Quiet Night In
It's just a few hours until 2012 and I'm sitting by the fire my mind full of new bead and ceramic challenges, another year older and wiser and looking forward to seeing what the next year brings. I don't wish for a lot just to be healthy, happy and for my love for glass to stay strong.
Today was a fitting day for the end of the year, I spent time making beads and making ceramics, the weather was mild and the rain and wind left us alone for one last day in the year, it was as if nature was telling us the coming year will treat us fine.
I want to thank each and every one of you for your support over the last 12 months and I hope I have helped in a small way to make your jewellery pieces just how you wanted them, I can't put into words how happy it makes me when I'm told by customers how nice my beads are, even after all these years I worry they won't be good enough, so I hope in 2012 I can carry on making people smile with my work and that they enjoy using my beads as much as I enjoy making them.
This past year as taught me a lot, about people, about nature and most of all about myself, I hope I live my life the right way and I hope by being myself here on the blog that I've at least shown how life is being a full time bead maker. From the first blog I stated I would not hide anything, the struggles, the great days and most of all my thoughts and I hope that is what I'm doing, showing all, telling all, being honest, I can't live any other way, that's who Rob Johnson is and that's how it will continue in the coming year however hard it gets or however enjoyable, you will know it all. There will I'm sure be changes in my life and not all will be perfect but all will make a journey on which I hope I will learn and one on which I hope you will travel along with me.
So as we see out this year and await the new one I wish you all a great new year and I hope you all enjoy the next.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Winds Beat The Fens
Not The Best Christmas Weather
What a day, the strong gales are back rushing across the fens and the day stayed dark with rain at times, not what you would call festive weather, no sunny afternoon walks in the snow, well not yet anyway. The huge flock of swans are still munching their way through the winter barley behind us and the garden birds are all so happy feeding at the stations, often fighting
to keep their balance in the winds.
It's been a busy day in the barn making beads with a lot more focals being made plus an hour was spent in the clay room cleaning and trimming a few pots.
We went out in the car for the first time since Christmas eve, only a short drive to the post office in the next village to buy stamps and post bead orders off, the roads were so quiet and there was hardly a soul walking in the village, maybe all back working or just recovering from the food and drink of the past few days.
I'm hoping the weekend will be wind free as I really need to get more conifer cuttings burnt out the way ready to start getting the kitchen garden planned out and dug over. I hope to sow some first onion seed under cover to give them a good start and some cut and come again salads will be sown in the greenhouse, well after it has had a good clean up, believe it or not there are still a few tomatoes hanging around, just shows hows mild the winter is so far.
Well time for a coffee and a sneak outside to stand in the wind, I love to feel the gales while watching those wild skies, the best way to feel nature.
What a day, the strong gales are back rushing across the fens and the day stayed dark with rain at times, not what you would call festive weather, no sunny afternoon walks in the snow, well not yet anyway. The huge flock of swans are still munching their way through the winter barley behind us and the garden birds are all so happy feeding at the stations, often fighting
to keep their balance in the winds.
It's been a busy day in the barn making beads with a lot more focals being made plus an hour was spent in the clay room cleaning and trimming a few pots.
We went out in the car for the first time since Christmas eve, only a short drive to the post office in the next village to buy stamps and post bead orders off, the roads were so quiet and there was hardly a soul walking in the village, maybe all back working or just recovering from the food and drink of the past few days.
I'm hoping the weekend will be wind free as I really need to get more conifer cuttings burnt out the way ready to start getting the kitchen garden planned out and dug over. I hope to sow some first onion seed under cover to give them a good start and some cut and come again salads will be sown in the greenhouse, well after it has had a good clean up, believe it or not there are still a few tomatoes hanging around, just shows hows mild the winter is so far.
Well time for a coffee and a sneak outside to stand in the wind, I love to feel the gales while watching those wild skies, the best way to feel nature.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
First Day Back
Work As Normal
Today we were back to normal, the kiln was on and flames were flickering, it was work as normal here in the barn. I told Yvonne to stay off for a few more days but she wanted to make some new sets for her ebay shop and I was making focals all day, I must admit it was nice to get back to my torch.
