Three Trout Platters

Yesterday I went to exchange my clay a shorter drive over the mountain. Luckily it was frosty in the valleys but not on the mountain top.

When ever we drive over the mountain on Richard Russel Parkway we always remember the river otters we saw and now call the curve in the road where we saw them, Otter Curve. Gary was wondering what otter eat and I said I am sure it's fish, probably trout in the streams. I also remember the baby bear cub I saw which was hopefully rescued from starvation by my calling Fish and Game about him.

When I got home I was thinking about what the river otters eat and I made three trout platters, a brook trout, a brown trout, and a rainbow trout. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Clay Supplies, Check Your Order

Yesterday I drove to Atlanta to get some much needed clay supplies. It's approximately two hours one way from my home. Even though there was a sushi bar right near the clay supply store, Davens, I couldn't talk Gary into going. Not only was there a sushi bar, but an Indian, Cuban and Mediterranean restaurant nearby too. Going out to lunch alone wouldn't have been as much fun, so I passed them by to get out of Atlanta quickly. As I was driving home I heard the road I just took was completely backed up so I lucked out with that decision.

I picked up cones, stilts, clay and glaze materials. When I got home I asked Gary to help me unload the clay and he read out loud 'Loafers 6 to 10'. I said "What!" While I was loading the other boxes into my car the guy in the warehouse was loading the clay into the back of my car. My receipt said Cone 6 Little Loafers but I didn't get that. I got Cone 10 clay instead of Cone 6. Woe is me. Luckily there is someone who works at Daven's who routinely comes up to the mountains and hopefully we can make an exchange. Note to myself, when getting clay supplies, check your order before you leave.

For those of you not familiar with clay and glaze. Each clay and glaze can be fired (heated) to a certain temperature to maturity or to vitrify. Vitrification is the process where the spaces between the refractory particles are completely filled with glass, fusing the particles together, and making the clay body impervious to water. If I use cone 10 clay and only fire it to Cone 6 the clay body won't mature.

I dd get some speckled stoneware and some brown stoneware (Standard clay) in Cone 6 so at least I have something to work with in the meantime.

But not getting the white stoneware has put a cog in my mental making plans. I need to switch gears. Images taken from the net since it's too darn early to go down and take some photos. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.