Am I an iceberg, or a piece of polystyrene bobbing on the surface?

Sometimes I wonder whether there really is more underneath the surface! Very deep. This came up the other day when I was explaining, or rather admitting, to a customer that I had exhausted all of my knowledge about a particular craft in our conversation, all the while sounding like I knew so much more. At least I am an honest knowall ;-)
The blogging world is a strange thing. I spend at least an hour a day reading others' blogs so I feel all "up and in it," but my own remains silent. And of course, there's the whole paradox - busy life = harder to find time to blog even thought here's more to blog about! And the internet rule, that if there's no photos it never happened, mean that many fun things have happened that I can't share. Because when I am having fun, I don't remember to get out the darned camera. SO this is an anti-post - covering several things that ought to be posts in their own right, with photos. I may break the internet!
These include:
Spending last weekend teaching lampshade making in Martinborough again - only this time instead of a huge classes in the church hall, we were in a converted church. Peonies new Home and Living shop - full of glorious homewares from shutters taken from an old french farmhouse to pottery from South Africa. We were in the stock room, which is also fabulous, and also in the back of the shop itself. In the morning we held the usual Make a Lampshade class, and afternoons were for the Advanced class- on Saturday we covered lamps in wallpaper and on Sunday we lined them with wallpaper and covered them in fabric.
We stayed in a gorgeous old farmhouse that isn't even on the internet yet so I can't even steal photos of it! It was freezing all weekend and the grape growers were out all night with tractors keeping the frost off the grapes. But as always we had a fantastic time and felt very much at home in our favourite village outside of our own urban village.
Christmas is arriving at Made on Marion and Made Marion - so boxes and boxes of Christmas ribbons and wraps and projects and the works. It takes forever to process it all, right before going away which is a real planning mission with all of the supplies etc. When it is all sorted into colour families or stories or whatever lyrical nonsense, I will take pics to share.
Last week, I got another unusual commission - 30m of bunting for a boy's birthday party. For a TV commercial! It was so much fun in spite of everything else I had to do.
It gave me an idea - because I make and sell bunting strings, we get a lot of inquiries about wedding bunting, and non-sewers are often disappointed at the overall cost of making it. Even sewers who don't have a stash to raid - it really adds up. So, I am working on a set for hire. All in warm apricots/pinks, soft greens, creams and taupe. It's all double sided for durability, and with 130+ flags it will take a while, but I am pottering away. Many have lace and ricrac etc sewn to them. I can't wait to show you!
Also, yesterday was the very last day I had to register a show in the Fringe festival. I did it! In spite of their website being horrific to use, and constant interruptions, I did it!
And so I am off to make more flags and do the things shop owners do. And hopefully I can get some good pics of Christmas. :)