A milder day here in the fens and no wind which makes a change, all we need now is some nice fresh snow and I'll be a happy old bead maker.
Yesterday I made a few Sake cups in the clay room which was fun and they look quite good, I made a single larger jar to pour the sake from today so they will make a nice little set. It's fun trying all the new ideas out and along with throwing pots and bowls my evenings will be busy this week. As I mentions before I want to list a good selection of ceramics in my etsy shop next week including a few more unusual pieces, I have more beads to list and I'm told I need to start listing the many pendants I've made. I guess I can't just hoard away those pendants I'm not sure about like I do my beads,plus any cash from their sales will help make that electric potters wheel dream come true, even if it will be later in the new year, tho the thought of having a good wheel might mean even more evenings spent in the clay room, god how will I get all other jobs done !
I guess dreams like that help us all get through rough times and it gives up all something nice to look forward to, In my case it will also save me kicking that bloody peddle for hours while I try throwing the pots haha ! When I think of how hard potters of the past must have worked it makes you realise just how lucky we are today to even have the option of an electric wheel.
So it's with dreams in my head I leave to enjoy cold meat and pickles, a real treat after that filling roast of yesterday, enjoy your evening.
Today we were back to normal, the kiln was on and flames were flickering, it was work as normal here in the barn. I told Yvonne to stay off for a few more days but she wanted to make some new sets for her ebay shop and I was making focals all day, I must admit it was nice to get back to my torch.
A milder day here in the fens and no wind which makes a change, all we need now is some nice fresh snow and I'll be a happy old bead maker.
Yesterday I made a few Sake cups in the clay room which was fun and they look quite good, I made a single larger jar to pour the sake from today so they will make a nice little set. It's fun trying all the new ideas out and along with throwing pots and bowls my evenings will be busy this week. As I mentions before I want to list a good selection of ceramics in my etsy shop next week including a few more unusual pieces, I have more beads to list and I'm told I need to start listing the many pendants I've made. I guess I can't just hoard away those pendants I'm not sure about like I do my beads,plus any cash from their sales will help make that electric potters wheel dream come true, even if it will be later in the new year, tho the thought of having a good wheel might mean even more evenings spent in the clay room, god how will I get all other jobs done !
I guess dreams like that help us all get through rough times and it gives up all something nice to look forward to, In my case it will also save me kicking that bloody peddle for hours while I try throwing the pots haha ! When I think of how hard potters of the past must have worked it makes you realise just how lucky we are today to even have the option of an electric wheel.
So it's with dreams in my head I leave to enjoy cold meat and pickles, a real treat after that filling roast of yesterday, enjoy your evening.
Monday, 26 December 2011
Boxing Day Play
Let Me Get Out There !
Yipeeeee ! a day playing with clay while the world spends a quiet day recovering from yesterdays celebrations, now that's what I call enjoying Boxing Day. I think if I had to spend a second day sitting around doing nothing it would send me mad so let me get out there on that wheel, I have loads to do. First there are pots and bowls to trim and turn followed by throwing more pots on the wheel and with all that done I get to make pendants and beads, how can I not be happy with the day ahead.
The strong winds have turned to a gentle breeze and the sun is filling the garden, it's more like a spring morning rather than Christmas, birds are feeding on every station and the swans are once again out there across the field, a bright white sea of birds feeding in the sun.
I'm guessing there will be Hunts held all over the country today, red faced fat snobs sitting on their hunters sipping drinks while dressed in their best hunting jackets waiting for the master of the hunt to start the dogs off on set trails, yet I'm sure hoping the odd fox may appear even if the law says they shouldn't follow it ! People taking their children to watch the nice horses and the colourful riders getting ready to gallop off over the fields but never explaining to the same children what happens when they find Mr Fox.
