Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Lawnmower




Monday, 9/28/09:

I left the mower fully gassed and ready to go while I took my afternoon break, but no one came along to finish the mowing. I had to complete the job myself. The garden area is mowed. The garden takes as long to mow as all the rest of our yard put together. There are so many obstructions to mow around or move -- then, there's the narrow strip between the electric fence and barbed wire fence. Mowing in a confined area in the proximity of barbed wire almost always results in bleeding.

Cooler and dryer today. The temperature only made it up to 80°F/27ºC and the relative humidity hovered around 50%. When the sun started setting, the temperature dropped rapidly and was down to 52°F/11ºC by midnight. Walking over to the studio to start a kiln firing was kind of chilly in my t-shirt and cutoffs.



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Monday, September 28, 2009

Jimson Weed Seedpod




Jimson Weed seed pod.

From Wikipedia: Datura stramonium, known by the common names jimson weed, angel's trumpet, devil's weed, thorn apple, tolguacha, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, datura, moonflower, and, in South Africa, malpitte and mad seeds is, along with Datura metel (zombie cucumber), a common weed in the Solanaceae (the nightshade family). It contains tropane alkaloids that are sometimes used as a hallucinogen. The active ingredients are atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine which are classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics. Due to the elevated risk of overdose in uninformed users, many hospitalizations, and some deaths, are reported from recreational use.


Sunday, 9/27/09:

Sunday was another good day for being outside. I mowed again. With any luck, I might be able to finish the garden area tomorrow. Jo finished weeding our fall garden bed.

During the evening, I replaced the washing machine supply hoses. The hose on the hot water side sprang a leak while Jo was washing this morning. (A good reminder that one really should shut off the washing machine water supply valves when leaving on a trip.) I also replace the top thermostat on our hot water heater. Most of the time, it worked fine, but every once in a while the water coming out of our hot water heater was way too hot.

Another cold front is on the way down. It's approach caused a moderately gusty south wind and rapidly rising temperatures today. The temp climbed all the way up to 86°F/30°C and was still 77°F/25°C at midnight. The approaching front is not forecast to be dry.



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Sunday, September 27, 2009

A Beautiful Saturday




We're on a roll: Two beautiful fall days in a row.

Our skies clouded up some during the middle of the afternoon, but cleared again by sunset. Jo did some weeding in our fall garden bed in addition to unloading her kiln, glazing pots and getting the kiln loaded for a glaze firing. I cranked up the lawnmower. Mowing was slow going out in the garden due to the tall grass that was still damp. I had to set my mower up to cut as high as it would cut and make one pass -- then, lower to the normal level and mow again. Having to use that method meant I didn't nearly get finished mowing the garden. I did also mow the clothesline area where the grass was neither as tall nor as damp.




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Friday, September 25, 2009

Zinnia Jungle




Here at season's end our zinnias are beginning to look a little tired, but are still producing a few new bloom. Every year the zinnias reseed themselves. Of course, they don't always sprout exactly where we want them, but we let as many grow as possible. In the beginning of the season, I try to keep them contained and keep the path between beds open, but by season's end they've multiplied, grown tall, fallen over and have become a zinnia jungle.


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Sheep




A pair of sheep were in the pen next to the kiln at the Ozark Folk Center when we fired the kiln. (I have no idea what breed they are.) They didn't seem to mind that we kept them up all night, but I doubt they appreciated the numerous jokes made about roast mutton.





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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Garden 2009: Fall Garden




We planted a small fall garden for the first time in several years. It's doing well, but we're getting way behind with routine garden upkeep because our weather has been so wet. There are places where water is still standing out in the garden.




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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Groundhog Kiln Firing #5



John and Jo are preparing to start the warming fires in the three air intake ports at the front of the kiln. John appears momentarily distracted by an interesting newspaper article.




Kai does the honors of lighting the first fire.




Jo takes her turn at fire lighting.




John helps the fire along.




