Glazing

At long last got the first kiln glazed and loaded ready for firing tomorrow.As is usual with first kilns,a lot of pots from which to choose,which makes the multi-dimentional jigsaw puzzle of kiln loading considerably easier.Lots of 'plain white' mugs for lustering later,lots of soup bowls for the Rosh Pina order,quite a few glazed/unfired pieces left over from the last batch of firings,but couldn't resist glazing a few teapots,and some facetted porcelain cups in the tricky but occassionally stunning carbon-trap shino (beware the carbon trap!),a glaze with the alarming tendency of crawling slowly out of the bucket.Something to do with migrating salts,I believe.The kiln is now purring away at about 70 degrees,just drying out the glaze-I'll turn it off soon for the night.It seems none the worse for its foray into the fields of raku yesterday,which makes me ponder the possibility of doing a little raku firing proper in it-maybe when my new kiln is closer to completion.No cone 7's-I usually fire with 7/8/9 until cone 9 is down,using the 40 degrees or so from cone 7 to even out the top and bottom of the kiln by playing with the strength of the reduction.For those not in the craft- this is potter's talk.
Took part in an enjoyable sium or conclusion of a seven-year cycle of DafYomi -the daily page of learning studied all over the world.Also the yahrzeit of Noam Elimelech,so much inspiring Torah was spoken.