This is a rib. Not that kind of rib. The kind that Lynn uses to mold and smooth clay. Clay has to be kneaded to get the air out. Then, it is a big lump. This was a favorite tool to smooth and level the clay to be ready to work with. Actually, that is not true at all, she tells me as I read what I have written. The tool is important to roughen any two surfaces that are going to be joined by plastic clay. The roughing makes for a better stronger join.
There are clay bits, and smears and chunkettes clinging to the rib after each use. So, put it in the pail of water to loosen and dissolve the clay to clean the rib. That pail water can be quite full of clay bits which we don't want in our plumbing. So she takes the pail outside, twirls it to get the clayish water stirred up and tosses the water on the ground. Clay back to clay, so to speak.
This beloved tool was nowhere to be found. There are many pots and boxes of tools in the working area. All got checked and that rib was not there. Oh, no, what if the rib was in the clayish water and got tossed out in the snow. Hope not. It is so thin and the snow is deep enough that we won't find it until late April or whenever the snow melts. Then, we will see a small, shiny metal plate on the ground. She will have to order a new one.
Why not take a look? Odds are against finding it but wait! What's that little bright line in the snow? The rib! Found it!
So pleasant! So satisfying! The errant tool is returned. Yes, three dollars saved but that is not the point. The point is what was lost, sadly and irritatingly lost, is found, recovered, returned. Yay!
