Zax Artisan

WEDNESDAY 11 FEBRUARY AND IT'S....

2009-02-11T15:54:00.006Z

..Laptop Day. Yesterday I took delivery of a Laptop. Today I am sitting getting the hang of using it. As I am doing this Jessica is baking a Credit Crunch Cake. It is not really a Credit Crunch Cake but it is a great way to use up bananas that have passed their best. In fact here is the recipe she uses for....

BANANA LOAF.
8oz/225gms Self Raising Flour/All Purpose Flour
5oz/150gms Caster Sugar
2oz/50gms Margarine
Pinch of Salt
2 Eggs
2 Ripe Bananas
Method...Mash bananas, cream margarine and sugar, beat in eggs, add flour, salt and banana and mix well. Put into a buttered one and a half pound/675 gms loaf tin. Bake in the middle of the oven, Gas5 375F or 190C for about one hour or until cooked. Turn out onto wire rack to cool. Serve sliced and buttered.

One of the best things about this cake is that I will soon be eating a big slice.
In fact it is clear and cold here so I am off to have acup of tea and eat that slice of cake but I will be back soon.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON RING MAKING.

2009-02-03T16:25:00.007Z

This is a Sunday afternoon I spent a pleasant time in my workshop making a Sterling Silver and 9 Carat Gold Ring for Zoe the daughter of my good friends Peter and Heather whose Blog 'The Middle of Nowhere' and Website 'A Little Bit of Me Time' you can find listed on this Blog. I have to say that making the ring seems to have got me motivated and back into the swing of things which means that as of tomorrow morning I will be back at my bench and trying to produce some interesting and unique pieces of jewellery.
I consider myself to be extremely lucky in such that as I sit at my bench, in the workshop I can watch the antics of the various small birds who gather to feed on seeds in holders outside the windows knowing that it will not be long before Jessica brings me a cup of tea, even if I don't really deserve it.

A NEW WORKING YEAR...

2009-01-12T12:41:00.002Z

It is Monday 12th January 2009 and it is time to get back to work...well almost...I think will start tomorrow...maybe.
We spent the Holiday time visiting and being visited by an assortment of family and friends all of which was most enjoyable. My cousin came to visit for the first time since we moved to our cottage and she was so relaxed that she spent most of her time sleeping...only kidding but just like all of our visitors she seemed to find the slower pace of life and the beauty of the surroundings incredibly relaxing.
Beautiful though my surroundings are I will have to start work again soon and that means giving my workshop one of it's very irregular deep cleans. After the clean I will be back to my bench in earnest and fully into bringing some of my new designs to life.
I have also made a New Year Resolution to put more posts onto my Blog so check back soon to find out what I am doing and maybe that will make me get back to work.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TEN YEARS...

2008-11-27T19:21:00.000Z

I have decided that I am going to stop working earlier than usual this year. On the first of December I will have finished the last piece of jewellery that I will design and make this year... I hope. It's an elegant little silver bracelet for a lady who lives not too far away and I am sure that she will love it.
My real problem is that I find it so difficult to stop and say no when a person needs a present for a someone they love.
In fact just after I typed this I agreed to make one more piece for a young lady's birthday.
Plans for time off and the first treat of the holiday for Jessica and I has got to be a trip we are taking, with friends to Glasgow for a wander about some of the shops and then a walk around the city centre to look at the Christmas lights. We hope that it will be a great day away and a good start to our holiday.
The weather forecast is showing a cold and clear day, here's hoping.
Next we are off on a creative and I find strangely therapeutic journey...we are going to begin painting the inside of our cottage. We plan to paint every room making it bright, fresh and cheerful for sitting through long winter nights, with a book in front of the log fire or just relaxing and listening to some music. No watching the TV...Why?...Because we do not have one.
As my work and life are so intertwined Winter is also a time I spend trying to make some sense of all the sketches and little drawings on odd bits of paper, old envelopes, receipts, etc that I have made in the past few months and turn them into new designs...Still that's a little bit in the future...Why not come back some time and see what's happening.

Wednesday.

2008-11-12T18:40:00.000Z

A beautiful sunshine laden day, blue skies and little wind. A day to be enjoyed so I spent the morning doing a little work, finishing and mailing some pieces of jewellery in the almost sure knowledge that their arrival would brighten the day of the recipients. The afternoon was spent with Jessica doing all the normal things that make a home run smoothly.
Now I sit at the PC and try to come to terms with the fact that anything I write here, on my very new Blog can be read anywhere...a strange and indeed very sobering thought.
As I type I wonder who will read this and where they will read it......