Curse and a Blessing

Yesterday I thought I was on top of things. I had a work meeting in the morning and then was just going to finish up a few planter dishes to tuck under the shelves in the kiln. Then it dawned on me that I had not made garlic dishes. It is a blessing that I single fire the ware in my kiln. This means that I do not bisque fire the pots before they go into the final firing. It makes for a little slower firing overall, but I enjoy the process. It also allows me to sometimes make these last minute items that have slipped my mind. It is a curse because I don't hold myself to extremely strict deadlines of when I can and cannot be working on wet work to put in the kiln. I seem to keep pushing it every so often, and though I have not regretted it yet (knock on wood), I'm waiting for the day I learn a lesson about when something is not quite dry enough for a single firing.

Ice on grass

Ice on the rose bush

Another instance of a blessing and a curse was today. I woke up to a sheet of ice on everything and obviously was not going to get out to the kiln in the morning to start loading. Luckily (my blessing) I gave myself three days to load knowing that things would come up.

I made it to the farm this afternoon and started loading the kiln. The Catawba Valley Pottery and Antiques Festival is the 28th and 29th!