Sarah Downton Beads and Jewellery

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.

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.

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.

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.

Friday morning

I love 4 day weeks, they seem so……short. The downside is that they reduce my days available for bead making unfortunately. I shall be going down the garden to my studio shortly as I have a mammoth 8 hours available to me today that I hope not to waste, although I do have some ‘paper’ things to do first. I have to say that the weather is putting me off somewhat, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.

So T5 (or Terminal 5) at Heathrow is up and running. lol. I can’t but help laughing, but I do feel sorry for BA as the whole project has gone so well, to time etc., and it’s not like they didn’t test all the systems rigorously. Having worked as a project manager and engineer in Industry I know what an achievement this is. Of course they forgot to factor in the mass of people problem with parking and getting in the way of the staff. Life would be so much easier for them and British Rail if there weren’t lots of pesky passengers around to get in the way and mess things up. It’s the same with the hospitals really, which reminds me of an entertaining episode of ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ where they had a hospital fully staffed with all sorts of management, not so many medical staff and absolutely no patients. Ahh, the old ones are the best……tongue firmly in cheek.

Now I have to go and decide what to make today, an arduous task, not. I think I might break out the silver foil again today and makes some real jewels of glassiness. Yippee I can’t wait.

Wednesday morning

It’s Wednesday morning again, and am I smugly doing my accounts? Am I heck. I did that once only, then reality took hold and strangled all the hope out of me…..not really, but there’s always a more important job to do than accounts. It’s a bit like housework in that respect. The thing is, I do think about doing it every Wednesday, then I realise that there’s something more important to be done. Take today, I have a big deadline I’m working towards on Friday, well 2 actually, so I MUST work on that job or I will miss it, as it’s actually a Thursday deadline for the post, which means the deadline is actually tonight as I have to have everything prepared this evening. So should I be number crunching? which if truth be told is only there to support the main event, which is my bead and jewellery making. I don’t think so. Mind you when these dates are past I will have a bit of a breather, and look, it’s then the start of the new financial year, which brings with it the joys of stock taking, whoopee. I think I’ll leave any attempt at counting my stuff until the school spring break.

Thursday morning

Today’s big question is…..how long does it take to cook cauliflower? This is not a veg that we normally have, but my parents brought around an exceptionally good one and it’s been sat in our fridge for several days hoping to get cooked. A quick look at my oldest (but more often than not) most useful cookery book ‘Margarite Paten’s Everyday Cook Book’ revealed a section on cooking vegetables that had us hooting with laughter. The cooking times were on the long side to say the least. Take fresh peas in the pod, once you’ve removed them how long do you boil them? I’d say about 1 minute, maybe 2 tops, my old book says 10 to 15 minutes. Oh dear. It says cauliflower sprigs take 10 minutes, I’d guessed at 4 to 5 minutes, so we used carrots for a point of reference. We normally cook them cut up for 3 to 4 minutes, but Margarite quotes ……..wait for it……25 to 30 minutes. EEEekkk. Even good old Delia, in her ‘How to Cook’ series says 20 minutes for small whole carrots. All I can say is ‘no wonder there’s so many people out there who hate vegetables. The poor things must have grown up with over cooked soggy piles of cauliflower and carrot, that just mush to a sodden mess of yukkiness. Urgh.

Fortunately my mum never overcooked her veg when we were growing up, she did used to go a bit towards the longer cooking time, as it was traditional to use the longer times, but suddenly decide to shorten her times further. I remember having crunchy cooked carrots, I think she’d boiled the water and waved the carrots over the top! Now we all cook our veg to a T, just enough to keep the firmness, but not crunchy….. perfection. I love me vegetables.

Tuesday morning

Who knew last week would be so busy and exhausting? It was a sad and also happy week that passed, as we attended a funeral one day, followed by arranging and attending a birthday party the next day.

We’re also in the process of having a real good clear out at home, anyone who’s come here for tuition will understand what I’m on about and probably wonder why we didn’t do it sooner, although time and will power do play an important role. Anyone who knows me will know that I hate housework, and that there is always something more interesting to do than tidy up, but the time has arrived, I need to cleanse my soul and the house, and purge the extra baggage from my life. This includes the old settee that we bought when we got married and that didn’t really fare very well, it was one of those where the cushions are all loose and flop and sag just when you look at it. It’s a real shame, but it would have cost a fortune to re-upholster and re-pad everything, just to end up with another saggy seat! Rick took great delight in taking a saw to it so it would fit in the car on it’s journey to it’s final resting place, also known as the dump – something they show very well on the new DFS advert actually! I’m not quite sure how long this eagerness to rid the house of old trash will last, I hope it lasts long enough to actually make a difference.

