The other half has gone skiing... until April (some time). I guess he'll come back when the snow runs out, or his knees give way.

We have one of those relationships where this is ok. On the one hand, I miss him, but on the other hand, I am happiest when he is happy. So if he was here climbing the walls in the rain, I would be miserable. There is also the upside that if he is not here, I can make pots without feeling guilty.

I have this theory that the key to everything in life is balance. So it goes that a marriage needs space as much as it needs shared stuff. Finding that balance is not always easy. Weirdly, its easy when you are apart because you can just get on with what makes you happy knowing that the other person is happy doing the same. When he comes back (dodgy knees n all), I'll have to extract my potter's head from my potter's cave and be a wife, climber, fisherwoman and sailor while being braver than I really am, more up for it than I really am, more sexy than I really am..... and constantly battling the compulsion to go and sit in the shed to make pots. My potter side is an absolutely bloody tyrant. I guess its been denied for twenty odd years, and now its a monster. So if I am honest, in wife terms, I was probably a D minus for effort over the late autumn, and I feel guilty and all conflicted about that. But I really needed to pot. I had closed up the shed in February and by the time October came around the potter inside was like a thirsty man in the desert. Its a bit worrying how you find balance in the face of that - but this last year was a weird one. I am hoping that by late April I will be raring to head off (to Norway as you ask) - a break from home and the shed and a terrific old school adventure with my best friend. So I am potting right now like an addict who knows the drug is getting turned off in May.... its ridiculous. This potting thing is for life. The potting year is but a sliver of time over a potting lifetime. Whats a few months or days away from the shed? I know, I know. Perspective.... balance.... that's the thing about theories; it takes time to get it right. All you can do is try and be better each day.