The grass didn’t need cutting this week. Yay!
The whole process from start to finish only takes me around
ten minutes so I don’t really know what the exclamation mark is all about, but
there is a feeling of calm knowing I’ll only need to give it a trim once every
few weeks now. I like to keep a bit of length to the grass as the growing
season ends as I think it gives a bit more protection from really wet weather.
I’ve also stopped mowing the chamomile lawn. I only started
trimming it back this year as a lot of regular grass is creeping in so I run
the mower over the area to stop the grass going to seed and speeding up the
time when I need to dig the whole area up, clear it of weeds and start planting
new chamomiles again. I think I’ll get away with not doing it for another year.
The chamomile selling season has slowed down now and this
has given me a bit more time to catch up on a few creative jobs that needed
doing.
Clay
The first job to do was make a few stoneware clay pots. My lad’s
mates have opened up a vintage clothes shop called The Storefront in the Glassworks in Derry and I
said I’d do a few small glazed key bowls with their logo on it as a promotional
item. I wanted to keep my identity
anonymous so they suggested I come up with a pseudonym and seeing as ‘Banksy’
is taken I had a think and came up with a few. Dan Dale or Mantis Toboggan was
nearly top of the list but I have decided to go with ‘Arthur Sixpence’ I think
that has a cool retro vibe the youth are looking for. I can use that name and
still keep my anonymity when walking around town.
I also made a few small tea cups for myself made from plaster
cast molds of my vintage Carley’s Bridge Pottery plant pots which I think came
out quite well. They don’t have handles which is probably a good thing as they
will be used in the garden.
I don’t know about you but I always tend to put my cups of
tea in the most unsuitable places without thinking, on the top of fence posts,
balancing on a wall or in the wheelbarrow. I often find an old, cold cuppa on
top of the wheelie bin days after losing it. You can guarantee wherever the cup is left
there’s a dead fly floating in it within seconds.
I was thinking of mass producing the plant pot cups and
selling them to people who wanted ‘that something special’ for the gardener in
their life at Christmas but like most things I make I don’t think they have the
mass appeal. I have created a spoon rest though which I think might be the next
big thing. One side is a spoon rest but turn it over and it magically turns
into a used teabag holder.
It sounded better in my head at the design stage.
Soap
I’m also making some soap for the lads to sell or give away
as a promotional item in their shop. It’s my first attempt and I used around 4
types of oil (there are hundreds you can use) and lye which is caustic soda.
The whole process was like a chemistry class and very enjoyable. I have
embossed the cut soap with their shop logo and will wrap them with thin strips
of my wax cotton wraps which I made last year and tie them off with some jute
string. They are scented with orange and ylang ylang and are currently smelling
out the house for six weeks until they have cured. I haven’t used any colouring in the soap as I
wanted to keep it natural but I did cut the heads off around 50 calendula
flowers growing in the front garden. I dried the leaves, scrunched them up and
sprinkled them into the mix. They are one of only a few flowers which keep
their colour in the chemical reactions that go on in soap making. They have
made the soap look a really vibrant orange colour which complements the orangey
smell from the soap. So far I’ve done twelve bars but I’m sure there will be
more to come as it’s a very satisfying process.
Making soap is definitely more enjoyable than producing sauerkraut.
Those jars are still sitting on my garage floor and only get the odd sniff from
the dogs as they walk past.
More future fill for the compost bin.
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