A window into LandWorks

James says: “I like Christmas, it’s funny how it changes, when you’re really young it’s all about you, and then as you get older and more mature it’s not about you anymore, it’s about the children, no matter what you want it’s about making the children happy… I saw her [my eldest daughter] on Monday… I picked her up from school and I saw her in the nativity play, not yesterday the day before… Tuesday, I left here early so I could go to it and then I spent the evening, I took her home from school straight after and then spent a few hours with her at home, made Christmas cards and stuff so it was good, we just wrote them out, we just done one for each other, she done me two actually, she done me a serious one and then a jokey one, to “Miss Daddy” and basically after that she copied what I’d written in her card… I am hoping to take her out for a few hours on the weekend too… depending on the weather…

I’ll probably be in the workshop later… I’ve made candles, so it’s the same thing [as making a bowl] so I’m turning them, so it’s the same principle as the bowl, but yeah I’m going to have a go at a bowl or a plate or something, it’d be good… I’d love to give a bowl a go, it’d be good, definitely… I’ve done a lot of groundworks and general building already and mechanics when I was younger… I qualified to be a mechanic twice, just didn’t do the test… ‘cos I got sent down, it was the same with my GCSEs, I went through school and that but didn’t get to do them, but then when I was inside I did level 1 and 2 in numeracy and literacy, so that’s the only qualifications I got…

Actually, I was thinking about buying [my daughters] a bowl, but like making it myself and like personalising it, I don’t know,  I might do something like that, personalise it… I like all the wooden bowls… ‘cos I haven’t got much money, also if it’s personalised it means something you know, it means like doing maybe a small one, a shallow one for Macie, ‘cos obviously she’s got smaller foods and then personalising that and then doing one for Roxie…

Over Christmas I’m hoping to just see the little ones, not sure what I’m doing yet, mum’s away… and the little ones will be with their mums, so I’ll see them hopefully, I don’t know what I’ll do in between, I might go over [Town] see my dad, don’t know yet, see what happens, try and keep myself active and busy…”