Monthly Musing – October 2026 – Worth waiting for

I’ve been to collect a new ash bucket for our fire today.

We’ve got open fires in our house, and as well as open fires being a thing of the past, it turns out that the ash bucket that sits below floor level to collect what falls through the grate is as well.  Nothing in our house is a “standard” make and although my Dad was able to buy a replacement bucket for one of our fires when we moved in twenty-odd years ago, the company that made them and the size we needed have long since disappeared.

“What about the local forge?” suggested the chimney sweep, after I had bemoaned the fact that I’d bought several other makes and had to send them back.  “Can’t you ask them to make you one?”

I’ll be honest, I was reluctant.  Lazy perhaps, but I was hoping to find something online that would direct me to a local shop or that the right size of bin would magically turn up in search results – but after a year of procrastinating, by the time the chimney sweep came round again and we’d had a discussion about whether a squashed sardine tin covering the holes in the bottom of the bucket was really the way to go, I realised I needed to do something.  It looked like bespoke was my only option.  I spoke to Phil the forge owner, dropped off the ancient bucket and a couple of months later, the new one was ready.

A couple of months?!  But we live in an age of next day delivery – what’s going on?!

Ah, in the age of next day delivery, we forget that creating things by hand takes time.  There are some things that you can’t have straight away – and the world doesn’t stop if you have to wait.  We all used to live like this, but online stores and super-fast broadband speeds have spoilt us and often now, if we have to wait longer than 24 hours for something that we’ve ordered, it feels like a significant delay.  Sometimes, it does us good to be reminded that some things are worth waiting for.

Our new ash bucket is something to behold.  It’s been made to the exact measurements of the old bucket, metal expertly folded and soldered.  There’s a handle to help me get it out of the fireplace, and it’s been painted with special fireproof paint.  Our old ash bucket was about 60 years old and this bucket should last at least that long.  My husband joked that archaeologists will find it in the remains of the house in hundreds of years’ time, still in one piece and probably still full of ash!

As a creator, I can fully appreciate the time, skill and effort that has gone into our new ash bucket.  It wasn’t cheap – but I haven’t got a cheap bucket.  I can feel the quality in my hands, and it fits our fireplace perfectly.  It was definitely worth waiting for.

At this time of year, one of the most common sock knitting questions is how to work out sizes for surprise gift socks … but what if the measurements and the waiting are part of the gift?  Knowing that something is coming doesn’t usually detract from the enjoyment when it does arrive – and if anything, I think it can enhance it.  I don’t like to think that someone’s time and effort could be unwittingly ignored by someone who doesn’t know what’s involved, whereas being measured for a special gift that’s made just for you suddenly makes it personal and priceless.

We don’t get many chances to slow the world down – technology is seeing to that for us – but for those of us who create with our hands, we’re a rare bunch and we can do just that.  We don’t need to compete with next day delivery, and we shouldn’t try.  Some things are just worth waiting for.