New Ducks

Our new arrivals, the Muscovies, taken just a few days after we got them, two and a half weeks ago. They are much bigger now!

Last weekend, Kevin and Oliver once again made a trip to the livestock auction, with Kevin returning home weith three stunning, fawn and white, India Runner Ducks (picture to follow when the weather gets a bit nicer).

There was initially some trouble: the muscovies were angry and kept attacking the runners, but by the next morning the tables were turned. Now the runners keep the muscovies out of the pond except at meal times. Since the runner are still wary of me, the muscovies eat while the runners stand a little way off. Once the muscovies are finished, I move out the way and the runners get a chance at the remains, while the clever muscovies get the opportunity to swim for a bit, before the runners once again snatch back their watery territory.

We have been ridding the garden of these horrible banana slugs. The ducks love them - it's like caviar or paté to one of us. Of course they find their own, but they don't have access to the whole yard, so any we find we take to them and they gorge themselves. It's quite ghastly to watch - the slime dribbles out of their beaks which they then have to wash off in the pond or the water trough. It's all protein I suppose, and I'd rather they ate them than have them in the garden, attacking my plants. And to think, one day we shall eat the ducks.

Glazing Pots

Well, today is the beginning of a glaze marathon. There are about 3 kiln loads of bisque, which is about 6-7 loads of glost (can't stack pots with glazes on them, they stick).

So, I started today. Hard part is remembering what I had in mind for some of these pots when I made them. I know some family members think I'm a bit odd, because I "talk" to my pots, but worse, they "talk" back. Well, it's more like a whisper really. When I make them, they let me know what they should look like when they are finished, even if I'm not always up to the task. I'm still a "Learner".

So today, I got one layer in, and some more pots with the insides done, and drying ready for tomorrow.

Schedule for Tomorrow

1. Feed the Husband (very important!)
   
2. Feed the ducks
3. Feed the chickens
4. Glaze, glaze, glaze!

Now for the end of the day ritual

Carpe Vinum!

Testing, Testing!

After the "farm" and "wine making" stuff of the weekend, it was good to get in the studio today. I spent most of my time doing some glaze tests - small pots with some layering of different glazes, hoping to find some magical combinations for the 3 or 4 kiln loads of bisque that is sitting there.

I have 3 nice combos already. A white with a Waterfall Brown (M^6G - RR & JH) on top. This is for a set of rice/cereal bowls and serving dish. Then for a set of mixing bowls, a dark green with Waterfall on top (by request). Another set of bowls will be a ^6 Blue Hare's fur with a thin overcoat of a sky blue - it mottles really nicely with some lovely runs.

I have some rather good matte glaze combinations, but I'm not yet sure how I am going to use them. They are not for everyone since many people don't like green for food service. I love green, but you have to make things that other people want sometimes.

Must remember to take the camera to the studio tomorrow. I love opening the kiln!

Winemaking Update

Well, last week we racked some wines - the Parsnip is fabulous, so I bought some more to make another batch. The mead (with raspberries) is also very nice, but this will take a few years to mature.

Sadly, the Peach got "Stuck", at least in Kevin's eyes. After doing a hydrometer check it turns out it's only about 1% sugar in one pail and less than 1% in the other. Kevin obviously has a low tolerance for sugar. While I usually prefer them dry, this one is really quite nice, especially chilled. However, to please the man, I attempted to restart them both. They are bubling, VERY slowly, so we shall just have to wait and see.

Once these are out of the pails, there is another 10 gallons of peach, 20 gallons of nectarine, and the other batch of parsnips to do.

The Farm is getting bigger!

Yesterday, Kevin went to the Animal Auction with Oliver and Kilian. Oliver had to get a couple of chickens for a neighbour, and thought Kevin might be interested. Well, since we wanted a few inexpensive birds to check whether or not the new electric fence worked, he hooked up the trailer and loaded some cages.

I told him in no uncertain terms that he was dead meat if he came home with an emu (Oliver has two). Well, he didn't come home with an emu, but he did come home with 5 hens and 10 ducks. This of course created a minor problem - we didn't have a hen house in the pasture. So, we took down the dog run and reassembled it in the pasture for the chickens.