Once the fires in the air intake ports are going, John bricks up the kiln door.




After the fires in the air intake ports have warmed the kiln and built up a few coals, we'll start adding wood to the firebox which is right behind them.




While the cones ultimately determine the progress of the firing, a pyrometer is useful for getting a quick look at what's going on inside the kiln. We had pyrometers taking temperature reading at various locations in the kiln.  This is the temperature not long after the fires were started around 11:00 AM on Saturday.


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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Groundhog Kiln Firing #4


Judi Munn inside the kiln adding a few more pots to the kiln load. Judi is actually in the kiln firebox. Below her is a metal grate with a couple of boards laid on top. Marvel, one of the other potters participating in this firing, looks on.


Judi climbing out of the kiln. A BEFORE shot of Judi. See here for a photo of Judi AFTER the firing is completed.


A shot of the kiln showing one of the stoking ports. There is a stoking port above the firebox on both sides of the kiln.

During the firing, stoking alternates from side to side. One stoker adds wood, then when the stoker on the other side hears the opposite stoking door close, he/she opens the door on his/her side and also adds wood. Stoking alternates from side to side for safety. A hefty toss could send (has sent) wood straight through the firebox and out the opposite stoking door if both were open at the same time. Throwing wood at your fellow stoker is frowned upon in polite kiln-firing circles, especially considering that after the firing is going good, the wood will ignite on its way through the kiln.

One of the things that's always amazed me about the construction of all conventional wood and gas fired kilns is that they are made with dry stacked brinks. No mortar could hold up to all the expansion and contraction that occurs. Angle iron at the corners and a system of chain and turnbuckles binds the kiln together. The roof is constructed the same way kiln roofs have been for a few thousand years. It is an arch. During construction bricks are stacked on top of a wooden form. Once the keystones are in place, the form is removed and gravity holds everything together.


A view of the pots inside the kiln taken through one of the stoking ports. During the firing wood momentarily rested on the bricks surrounding the port while getting a better grip for tossing will ignite. The stoker is standing only a couple of feet away from this very hot brick. It's hot work.


The last pot is finally loaded and John is building the bag wall. The bag wall reduces the amount of flame from the firebox that goes straight back onto the pots in front of the kiln. 


The completed bag wall. We're finally ready to fire up the kiln.



A larger version of all photos is available by clicking on the photo.


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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Carved Razorback Hog



Low fat, high fiber pork is available at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR.



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Monday, September 14, 2009

Groundhog Kiln Firing #3


The kiln shed at the Ozark Folk Center State Part in Mountain View, Arkansas.  I was thankful the kiln is under a shed as numerous thunderstorms passed over Friday evening while the firing was in progress.  Off and on drizzle continued Saturday morning.  Of course, the shed also protects the kiln from the elements during the rest of the year when it is not in use.


Judi Munn, John Perry and their son, Kai.  Judi and John are the potters at the Ozark Folk Center.  Judi is putting the waddings on the bottom of a pot.


A kiln load of glazed pots ready for firing.  One of the downsides of such a large kiln is test firings are not possible.  The potters work for weeks throwing pots, bisque firing and glazing.  If something goes wrong with the firing or if there is something wrong with the clay body or glazes, all that work goes down the tubes at one time.  Judi and John lost an entire kiln load of pots during an earlier firing.  The clay they used was contaminated causing it to bubble and blister during the firing, a heartbreaking discovery to find when opening the kiln up after a firing.


A close up of some of the pots in this kiln load, including three of Jo's funky bud vases.  Jo brought several of her bud vases to the firing because she knew they'd be easy to work into place amongst the rest of the pots.  John and Judi had the kiln mostly filled with their work before the other potters arrived.  This prevented a last-minute rush and chaos while completing the loading.

Note that most of the pots only have glaze applied to their rims and none are glazed all the way down to the base.  The front is the hottest part of the kiln.  Were a fully glazed pot fired in this area, most of the glaze would melt and drip off onto the kiln shelf.  During the firing, these pots will be glazed with molten wood ash.


