We had to work like mad men during the hottest July that I have ever experienced. The show at Mt. Sunapee Resort was looming and there wasn't a choice. We vowed that upon our return we would keep up the pace. After unpacking, I will have to admit, we were in fog for a week. That fog needed to lift because September through December is the most important sales quarter for the year.
Thankfully it did lift and we are back in full swing. We finished glazing yesterday and Jeff loaded the kiln, which was a nice break for me because I was the kiln loader for the month of July. At 9:30 last night the door was bricked and we sat down to a nice meal. I am still on the cooking kick and tried another new recipe...
Jeff really liked the pork chops but not the pears so much. I thought it was yummy all the way around. It was also easy and quick to make. I think my cooking kick has come about for two reasons.
1. Cooler temperatures
2. Pinterest
I have seen and pinned so many new recipes from Pinterest and they inspire me to get in the kitchen. I think Jeff is enjoying the break because for a long time he was the chef in this house. I was burnt out and was glad to let him take over.
back to pottery...
I listed this mug and bowl in the Etsy shop this weekend. This is the new glaze combination of shino, copper red, and nuka. We glazed some piggy banks in this combo and they are in the kiln today. They should look pretty darn cute, who wouldn't love a purple piggy?
After Jeff mixed the nuka glaze in July, he remembered that it's extremely thixotropic, and settles like a rock on the bottom of the bucket. Bentonite should have been added to eliminate the problem when the glaze was mixed. It was a total pain in the ass to mix every time we used it. He was talking to a potter friend in NH about it and she said to add a cupful capful of muriatic acid to the glaze and it will stay mixed.
Muriatic acid, who knew? Not us, that's for sure. We bought some this week and sure enough it does the trick. Almost like magic.
So that's my tip of the week, add one capful of muriatic acid to a 5 gallon pail of glaze and voila!
(Just be careful when handling acid)
I was a little worried when you said cup full. Cap full sounds better. I don't know anyone who doesn't get "post show lag" even with local shows and whether or not they did well.
ReplyDeleteomg! thank you Dennis for seeing my typo... I think a cupful might boil and smoke. I made the correction :o)
ReplyDeletemuriatic acid I think Gary has used that with concrete and such, possibly to clean it or something or other, caustic stuff, but in a small amount must be a wonder.
ReplyDeletewe have used this to help with some of ours glazes- weird but it works.
ReplyDeleteMark would like the blue cheese- I am not a fan- and I would love the pears....maybe I could use a different cheese.
Meredith, I think goat cheese or feta would be really good too.
ReplyDeleteI use Epsom salts to help prevent the glaze issue, I just devolve a few teaspoons in about a cup of warm water, stir that into the glaze and it stays together better without the clump in the bottom. I'll look into muriatic acid if the Epsom salts ever don't work. Thanks.
ReplyDelete