A village boy myself and from a village where every year the hunt would meet and still does, you would think I would be a follower, after all aren't us country folk meant to believe foxes kill hundreds of chickens and anything else that moves, well sorry, not this country bumpkin, a fox to me is a beautiful wild animal with as much right to be living in our countryside as you and I and the idea of these wonderful animals being ripped apart by a pack of dogs is one that doesn't sit well in my mind, but hey don't get me started on that, I'll be here all day.
I like to think of Boxing day more for the true meaning, the day when the land owners and wealthy would repay their workers and servants with an easy day and money boxes were opened and shared out between the poor of the parish, in the big houses a boxed gift would be given to each servant, it was a day when such people as the post man, milk man or refuse collector would call at the houses they serviced for a Christmas box, all in all a day when rich would thank the poor for the work of services they had given through the past year.
Well, cuppa finished and I'm off to the clay room to play like some little kid with his new Christmas toys, I hope you all enjoy a rest today and if your off to visit family then safe journey.
Yipeeeee ! a day playing with clay while the world spends a quiet day recovering from yesterdays celebrations, now that's what I call enjoying Boxing Day. I think if I had to spend a second day sitting around doing nothing it would send me mad so let me get out there on that wheel, I have loads to do. First there are pots and bowls to trim and turn followed by throwing more pots on the wheel and with all that done I get to make pendants and beads, how can I not be happy with the day ahead.
The strong winds have turned to a gentle breeze and the sun is filling the garden, it's more like a spring morning rather than Christmas, birds are feeding on every station and the swans are once again out there across the field, a bright white sea of birds feeding in the sun.
I'm guessing there will be Hunts held all over the country today, red faced fat snobs sitting on their hunters sipping drinks while dressed in their best hunting jackets waiting for the master of the hunt to start the dogs off on set trails, yet I'm sure hoping the odd fox may appear even if the law says they shouldn't follow it ! People taking their children to watch the nice horses and the colourful riders getting ready to gallop off over the fields but never explaining to the same children what happens when they find Mr Fox.
A village boy myself and from a village where every year the hunt would meet and still does, you would think I would be a follower, after all aren't us country folk meant to believe foxes kill hundreds of chickens and anything else that moves, well sorry, not this country bumpkin, a fox to me is a beautiful wild animal with as much right to be living in our countryside as you and I and the idea of these wonderful animals being ripped apart by a pack of dogs is one that doesn't sit well in my mind, but hey don't get me started on that, I'll be here all day.
I like to think of Boxing day more for the true meaning, the day when the land owners and wealthy would repay their workers and servants with an easy day and money boxes were opened and shared out between the poor of the parish, in the big houses a boxed gift would be given to each servant, it was a day when such people as the post man, milk man or refuse collector would call at the houses they serviced for a Christmas box, all in all a day when rich would thank the poor for the work of services they had given through the past year.
Well, cuppa finished and I'm off to the clay room to play like some little kid with his new Christmas toys, I hope you all enjoy a rest today and if your off to visit family then safe journey.
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Merry Christmas To All
It's Here !!
December the 25th, Christmas day and I hope your all having a wonderful time, thank you all for your messages and emails, it's really kind of you all. Thank you to those close friends who gave us pressies, they were great and we hope you enjoyed yours.
I'm sitting watching the wild winds that once again seem to be homing in on the fens while I have a warm drink trying not to think of food haha, I think I went a little over the top which our cooked breakfast, but hey it only happens once a year and thank god we are having our roast dinner tomorrow and not today.
The birds are enjoying their Christmas seeds and fat balls and across the fields behind us are what must be hundreds of swans feeding on what looks to be young winter barley, we can hear them from here tho they must be 400 yards away, a white moving carpet grazing now for the second day running, just another of the great winter sights we are lucky enough to see here in the fenland's.
Now I think you all know me by now and yes I did think of going into the clay room to trim pots and bowls, but I have this feeling Yvonne may kill me so it's better I stay here taking it easy and relaxing plus there is always tomorrow.
