A Long Week

What Do I Do First ?

   This last week seemed to me like it was a month, there was so much to try and fit in but just never seemed enough hours to get it all done. For a start I wanted to get a lot of beads made and listed in both the ebay shop and etsy shop, so this was going to use up a lot of hours with all the cleaning, photographing and listing. Then I have so many things happening in the clay room and I so wanted to get the kiln full ready to fire this weekend, but I couldn't manage it and the new target is next weekend. The recycled beads I just love making and wanted to get lots of the small ring beads made plus leaf beads, both of which I did manage and some are listed on etsy but I have so many more to do.

   Alongside all this I have garden jobs to try and fit in which is my own little get away, my hour of two of fresh air and no thoughts of work, a time when I get to be that small kid helping his grandad in his garden growing lots of veg and having bonfires that seemed to burn for days filling the air with that autumn smell of burning garden greens, those small funnels of smoke reaching up through stacks of fresh pulled weeds and runner bean stalks.
   Myself and sleep are still not mates so most mornings I'm up and about before light getting the kiln started and beads ready to clean and wash. I'm glad to say that this week I've noticed the goldfinches are feeding more, maybe as the colder weather moves in they are telling us something. for the first time this year the old baggy jumpers are out, I need something to keep the early morning chill off as I open the barn, I may look like a tramp but sod it, I'll be a warm one ! At least this year the jumpers are a lot bigger on me that's a great sign, it means the bike rides are working still and to be honest I'd rather work in baggy jumpers and feel better about myself than sit at my torch like a fat toad not wanting to go out where people would see me and I can brush up ok when I'm not working so I'm not always a complete mess !
   As some of would have seen a lot more disc beads were listed last night has they are getting great feedback and some really nice positive comments from customers who are finding them nice to work with. I know these little beads are simple and easy on the eye but they seem to be a very handy bead to use, as I have mentioned before I have seen some great pictures where they were used on their own in jewellery pieces, not just as a spacer bead and to be honest they looked really classy, it just goes to show yet again you really don't need a flash "in your face" bead to produce a stunning piece of jewellery, in life I find the people who I care for and who mean the most to me are the people who are very natural, honest no gimmick people and I guess that's how I feel about beads. You don't need to have terrific looks to be a special person, god believe me, if people all read a book by it's cover I would never have been given any landscaping jobs in the past. Can you imagine some couple in their 70's phoning me to pop round to quote for a job and on the day when they opened their door this huge guy with a shaven head stood there looking like the perfect hooligan, well lucky for me it always seemed after a while chatting they started to find I was just a normal guy and I could soon sense they were more relaxed around me.
   So sometimes it's worth giving what may seem to be just a simple bead a try, give it chance to show you it can work, it can stand up and show off like any other bead, it just doesn't need all the frills to do so and next time you are out shopping or watching your favourite tv programme take notice that there are a lot of people out there who wear and love natural looking beads.
   Well it's time I got back to the clay room, it seems Sunday is fast becoming the one day I get to play around with ceramics and I'm glad, it's a nice feeling knowing your whole day is there to try out new things, not like beads, that's completely different, with beads you can only try different designs, your still making a bead, but with ceramics your able to make such a wide range of items, from small beads to huge pots or wall hangings, from pendants to sculptures or handbuilt pots, it's never ending and maybe thats the challange that excites me so much. Enjoy your weekend.