Update.

All the connections were gone over for the millionth time and tightened as tight as could be and I started her up again. And guess what??? She was fine! I had wanted to load and fire a cone 10 glaze today, but my brain was shot. Tomorrow I will be babysitting again. I am pretty sure it was just a loose wire, but I am still hoping everything is back on track...

I could cry.

Still not working.

I started the kiln yesterday. It was rising beautifully...all the way to 1527 degrees. Then, nothing. Another error message. I know it has something to do with the thermocouples. Possibly the relay. So tomorrow I will spend the day babysitting. I'm going to start her up, empty, do a fast firing and see what happens. Every 20 min. write down the temp reading on each thermocouple and check that the lights are going when they should and see.... It doesn't make sense to me that the second failed firing got 1000 degrees higher before it shut off. Now I'm about a week behind schedule with no happy ending in sight....bleh.

Failed.

I changed the thermocouples that I picked up and loaded her up with a new batch of green ware and 3 hours later....she shut off again!!! Bailey's called this afternoon to let me know that my back order is in already, good news. I'm going to get it tomorrow morning, change it, re-load and try again. I didn't get to see the error message on the control panel, so I'm not even sure that will fix it, but I hope it does. I'm now about 4 days behind schedule. But, at least I have enough work to do 2 glaze firings back to back.

It was fairly nice out today and I did manage to spend some time outside, cleaning up the yard and checking out the flowers that have started to peak out of the ground. I even have half a dozen crocus blooming. And, Dudley had his first tick of the season yesterday. DOA. However much I hate putting that chemically Advantix stuff on him, there are just too many ticks around here....sometimes I wish they made it for humans. I did manage to work on my taxes this evening (BORING) and post a couple of things in my Etsy shop. Including this pendant that I am quite pleased with. I rarely layer glazes, but I love this green/blue combination.

Bad girl.

And I was doing so well....

So right after my last post I got sick....very sick. I didn't get back into the studio for a couple of days. I always hate not being able to work. It's okay if it's planned, but those couple of days got me WAY behind. I started back to work and then Jon started spring break. I'm always quite a bit distracted when he's home, making sure he has food to eat, hearing him walking around, wondering what the hell he's doing in the kitchen...I love having him around, but always find it more difficult to get to work. I feel so lucky to have a studio at home and not have to drive anywhere, but I always feel guilty when I'm not working and also guilty when Jon's home and I'm closed up in the studio.

I've been working non-stop. I have 2 big orders just about finished. They were both mostly bowls, serving as well as large soup bowls. I've still been trying to get ahead for the summer. I don't really do craft shows, maybe 3 total for the year. I hate the heat of summer shows and the hoopla of the holiday shows. But June is coming fast and I'm already starting to panic. Not to mention the beginning of wedding and anniversary season! ((and making my own wedding presents for my bestest friend in the world who is getting married on 8-8-08 in mexico! just finalized the reservations last week!))

I realized I was slacking on 2 of my best selling designs...chicks and my original thrown tripods. I have 16(and counting) chicks waiting to be glazed and a whole lot of tripods awaiting legs and carving. I decided to take some in progress pics of my chicks, I'll just have to remember to post a pic of them all glazed.

I also had a problem on Friday when one of my thermocouples failed during a bisque firing. Fortunately it stopped just shy of temperature. The cone had just started to bend, so I'm not going to worry about re-firing the work. I decided on replacing all of them, but of course, Bailey's had all but one. So I picked up what they had and I'll have to wait for the last one. Not a big deal. I'm about to go replace them now...

Lists.

I've been neglecting my Trunkt profile. I totally slacked on posting more pictures. I should probably be doing that instead of sitting here writing a post about how I need to do that, but I'm feeling kind of crappy today...so I guess that's my excuse. I did, however, peruse the showcases on there a bit and found 2 that I've been featured in.

Of course, I love this one because it's black and white and it also features several my fellow ceramic Estians, including CircaCeramics and kimwestad. Although, it's almost too easy to make a black and white list look good.

I really love this grouping. And my chicks look mighty happy. A nice mix of cute and beautiful together that really makes me smile. In decorating my house, I'm always stuck between making everything clean, modern and "grown-up" or going totally kitsch. That's sort of where this list rests with me.

So, I do feel pretty crappy today. I didn't get anything done that I wanted to. Cleaned up a little in the studio, but never got any actual work made. That always makes me feel even worse when I don't feel well. I shouldn't complain because I know I just got a huge amount of work completed, but still... I've been feeling nauseous since yesterday afternoon. I think this is due to my back being out of alignment, a typical thing after working like a manic for a few weeks. I did manage to do some sewing and watch some old movies. That usually relaxes me. Actually, I think I'll go do more of that....

P.S. Posted some new cups on Etsy.

All finished.

Ah, so I took a few days off from blogging and fired a bisque and glazed and then fired up again. The vases are all finished...

They look so late 60's, early 70's. Especially with my vintage kitchen canisters in the background (they hold some oxides and stains-a little present from my lovely husband).

Anyway, it feels good to get that order done and I have a bunch of new work besides these to add to my back stock and some to list on Etsy. I broke out the 2-ton Epoxy and finished up some new pendants. I just posted a couple in my shop. One with my new orange and one with my "for a limited time only" periwinkle.
Looks like tomorrow with be a packing and shipping morning. Then it's time to start my next big order. Lots of serving bowls and mugs...ah, mugs...