Pugmill needs some attention

On this cold, blistery,snowy morning, I find myself yearning for those early signs of spring - crocus, pussy willow, forsythia and daffodils. Some birds seem to be building nests so spring can't be too far off (she says optimistically!). Since I'm too old to be broody, I plant seeds this time of year. Sunday I planted a small pot of leek seeds and this morning I planted some bunching onion seeds. Tonight I'll plant another couple of small pots of two other varieties of leek.

The only studio related chore I did yesterday, was move most of the kiln shelves from the kiln room to the studio. They should have been cleaned after the last firing while the weather was still mild; but my aching back just wasn't up to it. It's supposed to be sunny and milder this weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to grind them outside. The rest of the day we were out and about the county doing chores and didn't get back till late afternoon. After emptying the car, putting away our purchases and tending to our furry family member, it was time to think about dinner.

First studio job this morning is to to follow friend Shane's and Bluebirds possible fix instructions and see if I can get my Powerstar pugmill de-airing again. It was working fine several days ago. When I'm done, I put wet towels and plastic in all the openings so I don't think dried clay is the problem, unless some got into the hose leading to the vacuum chamber. Or, maybe it could be that it needs a new gasket or a new pressure gauge, or????

Even though I'm not planning any throwing in the couple of day, I'd like to have this resolved, so it will be ready to go when I do need it. I'll give it a few minutes of my time this morning, before I move on to my main focus of the day - continuing slipping and decorating. I'm aiming to get these finished by Friday and bisque soon after.