Caffeine-free, IKEA chaos, and a new rugby design

It’s 20th January already, which feels a bit mad. If you’re doing Dry January, or you’ve been trying to stick to a diet and you’re still going strong, keep it up. You’re about two thirds of the way through now, and you’re doing better than you think.

I’m also still off the caffeine, and I’ve surprised myself. I genuinely don’t miss it. I thought I’d be dragging myself through the mornings, but I feel pretty much the same as I always have. Who knew?

This week we braved IKEA, and for some reason it was absolutely packed, even though it was a weekday. Sam didn’t mind at all. She loves anything to do with organisation, and now that things are a bit quieter she’s been happily sorting out our shelves and getting everything in order. To be fair, it makes such a difference when you’re trying to work quickly and everything actually has a place.

While Sam has been doing her thing, I’ve been finishing off the design for our rugby sign. It took a fair bit of back and forth, tweaking little bits, changing my mind, then changing it back again. But it’s finally landed where it needs to be, and I’m really pleased with how it’s come out. It can be hung on the wall or displayed on a desk, and now I’m in the stage of getting the photography done so it’s ready to share properly.

Then came one of those jobs that nobody sees, but every laser business has to do.

It was definitely time to clean out the laser bed. Laser engraving can be surprisingly messy, and while we always make sure your product arrives lovely and clean, the behind-the-scenes clean-up can be a whole different story. Sticky wood residue, dust, and the kind of grime that builds up quietly until you realise you can’t ignore it anymore.

So on a cold, wet, windy January day, there I was outside in my thermals, jet washing the honeycomb bed. Not the glamorous side of running a small business, but it’s important. It helps prevent fires, and it also helps reduce flashback marks on the back of engravings, which can be hard to avoid completely with laser work.

And finally, a little reminder that Valentine’s Day is not far away. It always seems to creep up faster than expected.

I’ll drop by next week with a new offer if you’re thinking of shopping with us. We keep Valentine’s pretty relaxed and usually go for a well deserved date night. It’s not quite as easy to arrange these days with a two-year-old, but she’s worth it.