I think there must be a lot of grumpy old men about, as these mugs are proving to be very popular!  I do also make a Grumpy Old Woman mug but these aren't nearly as popular - nuff said!  I was trading at the local Pontin's event again on Thursday and I only had one Grumpy Old Man mug with me - I could have sold four.  You can be sure I'll be making a reserve stock so that I can meet the demand in future!

My car, which was damaged in a car park a few weeks back, has been away for the last 2 weeks being repaired at the cost of the other party's insurance.  Today it should be coming home, thank goodness!  The courtesy car they left me was lovely, only 1 year old and very low mileage, a nice shiny little car.  But I've been terrified in case I scratch it or get it too dirty!  With my old warhorse I don't worry so much.  In fact, when the other driver scratched it, I'd have been happy to accept a small cash payment and I'd have touched up the scratch myself with some car paint.  But he insisted on going through the insurance and it has cost hundreds for the repair, and no doubt he'll lose his no claims bonus.  All this on a car where the scratch would have been lost amongst all the others already on there!

This week has been mega-busy.  Aside from making pots and attending events, we had to wait in on Wednesday for the delivery of our new sofas - we were glad to get them as we'd been sitting on hard upright chairs for the last 2 weeks!

Tomorrow it will be the first anniversary of my moving to Lowestoft to live with my dad.  The time has just flown by, it feels as though it's just a couple of months!

Tomorrow is also the day we'll be having our new settees delivered.  We gave away our old 3 piece suite on Freecycle a couple of weeks ago and have been sitting on hard upright chairs ever since, so it will be lovely to be able to lollop about in comfort again.  They can't give us a time for the delivery, so we just have to wait in all day until they show up!

My new doggy dishes are proving quite popular.  I've had lots of nice comments from people who've seen it in my Facebook shop.  Looks like I'll have to start a production line for them!

I went away at the weekend to my sons' annual family barbecue.  It was lovely to catch up with all the other members of the family who came along.

As I had to miss two selling events to go along, I took along half a dozen samples of my work and some business cards so that some of the more distant relatives could see what I do.  To my surprise, my sister-in-law bought a bowl, then the following day after I got home, my sister texted me to order three items!  So it all turned out quite positively.

Most of the people there had seen photos of my pots, but seeing things in real life is always better as they can pick up and handle the items, and see more detail.

Today it's back to work with a vengeance as I have several commissions to finish as well as the new ones to start!

I have a horrible stiff neck - I've come to the conclusion that I've been overdoing it and working far too hard.  Because of several commissions, and wanting to get them done quickly, I've been working non-stop and I really can't remember the last time I had a whole day off work!

Today I visited my friends Sue and Alan again.  Sue showed me how to make some ATC's.  I found it quite fiddly because the sequins etc are tiny!  But I made a couple and Sue said I'd done well.  Alan (who's a qualified masseur) gave me a neck rub which did help quite a bit.

When I got home I didn't have time to relax though.  After a quick lunch, I unpacked the kiln from the last firing, glazed some more pots and packed another kiln.  I finished work at 4pm when I turned on the kiln.  All this work made my neck bad again though.

By this time I felt tired and a bit nauseous so I forced myself to go and lie down for an hour - and I actually fell asleep!

Now it's almost bedtime.  I'd have liked to go to bed early but I have to watch the kiln until I turn it up for the last bit of the firing.

Luckily, I'm being forced to have some time off soon as my sons will be holding their annual BBQ in Reading, so I'll be far away from all my pots and will just relax.