Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

Thursday morning

It’s my birthday today, and I’m having to work cos my fairs start on Saturday, boo hiss boo. Still, that didn’t stop me trying to tart up my usual breakfast of porridge, that I normally do the same every day, with the exception of weekend when I might add a squirt of maple syrup, golden syrup or chocolate ice cream sauce – that’s the sauce not the ice cream….just in case you were wondering. So what I want to know is, what can you do to porridge to make it posh? The recipe books are full of all sorts of glamorous food, and new twists on old favourites, but seems everyone out there has neglected poor old porridge. In my quest to have a special birthday breakfast, you know, something modest and a bit different from normal, I thought where better to look than t’internet! Hmm, what I found is making me feel sicker than I do already (but more about that in a minute). Here’s a few of the recipes I found:-

Snail Porridge – yes I know, and this one’s on the BBC Food pages, seriously…check it out

Cranachan – this is porridge with cream and raspberries in, sounds OK so far? but get this……whisky! for breakfast? If I said it’s a Scottish recipe you’d understand.

Banoffee Porridge – this intrigued me, but what on earth is dulce de leche?

This was all a bit complicated for me this morning, and I’d come across a couple of recipes using apples and cinnamon, so I thought I’d just use a bit of the later to spice it up a bit. I have to say I’m now feeling a bit queezy, having gently tapped my jar of cinnamon and about 1 teaspoon of the powder came wooshing out and onto my porridge, covering it in a brown dust of old smelling spice which I quickly stirred in hoping it wouldn’t be too bad. A little pinch would probably have been better, and a quick look at the date on the jar revealed it was best before 1998, that’s not so long ago, isn’t it? oh yes, it is, 9 years!

An hour later and the taste is still there, better go and eat something else that might get rid of it at last. I don’t think I’ll be trying apple and cinnamon in my porridge, ever!

Friday tea time

We’re nearing the end of the half term hols, and you’ve guessed it, I haven’t done half of the things I planned for the week. Partly because we (my daughter and I) have been going to a kids club every morning, her to take part and me to help, apart for today when I laid languishing in bed this morning with the stupid cold I seem to have acquired yesterday. We have managed to do some baking together, lovely Rainy day Biscuits from Nigellas’ ‘Feast’ and we even got around to decorating them too. I’m really enjoying the challenge of colour mixing with the food colours available, another bit of fun for the mistress of colour (that’s me by the way), it reminds me of the lovely time I had this summer colouring numerous sheets of aluminium.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, we did do all the things I’d planned up to and including Wednesdays activities, I just think my daughter’s going to have to wait a bit longer for her handmade pink cushion covers to go with her new bedroom, sneakily made from the bottom of her curtains that I also have to shorten, and I’m going to have to tidy my bedroom when I can fit the job in. All that’s left to do today is to find bits to help make one of the 2 Halloween  outfits that my daughter need for the 2 parties she’s going to, this should be fun!

Tuesday morning…one week later

Morning chaps! Phew, our washpile has decreased in size, not completely mind, but significantly. It’s now all safely in the basket, rather than cascading jauntily over the edge and up the bookcase. Now we have to finish tidying up after decorating our daughters bedroom, although Rick still does have the door to paint (hint hint).  We were going to progress to doing our bedroom, but I’m starting to panic about the Christmas sales, so I reacon that might have to wait until the spring.

There’s lots to do, getting my stock of jewellery ready for the few sales I’m attending, attempting to plan ahead for our Christmas so I don’t get in the usual rush, Christmas cards and letter to do (I said I was going to do this early last year but failed miserably….we didn’t even send any cards….mind you we were actually entertaining Christmas day for the first time and organised a Christmas Carol Service), our present shopping and all the commissions I get at this time of year. I’m also planning an exhibition at the moment that will take place in February next year, so not long to go. This will be my first posh exhibition that I’ve organised, and I’ve invited a couple of friends to share the space and time with me. Most of this needs to be done before Christmas as I usually end up doing my tax through January, so I need to get as much jewellery made as possible before then. Oh dear, what have I let myself in for?

