start with a small fire in the bottom of the firebox at 6AM. Proper stoking begins at 8 and we should be closing it up around 2 or 3 that afternoon. Hopefully we will be unloading on Tuesday. Plenty of pics to follow!

Officially Sprung - selections from our flowerbeds

Some adorable little narcissus, faces are 1 1/8" across.

Wood hyacinth (with some grape hyacinth in the background).

Various daffodils.