Another exhausting day dealing with the seemingly endless minutiae of running a business. I need a PA. My PA would probably also need a PA at this point. So anyway, I was in full whinge-mode as I walked to the High Street to get a newspaper. The roads leading to that street were all blocked off with police cars, an ambulance was parked on the pavement and there were lots of policemen re-directing the traffic away. The local Green was cordoned off and the air ambulance I had seen flying overhead 10 minutes before had landed on the Green.

As far as I could understand it, someone had either been badly injured in, or by the bus that was parked in the middle of the road. That there had been such a serious accident was bad enough; what was particularly upsetting was that the air ambulance and the road ambulance were stationary. That cannot be good news. I mean, ideally they both ought to be speeding away, because if they are not, what does that mean? I hope the poor victim was being stabilised in the road ambulance before being flown to hospital.I pray he/she makes a full and speedy recovery. It put the day in perspective– that person left their home this morning with no intimation of what was to come. The vase in the picture above is in the Met museum in New York. It is unattributed, but someone made it many centuries ago. Our work may or may not endure for that length of time, but we all leave invisible, indelible footsteps. So, gather ye rosebuds while ye may, be kind to those around you, forgive your enemies. I wish you all a whole bunch of ‘laters’ that stretch out for years to come.

Another day of EU directives, toxicological reports and Pantone colours. The glamour of the skincare business just never stops. In one of the few minutes I managed to snatch, just to rest my poor brain from all this fluff ( heavy sarcasm), I was reading about a woman who hand-makes trugs and furniture from steamed and bent wood. Her work looks amazing , with form matching function. Her profile made it seem so effortless but now I have an insight into the ridiculous amount of work she must have done before it all took off. It caused me to look back on my own progress and years of work (picture wading through molasses while wearing waders and blinkers). That led to thinking about all the companies I’ve liaised with in starting this business. I was amazed when it occurred to me that most people are actually really helpful and encouraging. Even when it’s a huge corporation which is more at home dealing with multinational skin companies, their staff are usually really nice rather than not. I have to say it brought a tear to my hardhearted eye. It also makes me look at other people’s work and achievements with a new eye. Maximum respect to all the artisans out there who build their businesses from scratch, living on a prayer. I count myself lucky of course; I rely mostly on divine inspiration and God’s help in putting the right people in my path and taking the wrong ones out of it. So, uber-maximum respect to the Almighty. You rock!