Tuesday morning

Hurrah! I have the house to myself again. Oh what to do first! I’m all in a spin! I’m itching to get out to my studio and make new beads, I have so many new ideas, lots of inspiration from my last visit to Cornwall, and last night in bed – well, I was trying to get to sleep and a parade of new bead designs and colours kept floating up to my eyes and then moving on for the next one. Very peculiar I must say, and a first for me, I just hope I can make them or at least attempt to draw them or even remember all of them today ‘cos they were really yummy.

Unfortunately I have lots of admin stuff to do, and a desk and work area to organise (again) but at least the house is looking somewhat clearer now. I’ve been doing lots of gradual tidying because it’s still painful to sit down for long after my stair tumble, which also goes to show that there’s always a good side to find in any problem. lol.

Wednesday morning

It’s been a while hasn’t it, did you miss me? It was a real struggle for me not to post over the past few weeks, and yet before I started my beadlog I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to keep it up. Still, here we are towards the end of the school holiday, and I’m in a rather delicate state! Not through being in the constant presence of an 8 year old, but due to the mishap I had yesterday lunchtime when I managed to slip and bump down all but 5 steps on a very steep carpeted staircase at a friends house. Woops. Needless to say I’m still feeling a bit shaken and am wondering how I’m going to cope with all those jobs I need to do today and this week. The house still looks less than tidy, due to lots of trips, the Winchester exhibition, GBUK beadfair, the course I did last week and general stuff that needs putting away. Oh well. Some things never change.

I’d like at this point to say how lovely it was to meet everyone who came to say hello at the bead fair this weekend. It was good to put faces to names, and we all had a very enjoyable day. I’m not sure what other bead-fairs I will be doing next year, I’ve applied for a few but need to hear back from the organisers. I will post details on my events page when I have them.

Friday lunchtime

This will be my last post for a little while. I’ve been banned from doing any work or web updates for a few weeks as I’m supposed to be taking a break and concentrating on house stuff and our daughter. So please bear with me regarding contact forms. You can still send them in, but it will be a while before you get a reply.

IF you fancy a trip to France the exhibition in Sars Poteries started on the 30th July. This now runs until 15th October. Details on my events page.

At the end of the month, 26th August, we have the GBUK 4th Annual bead fair, in Stourbridge. Again details and a link to the website can be found on my events page.

Have a lovely August.

Monday afternoon

Phew, I need a rest. I started my art clay course this morning and only got back an hour ago because the traffic was so terrible on the M25. I decided to leave the motorway and take the A25 but that wasn’t any better, so I left that route and went the very scenic way through Ide Hill, Edenbridge and Lingfield. 1 hour and 40 minutes later I got home. It makes you realise how the motorways have changed the way we all live now, and how easy it is (when the traffic is good) to travel long distances with ease. This journey normally takes me 55minutes, and the first 20 minutes were a breeze. Still, I got to see some more of the beautiful countryside as I drove up and down the south downs, as it was really high up when got to Toy Hill.

I will post a picture of what I made this morning when I’ve finished it, it was all a bit of an experiment morning, getting the feel of the clay and how to manipulate it. The wire I stuck on with slip didn’t stay on the whole length and I have to solder about 1/4″ to make it secure, as I do the bail that I put on the back. I also have to clean up the edges and barrel polish it. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished article, but I’m really not sure if I like this medium or not, or if it’s any easier than doing normal metalwork with silver.

Monday morning

Half term is over, daughter is at school, washing is on, kitchen’s almost tidy and the sun is shinning…all is well with the world. Now I just have to get really revved up to work hard as I have 2 major bead fairs, 1 minor beading day, 1 carnival, RAG Open houses and the Surrey Guild exhibition at Winchester Cathedral to prepare for, all in the next 7 weeks. I’m also going on a short Precious Metal clay course (already getting excited) and then a colouring anodised aluminium course (my third time) in this time frame. Phew. It always gets like this in the J months. Of course some of my preparations can be carried over from one event to the next, depending on how much I sell at the previous one, but I do like to produce some new designs for the summer events, both jewellery and beads, and this also takes more time than doing the same old same old. I also plan to make a new posh piece of jewellery, and need to mull this over while I work…..hmm, I wonder if I could squeeze a day off at the Hampton Court flower show too…..I’ll have to work on that one.

