Like a Fish to Water

The beginnings of a barn are emerging at the farm! This will be the new location of my pottery shop, finally close to the kiln and out of my house!

This has involved digging large holes to pour concrete footers for the piers of the barn. Allow me to introduce you to a useful tool here in North Carolina. This is a spud bar or a pry bar (not the man, but the item in his hands):

In North Carolina it is also called a post hole digger. When you hear "post hole digger" you might think of this item in the hands of the man with short shorts in this photograph (on the left):

However, in North Carolina, that item in the photograph above is more of a "Yankee Contraption" (as my brother says), used in a land where the topsoil is thick and the clay is not less than 10 inches below the surface. In the land of clay, the spud bar/pry bar becomes the post hole digger!
So what was my reward for helping dig said large holes that were 24-30 inches wide and 24 inches deep?

Clay! Glorious clay! I think clay is to a potter like fish is to water- natural and unable to exist without the other. The farm does not have any red clay that we have yet found, but rather seams of gorgeous, smooth yellow and gray clay. I have carted off several hundred pounds thus far and intend to keep collecting. I don't have intentions of using the clay to make pots, but rather to experiment with it in order to see what a glaze will look like with a few additional materials.

The above photograph is an exciting preview into a new project I will announce next week. I am really excited and hope you will stay tuned!