It works. And it's beautiful.
Last weekend we finally fired up our mud oven, because we are essentially done, and because we couldn't wait any longer. And it was lovely. The air goes in, feeds the flames, and vents back out the front. No chimney required.
Orsi and her kids came over, and Dani B. too, and with Sigrid they finished covering the oven with a thin layer of insulation (more to come). At least until the kids found worms in the mix, at which point they moved on to other things...
Meanwhile I worked on the door - an old washboard I found on garbage day which happened to be exactly the width we needed.
We really should have carved out the door before the oven mud dried so thoroughly. Getting it open to the right size (11.5" wide x 10" high) was not easy. Wetting and careful sawing did the trick.
By the time it was all ready, it was dark, and the perfect setting for firing it up.
It was a lovely night with lots of the people who made this happen getting together in our backyard, chatting, drinking coffee and eating take-out pizza (for the last time?). A few people who were key to the process couldn't make it, but no doubt there'll be many more firings and tests until we really get the hang of heating it up and are ready to cook some ceramics or food.
Stay tuned, of course.
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