Monday lunchtime

What horrible weather we’re having today. I decided to stay home and avoid the wind gusts and lane closures on the M25 today, and now the wind is picking up and we’re having thunder and rain as I type. Yuk. I’ve spent the morning tidying my studio and desk, dipping mandrels, attacking the washpile and updating my website slightly, by this I mean that I’ve added a couple of  recommended B&B’s to my tuition page and 2 links to sites listing accommodation. Now it’s hailing and blowing a gale, and what’s the betting that it’ll be at it’s worst when I have to collect my daughter from school?

Friday  morning

It looks like I stuffed up my last entry, unfortunately Rick came home and picked holes in my discussion instead of smiling. OK I know some of the bits were not technically correct, but when you’re having a  bit of fun is that really important? What about artistic license? and this isn’t Wikipedia where we have dubious statements with more research necessary (and yes, I know that’s not what they say, but for your information I have just spent a futile 5 minutes or more trying to find an article there that has these notes so I can quote the correct phrase). Maybe I should start putting a disclaimer at the bottom of every post stating that I haven’t checked all my facts and that some events are fictional and not based on any person living or diseased……oh no, that should be deceased. You see it’s very hard, for me anyway, to blog quickly, because I like to get it right, so I find myself zipping off in cyberspace checking things that I’m unsure of, like the spelling of someone who’s dead. So I ask myself the question, is it more important to post regularly and quickly, or less frequently and more factually? OOO, sounding a bit like Carrie Bradshaw there. I think I’d rather post more often and not get too bogged down with accuracy myself, especially since I haven’t been here as often as I’d like recently. So, my conclusion is, get on with it!

No trees were cut down for the creation of this message, however a rather large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

Wednesday morning

Mothers Day…what’s that all about? Or should I say, who on earth sets the date as it always seems to be completely different? Is there a group of insignificant people who get together in a small dark room and decide what Sunday to pick, or is it a representative from all the major greetings card manufacturers who choose the best date to fit in with their around-the year-marketing? Have you noticed how there’s always something to send a card for lately? Even St Patrick’s day has got in on the act…..perhaps the gap was far too gaping between Mothers day (which we’ve already noticed has a very moveable date) and Easter. A quick look at Wikipedia tells me that Paddy’s day is also one of these moveable dates, as it’s normally 17th March (not long now) but can be moved also. In 1940 apparently it was celebrated on 3rd April, so it didn’t clash with Palm Sunday. Now this leads me nicely on to Easter…why is this always different? I appreciate that as it falls on a Sunday that it can’t always have the same date, but the difference in dates always seems to be huge, so again, I ask the question, who decides this and why is it always so different? Also why are we celebrating the resurrection on a Sunday rather than the Sabbath which is a Saturday? It’s always puzzled me that one. Of course if we chose the correct weekdays we’d then have Holy Tuesday, Maundy Wednesday, Good Thursday and Easter Saturday……hmm, maybe it doesn’t have quite the same ring about it.

Thursday evening

I have let this blog go over the last few months, but it’s time to get things on track, so I’m hoping to come here and chat with you 3 times a week like the old times. lol. So what’s been happening in my world? All sorts of stuff, mainly masses of glass beadmaking teaching, so much that I’ve had to abandon my poor beadlog for other pressing jobs. Also I seem to have had a few mini migraines or precursors to Migraines. Yuk, but I think I may have found the latest culprit, and it’s……drum roll…..my favourite tipple……drum roll……..Southern Comfort….boo hiss boo. First Pimms, now this, and what’s the problem? why it’s good old orange. Honestly, I never could be bothered eating the things, too much peeling and pith (yes that’s pith, not the other word) but I love the flavour in just about anything, chocolate oranges, now there’s a fine partnership, orange liquor,  lemon and orange cake,  and they stuff it in all the fruit cakes and mince pies at Christmas, so I’ve had to resort to cooking my own. We’d had a few tipples in the last couple of weeks, and boom, another few days with a numb left side and niggling headache, not enough for a full blown humdinger of a migraine, but enough to throw me off my game. I quizzed myself as to what I’d ingested lately and then the horrible thought came to me. A quick bit of research on t’internet and Wikipaedia comes up with a list of ingredients. Southern Comfort is unfortunately for me a blend of whisky, lemon, orange, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, cherries and honey. Rat, rats and double rats. Oh well, at least I can still drink white wine……….for the time being.