So….I’d better get on, the washing is beckoning me to hang it on the line (rotten stuff).

Oooh and while I remember, apologies to everyone who’s sent me emails in the last couple of weeks, my service has been up the spout, and Rick only just managed this morning to retrieve the ‘however many gigs of mail’ that has been sat waiting on the Talk Talk server for the past 2 weeks. We have now changed provider for my emails so normal service should soon be resumed (as soon as I get through the backlog).

Wednesday morning (1 week later)

Whoa, a whole week later, what happened? Oh yes, Whitsun weekend, and we’ve been away in our newly fixed caravan for a few days. I think I need a holiday now just to get over the packing and I would say unpacking too, but the floor’s still covered in ‘stuff’ that needs unpacking and putting away. I love going away but I really hate all the preparations beforehand and the tidying away when you get home. There must be some solution to this dilema? Obviously staying in hotels is one of them, going abroad on package holidays is another – only 1 suitcase per person and a bit of hand luggage – sounds good to me. It’s the camping thing that makes life complicated, this must be why it’s a relatively cheap holiday, because of all the effort involved.

I remember preparing for holidays abroad, this was fun because it consisted of shopping…. for sun lotion, toiletries and bikinis, also film for my camera (we’re going back a bit here….scarey isn’t it?) and a good pocket guide book. Maybe I also needed some new t-shirts, sun tops and flip flops, oh and a new suitcase. Whereas now it’s ‘have we got enough chemicals for the toilet?’ and ‘that saucepan’s going a bit rusty’ and ‘have you packed enough tea towels?’. Blrghhhhh.

I must have gone wrong somewhere along the line, I’ve gone from 2 weeks at the end of May and 1 week in September, both abroad, to 2 weeks in the UK in a caravan of all things. I suppose at least I put my foot down about using a frame tent, now that was humungous and took all day to pack up the last time we used it. Some people may say we got too complicated in our use of the tent and should have stuck to sleeping on carry mats, eating cold baked beans out of the can and sitting on the floor, but arthritis soon put an end to that type of camping for me (which is also why we’re now in a caravan).

So, the piles of ‘stuff’ are still lined up along the lounge floor, the kitchen still looks like the remains of a bomb has hit, and I have visitors arriving for lunch in 5 minutes………I’d better get on! see ya.

Wednesday morning

At last, I have a bit more time to blog in the morning…..well I don’t really, but the bench outside was beckoning and I didn’t want to let it down. It’s gorgeous out here, the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing (the Cotoneaster shrub next to me is heaving with bees, they really go mad for the flowers when they come out each year), I can hear people about their business and the scent of the flowers is amazing. I could almost be on a Greek Island in the sun, especially with the occasional sound of scooters.

I think I could really do with a parasol out here as I can barely see my screen, it’s sooo bright. Mind you, we all know what happens when I get involved with parasols, tea and my laptop! It’s a lot sunnier in our garden at the moment too as we still have 5 fence panels missing, I can’t get the bits I need to repair them for love nor money. This could make the job a bit tricky when we do get the bits as our neighbours shrubs next to the fence are just exploding with leaves and branches. I just LOVE this time of year in the garden as everything grows so fast, if you blink then look everything’s doubled in size.

We also have the pleasure of enjoying coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show, supported by Marshalls (tee hee). Isn’t it funny how the non-advertising BBC have to get their presenters to say this every time the show starts or ends on TV? I just wish they’d show more of the other gardens when they do these programmes, as I’ve noticed from my trips to the Hampton Court show that they seem to concentrate on the same few gardens each time when there are many other good displays to be seen also. Maybe they’re trying to leave something new for those who visit the shows? and OK Heather, I know I’m talking about TV again. Gotta go, as much as I enjoy wittering on to you lot I’ve stuff to do.

