In the run-up to Christmastime, Connie is working hard to fill up her shelves with new stock, which for me means lots of sponging and generally finishing off her lovely new creations. October will be a month of making, November a month of glazing and firing, and hopefully by December the shelves will be nice and full again. There’s going to be an evening close to Christmas where the shops stay open until late at night for Christmas shoppers, and I’m going to come in to the studio then and help out. It’s going to be so festive and exciting, I can’t wait!
For today, though, I had three main jobs: sponging Connie’s Christmassy candle holders, putting eyes on little robins with a mixture of clay and water called slip, and making an inventory so Connie knows how many of each thing she has in the making. These are the little robins:
And here are some of the candle holders I sponged, and a tray of some of the greenware decorations ready to be counted for the inventory. (I learnt today that greenware is clay that has been shaped but not yet fired, bisqueware is clay that has been through one firing, and once it has been glazed and fired again, it’s… well it’s a pot. 😂)
candle holders 
some of the little bisqueware decorations, ready for counting
The coming week is going to be a busy one. Soon I am off to teach my weekly Latin club (we have new arrivals – very exciting!!), on Saturday morning I have my drama class, and then on Sunday we are driving to Oxford to drop Tilly off at university! In between all this I am trying to cram as much learning as possible in preparation for my scholarship exams at college. I’m always looking forward to my Wednesdays when I know I can sit down and concentrate on some pottery task, whatever it may be. Even something as seemingly tedious as counting up hundreds of robins can get very therapeutic very quickly! Thank you Connie for giving me this opportunity to have a fun, relaxing and educational time every Wednesday 🤗