Tuesday lunchtime

Where did the morning go?  I was supposed to be in my studio making beads but have so many other bead & jewellery business jobs to do that I’m still indoors. The last week and weekend have been just hectic, with 3 days back to back teaching, a busy weekend and half term I’m now shattered, but it doesn’t end there as I have an exhibition to get ready for this week. The details of the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen New Members exhibition are on my events page.  Must dash, sorry this was so short, I didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten you!

Tuesday afternoon

We are in the throws of half term once more, and I am reminded of the events of last February’s half term when I spent the week and longer in The Royal Brompton and Harefield hospital in Chelsea with my daughter who  was suffering with a very bad bout of pneumonia. I much prefer this February! Although it looks like I won’t actually be doing my accounts tomorrow morning as planned because I forgot the school holiday and I have a hair cut booked, oh, how easily my best intentions go to pot. At least I’ve managed so far to do something vaguely mummsy today, by making dough and getting my daughter and her friend to make their own pizza for lunch. Yum. And we have half the dough left, so we can have some fun with that tomorrow….maybe bread rolls or dough balls with garlic butter, very naughty but nice.

I’m getting very confused by the weather at the moment, we’ve been sweltering at home today (not really, I thought it sounded good) and yet if I turn the heating down or off altogether we totally freeze in the evening, what’s that all about then? Aside from that I’m revelling in the fact that the evenings are getting longer by leaps and bounds, hopefully I’ll feel like making beads in the evening when the evenings are even lighter and more importantly warmer. I am fast running out of time to make my own beads and jewellery for the events that I have planned for the summer, namely the Guild exhibitions, Open Houses and 2 bead fairs. Looks like I’ll be raiding my bead box for further bargains and clear-out beads to top up my stock.

Wednesday night

I was planning to write tonight about how smug I feel, having done my accounts for the second Wednesday in a row – I diligently worked last Weds doing my accounts for the current year – but alas I got waylaid this morning by all the contact forms I’d received regarding tuition, and spent the day communicating with all you lovely people instead. A very fine way to spend the day but not what I’d planned. Still, I can feel smug about last week can’t I? and I have planned to do more paperwork next Wednesday morning, can’t wait…lol. I also added a couple of new events to my events page, a new members exhibition at the Surrey Guild gallery in Milford and dates for the 2nd Contemporary Art and Craft fair at Winchester Cathedral.

Yesterday I had a very pleasant day in Brighton. After meeting my friend for coffee I had the arduous task of finding somewhere for lunch, which I managed quite nicely. It was rather a shock when I went past my favourite cafe, Pulp Kitchen, to find they’d closed. Such a shame, they did wonderful smoothies, great home-made soup and lovely salads and wraps. The new place I found stir fry sizzled the hot fillings individually on a small stove in the cafe, yum. I may well visit TFI Lunchtime again. I made my way back to the car park after lunch, browsing the many bohemian shops of the South and North Laines, and even treated myself to a beautiful piece of jewellery, a stunning and colourful butterfly broach made of tin in gorgeous shades of pink, orange, yellow and gold. Mine’s the middle one on the third row. I must admit I’d have been very tempted by far right second row if they’d had that one. Maybe I need to email her……

Monday…nearly Tuesday

Hi there, I’m buzzing, very unusual for me at this time of night, but we’ve only been home a short while. Ooooo, where’s she been? Well, to cut a long story, no, a short one even shorter, we’ve been to Worthing for a gig tonight, to see one of our favourite bands….Fairport Convention, and we only realised yesterday that they were touring again, so it was all very impulsive (yes, I love a good bit of impulsive behaviour). We even took our nearly 9 year old daughter to her first gig, and had one of the sets dedicated to her. All in all a good evening, and it reminds me how few gigs we’ve been to lately. Note to self….must go to more gigs.

I’m off down to the coast again tomorrow, to Brighton to meet a friend, so that will be a refreshing change, I hope the weather is as good as it has been the last few days. It will be nice to have a day off as I seem to have been working very hard lately, especially with loads of tuition. I have changed my rates very slightly this year, and am only offering guaranteed one-to-one for students who wish to do follow-up intermediate type bookings. I’ve had to do this as demand is so great at the moment, although we always manage to squeeze everyone in!

