Ayr Walk

 The day started cold and wet...and stayed that way!!

I had yet more paperwork to take to our solicitor...and more certificates...I bought a couple more copies of our marriage certificate, all these places demand proper original copies..they do eventually return but waiting would cause even more delays to sorting financial and legal matters. 

The solicitor's office was at lunch, so I went for a walk...

Once family houses in Wellington Square, now offices and some flats.

The courts..with the South Ayrshire council offices behind 

A long view of the other side of the square..a garden with seats and flower beds in the grass in the middle 

Council gate, one of a pair at the entrance to the quadrangle between the courts and the council 

Going along the road...

with a nice lobby floor

Round the corner..

And one getting some tlc..I will have to have a wander with a camera around this part of town on a nicer day...

Once a venue for dances...now Pirate Pete's, a wet weather play centre..

Not much of a view of Arran today..

And a bit of history..

So building on our green spaces is nothing new...and here's an idea for some more walking or cycling..

We rode north from here up the coastal path as far as Ardrossan once..

I must do that again, and this time go over on the ferry!

The weather turned muggy mid afternoon...and now at six pm we have a thunderstorm..which should clear the air nicely .

Office work

 Not my favourite occupation....

Paying subscriptions, doing fleabay research....and finally listing them at last!!

Bike bits, ceramics and stuff..and now I find that I got as far as drafts on two...getting interrupted doesn't help!

 Some things are quite fun...but it all has to go!

A coffee picnic on a teapot?!!

Indoors day

 After a long rainy night, it rained most of the day, with added blustery wind. Not a day for outdoors!

A day for a bit of this and that...a sale to pack up, work to list, business cards to make-still by hand as I haven't found the programme on the computer that does a sheet of repeats. 

Doing them by hand was quicker!!

Half a small carrier bag of windfall plums got destoned and cooked and they are now in the freezer in four small boxes, ready to make crumbles and pies with some apples.

Pirate managed to work out how to use the gizmo and fixed the bottle cage to my Hobbs road bike and I helped construct a mudguard from two pieces...three pop rivets and some glue and there we have free mudguards!! Now those jobs are done, the bike has returned to its usual home ...we can't have bikes in every room in the house!!

The plan is to ride the steel Hobbs for most of the year, but in the wetter colder winter weather ride the aluminium Giant. That won't rust!

After tea I double"glazed" a kitchen window with special plastic cling film before bringing in some of the house plants from the greenhouse. The pelargonium, avocado and money plant are still in the greenhouse for now, the latter has been there all summer, but the other two are getting a bit too wet outside now!

I printed an item and price list to go to the exhibition tomorrow, plus a history/artist statement and contact list. All that needs doing now are labels.

Pirate is cleaning a pair of tandem wheels that we hope to sell...keeping the wheels going round, metaphorically for us and actually for whoever buys them!! It's not the nicest job linked with selling, but it means that you can show the item at its best..and get a better price! Some things that get posted on fleabay are grubby. How can you tell the condition if something is like that?

So good clean items, good crisp photos and accurate descriptions should mean hassle free sales.

No more work tonight..a quick risotto with veges from the garden, blackberry and apple crumble and the Women's Tour on the TV!!

still chilly

It is still chilly and although actually colder than yesterday it feels warmer. This is due to less wind, so a lower chill-factor. The sky is a hard clear blue, with a few fluffy clouds just starting to appear. The forecast is for even colder tonight.

More office work today- I've weighed twenty pots with packaging, now to work out the postage and packing costs to add.
I've posted two mugs on Etsy, the others will get "drip fed" onto the shop.

I've just had a tenmoku glazed milk jug added to a treasury too. High time I learnt to do this myself, but computer time detracts from making . Although this cold weather gives me a chance to do more 'admin', there is a limit to how much I can stand doing! I'm envious of the makers who have partners willing to do this. If nothing else I'd get to drink my coffee whilst it was hot!!

I'll draw and list the shapes and glazes I'll be making for the different shops and galleries in North Wales, today, keeping the 2D work going and co-ordinating eye, hand and brain. That will be proof of design work too, if I apply for membership to other associations or galleries.

Now to make lunch and then the drying clay should be ready to knead and re-bag.

slow work

I've done today's washing, and the rest of the day has been spent getting my cv right to apply for a part-time gallery assistant job.

Now I find that my best referees are persona non grata with that organisation. So I am stumped. At least having got this far relatively quickly I have until the fourth of July to get it handed in....

I've finished my third mug of coffee, so I'd better not have any more....I even forgot to have chocolate birthday cake with the last one....

and now it is time to make supper and water the greenhouse!! The sun is trying to emerge again, but apart from a couple of hours really hot this morning it has been overcast and has rained again too....the washing has stayed on the line!!

more paperwork

I can't put it off any longer!!

I threw one wareboard of pots, put two jugs in the reclaim clay. Even with a heater and throwing slip and clay stored in the kitchen...at least that gets me one board at a time!
It is actually warmer here, as it is raining.....but inside the air is chill.
I think I have just about enough for a bisque firing, then I can sort what gets reserved for the next saltglaze firing and glaze and fire the rest.

Prices done for the website pots and those on flickr.

Pricelist done as best I can.

Now for the CV and Artist Statement.

paperwork

is something I loathe!!
I'm getting my price list sorted slowly. I need to go over my cv and artist statement too, ready for exhibition submissions, and work out how to get photos on a cd and what to do with them first. I'm afraid of messing things up, and I seem to find that too easy where computers are concerned.

I need someone else to do all this, so that I can just get on with making better and better pots!!

Meanwhile my feet are cold, I've been sitting too long.

Time for a cup of coffee and making pots!

paperwork

I am trying to decide if I try and sell on folksy. Then I would need a paypal account. I've just had a look at their website.

I'm getting confused with all this online paperwork. It distracts from the most important thing, getting work made!! I know it is necessary, as is investigating all the grants and stuff that are available. I think I need a business mentor.