All change!

Restructuring the days

Okay, so events have taken a turn. Things happening at work means I'll be in the office every day this week and probably every day for the next month or so. Waiting to see how events unfold. That means much less time to do any art or writing. Not much I can do about that though I'll see what flexibility I can wangle for hours.

Kinda frustrating and totally tiresome having to stop working by 11.30 and bike over to the office every day but, it is what it is and if I'm smart, it'll drag me into being more efficient with my time. On the plus side, I can push hard on the bike ride and get a half decent aerobic workout five days a week. I've been running on my non-bike days before now since the two don't mix on the same day so at least I'll keep up some kind of training. My biggest stumbling blocks will be making sure I don't flub out on my eating habits (the corner shop is where I end up when I'm pissed off or didn't prepare my lunch the night before) and getting to bed at a sensible time (been really bad with late nights recently) so I can be up early to get some work done.

So that's where I'm at. I've started filling out my autumn sculpture. As you can see she's still super skinny and the proportions aren't fully set but after changing the leg positions about four times, I'm sticking with this version now! She's not sat quite solidly but that'll get fixed once I've added bulk to the legs and bum. Let's see how much I can get done by next week.

Winter warning

The temperature is definitely dropping now. Time to pull out the woollies and layer up. I'm eyeing the media scare stories about energy prices and supply levels and think we're being prepped for a tough winter, regardless of where we live. If you want a tip, start buying fat candles and matches, get yourself a solar charger for your phone and laptop and think about how you'll manage if there are power outs.

That takes me back to when we were kids and the energy crisis three day week of the 1970s. There was no oil for our central heating and we just had a fire in the sitting room for warmth. I don't remember cold baths so we must have had another way to heat water. There were regular power cuts (always in the evening) when we'd go to the candle stash under the kitchen sink and creep around the house with our candle stuck to a saucer.

Crazy times, people. Stay well, stay warm and keep your eye on the great things you want to do be doing in the future. The more independent you can be, the better. Gather a network of like minded people around you because a lot of creative types are too used to working solo and forget that building an audience or gaining customers for what they do requires communicating with them!