We Have The Power...

In between the two hurricanes, Duke Energy came out to our house and installed a transformer at the top of our driveway. The new transformer also meant replacing the utility pole. We have been working on getting this done since August. This house has had a lot weird electrical issues since we bought it in 2015. The lights would dim whenever the heat pump came on and the LED track lighting in the kitchen would barely glow if the toaster oven was running. Turn the microwave on at the same time and the microwave turntable slowed to a crawl and nothing heated up. If I was cooking dinner at night, toaster oven on, lights on, AC running, and Jeff was still working in the studio... his wheel would slow to a crawl!  Our electrician couldn't find anything wrong in the house so we finally called Duke. They sent an engineer out to assess the situation and he determined that the transformer at the end of our long driveway was too far from the house and undersized for the amount of electricity that today's homes require. The fix was putting in this new transformer.

The good news is that it appears to have fixed the problem. Even better news is that we are now having our electrician come this week to wire our electric kiln!

For the last three years we have been firing to bisque in the gas kiln. First we ran out of money to have the electric kiln wired. Second, after living here a bit, we realized we may not have enough power to run the electric kiln... unless we turned everything off in the whole house. While there is nothing wrong with firing the bisque in the gas kiln, it is more work to load. Then there is the time factor. We can be firing a bisque while the gas kiln is firing. Glaze the pots and have them ready for back to back glaze firings. When there are orders to fill it is much more efficient. Lately it seems we are struggling to get things out on time. Fingers crossed that it all works out!

Sometimes it's the little things in life...

 Like bathroom outlets!!!!!! We had an electrician in today to do some much needed service work.

Our house was built in 1961 and the outlets were over the vanity mirrors, attached to the light fixtures... which were no longer functioning. Now we have GFI outlets in both bathrooms. We can use hairdryers, flat irons, and electric toothbrushes... in the bathroom, where they belong. You don't know how much you appreciate things, until you don't have them!

We also had a couple other things upgraded so that we can use a space heater in the studio and vacuum in the house without tripping the main breaker for the 110 service to the house.

Pots are drying in the studio and we can load the kiln to bisque fire this weekend. Glaze firing right after. I have travel plans mid-February. Updates to come!

it's good to have a handy man...

or woman.

Especially when things break. Last night our elderly, manual, electric kiln quit prior to reaching our bisque temperature. Jeff has taken the controller apart and found the problem... a melted wire. Why do these things all happen at crunch time? Jeff has spare parts from past kilns and he is trying to repair it today. We can always bisque in the gas kiln, but this one is already loaded! It could be that these pots would be fine to glaze at this temperature. We can't take that chance since most of the load is orders, including two vessel sinks.

Keep you fingers crossed that he can fix it without having to order parts.

rambling thoughts...

This evening I was outside glazing pots for the wood firing and as I was glazing I could hear my neighbor's hoe as he worked in his cornfield. It reminded me that making pots is a lot like farming. You need to do what you need to do... no matter what the time is. Like some might say "This ain't no nine to five job".
These thoughts reminded me of a blog post John wrote back in 2006... you can read it by clicking here. If you are so inclined to click and read that post, I think you will be inspired to go back and read more of his blog. His writing was insightful, and reflected the gentle nature of his being. I wish he had had more time on this earth to share more of his wisdom and thoughts through blogging.

In the here and now... I had these pendants made for a raku firing, but decided to glaze them and fire them in the wood kiln. I am excited to see how they react with the ash. The best news that I have tonight is that our electrical problems have all been taken care of! There was nothing wrong with the electric kiln, it was a problem in the electrical box. Our house issues are cured as well...
I will sleep soundly tonight.

glazing for a wood firing

I know I have said this MANY times before, glazing is my least favorite part of the pottery process. I dislike the mess as well as how the skin on my hands feel after a few days of getting the job done.

This week we are getting ready to wood fire with our friend Ouida in Carthage, NC. Glazing for a wood firing is so much easier. Most pieces only get a liner glaze, and lots of things don't get glazed at all. I yearn for the day when we can have a wood kiln at our own studio.

The bisque load in the gas kiln is cooling and I will spend another day glazing. We moved our glaze operation outside, which gives us more room, fresh air, and sunshine.

Electrical update: electrician #2 is coming today... hopefully this one can solve the wiring problems and then we can trouble shoot the electric kiln.

An evening at the vineyard

Saturday evening we went out to Zimmerman Vineyards, in Trinity, NC, for their monthly Saturday Music Series. The weather was spectacular. We enjoyed a picnic and music on the patio that overlooks the vineyard.

 The vineyard dogs are always a hoot. This little guy thought the mounds of monkey grass made a perfect bed for lounging.

 These grapevines were in bloom and the owner took a group on a vineyard walk so we could smell the blossoms and have the opportunity to ask questions.

It was such a great weekend and  I was very sad to bring Danielle to the airport in Sunday. I don't want to rush away the summer, but I can't wait until we are in New England in August so we can be together again!
Now it's back to reality and work. Jeff and I are getting ready to wood fire with our friend Ouida in Carthage. Unfortunately over the weekend we had to deal with some electrical problems, one of which included our electric kiln. Jeff took it apart and cleaned some contacts and it still wouldn't turn on. After messing with it for two days we made the decision to unload it and bisque fire in the gas kiln. The electrician is coming out today and we are hoping that the household problem has something to do with the kiln not coming on... but something tells me it's sheer coincidence that both happened at the same time. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this won't be an expensive fix.