Wet

All day, just about, after a night of wind and rain.
Pirate rode the turbotrainer and has been starting to build up his new bike..so a bike day for him!
I have had a bit of this and that day, the only time I ventured out was to put some paper in the recycling box, in a brief respite from the sideways rain. The idea of sitting in the polytunnel dealing with some cuttings sounded a good idea, until I realised that getting there would mean getting drenched!!
So a bit of sorting, a bit of cooking, and a bit of photography.
These will be going on Etsy hopefully tomorrow.

Giving

The garden has been beginning to yield edibles at last!

Plus salad leaves and radishes and a couple of onions that were beginning to bolt.
We have been indoors mostly for a few days, with the rain going sideways as the wind blows a hoolie once again..somebody remind the weather that it is summer up here as well!
Kent in the far southeast of England had 30 C today and "wall to wall blue skies"  We are promised a couple of hot days soon...probably the typical British Summer...Two hot days and a thunderstorm!!
Meanwhile we have been cleaning bits of bike and taking photographs, along with my pots as well...and are steadily adding them to eBay and Etsy respectively.  Small sales so far, but much better than nothing!
Add to that , the small table by our front path...I am offering plants for free ( or swap )...some cucumber and chard plants have gone so far.   I don't think locals are used to free things.

Steady

Steady fine rain outside..steady tidying and sorting inside!
And another sale! The other two coffee mugs. I haven't got more on Etsy yet!
Taking photos of shiny clean bike bits..next to describe them.
We had a break at teatime..a windy walk...going the reverse way this time.

A fresh day

We had some rain overnight, but not an excessive amount. The concrete slab paths were dry by 7am. The plants are looking thankful for the rain however little it was.
The winds have turned around to coming from the North so we are back with cooler temperatures,but thankfully still in double digits!
I have been busy photographing pots to put on Etsy

The usual side, top, bottom, detail views, to make up for being online and not actually seeing and holding the item in question.
Next to list them...
Then doing the same for some bike components and tools for Pirate and I will try and eBay those.

New venture drawings and selling

Here is the first postcard drawing, on heavy cartridge paper...I am selling them unmounted and unframed, to keep the postage down. Also purchasers can choose their own frames and mounts.
Original, unique, no extra postage.
I will be putting more in the Etsy shop every day and hope to add ceramics as well.
I have just sold some small saltglaze pots and they will be off on their way to the USA soon.

Cotton reel just for size of course!!

Taking it easier

Or trying to! At least Pirate had a siesta today.
It is another hot sunny day with cold easterly winds thanks to the high pressure system over Ireland.  There is rain further South but we are getting drier...
We joined the home haircut brigade ..Pirate trimmed a couple of inches off mine last week and today I trimmed his whiskers!!

Not a bad job...and difficult to keep him still...I worried about nicking lips and ears!!

One half full of plants and seeds..I am willing them to GROW!!

We keep on with outside jobs, thinking of those we are leaving until it is too wet or cold to work outside..but the warm dry weather carries on, so far. It is a relief to have it and we must learn to relax and appreciate it.

Now he is doing some bike maintenance to loud music..and I must go and post some more work in my Etsy shop...live in hope!!

Another potter,Lucy Fagella's thoughts on selling

https://lucyfagella.com/blog/

Kirkmichael Gala Day

 Thankfully it turned out for the first Gala Day in the village for twenty years!

 the Gala King and Queen...and their first job was to judge the fancy dress

 My stall....

 and the owls...

 off-duty

 dance preparation...

 all ages...but no boys this time...

 Course for the Wooly Jumper sheepstakes.....

 and a thoroughly bemused sheepdog!....

The racing involved a handler with sheepnuts in a bucket and four large sheep chasing him!

It was a long and enjoyable day, apart from the over-loud DJ and music...I did lose sales being right next to him,unfortunately.   Next year he'll be in a far corner of the field!

On to next Saturday's Gala Day in the next village of Crosshill.  I had good sales there last year,so here's hoping.....

keeping going

These jugs were posted for sale individually in my Etsy shop yesterday.
 Over the past couple of days I've had nearly 50 views, one has been favourited and I've gained a follower....fingers crossed for sales...

