Archive for April, 2008

3 weeks and counting

Tuesday morning

The sun is shinning today, and it was 8 deg C in my studio when I turned the kiln on this morning. I love how the temperature rises as we progress to the summer, although it has been higher, at 13 deg C a few weeks ago. I have masses of work to do and lots of little jobs to finish at the moment, and I’m wondering how I’m going to fit it all into the next 3 weeks. Oh, did I mention it’s 3 weeks to go? lol. Maybe I should do a project plan bar graph thingy, like I used to do when I was engineering….I used this also to plan our move when we moved house several years ago, I was so terrified of opening a door and finding a room I’d forgotten about absolutely stuffed with ‘stuff’! Of course this wouldn’t really have happened as we had a titchy house with a total of 5 rooms but you get the drift of my nightmare, which had actually happened to my in-laws when they’d moved a few months previously, well, it wasn’t a room but it could have been, as it was one of the many cavernous lofts they used to have, stuffed to the gunnells on moving day. Couple that with the 2 full kitchen cupboards and you have my worst dream for moving day. Mind you they were moving from a huge 2 family house with about 22 rooms, I think they can be forgiven for forgetting a couple of places.

So, I promised to tell of our adventure going to Oxford the other week, maybe it’s time for part 1?…….nah, I’ll keep you in suspense, I want to be able to add some photos as we go along. have good day.

Comments are disabled

Hippy chick

Wednesday morning

How do I start this post? I keep typing this one and deleting it! You see it keeps getting too heavy and sounding way too serious, and you know I like to try and keep my blog light-hearted if I can. So I guess the game is up, all this time it’s been hidden from you that I can’t walk very easily and this is due to something called clicky hip (or DDH) which is a condition that they now check for in newborn babies. Although I did mention it exactly 2 years ago (21st April 2006 ER….me too the episode where Weaver, the lady Dr with a crutch realises she needs a new hip, incidentally it completely changes her life for the better) Anyway, I have big news, as I realised just before Christmas that I could really now do with a hip replacement and that the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

So, there is is, and I now have my date, 4 weeks from now, yikes. I now have to stuff in as much work as possible to be ready for 2 lots of Open Houses in July and maybe the exhibition in Winchester if I can manage it. There’s also plans to be made for how to run the house when I get home, raising chairs, making space for me to live in my recovering state. And of course I have to treat myself to the obligatory new nightie!

I have lots to tell you also of our adventure visiting my consultant in Oxford, but I’ll save that for another post.

I should also point out that this will impact on my teaching schedule. I am planning to take a break from the end of May and start teaching again in September. August is way too complicated with school holidays, weddings, lazy days out etc. and it can get very hot making beads in August.

Comments are disabled

Brighton breezy

Wednesday morning

The holidays are almost over, yay, then I can get down to making beads again. We have had some interesting days and had a great time out on Monday when we went to Brighton for the afternoon – that’s me and my 9 year old. She’s got to the age where she’s interested in looking in shops other than toy shops and enjoys looking in jewellery shop windows, hurrah! You know what it’s like with a younger child in tow, they just kick the ground and look bored all the time unless you’re walking. I think we spent the most time in an amazing percussion shop where he sells all sorts of obscure imported instruments and rhythm making things. We succumbed and bought a mini accordion for her to play tunes on, great fun.

Comments are disabled

Here comes the rain again

Friday morning

Ah, what was that I said about having the urge to keep going through stuff and get rid of it? Seems the urge left after I told you guys about it, and no further progress has been made, also it’s been progressively harder to be organised as the holiday feeling has come over me, and I can’t really tidy all day again or my daughter will explode as she wants me to do stuff with her. It’s very difficult to be arranging days out and activities to do with your kids at the same time as running a business, it’s sort of 2 different states of mind, very Jekyll and Hyde. I have however been ploughing through the hidden wash pile in the cupboard, gradually whittling it down to a couple of miscreant towels, and making full use of the garden to dry things. Today’s rain has stopped that abruptly. Now we need to re plan what to do today. Ho hum.

Comments are disabled

Shiny happy people having fun

Tuesday morning

The sun is shining and all is well with the world. Ok, so all is not well with the world, what with people abducting their own kids and lying and smirking about it, and the Olympic torch being attacked, together with the honoured bearers, when the protests are supposed to be peaceful. But on a happy note, the sun is shining, as is my kitchen sink, which I’ve actually cleaned again with my marvellous ‘Shiny Sinks’, I don’t know what’s come over me, that’s 3 times in a couple of months….yes I know, most people do it everyday, but I’m really not the type. I also spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening getting rid of paper ‘stuff’ again, and can’t believe I have the urge again today to go through even more ‘stuff’ and get rid of that too.  There must be something in the air. Well, there is lots of something everywhere, and that’s what the main problem is. lol.  All you guys who’ve come here for tuition know what I’m talking about, and have very kindly turned a blind eye to the state of our house.

So, what’s on the cards at the moment? Well, it’s school holiday for this week and the next, and I’m having a bit of a break, but saying that, and I’m also spending a couple of hours every morning and evening just to keep things ticking over, so please, if you want to send me an email, or request tuition information, please keep the mails coming.

Comments are disabled

Here comes the sun

Friday morning

Wow it’s so lovely outside today, and it was yesterday too. I had a better session in the studio, even though I’m suffering with a throat infection, and think I have my Tempest bead at last. I’m hoping to go out and make more lovelies today, although I’m not sure yet what I need to do……..goes off and rummages in bead boxes. I should probably be good and start getting organised for Open Houses and the Ardingly Bead Fair this summer, but I feel like experimenting today, something that I don’t feel I get much time to do. I’ve been playing around with my new press that I swapped with someone, it’s a lentil, which I thought was going to be difficult to use, but actually it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. That’s it, I’ve decided, I’ll do some experiments and some production work, a good compromise. Have a great weekend.

Comments are disabled

Tempestuous troubles

Wednesday morning

Isn’t it fantastic having longer evenings now? I’m starting to get itchy feet and want to get lots of things done, and go abroad, it must be the spring thing. I love this time of year, there’s so much of a feeling of new beginnings. We have several projects that we’re hoping to do here this year, I expect we’re being too optimistic, but we will achieve half of them probably, although it’s already April, how did that happen? and the next 2 weeks ahead are school holidays, I just don’t feel ready for that.

Fridays bead session was fun, although I made 2 rather long beads (the longest being  70mm, although I just about managed 82mm last week before it cracked at each end, I won’t be trying that again!) that took absolutely ages to do, 1 and 1/2 hours each start to finish, then one of them had a nasty crack up the centre at one end, so disheartening. It’s always the same when you have a deadline, these beads are attempt number 5 and 6 for the Tempest invitational exhibition that I’m taking part in, and I only have 3 out of the 6 beads to choose from due to various cracks and problems with this design. I can see I won’t be doing many more of these, but I will try and do a smaller version that is quicker and easier to keep in one piece while I’m working on it.

I filled the rest of my time with quicker things, experiments with pleat beads, I’d always wondered how Nicole Zumkeller and Eric Seydoux did their close lines, and had worked it out for myself then came across a great couple of threads on Lampwork etc . I had fun with this technique, taking it further than the tutorials for my first bead. Pics will follow later if I can persuade hisnibs to get them ready for me.

Comments are disabled