Monday lunchtime

Well, it’s started again….school hols and Dr Who. I don’t know about you but we’re big Dr Who fans in this house, and wasn’t it a cracking start to the new series on Saturday? The question I have today is, what makes David Tennant so yummy? He’s just soooooo, you know, attractive. We knew he’d make a great Dr Who after seeing his winning ways on Cassanova a couple of years ago, even before we knew they needed a new Dr. He’s just so twinkly, even our daughter loves him and she’s only just 8. Roll on episode 2 I say.

As for the school hols, I’ll be dipping in and out for the next 2 weeks but I’m really supposed to be taking a break. If you want to email me regarding tuition enquiries please feel free, but please be aware that I may take several days to get back to you. Happy holidays.

Wednesday afternoon

A week has almost gone (come to think, also a whole page on my calender) and we feel like we live here again. But I’ve not had the time or energy to do much work wise, I’m feeling so drained from the whole hospital and health experience, and my daughter is still home recouperating. We had hoped she’d go back to school this week but is obviously still under par, poor thing, so it looks like the beadmaking will have to wait until next Tuesday. I can’t even begin to explain how hard it is to stay away from the torch. There’s just something about it that lifts my spirit, and when I can’t get to play (that’s work for you Rick…lol) I actually start to get sad.

I’m starting to get a bit worried about my stock levels, I really need to get out there and make some more of my usual beads for my range of glass jewellery, which is still selling well in the Surrey Guild Gallery, even though Christmas has passed. I also have a belated Christmas present to make and just don’t seem to have the right beads available to make the pair of earrings I envisage. I don’t know, first my accounts and tax, then family health. I expect that sounds like normal family life to most people, and I have to admit, as much as I don’t like it, that is one of the benefits of being self employed with a business like mine, that you can take the time off when you need to.

I got one hour on the torch Sunday lunchtime and made a few sample bobbly beads in my new colours to see what they’d look like. I’m pleased and can’t wait to have another crack at them so to speak. I think I’ll clean them later on today…you know me and my ‘pot of beads’ to clean.

Wednesday morning

What a lovely crisp wintry morning (and doesn’t wintry look odd spelled like that?). There’s frost everywhere and the sun is shining making it sparkle. Again I’m glad I don’t have to travel far today like I did yesterday, when I went to the Guild shop to do another days duty. Honestly that dratted auto-piloty thing and not really twigging about where I was going yesterday saw me pootling up the road towards Guildford for 10 minutes in totally the wrong direction for the road I normally take. I suddenly realised I was going the wrong way as my brain was working out the rest of the route and I had to stop and see if I could get back on track easily. Fortunately for me there was a short cut across country which took me through Ewehurst and Cranleigh, which I was quite pleased about because I’ve never seen Cranleigh and my curiosity has been very piqued by all the signs that you see on the road that say ‘Cranleigh, England’s largest village‘.

I have to say that after driving through the place, It’s gotta be a town, it’s so big. Anyway, what is the definition of a village or town? Surely if it has a big church, used to have a hospital and has a largish supermarket and a couple of pedestrianised shopping squares it counts as a town? In modern day terms it must be a town if it boasts a ‘Costa coffee’? Wikipedia says a town can be a village that is larger than surrounding villages and has a regular market, and is also a community that doesn’t survive on mainly agriculture – well I passed signs to what looked like a large industrial estate. A village can also decide to call itself a town by it’s Parish Council calling themselves a ‘Town Council’. So I reckon it should be called a town, but they want to keep themselves as the largest village. And why not, if you’ve got a uniqueness, flaunt it!

