The Day The Terracotta Exploded

I love terracotta pots. They are a very natural look for the garden. Just about everything looks good in one of these pots. Terracotta is a ceramic material that has been used for building construction and decorative arts since ancient times in different countries around the world. Terracotta, which literally means "baked earth," is made from natural clay, which gives it a characteristic reddish-brown color. The color varies slightly depending on the clay used. Terracotta may be glazed for extra durability or to provide color. It is a waterproof and very sturdy material, and many ancient terracotta sculptures are still in excellent shape.
Terracotta was widely used in the decorative arts of ancient China. Terracotta vases and other sculptures are known from ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, West Africa, and Central and North America. Terracotta pipe was also one of the oldest materials used in plumbing. I like the way the pot looks in the picture above...I decided that this is something I will look for at yard sales for the rest of the summer. Not new ones, but old weathered ones that may or may not hold a plant.

That being said...I have a story to tell. When my daughter was a brownie scout, I was one of the two scout leaders. We had a huge brownie troop and had to meet in the school gym, because there were too many kids for our homes. This was one of the most fun things that I ever did with my daughter. The other leader was a very imaginative gal. She was up for anything and so was I. We wanted our girls to be in scouts and took on this job, only thinking of the fun our girls would have....us too. It was a very hard job to think up projects for so many to do to keep them reined in and not running around like crazy. The best time of the year was when we made a trip to Hawthorne Hills Scout Camp.This little gem of a camp was tucked away in our city and many didn't even know it existed. A treasure wild and ready to be explored. I went there as a young scout and I was so glad to show it to my daughter. We spent a week there one year. It was a day camp, so transportation h
had to be arranged and we had to carry our gear in everyday. The morning would start with the raising of the flag. The kids learned to respect our beautiful flag at camp that year.as each girl took part in the unfolding and raising during our week. This particular week was kind of misty and rainy...it was June after all. The kids were a little "spirited" my co-worker would say. Any time her kids were naughty...they were being "spirited." We both brought our boys along and they added to the "spirit" We had our week planned from start to finish. This one particular day we planned to work with clay. Each girl made a little clay item...a pot, animal. etc. We built a huge campfire (kids all love campfires) and tried to keep the kids from setting things on fire. After the fire burned down a bit, we buried the clay items in the fire.They had first been soaked in water. This was supposed to be like firing in a kiln. The pots were buried and we cooked our hot dogs and made those wonderful s'mores. We heard steam hissing and sputtering coming from the campfire site. . Later in the day we heard a "POP" then another and on and on. We went to the place where the pots were buried and they were exploding. We had built such a good fire...it was too hot. (Little boys kept throwing things on the fire to keep it going.) Well, the kids didn't have anything to take home that day and we didn't get to paint this "terracotta" My co-leader and I stopped at the Ben Franklin and bought little clay pots so that the next day we would be able to paint something and take it home. We did so many things with these "spirited" girls, but I'll bet the thing they remember most was the day the "terracotta" exploded.
Balisha