Clay Oven...by Ann Marie

You’ve probably never experienced the joy and frustration of making a clay oven. It’s a long and never ending chore; well actually, it has to end at some point. Here’s a brief summary of how we made it.

The oven began with the building of the stand where the oven was to sit. Ethan dug the six holes where the posts were to find a resting place. From there the cement was poured into them. While this was going on, we had some big hard wood logs cut for us. They were put up and from there the platform was built. It is really sturdy.

While this was progressing, the clay, white sand, and black sand were collected from their various locations.  Dad hired a group of guys to do the hauling for us. Some went to Kamarisahan to get the clay, a difficult job I was told; Kaha, our neighbor, went to Indalawan to collect white sand; and he gathered the black sand from our beach. So our yard and deck was filled with all these heaps. We found a few unlucky crabs in the white sand. 

With all this paraphernalia we are ready to begin.  A concrete box was built on the platform and a day or so later it was dry. Ethan filled the box with some white sand and walked on it to make it more tightly packed; an inch or so was left. Bricks, which we had bought in Manila ages and ages ago, were laid on the one inch space. We didn’t have enough bricks so Ethan made some more out clay. That sat for some time while Dad did some circular measurements on the bricks.

Finally on Saturday February 12, the fun work began: clay dancing!! We had to mix clay with sand to make a nice mixture. It is a tedious job, and some, like Adams and Alyssum had fun “dancing” on it. Mom and I weren’t there for that first day of work but we were firmly informed that the next day it will be our turn. So on Sunday Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jeanie came over for our little dance party. We got to experience the squishy, soft clay between our toes.

While the clay was being made, Tyler made a sand castle mold out of the white sand. He put some sand on the bricks, add some water, and shaped it up. This went on for quite some time before he had the right shape and size of the mold. There were a few gray clouds overhead so a makeshift roof was made out of a tarp to keep the rain out and our sand castle from collapsing. After that the fun part of putting the clay on the mold began. We had like an assembly line: one was putting clay in a bucket, another hauling it up to the deck, another getting it out of the bucket and putting it on the platform, and still others molding the clay. Before long the first layer was done and it actually looked like it was supposed to! Don’t press too hard or all our work would be futile! After lunch we did some more clay dancing for the second layer. When it was all mixed we applied it to the first layer. Now all we have to do is wait a few days for it dry!

Uncle Dennis came over a few days later and cut a little hole in the clay to get some of the sand out to get a better airflow in there. It worked out well and the oven didn’t collapse. Yeah for us!! He came over the next day and cut a bigger door and this time all the sand came out. Now we can see the inside of our beautiful work! Since we were going to be putting two doors on the oven, the boys and Uncle Dennis added some more clay to form the front door and the smokestack hole. After they were done, the oven was beautified with shells on the front. They add a nice touch to it.

So if you are ever in our neighborhood and want to stop by for a freshly clay oven baked pizza, just drop by at our house. We will be more than happy to serve you. Oh, while you’re at it you could stay for a couple of days to get to know our neighborhood better! You won’t regret it!