October 10, 2014: Day 10

Big efforts sometimes result in small gifts.

I left the full-time job early today so that I could really make some serious progress in the packing up department - not to mention the clay processing department.

It may not seem like I accomplished much if I tell you that I packed up five boxes of pottery, but when those five boxes contain over 240 pieces that needed to be individually wrapped and carefully arranged to avoid damage, well, that may put things into perspective. One of the boxes took two hours to pack. It was like putting a puzzle together - of the jigsaw variety. But I figure more time spent at this end will make for less time when I need to retrieve something later on. Right now, all of the jam jars are packed, along with all of the creamers, sugar bowls and demitasse sets. The shelves in the showroom are starting to look a tad empty.

I am planning to sell at a few craft fairs in the near future if I can get into them. For that reason some of the pottery, rather than being packed up with the rest, is being kept aside to be packed into totes.
What dinnerware I have will get packed up next and I'll top it all off with the more bulky ovenware, teapots and other such items.

On top of all this, I reprocessed several boxes of clay. At long last, I have hit upon a relatively efficient way of getting that job done and it's working pretty well. I think I can get the rest of the clay processed within the week doing it this way.

And that is where the gift comes in. Many weeks ago, I lost a finger ring that I particularly treasure. it's nothing terribly special, but I like it. It has the Lord's Prayer inscribed on it, but it's written in Tengwar script, making it look like Sauron's ring of power. Those of you who know me well will sense the many levels of irony in that, which is why I bought the ring in the first place. But it disappeared some time ago, possibly abandoning me in hopes of finding a passing Hobbit. When no such luck befell it, it chose this evening to return to me. When I'm doing clay work that is characteristically messy and sloppy (like reprocessing clay), I wear a cover-all to keep as much mud off of my clothing as possible. Apparently the last time I wore it, I took the ring off and put it in the pocket. Then I promptly forgot about it.

Tonight I discovered what I had in my pocketses! The One Ring now resides on my finger where it rightly belongs.

I would say that I am now off to read the Silmarillion, but I've attempted that one three times now without success. I think sleep is the far better idea. Tomorrow is another busy day. My goal is to get the rest of the stock packed up and then start on the bisque ware. Oof!

Day 10 down, 21 to go.

October 9, 2014: Day 9

Fate is capable of many things. Good timing is not among them, apparently.

Today was devoted entirely to packing pottery for transport. Of course, I didn't get started on that until after my day job, but I worked at it until about 7:00 this evening. I got all of the mugs done and then moved on to small teapots, petal cups and small sugar bowls. In all, I packed seven boxes that, added to the ones already packed, brings the total so far to fourteen boxes. I bought fifty of them so I think I'm in good shape. Of course, the larger, bulkier items have yet to weigh in. Bean pots don't like to share space so it will be interesting.

Here's a fun detail about this picture. The big red box in the background is the old Rowantrees kiln. It was designed and built in 1976 and was used for 32 years. It had a 100 cubic foot capacity (compared to the 6.6 cubic feet in my kiln). They named it Theodore and the total cost of construction was $13,000. Today you can't touch a kiln of that magnitude for less than $50,000. The yellow target on the front was painted by me. The kiln was originally yellow in color, but one day Sheila Varnum decided she wanted something a bit more striking. Besides, none of us really liked yellow and let's face it, this thing took up a large amount of space. Once we finished painting it, I added the kiln's name across the top (not pictured) and the target. See, the glazer and I had this little suction cup dart gun...

So, the timing thing. Well, family issues have arisen that will require my attention soon. I'll need to travel some distance to do my part in helping out my dad who will be undergoing heart surgery soon. The surgery has already been postponed twice, so my siblings and I are rearranging schedules to try and get things figured out. It's difficult when nobody knows exactly what is happening and when, and all we can do is wait and react when we find out.

So my deadline for being out of the pottery building has moved from the end of this month to As Soon As Possible. Like in less than two weeks. And one would be most preferable.

I see some long days and late nights in my immediate future.

Day 9 down, not sure how many left to go, but let's still say 22.

October 8, 2014: Day 8

The Packing boxes arrived today and I set about packing up mugs even as I was pugging batches of recycled clay. There is still a whole lot of that to get processed and boxed up, but it should be finished within the next couple of weeks.
 
But boxing up pottery also became an order of the day. I packed up a lot of mugs and got them ready to go to storage. I'm keeping a careful record of exactly what goes into each box and the boxes are numbered. I have an inventory sheet for each box and a master spreadsheet that tells me what items in which colors can be found in which box. The idea is to be able to find what I want (read 'what a customer wants') very quickly.

Regardless what happens in the coming months, the website will remain up and in business. I will be putting some serious time into the site as I want to start using stock control features that will allow me to display only items that I have in stock. Items will also have an inventory count that will be automatically adjusted when items are sold. If I should sell out of an item, it will disappear from the website.

But that is a matter for a few weeks from now. Right now, it's still moving time. Tomorrow will be spent packing up stock and traveling to the storage unit. Five boxes packed so far. It hardly looks as though I've scratched the surface.

