My Nemesis

The person I cannot conquer is the wood pile. I don't know how to best overcome this opponent. Dry wood has always been the thing that keeps me awake at night and fretting for months before a wood firing. We have a long list of firings planned for the fall at Pinecroft and I made arrangements with the Amish to put aside their ash for me, organized the flat bed tow truck driver and Chad rented a Bobcat to lift the wood off the flat bed. The Pinecroft John Deere can't handle the weight. So while I am away Chad took delivery of 40 bundles of ash. He has it stacked in a sunny clearing in the Pines at Pinecroft. Thanks,Chad!
The first firing is in late September so we have 3 months of hot summer sun to work some magic on the ash. It has been down for a year, stacked at the Amish mill since March so it should be as hot as a southern Baptist girl on prom night when it comes time to fire. 
I used to take delivery in 12 foot lengths which meant a lot of work piling the wood in a rick, chainsawing it to length and then restocking on pallets. The Amish are now supplying it in 4 foot lengths so it is perfect size for the bourry box. Sometimes the wood is a bit chunky and needs to be split with the trusty Fiskar axe. Four feet long is too long for any wood splitter that I can afford. It also takes a damn mighty swing with the axe to split a hunk of wood that long. 
Burn, baby, burn.

I'm not missing Cassius Clay in this heat. Fact is I needed a break from him. Three successive firings after coming home from NC, 3 workshops and a pottery show pretty well did me in. 





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Anonymous said…
Do you hear the tropical breezes of Tahiti or Samoa calling?

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