I've just booked a table in my first craft fair of the year, in Ballantrae Village Hall on March 28th.

The Pirate is slowly recovering from the flu, but we're both stressing too much and raising our blood pressures...not good.  At least we are aware now, so we can do something to be healthier.

Our weather is here and there..two days ago we managed over twenty miles easy riding on the bike...and yesterday...

The view through the kitchen roof window.....Hail!!
 Nothing compared to the Eastern USA, but I'm still glad we hadn't put the washing on the line!!

Today we're back to cold with rain showers, which means finding inspiration for new cards and working more on the linoprinting.

So far I've been using the same technique as brass rubbing to check progress before cutting a little more from the lino, but now is the time to be brave and go for a wet trial with ink...

stocking the shop for Valentines...

The shop is looking steadily better...and sales have started gradually..relief!!

getting organized?

More pots are going into the shop-selling the first pair of mugs almost straight away was a good spur to get moving!

The shop is getting organized...but the house isn't!! What with me sorting pots, making up boxes, doing the maths and slaving over a hot laptop....and The Pirate sorting and cleaning items for the next Bike "Jumble" and keeping the woodburner fed with wood...the living room is anything BUT organized!!
     All this and finding time for us both to train on the bike on the turbo-trainer, plus helping the local cycling club organize activities for the Youth Section.....
Life is never dull!! 
       Good thing, perhaps, that it isn't good enough weather to do any gardening!

more mugs...and more weather....

The green mugs sold this morning!...So these are some of the ones that will be going in the shop today.

Today's weather is.....no more snow yet, just ...ice.

We'll be doing some indoor jobs and indoor training to let it hopefully thaw a little before we venture out. 
We have to go out..I've a cheque that must reach Glasgow by tomorrow and,of course, a pair of green mugs to post....

mugs....and weather...

 posted on Etsy...today was mainly an indoors day,thanks to the snow...

Not as much as other places...but enough to make the walk to the village shop for my volunteer two hours a little icy and slushy.

at last!

Pots back on Etsy!

Now the joys of re-packing , weighing and pricing other pots, as the sizes and weights and cost of sending parcels has changed, so it isn't possible just to re-list items with one click.

weather for selling ?

Thursday's clouds and weather forecast didn't bode well...and as we left for a school Christmas fair in Alloway the snow was laying on the road an inch or so deep.
 You could only use dipped headlights as on full beam all you could see was swirling flakes.

Arriving at the school the snow had stopped and I got a parking space right by the entrance.   A good start to a profitable evening...it had a silver lining like the afternoon's clouds!!

It was a relief to drive home on clear roads and to have made some good sales too.
Fairs are always a hit and miss affair...guessing which locality will have enough spare cash and hoping for good enough weather to bring people out. Hoping that the organizers will have publicized the event sufficiently.

I've bought some Post Office packing boxes to calculate post and packaging costs.  We now have three rates for different size packages and the Post Office have boxes behind the counter to see which category your packet/box will fit...and  slits to see if your letter is a letter, a large letter, or a package!!

Friday was an At Home day, but a steadily busy one.  An electrician friend came for the day and he and The Pirate quietly got a lot done!  The weather has been mostly dry but chilly and damp.

I'd bought a settee in a charity shop and today was delivery day....the time set came....and went...then the shop phoned...
The delivery driver had phoned and I was out!!!!  Not when I last checked!!!
Eventually we solved the problem.  The shop had kept my carefully drawn map so the driver had relied on google. We have six or seven properties within half a mile of each other with the same postcode and three of them are called The Stables.....put our address in and it sends you to a farm a quarter mile away up a small lane!!

Settee in place, we had lunch and I could move everything back in around it...and the place still looks tidy!  Mid- afternoon and we had visitors..tea and home-made cake ready baked, luckily.

Then relax and check facebk...and I have another sale from posting about my work selling in our local community shop. 
Time to choose work to photograph and put on sale in the Etsy shop!

going to market

will cost about £100 to start with, then £20 a time for the stall however big.

For three hour's selling.

Go for it!!