No deeds to do, No promises to keep ...

Huh .... I wish!

Still, am dropping out of blogsville for a little while to recharge the batteries before they completely die on me. Have been doing my headless chicken impersonation round here for too long, so am going to enjoy what's left of the summer before its gone!

You might like to look in on the Fat Quarterly blog on 9th August or thereabouts. They are doing an online interview with little ole me on all things quilting and pottery.

Otherwise I'll be back at the laptop and the pots after my well-earned break in a few weeks' time. Bye for now!

The Love of my Life

Well, OK, there are a few people I love even more than creating my ceramics, but it does come pretty high up the list ! Am sure all you creatives out there feel exactly the same way about what you do. What I do is all here - well most of it. Have bypassed the messy bit where I am up to the elbows in clay but once made, the pieces are left to dry, placed in the kiln and then (above) taken out 24 hours later when they are 'bisque' fired. That gives me lots of blank pieces to then decorate

So I get to work with my glazes on the bare pieces. I put different colour tiles up against each other to see what they'll look like, though I pretty much know by now what works and what doesn't.

Glazing the bisqued piece can be tricky as the unfired glaze colour bares no resemblance to what it will finally look like.


And then comes the exciting bit. Once the glazed pieces have been fired a second time and the kiln has cooled down, I can open it and hope and pray that it all looks as I'd imagined ... or even better.


There are three shelves which normally would be FULL of work, but here I needed to produce some pieces in a hurry and didn't have time to make a proper kiln load (which I hate cos its such a waste!).

And then I attach my bits and bobs to the piece - buttons, embroidery thread, wire to hang the little hearts up with, etc. And there you have it - simple! And I just love it. Just wish I had more hours in a day to do it, though! Sometimes 'normal' life has a habit of interfering.

New Work, New Gallery

We had a very rushed trip down to the Suffolk coast last week to the Gallery at Snape Maltings - they had rung me the previous Saturday to ask if I could show them some of my work with a view to exhibiting in their gallery. Fortunately they liked what they saw and asked me there and then to leave it all with them.



Some of the pieces were the Quilt inspired bowls, but others were new work which came out of the kiln last week, but still very 'textiley' in nature. Will post on this new stuff soon.



Whilst we were there they had a huge textiles exhibition going on in one of the many buildings on the site, but as I say, we were in a mad rush that day, and couldn't stop. We did manage tea and cake in their cafe though - we weren't THAT short of time.

Its a fabulous place - a lovely complex situated in a glorious part of the Suffolk coast near Aldeburgh, with shops, antiques, galleries, exhibitions, cafe, etc. You could easily spend a long morning or afternoon wandering around there. I love that my galleries are in such nice places, so that delivering stock turns into a pleasant, relaxed day out - usually. Next time we go, will take some pics of the place!

Latitude Festival

Got back late last night from a wonderful day at Latitude. The weather was a bit changeable in the morning but it soon brightened up.

The whole atmosphere was brilliant. Got my wrist band - which I will take off before it rots away, unlike my teenagers!


We dropped into the Literature tent, which was right next to the Poetry tent.

It was about 11.30 by that time and the crowds were starting to increase. Me, the Hub and number two son just went for the Saturday, but my daughter and friends were there camping for the whole three days. Number one son had already gone off with his mates to another Festival called 'A Thousand Trees', somewhere near Cheltenham (I think!).


So, whilst planning our day, we thought we'd lighten the load we were carrying by eating most of it. Loads of tables to sit at and the sun shone on us.

We met up with daughter and friend, who we then followed through the crowds to the main stage.

where we watched Corinne Bailey Rae, who I listened to whilst lying in the sun watching the clouds roll by.

And then Frank Turner, which was the first time I'd seen him, though he's been a favourite of my teenagers for ages. He was actually fantastic - they have good musical taste!


And if you go to a music Festival be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

We also saw a band called 'Noah and the Whale' which I enjoyed. We spent loads of time in the comedy tent, the highlights of which were Ardal O'Hanlon, and Rich Hall, who were both really funny.
The sun was baking hot by late afternoon and even the rainbow coloured sheep had to find a bit of shade.