Friday afternoon

What a beautiful country England is. I’ve had the most lovely day today, driving through some of the nicest countryside, mainly woods from Horsham to Farnham. I thought I’d take a day off working to go to a couple of galleries I’ve wanted to visit for a long time now, and to see how long it would take to get there. It was an incredible drive though gorgeous woods most of the way, which is unusual, couple that with the season being Autumn and you have a great combination. Parts of the road cut through high tree lined banks where old knarled roots twisted over the mud and had a really old feel to them. The drive there was among patches of fog which wafted mysteriously between the trees, while the journey home saw lots of sunshine pouring through the leaves and dappling the ground in light. Awesome.

The great thing about a day out like today, is that it lifts my spirits. I feel so happy inside and really refreshed and relaxed after my hard slog of the last couple of months, especially Sunday. I came home ready to pick up my daughter from school and felt so different, like I’d been on holiday. Even the walk to school felt different, it’s so wierd, but good what 3 or 4 hours doing something you really love with no pressure can do.

Wednesday morning
Morning all. I got told off Monday for bad spelling, grammer, punctuation and all, so lets hope today’s entry is more coherant, it should be, I’m feeling a bit more with it but not completely yet.

I now have the pre-Christmas lull ahead of me, it’s the calm before the storm, and although I have my job targets set for the week my thoughts are also turning towards my Christmas panic which I always get into because of the fairs and orders I get last minute. Somehow the cards never get sent until after the last posting day, and we’re always up at 2am Christmas day finishing off the pressie wrapping. Now this isn’t because we’re greedy and give each other bucket loads of presents, but because we’re both very fortunate to have huge families on each side who all get along well.

So this year I’m thinking very seriously about what I can do now to ease the stress and prevent my Christmas day migraine that’s occured 3 times now (and boy they were real humdingers). Trouble is it feels very strange doing stuff like writting cards and buying presents so early, especially since I set myself the rule when I was younger about not starting to think about Christmas until after my birthday near the end of November.

So here’s something to change the subject back to Autumn, a picture or 2 of the Virginia Creeper that grows so voraciously on the fence at the end of our garden. I took these on Saturday morning, and they have a real rich colour tapestry feel to them.  Today, 5 days on, the mass of leaves are now more  golden yellow and orange, with hardly any dark green and only acid green shades remaining.

Thursday afternoon

How is it Thursday already? It’s been an exciting week, well, for us anyway. It’s amazing how simple things please simple minds, but that’s what’s happened. I’d been watching Ebay over the last couple of months to see how camping equipment was selling and just popped in there last Thursday for a check up. The tents and awnings were selling well (at last), so it was time to take the plunge and get rid of our surplus frame tent and spare awning. To cut a long story short our tent got all it’s bids in the last 2 minutes…can you believe it! It’s a bit annoying really cos I feel sure we’d have got a better price if they’d started 5 or 10 minutes earlier….lol. Anyway, the awning went up 2 days ago and that’s sold now too. So hurrah for Ebay. What’s so sad is how excited you get watching the final couple of minutes, and how you jump and woop when it’s sold. I can see how people get addicted to this.

Our other excitement was our bread making today.  We’ve had a bread machine for 2 years now, and I’ve never had sucess with making dough then turning it into rolls or ciabatta.  But today I think I cracked it…we made pizza dough this time, which is quicker and doesn’t do a full prove in the pan, then sucessfully made bread rolls (this has to be said ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ stylie, by roling your r’s), a small Foccatia and a round of dough balls like you have for a starter in Pizza Express.  Blooming perfick.  (We saved you a dough ball Rick.)

Sunday Evening

I think I’m already gearing down for the school holidays, I feel soooo lazy, and just want to veg and I have this irresistable urge to go shopping for new clothes (don’t know what that’s about). I don’t even know what I’m blogging about this evening. Normally I go into blog mode on my computer to make me think about what to write, but tonight it just doesn’t seem to be happening. I think maybe all the heat and May-June-July stress has addled my brain. Also the excitement of watching our auction on Ebay to sell our old mamoth frame tent (in excellant condition, 6 berth, only used 4 times) has overshadowed everything (not really!). Got to put the old awning from our old caravan up next, should have done it the same time as the tent, but I spend time marketing it so we can be sure of a good price (at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). Trouble is we’re so unused to Ebay that putting up an auction seems to take an inordinately long time, it didn’t help that Rick had nearly finished the listing and then lost it and then had to start all over again.

