Feeling like a worn out old hand bag!

My studio is a mess of clay covered equipment and I STLL have more clay to sieve (bear in mind I originally collected less than a full bucket of clay!). After a morning of admin and getting stressed out with my crappy printer I realise that I’m actually really tired. I don’t feel like getting mucky. I don’t like mess, it really upsets me. I hate clutter. Today I don’t want to have dirty hands. I also realise that I’m wearing my very new and posh Marino wool jumper that I can’t get dirty (ever), as it’s hand wash only. I take a deep breath, over-shirt on, hands on tools and get working. There are some people who think that what I do is a hobby – if it were I’d have stayed at home today to crochet! After a few minutes I realise I need to turn the radio off but my hands are filthy. I’ve put it on too loud and there’s an art class in the studio next door. I wouldn’t normally be too concerned but the radio programme is about sex addiction and pornography! I wash my hands, turn the radio down (not off as program is actually quite interesting!) then hands back on job. I sometimes wash my hands every half an hour or so. They don’t feel dry or sore as one might think, but I’ve recently started to wonder why so many people buy me hand cream. I realise that my skin looks like old leather, all creased and saggy and my knuckles resemble knotted wood. This is how I feel today, like an old  leather handbag, the kind you find at a jumble sale! Anyway, after another pretty laborious day, a lot of cleaning up and completing most of my urgent admin list (which never ends) I am left with two lovely balls of clay. Phew! Was it worth it? Yes. I now just need to decide where I’m going to dig next!