I have a cold. It is extremely unpleasant. Definitely one of the better things about being confined indoors last winter was the non-exposure to the germs of others.

As is the way of things, after my vaccination I was bouncing about feeling absolutely fantastic for days and delighting in the fact that I’d somehow avoided the dreadful side-effects.

Then boom. On Wednesday I caught Don’s cold. Thanks Universe!

Because I’m a conscientious rule follower, I went for my first covid test just in case. That nasal probe is quite something. Results negative as expected.

My poor immune system now has a lot to contend with.

I do not care at all for being unwell.

So Grumpy.

♥

Early in the week (before sickness) I finally got to collect my bowls from my second of the two pottery classes I signed up for earlier in the year.

I’m very pleased with them!

The class and studio were pretty chaotic – light, bright, but smallish studio space, three different classes happening at once – with one teacher shared between classes. There were mountains of bags of clay and many, many shelves of preciously stacked fragile bisque-fired pottery around the perimeter of the space. It was a nice friendly vibe, though the teacher was somewhat intense and not keen on repeating instruction.

The class was split into two parts – you made your bits in the first lesson and returned four or so weeks later for glazing. For the glazing component, you needed to search through those stacks to find your pieces among other very similar pieces, with yours invariably not located together. I arrived for glazing in the morning to find that teacher had booked accidentally booked me into the afternoon session. But no worries, I shopped for a bit and lunched with Bessie, which was lovely.

The glazing was uneventful, save for me accidentally glazing a classmate’s bowl – I was in the zone, grabbing and dipping and concentrating and exceptionally apologetic. Then the waiting for the firing. Teacher said she’d email me when they were ready – which would probably be in four weeks, but maybe less. When six weeks had passed, I messaged. Oh sure, sorry, I could come and get them.

Teacher and I spent some time searching the stacks and found three of my pieces, but no fourth. This we eventually found in the piles waiting for the kiln. Oops.

I’ll return next week for that last small bowl. Maybe it will be ready, maybe not.

Definitely chaotic, but I am very keen to crack on and explore more with clay.