Day 8 down, 23 to go.

October 7, 2014: Day 7

Today I dismantled my kiln, moved some more raw materials and processed some clay. I didn't get to work at the pottery for more than three hours, but I used the time well.

The packing boxes should be arriving soon as they got to the supplier sooner than expected. That means I may be packing bisque and stock as soon as this weekend. I'm really itching to get to that part of things, but the truth is there are a lot of little things that need gathering up. Everywhere I look there are small items. Normally they are scattered strategically around the place so that they are always at hand when something needs doing. But when you want to get them collected together, they seem to defy your efforts. They will ultimately lose that battle.

I have changed my mind about some things. At one point, I wanted to take just about everything in the place with me. Now, one by one, they are going to get left behind. In all likelihood that was always to be the case, but ambition gets the better of you before rubber hits road. I always knew I'd be leaving the spray booth behind but I wasn't so sure about the dust collector. I thought I'd take it with me. Now, however, it will be staying put. Taking it would mean too much to deal with now. Besides, I can get a brand new spray booth with its own dust filtration system for a decent price.

Looking at the picture, I know it doesn't look like there's much in that storage unit, but believe me, looks are deceiving. The unit is 15 feet deep and I have packed stuff in as tightly as possible, A lot of rearranging will be needed soon. I will be moving some display shelving in that I built in 2012 and used up until this year. That will give me a little vertical space to the back and take some of the pressure off the wire racks.

That machine you see on the shelf is a ball mill, which is used to grind and mix glazes. It's a homemade job that Rowantrees used throughout its history. There was a second one, but I've only ever used this one. Still trying to decide whether to stay at one or take the other one as well. Still not sure. They cost a fortune to buy new. I shall think on.

Day seven down, 24 to go.

October 6, 2014: Day 6

Another "off" day. Here's the thing; when you work at a business all day (no matter which one), you can put in all the hours you want lifting and carrying stuff. But when the day is done, you still have the bookkeeping and other associated paperwork tasks to complete. Yesterday I worked at the move until sundown. It was dark by the time I got to the restaurant and pooched my tire in the process (yes, it's toast and beyond repair).

So by the time I sat down to work on the more clerical duties, it was pretty late. Result: I didn't get to bed until well after midnight. That doesn't bode well for the following day. Sure enough, I was snoring in my office chair shortly after lunch today.

So this afternoon I basically gave myself a day off. Not entirely, but mostly. I finished up the pottery that came out of the last kiln (the bowl in the picture came out of that final firing) and got it onto the stock shelves. Then I took the last of the ware boards and a few small items over to the storage unit. I also threw out some trash. Not a particularly inspiring set of tasks accomplished, but I'll go to be at a decent hour tonight. That will make tomorrow a better day all around.

And it needs to be. I swear the stuff I need to move is breeding. The more I remove, the more there is!

Day 6 down, 25 to go.

October 5, 2014: Day 5

Oh, the places I have gone and the things I have done. Really, that's a bit overstated, but why not? It's after midnight and I'm a but punchy.

I spent a lot of this day in the storage unit putting up shelving (4 shelving units from Home Depot at $100 each reduced to about $360 thanks to a gift card I had in my wallet) and generally rearranging things. Then it was back to the pottery to unload that final firing and load the first bunch of raw glaze materials into the car for a trip back to the storage unit. I meant to get a picture of the thing, but someone forgot the camera. Oh well, tomorrow (today?) will be another day.

After the final trip, I decided to get some Thai takeout for dinner. From that decision came the only bad event of the day. As I turned into the parking lot of the restaurant, I misjudged the turn and drove over a curb with a BANG. No body damage to the car, but the right front tire was toast. I changed the tire and will have the mechanic look at it tomorrow (today?). Hopefully it just needs to be put back on the rim and will be fine. I really don't want to be buying tires right now. Really I don't.

Day 5 down, 26 to go.

October 4, 2014: Day 4

Clay reclaiming started in earnest today. I have a lot of it to process and it will take some time. Luckily, I can do other things while a batch is mixing. I'm trying to make these batches somewhat softer than the clay I usually use because I have noticed that this particular clay tends to stiffen as it ages. If it sits in one spot and doesn't move until used, the water content tends to surrender to gravity and work its way to the bottom of the box, leaving the clay at the top too hard to work easily.

Remixing the clay is labor intensive and time consuming, which is why I use a pug mill. The pug mill will be in storage at least until I can't stand being without it any longer, so I decided to start this clay off on the soft side. Let it stiffen if it wants.

I also started packing up the stockroom. I can fit exactly one gross of petal cups into a 1.5 cubic foot box. This I learned today!

Raw materials are almost all packed into containers. The labeling is an ongoing project that I hope to finish tomorrow. I intend to pick up some shelving units at Home Depot tomorrow and get them to the storage unit where I can set them up. Then I can start moving bisque and stock to storage. It will all get messier before it gets better organized, but at least I have a vision of where things should be at the end of it all.

Day 4 down, 27 to go.