I'm like a big kid here with a new ceramic book to read plus a big voucher to use on ceramic supplies, which is such a wonderful gift, so this afternoon while Yvonne watches her Christmas programmes on the tv and the dogs lay asleep in front of the fire I'll be planning my next few days in the clay room, my head is buzzing with ideas and I can't wait to get out there.
Ok, I better get back to my planning and once again wish you all a great day.
December the 25th, Christmas day and I hope your all having a wonderful time, thank you all for your messages and emails, it's really kind of you all. Thank you to those close friends who gave us pressies, they were great and we hope you enjoyed yours.
I'm sitting watching the wild winds that once again seem to be homing in on the fens while I have a warm drink trying not to think of food haha, I think I went a little over the top which our cooked breakfast, but hey it only happens once a year and thank god we are having our roast dinner tomorrow and not today.
The birds are enjoying their Christmas seeds and fat balls and across the fields behind us are what must be hundreds of swans feeding on what looks to be young winter barley, we can hear them from here tho they must be 400 yards away, a white moving carpet grazing now for the second day running, just another of the great winter sights we are lucky enough to see here in the fenland's.
Now I think you all know me by now and yes I did think of going into the clay room to trim pots and bowls, but I have this feeling Yvonne may kill me so it's better I stay here taking it easy and relaxing plus there is always tomorrow.
I'm like a big kid here with a new ceramic book to read plus a big voucher to use on ceramic supplies, which is such a wonderful gift, so this afternoon while Yvonne watches her Christmas programmes on the tv and the dogs lay asleep in front of the fire I'll be planning my next few days in the clay room, my head is buzzing with ideas and I can't wait to get out there.
Ok, I better get back to my planning and once again wish you all a great day.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Christmas Eve
At Last We Settle Down For Christmas
Well it's Christmas eve and the wood burner stove is warming the cottage, warm sausage rolls are fresh out of the oven and the house has that all round Christmas feel. Yvonne is enjoying a well deserved rest while she watches Christmas films and I'm filling my notebook with bead and ceramic ideas. I need to get things sorted for a fresh start in the new year, ebay and etsy shops need to be stocked and of course I have a huge job ahead of me getting the ceramics listed and not just beads, pendants and pots but many more items, it's an exciting time a fresh start and I hope a new look to Rob Johnson's work, one I hope will please my customers and friends.
I know we are all thinking of the year past, maybe we have lost people dear to us or we have had problems in our lives but now we can all look forward, it's time to sit and feel that excitement of facing the coming year, a year that I'm sure will bring us all good times and new ventures, some will work and others may fail but one thing is for sure, we will learn and if we really want 2012 to be a successful one then we can make it so.
As I sit and watch the daylight fade I notice the odd Christmas lights and the last of the shoppers returning home after fighting their way around the stores and all for that one special day, haha are we all mad, no of course not, we all enjoy this time of year and we all celebrate in different ways, some will hold huge family parties, others will spend a quiet Christmas at home and some very special people will be out helping those who are less fortunate, those with no homes or family around them, a lot of which find themselves it such situations through no real fault of their own and to those that are out there helping others I really take my hat off to you, your what the meaning of Christmas is all about.
Well I guess I better get back to my notebook, but before I go I want to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas and enjoy tomorrow in which ever way you choose.
Merry Christmas !
Well it's Christmas eve and the wood burner stove is warming the cottage, warm sausage rolls are fresh out of the oven and the house has that all round Christmas feel. Yvonne is enjoying a well deserved rest while she watches Christmas films and I'm filling my notebook with bead and ceramic ideas. I need to get things sorted for a fresh start in the new year, ebay and etsy shops need to be stocked and of course I have a huge job ahead of me getting the ceramics listed and not just beads, pendants and pots but many more items, it's an exciting time a fresh start and I hope a new look to Rob Johnson's work, one I hope will please my customers and friends.
I know we are all thinking of the year past, maybe we have lost people dear to us or we have had problems in our lives but now we can all look forward, it's time to sit and feel that excitement of facing the coming year, a year that I'm sure will bring us all good times and new ventures, some will work and others may fail but one thing is for sure, we will learn and if we really want 2012 to be a successful one then we can make it so.
