Back on target?

Summer break over:a most enjoyable and instructive visit to London ,where conkers lie undisturbed (until I came along) on the pavements- a friend told me that they are now banned in English schools for fear of injury from flying fragments,which strikes me as ridiculous nanny-stateism.Checked out the British Museum for the first time since its refurbishment- it seemed almost sacriligious that mere mortals can now enter the hallowed Reading Room (full of Japanese tourists):my mother had a pass,of which she was extremely proud.Also visited Julian Stair (q.v.) and his stablemate Edmund De Waal in their shady mews studio in unsalubrious Peckham,and saw a beautiful exhibition of Prue Venables' work in a gallery off Piccadilly.
I am preparing myself for the ordeals of another batch of crystal glaze firings:some large bowls and vases already bisced,another kilnfull awaiting firing on Sunday,one more on the way,then off we go.Sydney and I have been beefing up the insulation on the salt kiln,adding an arch of soft insulating brick over the existing structure.The kiln is half-loaded,with a firing scheduled for the middle of next week.Tel Hai also starts this coming week,and,as you can see,I have dusted down the bow (the more observant among you will have noticed the appearance of a new set of blue-and-white fletched arrows,picked up in England and partly responsible for a reasonably-satisfactory opening score of 605,although I managed to knock a couple of flights (feathers) off the new set).I have a feeling that this year's wine is just about ready to bottle,as well-in short,it's time to gird the loins and lurch into action after the holidays.Shabbat Shalom,and a fruitful and creative New Year!