June 26, 2011
Mom's Oven
Last year my mother asked her children to construct an outdoor oven using the clay soil on the property. My younger brother Simon spearheaded the project, doing research into construction of cob ovens, and spending extra time at the property preparing the area and materials.
August 2010 Work-Day:
Simon with nieces Emily and Clarista.
An important part of any work party is the soundtrack...
Especially if you are mixing mud with feet!
Myself with younger sisters Alicia and Erica with Simon in the background on drums.
The circular stone base contains gravel fill, layers of mud, a layer of glass bottles, more mud, and a layer of fire brick.
November 2010 Work-Day and Scorpio (Dad and I) birthday celebration:
Missy (Rochana's BFF), my niece Bella, and sister Rochana mix sawdust and sand into clay and water with their feet while sister Erica and her man David stand by.
Simon applies a layer of mud on the oven. The inside of the dome was formed with sand, then newspaper, covered with multiple layers of mud.
Rochana and Bella washing the mud from their feet.
June 2011 Work-Day and belated Father's day celebration:
Before getting started on the oven work, dad and mom at their appropriate tasks: coffee making and flower arranging.
The oven as we left it to dry after the last work-day. The dimples were made by fingers to help the next layer stick. To prepare for this work-day, the sand was scrapped out from the inside leaving a hollow, open oven chamber. A lizard basks on the top.
Three reverend sisters mixing mud (Photo by Hamilton). The incantation: "On this day and in this hour we call upon the ancient powers to bless this earth beneath our feet that will bake healthy food to eat"...
Hamilton, Simon, and Mom mixing sand, straw, and mud.
Two photos of me (taken by Rochana) using a board to shape and smooth the final cob layer.
The trick to drawing spirals is to attach the drawing implement (a nail in this case) to the end of a line wound around a cylindrical stick. Hold the stick still and unwind as you draw.
Simon and the rest of the team put on decorative cob spirals Mom and I rolled out. Alicia brought us a feast, including tuna, chicken, and steak Dad BBQed, fruit salad and potatoes, to eat as we worked.
Dad checks the sound inside the oven.
Finished except for a protective coat of glaze or paint to be applied after it's dried and a door to be made, on another day.... A fire was lit inside to burn off the newspaper.
Tags
alicia (7), arianna (27), cob (1), dad (7), david (1), erica (7), family (35), fire (3), hamilton (4), missy (1), mom (9), mud (1), oven (1), potter-valley (65), rochana (5), simon (4)
Arianna Helen