If you’re in the Milford area this week/month, do pop into the Surrey Guild Gallery as we have a small valentine display so apt for the season, complete with some of my glass heart pendants. Time to turn in I think, night all.

Tuesday morning

At last, I managed some beading time last week, and even managed to try 7 of my new frits and my new press, woo hoo. Now I need to experiment for a couple of projects I’m doing, one I’ve committed to, the other I’ll do if I can come up with anything good. All will be revealed by the end of March! I’m heading out to my studio today when my kiln is warmer, 13.5 deg C in my studio this morning so it’s getting warmer outside.

I love this time of year, and find it a bit difficult to understand why these are the most depressing months after Christmas. It’s a wonder to go in the garden and see the flower stems pushing up through the cold earth, so full of life when everything else seems dead. It reminds me that summer is on the way, and fills me with thoughts of new beginnings and excitement. It also smells fresh and seems to be gradually warming up outside as the evenings get longer. I love the changing seasons, even though I’d love a hot summer all the time, I find the changes exciting and exhilarating.

Wednesday tea time

Yay, my accounts are finished and my tax return has been well and truly submitted, albeit at midnight on Monday. Typically I was so shattered yesterday that I didn’t do anything at all, but I think I deserved a day off after working all weekend, all last week and every evening last week. I’m now turning my thoughts to what jobs I can do before the next manic season arrives. I’d like to improve my studio and get the house and garden tidy (ha ha) but I bet something else gets in the way….it always does! I’m going to have to write a plan so that I can do preparation for the next bead fairs and jewellery exhibitions and dovetail it in with some home improvements. I also need to sit down and work out just how I can keep my accounts up to date as the year progresses, that would be so lovely, as then I wouldn’t waste all of January getting stressed and spending time on paperwork when I could be making beads and jewellery. It’s a nice thought but I can’t help feeling I won’t manage it, although if I take the defeatist attitude I don’t stand a chance, so, I’m going to make it work this year. I hope to start by tackling my current years accounts and getting up to date if possible. Oh what a boring subject, are you bored with this? I know I am.

So, I think I may well have to go out to my studio tomorrow and make some beads, I have new toys to play with, a new press that I got before Christmas, a Creation Station and 10 pots of frit that Rick brought back from New York, also my stash of Double Helix glass and Vetrofond odd lots that I haven’t had time to experiment with yet.  Also watch this space for some new beads in my shop, most with a valentines theme. So much to do, so little time.

Monday morning

What a weekend, I need a rest to get over it. All Saturday we were preparing for the bead fair yesterday, and of course yesterday was the main event. We had a lovely day mainly due to all you lovely people who came to say hello and spend some time with us. Now I have the unenviable job of finishing my accounts today so that my MIL can come over tonight to finish the tax part and do the online bit. Urrgh and I’m missing my class to do this today, still, it’s a good impetus to finish today.

What a fantastic and inspiring programme last night, I watched Monty Dons’ first part of ‘Around the World in 80 gardens’. I thought it would be interesting but was really amazed at the wonderful gardens and sights that he saw. Also the reasoning behind some of the gardens was very thought provoking, especially the Havana gardens in Cuba. Many of these gardens are tucked away in what used to be derelict areas of the city, and have been converted to communal fruit and vegatable plots for the benefit of the local residents. I loved the idea of the 60 small information centres where the gardeners could get help and advice on growing their crops, truly inspirational, and very green. There was also some amazing eye candy and many interesting themes and ideas for garden design and even bead inspiration. Just what I’m looking for to shape my new collection.

Friday morning

Hi there, me again. What a lovely sunny day it is today. I’ve been walking my daughter to school every morning this week as Rick has been away, and every day has been different, but today is lovely. Especially as I now have 10 new gorgeous pots of frit to play with and my very own Creation Station at last, all hot off the plane from New York. There’s definitely an advantage to having family visit the States when you’re into making glass beads. Of course now I want to dash out to my studio and try out my new toys…err…work items…but that will have to wait until next week, hopefully Tuesday, when my accounts and thus tax will be well and truly done, yay. I just hope he hasn’t brought any critters home with him on his suitcase, it’s so reassuring to know they have high levels of bed bug infestations in New York, lol.

Don’t forget I will be at the Bead fair at Ardingly this Sunday, come and say hello and bag yourself some bargains, most of my reduced beads are at least 70% off, and I also have some special sets that have never been offered for sale before now. The show opens at 10am, see you there!