Super Dad Peter

When little Lucy Brindle told her dad Peter that the class were having a "Lord of the Rings" day on Friday and the teacher would like the kids to dress up as characters from the books, instead of kitting Lucy out with a bit of make up and some old clothes, Peter decided to help transform her into a dragon.And here is the mask he created for her. Good to see northern area sales manager Peter has lost none of his creative skills from his time as a sheet metal worker.What a creation! No doubt Lucy will be scaring her classmates on Friday.

I hope she doesn't end up like my poor daughter Sarah.When she was about seven, Sarah was invited to a birthday party. The girl whose party it was told Sarah it was fancy dress. We took Sarah to the party as a fairy, complete with wings and a magic wand only to find that it wasn't fancy dress and all the other kids were in normal clothes. Some children can be very cruel.



I just made a start on the figures for November. They look good with a 5% increase on last November. But I'm not pulling the wool over anybody's eyes, trading conditions are still hard for everyone in the manufacturing industry and there's some way to go before we see our way out of the recession. However, with a good number of new products planned for launch at Hotelympia in February, and our new brochure being prepared by the great Workhouse Marketing well on the way, I am expecting a good 2010. And speaking of Workhouse, MD Mark Jones has started a daily blog. Check it out here. Today's is a particularly good one (thanks Mark you've won a signed copy of my book).



To that end, we've got an appointment with ace photographer Peter Raymond on Friday. Peter is going to photograph four new models plus a few close ups for the brochure. We're going to be launching a new range of....... I might as well keep it quiet for now so watch this space.



There was a heavy frost last night so our thoughts turn, of course, to holidays. Marion has just prepared the holiday list for next year so everyone can get their holidays chosen. It works out at six weeks next year for those who work our four day week. Marion and I still haven't taken this year's holidays in full.

Regular readers know that I'm a big X Factor fan. Remember Rhydian? He's come a long way in two years. Not sure about the hair, or the song, or the monks but at least he's got interesting eyes.