As I sit and watch the daylight fade I notice the odd Christmas lights and the last of the shoppers returning home after fighting their way around the stores and all for that one special day, haha are we all mad, no of course not, we all enjoy this time of year and we all celebrate in different ways, some will hold huge family parties, others will spend a quiet Christmas at home and some very special people will be out helping those who are less fortunate, those with no homes or family around them, a lot of which find themselves it such situations through no real fault of their own and to those that are out there helping others I really take my hat off to you, your what the meaning of Christmas is all about.
Well I guess I better get back to my notebook, but before I go I want to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas and enjoy tomorrow in which ever way you choose.
Merry Christmas !
Thursday, 22 December 2011
That Christmas Feeling
Christmas Is Close
For the first time I feel Christmas is here, the house is decorated and festive music is playing while we sort pressies out, that little kid was here for the first time in two years, wishing he was helping his mum with the preparations, those Christmas logs with holly and other seasonal foliage ready to display on the dining table and pressies being wrapped for family and friends, helping her and feeling the excitement build.
What I would give to have her here now, cooking her sausage rolls, mince pies and making those wonderful sweets we all enjoyed so much, just being in the same room made everyone happy, she was so alive and very much missed but by no means forgotten, my Christmas angel who I'm sure is watching down on us all.
Yesterday went really well, I took my aunt to a large country store which was full of Christmas goodies, food and drink that would look stunning on any Christmas table, it was so nice window shopping and she treated herself to some chocolate ginger, something else I remember from days gone by, it was rather like going back in time seeing those old festive favourites such as sugar mice and Turkish delight, I saw those wonderful crystal lemon and orange slices that the grown ups would eat Christmas evening while us kids were playing with our new toys. But of all the things I saw there was only one I wished was coming home with me, it was a box of those chocolate liqueurs, I remember how it was a real treat being given one and I would suck it until the chocolate melted and you could taste that sugar coated centre full of liqueur burst in your mouth, it's funny how those small things stick with you, odd flavours and smells.
Tomorrow we will visit our close friends in Norwich, I always look forward to that trip, it's not just great seeing them but it means Christmas is here and we will soon have a new year to look forward to, a year that I hope brings everyone so much luck and a year that will lead us down many paths in so many directions, new directions that we will explore and I hope enjoy.
For the first time I feel Christmas is here, the house is decorated and festive music is playing while we sort pressies out, that little kid was here for the first time in two years, wishing he was helping his mum with the preparations, those Christmas logs with holly and other seasonal foliage ready to display on the dining table and pressies being wrapped for family and friends, helping her and feeling the excitement build.
What I would give to have her here now, cooking her sausage rolls, mince pies and making those wonderful sweets we all enjoyed so much, just being in the same room made everyone happy, she was so alive and very much missed but by no means forgotten, my Christmas angel who I'm sure is watching down on us all.
Yesterday went really well, I took my aunt to a large country store which was full of Christmas goodies, food and drink that would look stunning on any Christmas table, it was so nice window shopping and she treated herself to some chocolate ginger, something else I remember from days gone by, it was rather like going back in time seeing those old festive favourites such as sugar mice and Turkish delight, I saw those wonderful crystal lemon and orange slices that the grown ups would eat Christmas evening while us kids were playing with our new toys. But of all the things I saw there was only one I wished was coming home with me, it was a box of those chocolate liqueurs, I remember how it was a real treat being given one and I would suck it until the chocolate melted and you could taste that sugar coated centre full of liqueur burst in your mouth, it's funny how those small things stick with you, odd flavours and smells.
Tomorrow we will visit our close friends in Norwich, I always look forward to that trip, it's not just great seeing them but it means Christmas is here and we will soon have a new year to look forward to, a year that I hope brings everyone so much luck and a year that will lead us down many paths in so many directions, new directions that we will explore and I hope enjoy.
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