busy week

On Monday the sheep heads were done bright and early. Which is more than can be said for the weather...it was foggy and chill, so I went by the steep lanes from Risca via Lisvane to St Ffagan.
It was still cloudy when I finished there, but gradually lifted as I drove home, then suddenly by Risca...sunshine!!
The kiln was ready so the glaze firing started by 1.30pm!

The Carpenter had ridden well in the Bristol Polo tournament, his team coming 8th(?) which was a good result. He has a few scrapes and bruises and a nasty cold as souvenirs, therefore a lift to work was deserved on Tuesday morning! On to finish the sheep, and that is sheep making finished for now until more stock is needed. At least the day wasn't so grey as Monday and again the sun came out as I reached home!

Kiln unpacking was a little disappointing, as the new black glaze turned out a dark brown. An interesting dark brown...so this needs working on. Perhaps I underfired a little in trying not to overfire as I did on the previous glaze firing. The new red just isn't working which meant mixing a batch of the usual red glaze.

Packing for the next firing started straight away! The platters are in this time! Hopefully the old red glaze will test ok, and the last firing will be mostly red!

Today the kiln went on as dawn broke, still misty, to the sound of birds singing. The traffic noise soon drowned that out, but it was lovely to start with. The mist is hanging on, but with any luck it will lift later. Tredegar (fifteen miles away) was the hottest place in Britain yesterday, at 15 degrees C ! I'm itching to get back on the allotment, but firing the kiln comes first.