Marionettes, Commissions, Soft Sculpture...and Pickles

It's Pickling time again, and if last year's crop was anything to go by, I'm going to be up to my ears in sticky counters and utensils from now until Sept!

Last year the cukes came so thick and fast that as quickly as I could fill a basket with the proper size and find time to set aside a whole morning, six more had ballooned up to "too big for bread and butters" and had to be made into Dills or Chow-Chow.  I could swear I had checked under every leaf for the little escapees, but I ended up with sixteen jars of dills, about ten bread and butters and five of Chow-Chow.

I need some kind of cucumber goggles that highlight the things in neon orange or Day-Glo pink!

Making slow progress on the Soft Sculpted Infant; it helps to post photos here because some days the changes are too subtle for me to see since I've been looking at it all day.

Even slower progress on the Marionette, since I picked up a commission (my first!) and have to work up a sketch for the client.
Another infant, maybe a bit bigger than the one I'm working on now.

Which brings me back to pickles, and wondering if I should just give the cucumbers away, or use them for compost. They are such a lot of hot sticky work when I'm supposed to be sketching, or sewing, or sculpting.
But is there any sound more satisfying when all the sticky work is done than that wonderful slurpy pop from each of the five jars neatly capped and waiting on the counter?
Sitting here listening to them sound off one by one is a small spot of  pleasure in my day, and really some days you can't ask for more than that!