Kiln loaded for firing ... and a card from France

The first firing of 2013 will happen tomorrow. It took a couple of days, with several interruptions, to fill the kiln for this firing. Lots of Shino in this one, plus several pots glazed in a rutile recipe that came from my colorful friend (Dan Finnegan described her as "spangly and sparkly") Kim Medeiros. I'm getting a bit more colorful, apparently. I'm hopeful, but it's a little frightening to add color to the palette. We'll see what things look like Wednesday morning.
This firing is also a larger test of a new clay body. I borrowed some T3 body, made by Sheffield in western Mass., from Kim when I was temporarily out of B-Mix. I like the way it throws and the way it looks as it dries. It appears to have more iron in it and should give a bit more color to the Shinos. It has done that to Kim's pots fired with my Shinos in this kiln. Again, we'll see, but I have great hopes for the T3.
Also, I received a tiny envelope in the mail today, postmarked from France. It was from the bloggers of Le Blog de MHAD, who are in Brittany on the coast. I've never spoken directly to any of them, but sometimes comment on their blog in college freshman French from 1964. They create lovely, simple and colorful graphic art, usually of the French coastal weather, shop signs, lighthouses, local landmarks. My French is poor, so I don't fully understand what is offered, but it appears that you can buy posters from them. Or prints. In any case, they make cool art and are generous people, judging from the card they sent all the way from France. This card says, I think, "Blackbird Dreamer."