swish and flick

I wish I had had a camera at work this evening. Only a photo could show you the magnitude of the task I just undertook. I feel a bit light-headed, my hands are cramped and an unrecogniseable colour, and my environmental conscience will never recover.

First, there was dowelling. Then, by the magic that is Joel, the dowelling became smaller, foot-long bits of dowelling. By the sweatshop that is grandad and the nieces, the foot-long bits became foot-long bits without a single barcode label stuck on. By the perseverence that is Chris and me, the foot long, label-less bits became foot-long, label-less bits with two beautifully sanded ends.

And tonight, by the tenacity and the o-god-this-was-all-my-idea-I'd-better-be-the-one-to-do-it of...me, all 1000 or so foot long, labelless, sanded bits of dowelling were spray-painted with purest VOCs to become raw, unfinished...magic wands.

The final Harry Potter launch is a month or so away, and those who come to the bookstore at midnight to get the first copy expect something a bit special. Handmade magic wands sort of fit the bill.

The wandmaking workshop takes place next week, when all the wands will be loaded with their magic and finished with variously coloured fabric handles and fancy designs. Possibly, by then I'll have a camera and can show you the finished magnitude. This is epic. I can't even really conceive of what 1000 finished magic wands looks like. Yet.