Back To Normal

The World Seems Alive Again

   After the last couple of days it's nice to see the world here in the fens is back to normal, the roads seem clear and the early workers have been passing since 6 this morning. It was great getting back to my flame yesterday, we put in a long day but at least we managed to keep warm which was a big help.
   Thankfully the freezing temperatures didn't reach us last night and the paths to the barn are still safe to use, we had some rain late last night and I thought it may freeze but thank god I was wrong. I hope the coal arrives this morning as it would be nice to keep the cottage warm over the next few days, so fingers crossed.
   Maybe, just maybe my timber will turn up today from the local wood yard, I ordered some of the boards for the raised beds at the weekend, I will need more but this will give me enough for a good start when the snow clears. There is yet more news on the seed front, the leek seeds are popping their heads up above the compost now so there is yet more life in the greenhouse, it's amazing really how that tiny bit of heat can bring those small seeds to life when outside the glass the world is thick with snow, lets hope I can keep those seedlings safe and well over the next month so we get some nice early crops this year.
   On the bead front it's yet another day for etsy beads plus I need to make some spacer orders from the website and this evening I'm listing a few more beads in both the etsy and ebay shops, I still have sale beads to list so I guess more of those can be added too.
   Last night we talked about moving the bead making into the clay room in the summer and me using the barn for my ceramic work. The main reason behind this is the fact that we could warm the clay room far better as it's constructed from block work, not timber to let in the cold and no ill fitting door to let drafts in. It would be ideal for next winter as we are both reaching the limits working in the barn in these cold months, yes I know if we could afford to use electric heaters we would be ok but the fact is we just can't. So it makes sense to try to move into the clay room where we could, if we can find a second hand one, fit a small wood burning stove. With the solid block walls it would make it so much safer to fit as timber and heat just don't get on. The clay room is all fitted with electric and to be honest it would just mean building new work benches in there, out torches should be easy to move and the kiln we can set up anywhere, so it all makes sense to do it, next winter with a warm work room, god what a great thought !
   As for moving the ceramics into the barn, well it would mean I get lots of beanches to work on and space to place pots to dry, a real positive way to go.
   Ok off to work now, the kiln should be ready and I'm looking forward to new beads, hope you all enjoy your day and everything is back to normal where you are.