Excuses, excuses

Did anyone hear on the travel bulletins about a lorry of Marmite causing delays somewhere oop North on Monday? I remember commenting to DH about how it was unusual that the radio bulletins actually told you what the lorry was carrying, normally they just say the delay is caused by a broken down/jack knifed/overturned lorry. I didn't think it would affect me in the slightest. By the afternoon they were still reporting it as causing delays but it had turned into a lorry of yeast extract as someone obviously realised they were giving Marmite free advertising. Apparently it closed the motorways both ways, I guess it spread out ... (groan).

I ordered some materials on Monday and I particularly want four 18 inch chains as a bride is picking up four pendants from me on Saturday for her bridesmaids. They should have arrived on Tuesday with the postman as a Special Delivery item. When my package didn't turn up with the postman on Wednesday, I rang the supplier and apparently quite a few of their dispatches haven't been delivered because the yeast extract held up a lorry load of mail. I'm really hoping it will turn up today, if it doesn't, I'm thinking that this will be added to those other notorious and classic excuses ...

• The dog ate my homework
• Leaves on the line
• The wrong kind of snow
• Marmite on the motorway

Gosh

Gosh ... I'm busy!

I have got commissions for beads from my Etsy shop, orders from my website and also jewellery commissions from my stall. I don't really feel I deserve any orders from my website, it is so out of date and unloved. However, all this is keeping me extremely busy so this is a quick visit to say that the production system of new indoor studio and outdoor lampwork studio are both working well and keeping me fully occupied.

The photo above is a commission from my Etsy shop for 25 of my pink swirly lampwork beads.

I'll probably be preoccupied 'til Christmas so apologies if my visits here are sporadic and brief!

That's a big 'un

My family came to inspect our new home on Sunday. They came for lunch (soup and a sandwich, I'm not confident of the oven yet to do a full roast for 8). It was super to see everyone but just look at the size of the chew bone that sister, Sandy bought for Missy!

And trust Sandy to take the next picture (it looks VERY rude!)

There's still loads of it left!
This is the best pic in my opinion but it's a bit blurry

New premises

This morning I made beads for the first time for what seems like absolutely ages. Here is the new beadmaking studio, those are leaves from an ash tree (so I haven't escaped the big Autumn clear up after all but it is a little smaller than the one at Gardener's Cottage so maybe it won't take as long!) Even on a damp and grey November day, the stone looks lovely.

Here's the interior taken from the window end

And here is the reverse angle

I'm going to put up a couple of large pinboards with some posters on so I can get a similar look and feel to my old studio which I have missed so much. I also have an idea to disguise the rafters and bring the ceiling level down to make it feel more cosy. Note our old fridge freezer is sharing the space with me (I can't be without prawns or icecream for long!)

Whilst I had DH and his camera outdoors, I got him to take a couple of shots of the pretty stream which runs along the bottom of the garden, here it is looking towards the West

and here it is looking towards the East

We're very happily settled in now, all the boxes are empty and the cartons returned to the removal company, some pictures have yet to be put on the wall but to all intents and purposes, everything is back to normal again. I even found somewhere for the sundial ...

Checking in

We got internet back up and running again yesterday evening. It's awful being out of touch ... five whole days without e-mails, blogs or Facebook. I have lots of e-mails, Etsy convos and blog reading to catch up on!

The move went pretty well, we're getting settled into our new home, but I haven't got either of my studios up and running again yet, I can now find pretty much everything I need in the house (our cereal bowls went missing for 4 days ... I got so, so, SO sick of toast for breakfast) and I only found the boots that I wear to my market stall this morning!)

One surprise was that what I assumed was a built-in fridge freezer in the new kitchen is in fact only a fridge. So when our order from Sainsbury's arrived, we had nowhere to put the frozen items ... prawns and ice cream for dinner on Wednesday ... yum! 

Some filing cabinet keys went missing, I got a new one cut in Cambridge this afternoon - EIGHT QUID! Only took the guy a matter of seconds once I gave him the 3-digit number on the lock ... I'm definitely in the wrong business but am infinitely grateful nothing else too dreadful went wrong.

So the filing cabinet that is IN MY WAY can now be moved and then the house will be straight but my studios are another matter. I am starting on unpacking all the boxes which comprise my jewellery making studio tomorrow, I'm hopeful I will be finished on that front on Monday evening at the latest but it'll be at least another week til I get round to being able to make beads again. The outbuilding which is to be my new beadmaking HQ is choc-a-block full of lots of things that need a good sorting out (or throwing out!) Some items are heavy so I need DH's help to move things around, everything just got plonked in there willy-nilly. As he's already taken a week off work to move, he has to get back to earning some proper money next week so it'll be a while before I can get back to lampworking unfortunately. 

 

In the meantime, I'm just checking in to prove that I am still connected to the universe. I'm so relieved the move is over and looking forward to getting back into jewellery and beadmaking routines once again - doing something different for a while (even if it has been a bit stressful) has whetted my apetite and given me ideas ... there's nothing like being UNABLE to make jewellery or beads to really, really make me particularly want to do both of those things ... more soon!