Gus's Corner Oven has Even More Final Touches Now
Here's some more pictures of the oven. This one shows the flagstone known as El Capitan. 
I placed some flagstone in the cooking area with screenings between the stones.
I used one giant, thicker and larger stone about 2x4, set so I can step on it when cooking. I call it El Capitan. Everyone looks at me like I am crazy, but I am the chief on the rock when it's time to work the oven at 800+ degrees.
In the rain, it looks like the doors are doing what I wanted to do, which is keep rain and eventually the snow out.
The iron hangers on the sides are actually iron dachshund heads. We bought three of them in Door County this summer. The ones on the right hold the oven door when not needed. The one on the left will be for paddles and such.
The doors were actually made out of some treated wood I salvaged from a ramp Gus once used to travel up and down to do his daily routines. Don't worry, they were belt sanded down, anyway if any food touches the doors it's probably going on the ground, too.
After 14 years it finally caught up with him and his joints and just about everything else was making it too hard to do anything, but travel flat. Still miss that little dog a lot and can almost see him sniffing everything out and then blessing it all in his own special way.
I had to cut the inside edge of the doors at a 45 degree angle so when they close they don't hit the walls. The gate latch seems to work well as a clasp . There is a bit of play but that is alright. I found an old cart on the roadside that I thought would work well. It is all metal with two side flaps that fold up and a center area with a small metal draw. There is also a small shelf underneath were I should be able to store wood for the night so I don't have to keep going back under the oven when cooking.
A few more weeks I will paint the stucco dome and perhaps the walls.
Next Friday is my birthday and then Sunday is Paula's baby shower. I think for Friday night I will make some pizzas and try to keep the oven really hot for the next couple of days to really dry it out and cure it after this week's anticipated rains. Then, on Saturday I will have to try and make some turkey breasts for the shower. I'll have to get a few chickens to toss in with the turkeys, too, just to experiment.
Hope the rain goes where it should!
