Saturday, June 15

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

A very busy day at the Raku firing day that my pottery group does each year. It's quite an event, held at our craft center President's home. The pieces are made, dried, and bisque fired (the initial firing, done without glaze) first at the studio. They are glazed and fired in a low-fire propane kiln outside, pulled out of the kiln with tongs while they are still red hot and placed under a steel pail with sawdust and newspaper, so that the glaze matures in an oxygen depleted environment. The brilliant colours and metallic finish develop in about 15 minutes. It's very different from regular pottery in that the clay is never fired hot enough to truly vitrify, thus they are not food safe, but there is a certain rustic appeal to them that is very attractive.

I made several items and was quite happy with them, and my husband had a bowl that came out as purely metal looking.

I am grateful that I have good relationships with the people at the pottery studio now for the most part, and though most of the people at Raku are from Monday night class (I am Tuesday), there is a building camaraderie with them, as I have now been to Raku firing three years in a row.

There was good food that I could eat at lunch. As it turns out, another woman that was there is also a vegetarian, and I think that it makes a difference when there is more than one person who is vegetarian in a group like this. People at least give more consideration to making sure there is something we can eat.

Being able to come home and sleep.

Getting my mare's foot soaked, and the poultice pad was once again full of stench from her draining abscess. At least this shows that it is draining. She is very comfortable now, and shows no lameness. I'm so very grateful that it wasn't laminitis.