It's a big dog run, so it took a while to set up, and the chickens were getting restless - they were ready to roost for the night. One of them saw the wheel barrow which I'd left in the yard, and decided it was a perfect perch. Naturally, the rest followed suit, all on the same side, and the next thing we saw was a tumbling barrow and five scattered, shrieking hens!

The ducks are only 4 or 5 weeks old, so they are in a brooder in the basement for a few days to make sure they are strong enough to face the cool, fall nights. They are shy, but seem to be adjusting well. They actually calmed down enough to eat the dandelion greens I gave them for dinner tonight.

And Oliver, he bought a pregnant goat, some black ducks, and forgot about the chickens for his neighbour!

Name your Poison!

I forgot to explain the mugs in the last post. Well, the title of this post explains it! Name your poison, so now she can oblige. So far, I have made: Strychnine, Arsenic, Cyanide, Thallium, Ricin, Mercury, Hemlock, Coffee and Methy-Ethyl-Bad-Stuff (Methyl Isocyanate)! It was hard getting the last one on the mug, it went almost the whole way round.

My doctor mentioned that I left one off the list, Absinthe, so I shall just have to make some more mugs. I probably should add "Tea" also, since I have coffee in there.

Next Glaze Project

Well, I hate glazing. But I have these mugs for Shanna (by special request) so I must find an appropriate glaze for them.

The problem with this style, is that the glaze must not obscure the oxides in the engraved portion. Think I might try some wax resist.

This one has the "sprig" on the front, which I might leave as bare clay and glaze around it, using an oxide in the engraved part. I like this shape also; being wider at the base it's more stable on the table.

This one I like too, same shape as the "Thallium" mug, but the sprig is missing. A good glaze for this would be a semi-transparent one so the oxides could bleed through. A nice "breaking" glaze.

I wish I had paid more attention to chemistry in school - now that I'm making my own glazes it would be such a big help. Half the time it's more guesswork that knowing what I'm doing. But, as Shanna says, "Experiment"!

I'll post pics of the finished pots.

June 19th - Ti and Lizzie

Tiberius, showing off. Well, now it's obvious why he is called Ti-Chi! Such a gorgeous boy.

Ti was (another story) a Smooth Headed Roman goose, 6 weeks older than Lizzie. Here they are just under 5 weeks and eleven weeks old - quite a difference between them.

Unfortunately, we only had him for 4 days, before the coyotes came and got them both, late one Sunday afternoon.

We had gone inside to get the ribs to put on the B-B-Q, and when we got out, just minutes later, they were gone - not a sign of them, just a few feathers on the ground where they had been sitting. Needless to say, we were devastated. I didn't know that coyotes could move that fast; they must have been lying in wait.

Since then we have called some fence companies for quotes on a very heavy duty electric fence. I am also having our friend Oliver, come and take a look at the pond. I'd like it dug deeper and wider, with a better pathway between the upper meadow and lower one. Then, next year, when breeding season comes around again, we shall get some more Geese, but by then we will "KNOW" that they are all safe.

Having a Swim!

Here they are, at 8 days old and having a swim. Oddly, when you first "push" them in, they want to get out and be with us, but if you can keep them in for a few minutes, they settle down and ignore us. It's pretty amazing to see them dart around underwater, especially since they haven't got a "mom" to teach them how.

Also amazing, is how fast they grow. This weekend we are going to have to make some changes in their accommodations, since I'm expecting some ducklings (15) next week that will need the brooder.

Crater Glazes

I love opening the kiln! The fire Gods were good to us this time - the pots came out better than expected. While most of the time we want a lovely smooth, uncrazed glaze, this time we were looking for a good crater glaze, and wow! did we get one.

The pot on the left of the screen is porcelain, and the glaze used a 300 mesh silicon carbide - the one in the middle is stoneware with an 80 mesh silicon carbide and the one on the right is a red stoneware with the same glaze as the porcelain pot on the left. I don't usually use red stoneware, because it gets my hands dirty, and it contaminates so easily, but it looks wonderful with this glaze.

So, right now the test kiln is fired up and we have added a little copper oxide to see what colour variation we will get. Also, I slow fired these above, but in the current fire we are trying a medium speed to see if there is any difference (Kevin gets so impatient). Oxidation, straight ^6, no ramp, hold or soak.

And tomorrow, I need to spend the whole day glazing - the ware cart is full of bisque and there are oodles of greenware waiting to be fired. How can one have so much fun with their clothes on!

Life is good.