There seems to be no shortage of people wanting to buy my products at the moment. It seems as though almost every day another order is coming in. So far we have had a lovely summer weatherwise, but very little time in which to enjoy it.
June started off with Highlands Open Studios week - not a resounding success in terms of visitor numbers, but enough to keep me occupied, and most of the time the weather was kind. As I was working in my "studio" in the garden making felt, that was important. I got some good pieces made that week. Some of them are now on display at the Lyth Arts Centre in Caithness and others at Morven Gallery on the Isle of Lewis.
During that week my mother went into hospital to get a new hip joint, so a lot of the rest of June was taken up with looking after her, but late in June, my sister took her home to Lewis and last week I went over there myself for a few days. I am pleased to report that the operation has been a resounding success.
While on Lewis I took the time to find out for myself what is happening in the Harris Tweed industry. As Harris Tweed is the main ingredient in my work, it is important to know what is going on. The good news is that the mills at Carloway and Shawbost are both fully operational - the bad news is that they have so much work trying to keep the big customers supplied that they have not got stocks to sell to people like me - but it will come in time. At the moment I have plenty of stock, so there is not much of a problem just now - just one or two colours that I am running low on.
These next two months are going to be non-stop work trying to get current orders met and build up enough stock to see me through September when I am off to Australia for 3 weeks.
