Thursday.

First a confession :- I've just made a massive booboo and lost ALL the photographs I'd taken today. I haven't done such a ridiculous thing in two or three years, so I'm thoroughly annoyed with myself!!!  This blog is now going to have just three photoes, I'm afraid.
This blog entry is rather a long story and starts some months ago........ No, it doesn't. It starts in late 1978, when I'd made an iron clock hand - a copy of a long case clock hand of circa 1750. I was quite pleased with it, and when it was at the polished steel state (before I blued it) I showed it to Ann, who was very taken with it and said what a lovely pendant it would make. That started me thinking and I sat down and made the above clock hand in silver,  about two thirds of the size of the original , and gave it to Ann that Christmas.

Now comes the part that started some few months ago :-  Our senior daughter's harumptieth birthday was coming up------ I don't know why I'm making this so obscure, except that Sarah is a little shy of admitting her age, so I'll state plainly that on her birthday (which is today) I think she was rather expecting HALF a telegram of congratulations from Her Majesty.  Now to return to my part of the story - I asked Sarah what she would like as a birthday present, and she said that she'd always liked the clock hand pendant I'd made for her mother, and could I make one for her birthday? So  I purchased a slab of sheet silver from Ann's younger brother Tim (who is a silversmith), sufficient to make FIVE clock hand pendants (one for each of my daughters and one for son Jonathan's partner Jude, all of whom will, I trust, eventually achieve the age Sarah is celebrating today) and sat down and made the below photographed silver clock hand pendant for Sarah's special 'big Zero' birthday. We motored over to Ely, had lunch with Sarah and Mikey. Ann's middle brother David, and his wife Jo, joined us at the Fire Engine House, where we lunched, and I presented the below pendant to Sarah.

It was a lovely day out.

And it was reassuring to find  that the old skills still linger to some extent. This is the fifth one I have made:- Ann's, her mother's, sister in law Erica's,  sister in law Judy's, and now Sarah's. But it must be about thirty years since I made the last one - Judy's, although I did make a silver key pendant earlier this year for a friend's granddaughter's twenty first ( that was by way of practice for Sarah's clock hand!).
So - sorry about the lack of photies, but been a satisfying day.

Goodnight All.

P.s. Should perhaps place on record that from beginning to draw the pattern , to giving the finished item its final polish, took about a day and a half,  i.e. roughly  twelve hours.