We fired the oven!

(A note from the editor...
The work on this oven was done over several weeks, but the posting over several hours. Post dates and times do not reflect true chronology, but were broken up into several posts to clarify the steps we took in the actual process.

Anyone interested in seeing the creation in rewind should start here. Everybody else, scroll down a few posts and start there.)

Luke and Kate, two of our favorite people (we have many), flew in from Sitka for a visit on Saturday, April 14. We had been hoping to finish the oven in time to christen it with them, and we did!

We took advantage of the beautiful weather, cut a door, scooped out the sand, and lit a fire. To be more exact, Bryan, Luke and the girls did these things. I made lunch and took a nap, awakening to the sight of flames licking at the newly framed doorway and steam rising from the drying clay.

Bryan spent most of the day rushing between the oven in the back (stoking, poking) and the garage around front (cutting more scrap wood for firewood, making necessary tools and a beautiful door) and ended up smelling like a campfire.

While the pizza dough rose, Kate and I went to the store and returned with resources for excellent earth-oven pizza. It was almost 9 PM before the first ones were coming out of the oven, but they were superb!