I arrived at the workshop to find Mike hard at work, digging his way into the front door. A combination of heavy snow fall, roofalanches and an enthusiastic snowplough driver had combined to bar access... The temperature inside the workshop was a tropical 1ºC ... Once we got going, however, it wasn't too bad.

The snow has set me back a bit on quite a few projects, but I am now back working on a large fused glass kitchen splashback commission. The piece consists of nine large tiles approximately 450mm long, with each panel made of two layers of fusible glass, coloured on top over a white base glass. The top of the splashback curves in a long gentle wave, to fit under a unit.

Today I cut 8 of the 9 tiles - I'll fire these and fit them, then cut the final tile to fill the gap to the wall, so I can be sure it will fit. The first firing is tomorrow - wish me luck. And, if you live in Kincardine O'neil, don't plan on using a kettle for a few hours tomorrow evening because my 22kW kiln is ging to suck every last drop of energy out of the grid...