French Pottery - plenty of inspiration!

I hope everyone had a lovely summer break, we went to Biscarosse in France and had a very relaxing time. We had trips to the beach, the lake etc but I did manage to squeeze in a pottery visit or two much to my partner's annoyance! I took a lot of pictures to share with you as the colours are so vibrant and beautiful.  

I loved these chickens and nearly bought one but didn't as sadly I have nowhere to keep it.

This is an apple shaped planter for the garden

and a pear-shaped one, really unusual for the garden. 

I also really liked these butterflies, made to hang on a wall in the garden. There were three diffent sizes and beautifully painted.

Knit & Stitch

Along with pottery painting my other main hobby is knitting when I get the time. I would also really like to learn how to crochet so I can make beautiful things like this blanket as shown in a new craft magazine called Mollie Makes. It ia a brand new lifestyle and craft magazine so go and take a look at http://www.molliemakes.com/.

I have tried to learn new hobbies from books and DVDs but there is nothing like someone actually showing you how to do it in the flesh and thanks to Sue Pritchard this will be possible. She is running a Knit and Stitch Club. in Maidstone. They meet every second Saturday of the month for lunch, chat and knitting on the top floor of Café Nero (opposite the entrance to the Chequers Mall in Maidstone town centre) between 1pm and 3pm so come along for 2 hours or pop in for ½ an hour. Bring along knitting, crochet, sewing or any textile based craft that you enjoy and share with and be inspired by other passionate crafters.

Knit n Stitch will be meeting next on Saturday, 13th August, an informal, relaxed occasion for textile crafters of all ages and abilities. The following meeting will be Saturday 10th September.

I think this is a wonderful idea so please come along if you can.

I might be able to learn to crochet after all! I will keep you updated on progress!

Summer holidays

Finally the summer holidays are here and some lovely weather. Sorry not to post for a while but I have been catching up with all the things I put off until the end of term and that was quite a bit I can tell you! Our last pottery painting event until September was at The Plantation Pub in Bearsted and we had a lovely day, the weather was great and our customers had a very relaxing afternoon painting pottery in the pub garden. The Plantation are also running a kids club on Wednesday afternoons throughout the summer holidays where the kids can play board games and have fun for free. There is also a book sale this Wednesday 10th August and a Beach Party on Bank Holiday Monday 29th August.

When we came back after the event at the Plantation I took our puppy Daisy out for a walk. It was quite late and as I was walking along I noticed quite a large hedgehog in the grass. It was a fascinating creature and the first time I have ever seen one in the wild. They are so beautiful and we managed to get quite close (I didn't have my camera so this is a picture taken from the internet!)

This inspired my daughter and her friend to have a go at making some clay hedgehogs and here is my favourite one.

So cute! This will need to dry for a week and then be bisque fired in the kiln. After that we can paint it and glaze it and refire again to have the finished piece.

Carrying on with the hedgehog theme I noticed that Shorne Woods Country Park are holding a Prickles in the Park day where you can meet some real life hedgehogs, learn about what they eat and where they live, and make your own hedgehog to take home. Details are as follows:

Prickles in the Park

Shorne Woods Country Park, Brewers Rd, Shorne, Gravesend, Kent, DA12 3HX
Date: Tue 16th Aug 11
Website: www.kent.gov.uk/kentcountryparks

This event is suitable for children under 12 years old.
Children must be accompanied by an adult (one adult per child)
Bring along suitable outdoor clothing and footwear.
Booking required on 08458 247 600.

Time Two sessions: 10am-12pm and 1-3pm
Price £5 per child

Sadly, we are going to miss it as we are off to France tomorrow. I would have loved to have gone and met another real life hedgehog. Maybe next year. If anyone does go please comment and let me know if you had a good time!



Happy 12th Birthday - fish, tacos & cake!

What a wonderful weekend we have just had. It was my daughter's 12th birthday celebration and it seems only a moment ago I remember looking at her lying in her cot or holding her whilst she rested her tiny head on my shoulder. I wish pottery painting had been around then as I could have captured the memory of her tiny hands and feet forever. Just like this:

                      or this   

Well, she is almost a teenager now and she chose to have a fish pedicure for her birthday followed by a sleepover. We went along to the Wonderfish Spa in the Royal Star Arcade in Maidstone (www.wonderfishspa.co.uk) where we were ably looked after by the staff there. It is a natural, organic method of looking after your feet  but has the added benefits of stimulating acupuncture points, regulating the nervouse system and releasing fatigue. It also boosts your circulation and is said to be good for psoraisis and eczema.

