Prep...prep....prep...Now we are almost ready! .................

Weeks and weeks of preparation and quite a few pennies spent but now the boat is ready for sailing off the west coast of Scotland...we hope! we have both had long TO DO lists for weeks, I dare say we will have another list after the trip of things we did'nt need and stuff we really should have taken, oh well too late now this is our first trip and we  will be more or less living on the boat for a week.  What an adventure!!! We are both very excited,.
    Yes all that stuff has to go into that tiny boat !
 

Megan and Lee's wedding..

Megan and Lee walking the flower lined willow arbour  looking extremely pleased with themselves under a cascade of yellow tulip petals,.they arrived in the back of an open topped Land Rover ( with an umberella of course! )

   We all had a fabulous day yesterday at Megan and Lee's wedding, the weather was'nt kind to them but nobody let that spoil such a wonderful day. Leah was the bridesmaid and thoroughly enjoyed her role but went back to Farnham today looking extremely tired ready for her evening shift at school, just hope she does'nt fall asleep on the first train and miss her connection...Good luck Leah! Hope the boys are kind to you tonight...xx

Time flies!

Can't quite believe its well over a month since writing my blog, alot has happened between now and then but don't worry I won't go over that. The studio is ticking over nicely I have some lovely students busying themselves and getting lots of experimenting done, not all succesful but very necessary.
   Decided to make up some earthenware toast racks and  lots of platters and bowls in crank clay ready for a Raku session.
   Am going to try and update my blog a bit more often....!!!!!!

Naked Raku

    This was my first attempt at Naked Raku and part from the texture of the pot I really quite liked it, next time I have to spend time burnishing the pot to get the finish I want. So watch this space and as soon as the kiln is built I'll be smoking away with my new oil drum. Am getting really excited have even fixed up my old trailor with new wheels to cart it around in....can't wait.  Have been experimenting with the process on very small pieces in my enamelling kiln and the results are ok, i'm getting there....!

Hen and Pig !

Just want to share this lovely photo with you all, spring has sprung in our garden and about time too after the winter we have just had.
    Last years pair of mallards have just returned to our garden pond  along with heaps of toads, the trees are in bud at last and the Forsythia and daffs are blooming. 
      

Creative Industries Grant....

Busy trying to spend this small but fantastic grant wisely, prioritising is not so easy when there are so many things I need, but at the moment I need stuff to build a decent Raku kiln i.e. Ceramic Fibre and an old oil drum, I could also do with a wall mounted clay  extruder to speed up my handbuilding....and a slab cutting harp and, and, and.....I could go on and on. They will also give me a bit for self promotion and photographs of work etc. but I don't know if I'm quite ready for that yet. We shall see!!!

Nearly April already.

Blogging has been a bit slow sorry folks!  Just beginning to settle down after all the swanning about in March, After the Lakes we  went down to the Cotswolds for a crazy weekend in a beautiful manor house with a lovely bunch of people to celebrate a friends 50th, she certainly did it in style. We then drove on to Croyde in north Devon for our annual get together with family.
   So all that galavanting behind me for a while I am eager to get on and play in the studio, I have to get my act together and produce some new work for the Halam Open Gardens weekend in June.

Our beautiful manor house!