Thurday lunchtime

Sports day has been postponed unitl September! So I get to work at home all day, but still a bit too hot for me to make beads unfortunately. So now I’m panicking as I look at my planner and see how many days I have left to make beads and jewellery for the GBUK Bead Fair in August at Stourbridge or to make some pieces for sale on my website. I’ve decided that since the school hols are approaching so rapidly now, I should give my family a bit of a break from my business and so have decided to delay the launch of my on-line shop until the beginning of September (are you taking this in Rick?). What with family loyalties, the glass festival and getting our house and garden looking half decent I shall be taking a well deserved break (or as much of one as I can have) during August, ready to return for business in September. I can’t believe how quickly the year is zipping by!

August isn’t here yet though, so keep those emails and lampwork tuition enquiries coming. Off to get me some lunch now and hang up the washing (such an exciting life).

Tuesday morning

I’m having a cool day indoors today, not going to risk trying to make beads in this heat, at least I don’t have to this time. I’ve two lovely scars next to each other on my arm from the other weeks’ hotscapades (new word to describe foolish hot behaviour, similar to icescapades but not related to ice skating) – well if Will Shakespere can make up new words so can I.

Today I’m endeavouring to tidy my desk indoors, oh I hate this. It’s looking better but somehow I always end up with different size piles of BITS. They might be headpins mixed with odd beads, stray findings, business cards and other stuff, then piles of flyers I need to refer to, and various small stuff that I will forget about if I throw them away or put them away (only to be discovered 5 years later after clogging up yet another drawer, and been searched for voraciously several times in the interval to no avail). How do people get truely organised, do everything they need to do, and keep their pads tidy? This for me is like THE question, you know, the one about The meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything, it probably has an obscure answer like ’42’ and no one knows what on earth it means. Maybe I should just resign myself to the fact that I’ll never get a handle on it.

Anyway, they just said on the news that sunscreen doesn’t work effectively if it’s rubbed in, oh now what? Honestly, now they say it should stay in a thick layer on the skin to work properly. But you know what? Experts are also saying we’re suffereing from a lack of Vitamin D because of all the care we’re taking of our skin now…..you can’t win.

Wednesday morning

Another day of mousework today. Woopee, not. I made a few beads yesterday and have to get them out of the kiln, they include a glass ring, oh yes. I decided to try one of the ring mandrels that Martin at Tuffnells has started to stock, it was difficult to get a thin coating of mandrel release, took ages to dry, then after I’d made my ring, it didn’t fit in the kiln! Well, it went in but I couldn’t close the bead flap. I had to turn the kiln around and use the side door, knocked all the other beads on mandrels sliding it in, then could only fill the kiln half full because it got in the way! lol. Can’t wait to see how it turned out, just off to see……..oh it’s cool. It came off the mandrel easily, but is a bit of a pig to clean – I won’t be using my diamond drill bit or I’ll mess the surface. I will however be cutting the mandrel handle down to a shorter length so it fits in the kiln sideways without hogging all the space.

Talking of hogs…did you know that the male hedgehog was called a boar and the female a sow? or that their young are called Hoglets? I helped my daughter with some homework yesterday and we found all sorts of interesting facts about hedehogs on t’internet. The most interesting (apart from being able to swim, climb almost vertical walls and run at 2 metres per sec!) was that they love to eat snails and slugs, and eat about 200g a night. Now I could do with one of those in my garden. Some plants are looking a bit lacy to say the least, but the hostas with crushed up egg shells do seem to be fairing better now, together with the hosta with a natural mulch (it was left under the holly tree in the corner of the garden). I may even start mulching other tasty plants with my free holly leaves.

Here’s a few pictures from Hampton Court Flower show last week, it was very hard to make a choice.