The front cone pack.  Pyrometric cones are pyrometric devices that are used to gauge heatwork during the firing of ceramic materials. The cones are positioned in a kiln with the wares to be fired and provide a visual indication of when the wares have reached a required state of maturity, a combination of time and temperature. Thus, pyrometric cones give a temperature equivalent, they are not simple temperature-measuring devices.

The pyrometric cone is a pyramid with a triangular base and of a defined shape and size; the "cone" is shaped from a carefully proportioned and uniformly mixed batch of ceramic materials so that when it is heated under stated conditions, it will bend due to softening, the tip of the cone becoming level with the base at a definitive temperature.  (Wikipedia)

A cone pack for firing a smaller kiln usually contains three cones:  The cone you intend to reach and one step below and above.  The temperatures within this large kiln varied (hotter in front, cooler in back), hence more cones in the cone pack.  As Jo remembers it, the front of the kiln reached Cone 13 while the back only got up to Cone 8 -- more are less.  (Cone temperature conversion chart)  Because this front cone pack is in the very hottest part of the kiln, it's useless for judging the maturity of the kiln load.  It functions more as an early warning system letting you know when to start paying more attention to the cones place in several locations elsewhere in the kiln.

During the firing, the cone packs are viewed through peepholes (removable bricks).  After the firing gets going good, you must view the cones through a welder's-type filter lens.  For one thing, everything is glowing white hot and the cones are difficult to see without the lens.  More importantly, without the lens eye damage is possible.


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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Groundhog Kiln Firing #2

Jo and I recently participated in firing the Groundhog Kiln over at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, AR. The kiln was built in 2002 and is similar to the kilns used in the South in the 1800s and early 1900s when pottery jugs and crocks were the containers used for storing most liquid items. John Perry and Judi Munn are the potters at the Ozark Folk Center. (Click on photos for larger view.)



White glue is applied to the bottom of the pot. It holds the wadding in place prior to the firing.



Jo presses the wadding into the white glue on the bottom of the pot. Wadding is a porous and pliable clay mixture that forms "feet" for the pots during the firing.



All three wadding "feet" applied to the bottom of the pot. Without the wadding, the wood ash would fuse the pot to the kiln shelf during the firings. Waddings are easily removed after the firing.



Part of the wood used during the firing. It is scrap from the local handle mill. We ended up not having enough wood on hand forcing John to scramble for more wood during the early morning hours. (John and Judi's glazed pots that would not fit into the kiln for this firing are in the background.)



Jo is leveling a bowl after applying its wadding feet.


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Friday, September 11, 2009

Groundhog Kiln Firing #1

Jo and I recently participated in firing the Groundhog Kiln over at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, AR. The kiln was built in 2002 and is similar to the kilns used in the South in the 1800s and early 1900s when pottery jugs and crocks were the containers used for storing most liquid items. John Perry and Judi Munn are the potters at the Ozark Folk Center. (Click on photos for larger view.)






Sign describing the kiln, its history and the firing process.










Jo brought over a few pots to including in the firing. The first step was getting them glaze. The glaze had been sitting for a while and needed stirred. She's pouring the glaze through a sieve to help break apart the solids that coalesced into globs.













Jo, Burt and Judi glazing having too much fun glazing pots. Judi is "on duty" at the Folk Center and required to wear traditional dress. Burt is another potter participating in this firing.










Jo and Burt are trying a different glaze.















Jo's pots are glazed and ready for the next step.












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Monday, September 7, 2009

Begging For Zucchini




What happens when you take a short trip and leave the garden unattended for a couple of days? Monster zucchinis try to take over the place. Rusty and Bucket like raw zucchini and know Jo usually gives them a slice of the overgrown squash before tossing the rest in the compost. They are waiting not very patiently for their treat.

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