September 2021. Furnace issues.

I am struggling creatively right now. This is the second time that my furnace has gone down this year, this time an element has gone. Last time the whole pot cracked, at least this time it's a little bit easier to fix. 

My motivation is low and I need to fix my furnace as quickly as possible. So naturally I'm just standing here looking at it.

It came at a time when I was stressing myself out with orders, putting too much pressure on myself to finish things faster than I could. There were several factors like incredibly hot weather and illness on my part which slowed me down. It also happened immediately after I got out of isolation, when my dad contracted covid-19 so I was stuck in the house with him for 10 days. Luckily I did not contract the virus and my dad did not have severe symptoms.

There were other issues with the furnace which needed addressing so I took the time to fix those too. Hopefully this will lead to less stress in the future. 

The furnace is now fixed and we have been up and running again for a couple of weeks. As soon as it was fixed I got more orders, naturally. We are soldiering on with the ever-expanding list.

My assistant Georgina is (as ever) a godsend. She is currently taking up some of the slack because my back is bad from making a heavy piece the other day. 

I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to make all of my orders within the time frame that my suppliers would like them. 

    

We are working an extra day a week to make work for Georgina, who has a show coming up in the next couple of months. She's making some great work and I'm sure she'll be very well known in glass collectors circles soon. 

I'm trying my best to support Georgina in her early career as a glass maker. She has the determination and drive I wish I'd had at her age. 

I feel like we will be consistently busy up until Christmas. 

We're going to try and push Halloween a bit more this year, we will be doing demonstrations in the dark, toasting marshmallows, making popcorn and we are having a glass pumpkin patch. 

I have also been invited make the Northern Paperweight Society's anniversary paperweight. So obviously I am panicking about that. That is quite a lot of pressure from collectors who expect a very high standard of work. 

They also want letter murrini, which I have never made before. As yet I have not had the time to practice it. 

So basically I'm stressed and panicking about multiple things and a general lack of time to do them in. 

Does the stress and the panicking help? 

Highly unlikely. 

Can I stop it? 

Unfortunately not.

Let's hope I can manage it, at least until Christmas.