2 a.m.!!

Was the time that the noise stopped this morning... shouting, cars, arguing, singing.....
That put paid to a bright and early start!!

Four loads of washing dried, twenty feet of potatoes lifted and a dozen ponies found and the foals photographed.

I suppose a lot did get done after all!

Now for supper and at least prepare for throwing,

I have been racking my brains to think of what to make as christmas decorations.......

A week off (sort of)

This week I am having a week off pots, a week off housework and a week off gardening.

I'm not 100% sure about not doing the pots and gardening, but the Oily One and the Carpenter need to get into the habit of doing housework.

This week I am a commisaire at the British Junior Track National Championships...an official in other words!
I am assisting with accreditation, where they sign on to say they are here, hand over their racing licence and receive programme, number, pass and pins. Then they sign on for each event that they have pre-entered.
We also field all sorts of queries, answer those we can and pass on the rest to those who can.

At the end of each afternoon session we all return to the hotel that most are staying at for the week and freshen up and change.

After a while we all go out to have supper together, in a different hostelry each night, depending upon the special offers!! The Team is nearly twenty strong, we have a good couple of hours talking and eating before returning ready to rest and start again at eight the next morning.

paperwork

Aargh!!

Playing catchup after being ill is no joke (neither was food poisoning, picked up via hand contact with not very scrupulous people).

I know I don't make enough to pay tax....but I want to get it right, so I wont make mistakes when I DO sell expensive pots....and lots of inexpensive ones too!!

Another firing

Firings fast and furious!

I found that if you light the kiln at 4am....watch it like a hawk, checking every 15 minutes (mostly)....you can reach cone 10 softening and soak and be turning off at 11am....

Then crack open the door just before 10pm......

then it will be 36 decrees C at 6am!!!!

Unpack onto wareboards, then pack into bubblewrap and box up, before leaving for market just after 7am!!

I must admit I packed breakfast and eat it after I'd set up and priced the new pots!!

The zinger of a dark blue glaze fired very well, and sales were good too.

The rain arrived just after we had all packed up which meant that sales were good this week.

Then off to Brecon to deliver MORE sheep to Beacons Crafts co-operative and another twenty miles to Abergavenny.

I had a peaceful half hour there battwashing shelves ready for the next Saltglaze firing in September before braving another twenty miles of rain and traffic

Fresh Pots

assorted bowls
puffin jugs, milk and cream size
pelican jug, 1 litre size
Blue!!!!! unfortunately all the small ones got over cooked
coffee time!!

I'm still struggling to fire evenly, and I tend to overcook the bottom back, and the very top front gets a bit underdone.

I'm experimenting with the secondary air, and still use a small pressure from the gas bottle.
I think it might be better to fire with two (47kg) bottles, but at £45 each.....I am getting two bisque and two glaze firings from each bottle so not bad atall.

Keep on learning.

I should be able to crack the door open late tonight and hopefully take some really fresh pots to market tomorrow!!

kiln firing!!

Again!!

Less evenly than I'd hoped, and now two days later I'm glaze firing again.

Not far off temperature, so I'm hoping I might just get some out before going to Hay on Wye market tomorrow!!

kilnfiring and potselling

I am learning how to fire the kiln evenly at last! Two bisques have been done, now tomorrow I have to get my sheep head quota made then set to glazing a kiln ful of pots- firing Monday I hope.

I'm slowly building up stock for sales before christmas and a couple of exhibitions. Meanwhile sales have slowed down due to the chilly August weather and the chilly financial times.
I need to break into the "right" gallery somewhere....everyone says how they like my pots, and that they are well made.....
Other sales are picking up slowly, but everything is painfully slow.

It isn't easy to concentrate when one's own financial situation is a bit shaky. The sheep making job can't last much longer, and there is no other square hole this square peg could fit in a couple of days a week!

Hay on Wye- Y Gelli Gandryll

Today I sold a lot of sheep- and some pots. Ho Hum!!

Be thankful for small mercies, etc..

Beacons Crafts, the makers' co-operative in Brecon has just accepted us as members, so I delivered 40 small sheep today, ready for this weekend's Brecon Jazz Festival.

At least if they sell well my job in St. Ffagans will last a little longer.

at last

The Oily One has a new job as a cycle mechanic, starting on Wednesday.
Relief and congratulations.