The evening was rounded off on the main stage with 'Belle and Sebastian' - another group who I had not seen live before, but were absolutely brilliant and had everyone dancing around. We left at around 11pm, though there was still plenty going on. Tired and happy, we wended our way home through Suffolk to Norfolk. Enjoyed it so much we are definitely going again next year and may go for the whole three days!

My Thirty Happy-making Things

A big thank you to Suzanne at Sky Blue Sea who invited me in a recent post to list thirty things that make me happy. Initially I thought this would be difficult, but it turns out this is just my TOP thirty, and that the list is pretty much endless (am happier than I thought I was!!)

So here it is, in no particular order, as they say :

1. My three babies (ages 15, 19 and 20) - their achievements, their gorgeous faces, their weird conversation, their beautiful personalities, their hugs.

2. My long-suffering Hubby - who has asked me every morning of every day for 25 years if I would like a cup of tea in bed, and every morning of every day for 25 years I have replied 'Yes Please'. But still he needs to ask!

3. Lying on our trampoline on a Summer's day listening to the wind rustling through the huge willow tree above me.

4. Having things to look forward to and get excited about. Going to Latitude Festival this weekend - yey! Have perused the Festival make-up range in Top Shop but will stop short of gluing feathers to my face; maybe next time.

5. Making Pots - the whole absorbing, creative, thrilling process from start to finish of making ceramics - opening a kiln is better than opening Christmas presents. Sooooo exciting to see how its all turned out.

6. Standing on top of a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales watching the shadows of clouds roll over the valley below.

7. Waterfalls after lots of rain - fresh and bright and fizzing with energy.

8. Old photos like the one above taken in 1963 of a certain person in her party frock on her fourth birthday - OK you don't really have to do the maths!

9. Proustian moments - things that suddenly bring back childhood memories - smelling my roses the other night I remembered how as kids we used to make 'scent' by mixing rose petals and water (always a disgusting mush, but we loved it).

10. Connecting with people in person, in books or in blogdom, in a way that makes me inwardly shout 'Yes, I feel that way too!'. Just realising that most people out there are really decent and nice.

11. Taking the extra effort to get to know the quiet, diffident people - they are always worth it.

12. Reaping the rewards of being brave and going way out of my comfort zone.

13. Girly nights with my close friends.

14. Small islands - Aran, Mull, Lindisfarne, Skye - love being surrounded by sea.

15. Country and Eastern - my favourite shop of all time - in Norwich, in an old skating rink, its massive and a feast for the senses.

16. Those rare moments being alone in the house when the older two are away at uni, the youngest at school and the Hub at work and its just me and the silence.

17. Watching the wind ripple over fields of corn - like someone shaking a silken sheet.

18. Poetry, language, odd lines from songs, sounds of words - favourite is 'serendipity' because it sounds nice and is nice, but am also fond of 'wistful'.

19. New places - just taking in places I've never seen before.

20. Being told by very discerning teenagers that I look 'good' - sometimes even 'cool'. As some of you will already know, teenagers are always right. Am aiming for 'Awesome' next. Yeah whatever.

21. Making my famous roast chicken dinner with my award-winning gravy (sorry SkyBlueSea's hubby!) and watching them all dig in big style.

22. Getting texts all the time from my older two whilst they are away and knowing that they are thinking of me as I am of them - and learning new teenage/text words like 'meh'.

23. Leaning against the Aga whilst the rain lashes down outside.

24. Collecting stones as reminders of special places I have been. Also hanging stones up in the garden. Just because.

25. Charity shops, junk shops, antique shops - obviously.

26. The lilt of a soft Irish accent spoken by someone with a twinkle in their eye that makes me think they must really be a Leprechaun.

27. Galleries that are user-friendly, down to earth and welcoming - not posh, pretentious and scary.

28. The recent long summer evenings, sitting outside in a teashirt at midnight watching moths dance around a candle flame and not minding one bit that I am being eaten alive by mozzies.

29. 'Thin Places' - mystical places where two worlds seem to meet.

30. Changing rooms that have those corner mirrors that make you look incredibly slim.

I've so enjoyed doing this and sharing it with you. Let me know if you do a list - I'd love to read it.