Saturday, February 9, 2013

A week in the life of a self employed artist

This has been some kind of week. After twenty one days of workshops and working very long hours every day, I intended to take it easy, potter in my garden, catch up on some reading, poke around in the projects on my sewing table...

On Monday morning a flood of emails with orders and work came in.  Enough to keep me busy for weeks, but of course, everyone wants their pound of flesh by yesterday.  In between writing emails and checking stock, I dropped my car off at the Volvo dealership that has been servicing it for the last five years, and got the worst service that I have ever had in my life.  I still feel like Cinderella whose coach turned into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight.  But that's a story for another day.

On Tuesday morning I stumbled around bleary eyed after a very late night, only to come face to face with Colani and scream with fright.  He's one of our young Great Danes, aka The Rag Eater, and he had an eye infection that made him look like a bloody eyed werewolf from a horror movie.  So, I dropped the work and off  we went to the vet.
Colani
In the afternoon, a delivery of stuffing arrived. I like to use a specific type of stuffing for my bears. Coarse and springy, similar in texture to the batting that quilters use. Once I found a factory that is willing to make it for me, the next challenge was getting them to deliver in our remote area. The previous time they made a delivery the driver got stuck in the driveway with his huge truck and caused many anxious moments. When they delivered this week, we agreed that they would drop the stuffing in the veld at the end of our road, and I would transport it down the driveway to the studio myself.
Sister of Africa, I can load my vehicle like the best of them!
Fortunately stuffing is not heavy, but I had to have a laugh when I looked at the little car with all the bundles tied on. 

Slowly trundling down the driveway to the studio.  Lovely blue sky.
Being a professional teddy bear maker is fun in ways no one can imagine. 

On Wednesday morning, after barely shutting my eyes for a wink, Attila, our merle Great Dane bitch, was looking listless and sick.  All through the day I kept an eye on her, and eventually brought her into the studio so that I could monitor her condition.  By evening she was so weak that she could not lift her head and seemed to be slipping into a coma... I was sure it's heart failure, a typical condition in older large dogs.  I spent all night sniffling and mentally preparing myself for the worst while attending to the photocopier and cutting up fabric.
Attila and I

On Thursday morning soon as the sun was up, we were off to the vet again.  After a very thorough examination and every kind of test imaginable, Attila was diagnosed with depression!  A shot of Valium and a few minutes later she was her old self, which confirmed the diagnosis.  Some dogs are very sensitive to their owners' state of mind.  Attila and I have a strong bond.  Apparently she can't deal with the stress, and had a nervous breakdown.  I feel very sorry for dogs with crazy owners.  Maybe I should sprinkle some of her homeopathic antidepressant on my food too...

On Friday I gratefully dropped off parcels at the post office and courier company, then came home and made a cup of tea.  Weekend in sight.  No classes.  Going to have a good rest.  Barely laid my head on the pillow when I was blasted out of bed by lightning and the sound of frying electronics.  The lovely blue skies from earlier in the week decided to turn into a huge Highveld thunderstorm.  Fortunately circuit breakers and UPS seem to have prevented damage to our sensitive equipment, but the alarm system is still smoldering... I might never sleep again! 

Wishing you a super relaxed weekend.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Megan,

    Slow down....take time to enjoy the blue sky and your pups.

    So thankful that your Danes are back in good health. That was frightening.

    Happy Weekend & Hugs

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  2. Oh, Megan, you look too cute with all your stuffing tied on ;-)

    Poor dog, mine is very sensitive, especially when my embroidery silks knots up, if he senses I am on the way to saying a few bad words, he goes and hides or give one big sigh, yes, he does sigh, I have never heard any other dog do that.

    Well, I think you and Attila deserve a peaceful weekend, enjoy it.

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  3. Hi Megan - I sent an earlier reply but cant find where I sent it. So I tried again... and horay!!!! However, I want you to know how much I enjoy your blog -
    So sorry about your car, no not so much your car but that you should receive such bad service from a Volvo agent.
    But worse still, I was so shocked about Atila, I thought he had died and I phoned to read you a very beautiful writing on having to put your dog down. Was thrilled to hear that he ws bright and shining and not just a beautiful memory. But I am still going to send it to you on email if I can find how to use my scanner properly!
    Go well and lots of love.
    Liz v.d.M

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  4. Eish Sister of Africa Eish! - can see you are a true South African, you know exactly how to load everything on top.

    So sorry to hear the the Queen's coach is causing her problems - give them hell and don't take their nonsense, you worked hard to get your car!

    So glad to hear the dogs are both OK again - yes they do creep into our hearts and sense our moods.

    Hope you had a relaxing weekend and are ready for the week ahead. will send you something in an email after this. Have a great day.

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