So, we are now into embellishment and potential dismantling of Haram Bawbag, and Little Shiva is now undergoing structural reinforcement prior to the resin layers.  It is an enormous and complex piece of work, which involves a lot of fiddling.

We have had Little Shiva needing a seatbelt, Little Shiva being too difficult to move, Little Shiva being largely guesswork because of the size and apparent impossibility of embroidering a giant 3 dimensional shape.  It is going very well, however and so far going to plan.

There is a very small amount of assembly left, and I need to make the base to enable it to move freely on the base without destabilising it as it weighs an awful lot, and I am expecting to add another 40 kilos or so before it is complete.

I now need to locate an irritated vendor in India, who has been waiting for me to order for over a year.

Haram Bawbag is slightly held up with covid issues due to slow delivery, but is also going very much according to plan, and I am hopeful that it will be finished next week or so.

There are still a dozen or so cushions to finish for the Sikh section, and as this collection is a lot of surface work, will be moving back into more fluid 3d shapes for the next collection.  I will be doing a smaller collection next time though, as this one will be released over about six months and has made me ill at least once over the last two years.

Couple of Boris pieces still to finish, but I will be investing in some polishing agents before release as I am getting considerably more experienced with resin now.

Anyway, tonight is waterproofing, which will take all night and then some reinforcements in order to set the tongues in place.  This is so that the outer shell is one fluent piece.  It is trixy but fun.

Toodle pip

Ina

I did something incredibly crazy this week, and then realised that it was not crazy at all.  I was just expressing self confidence, and perhaps a little staggering self-belief.

I am not going to say what that was.  Suffice to say, I have realised over the last few years that people in general are very lazy about their approach to life, and I decided that I did not want to leave any stones unturned making sure I was not like that.

So, despite my having an outrageous amount of work to do, I added more to it.  I have made a kind of no-compromise offer of remote assistance as a safety measure.

I have no idea how this will turn out but I imagine I will cause a titter or two, and then it will be forgotten.  I could be wrong about this, but observation tells me that this is a likely outcome.

Also, in my usual old-fashioned and slightly over-emotive way, I have pinned this on a connection that may or may not exist.  I have no idea of knowing, but it will be interesting to find out.

Aside from that, I am grinding towards the end of my coursework for the moment.  I am slightly frightened to stop, in case I do not wish to do any more for another couple of years.  I have courses backed up from 2016 that I had no time to complete.  Then there is the huge pile of sewing to contend with.  My chest is recovering slightly, but there is a long way to go. Normally I sew for three months and do something else for six.  Because I was so upset over my mother and Little Shiva, this time I did not stop for 16 months.  That is a lot of sewing, and I think this batch is a significant advance on previous work.  It has not done great things for my breathing, however, and I must say sitting on your bottom for that length of time is not great for your health, even when you are super careful to do leg exercises.

I should do some writing now, but I think it is more likely that I will do some resin work and empty the studio.  Pritti Patel, Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Darius Guppy are still awaiting my attention, and the epic Haram Bawbag and the base for Little Shiva.

After that I would like to catch up with the decorating and perhaps some other stuff whilst I build a portfolio for the expansion of Ina.  I also still have two websites needing built, so I will not be idle.

Should the person that called me drop in.  Please text, that way I can reply.  I heard the phone but was unable to get to it in time.  I do not accept anonymous calls.

The post entitled Sick Freak was intended for the giant, not you, please stop worrying.

Thanks,

Ina

Right so I still have about four courses to do, but progress is positive, and I have make a positive decision to keep moving forwards rather than staying still or retreating.

I am not sure how this will end up manifesting itself but we shall see what happens.

I have now settled into a routine which comprises of securing foreign currency, having some employed as well as self-employed income and developing the businesses.

Now my attention has turned to my health, which was feeling not so great due to my level of cold at work in winter months.  It has not been as bad this year as last, but I do seem to react badly to it.

All being well, we are now on course, and I am commencing work on an expansion project this evening.  I have put the sewing away at the moment as Grumpy annoyed me so much that I do not feel like sewing at the moment.  I may do some more work on the Boris project whilst I ponder that one.

We are now doing about three years of work concurrently, which I think is a bit too much, so the sooner I get rid of some of the older work the better.

Apart from that, all good, doing some lazy coursework just now.

The above is what happens when you teach small children.  You end up hearing the stuff all the time.

Will be working on creating some bespoke courses next, since it is the one skill I value from my recent studies.

I am now working hard on graphics work whilst finishing up the cushions and hopefully Little Shiva.

I have about three months of work to finish, and the new stuff will be starting whilst I do that.

In the meantime, I am considering devising an entirely new method of teaching, which is more flexible and creative.

We shall see how that goes.  I would like to do more with the games once I finish the first two epics.

I am now powered at work, which means I can do a bit more in the way of writing and studying there. That will speed things up quite a bit, hopefully.

Apart from that, very happy to announce that I will be changing just about everything in the next few months, I will announce changes to the website as I make them so you can check them out.  My health is also something of a priority as we move towards summer. I have been doing too much caring.

So, in a not-at-all-surprising development, Grumpy turns out to be yet another wanker, which means that I have just wasted three months on designs which I will now ruin if I keep working on them.

I did say to myself that I should stick to the rules yesterday, and I stupidly gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Apart from that, I have decided to lock the car and not notice any further numpties that want to talk to me.  I will perhaps make a sign.

In other news, I am working hard on these courses and hope to have at least one finished this evening, which will open up a few new opportunities.  Perhaps capitalising on this by identifying more that are worthwhile.  I will report back on this new field in the event it is worth pursuing.

By the time I am finished these, I will be a relatively well trained graphic designer, although I will not be using it for graphic design, which is well served by hundreds of thousands of people with fingers, and I will be a qualified teacher, although whether I will want to teach anybody I do not know.

In any case, getting rid of obstacles is a good idea if you want to progress.

Very busy, started sprinkling the magic dust on Sunrise before adding the very heavy work to it, and am reasonably pleased.  Light is in short supply, which is making working in yellow rather difficult, so I may be putting it away until the weekend.

Otherwise very quiet and working very hard to get as much coursework out of the way as possible, as I would like to spend more time doing things.

Feeling strangely settled about one thing, but you all know how chaotic my adventures are.  All hell could break loose any minute now.

I think the most important thing I have learned from this year is – do not waste time you don’t have on things that don’t matter.

Here is Call me Al, just for fun. No idea why the Belfast Civil Service is so fascinated with my politics.

Happy New Year