Firstly the girls had their feet pre-washed in anti bacterial skin friendly solution and then it was time to take the plunge and put their feet into the tank with the fish!

The fish have no teeth but I think the sensation of the fish gently 'kissing' their feet was a little strange at first but once they go used to it they had a fun and relaxing treatment. There was lots of giggling and even laughing out loud initially but at the end (after 15 mins) their feet felt rejuvenated and really smooth. Thanks wonderfish!

It was then off for a quick bit of shopping and then home for beef tacos followed by birthday cake, handmade by my Mum.

It looked fantastic before it was devoured by six hungry girls! My Mum used the baker's secret of putting stock syrup over the cake which made the cake incredibly moist and really delicious. Thanks Mum x

For the stock syrup: Whilst your cake is cooking mix 100g of caster sugar and 200ml water together in a pan. Put the pan over low heat and stir gently until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil for 1 minute then take pan off the heat. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush it liberally with the syrup to make cake/cakes really moist. Leave cake/cakes to cool. This syrup can be put onto cake that has been cook a few days earlier to moisten it. Any syrup left over can be keeped in the fridge. It is possible to add a few drops of vanilla extract to the syrup or even a spirit of liqueur (rum is especially good with chocolate cake).

The girls finally all fell asleep after watching Legally Blonde 1, 2 and 3!

Happy Birthday baby girl! 

Birthday Party

All the children are absolutely delighted with their pottery from the party - such huge grins as never I've seen in a long time!

Mrs E - Tonbridge

Half term break in Cornwall

Thanks to my wonderful friend taking my two children to Clacton for the week, my partner and I were able to spend a few days in Cornwall over the half-term. Every time I go there I am stunned by the natural beauty of the area and how relaxing it is to be away from it all. We even had some sunny weather! We stayed in a lovely B&B called Lower Tresmorn Farm in Crackington Haven near Bude. This is the main farmhouse where they have several rooms but there is also a beautiful converted barn. Rachel and Chris, the owners, were extremely friendly and hospitable.

Lower Tresmorn Farm is a working farm with sheep and cattle and being right on the coast it has beautiful views of the sea. 

The nearest beach is Crackington Haven and is a lovely secluded bay with dramatic cliffs on either side. There is a pub, the Coombe Barton and two good cafes. I can recommend the local crab sandwiches!

There is quite a lot of sand on the shore line but the upper part of the beach is mostly covered by these attractive lined pebbles

We were only in Cornwall for three days but we visited lots of places such as Boscastle Harbour which flooded very badly in 2004. It is beautifully restored now and is home to Boscastle Pottery.

The pottery has been run by Roger Irving Little since 1967 and specialises in mocha ware. This is a technique where "mocha tea" is applied to wet slip. The tea runs through the slip creating a tree or fern-like pattern. The tea contains a staining agent. Traditionally tobacco was used for this but nowadays coffee or various chemical recipes are used instead.

We also visited the tiny secluded fishing village of Clovelly in North Devon (and had to pay £5.95 each to get in!) The village is traffic free and the main street, known very simply as 'up-a-long' and 'down-a-long' tumbles its cobbled way down 400ft of solid rock to the tiny harbour and lifeboat station.

It is a steep descent down to the sea but you walk past pretty cottages, tempting passageways and tiny winding lanes that lead off to either side and offer the prospect of discovering even more peaceful, picturesque treasures of Clovelly.

In Elizabethan times herring fishing was the main activity supporting the village until the shoals began to move away in the 1830's. In the middle of the 19th Century Charles Kingsley, author of 'The Water Babies', returned to live in the village where he had been brought up when his father was rector there. His presence coupled with a Victorian love of the sea produced a tourism boom and by the end of the century ships were arriving from around the Bristol Channel to land tourists by small boat onto the pebbled shore.
Donkeys are used to deliver provisions to the houses and cafes there.

It is a truly unspoilt and unique place where time has stood still.

There is of course a pottery there established in 1992 and the resident potter Caroline Curtis produces hand thrown slip decorated earthenware pots in beautiful designs and colours.

I love these vegetable markers and fancy having a go at making some myself.

The workshop is open to visitors and for a small fee you can make your own pot.

The next day we drove from Bude to the small harbour town of Fowey and drove past some unbelievable foxgloves growing wild in the hedgerow. I just had to take a picture (much to my partner's annoyance!) Aren't they wonderful?

 

Anyway back to Fowey, (pronounced Foy not Fowee). It is a pretty natural harbour (my photo does not do it justice!) which has been used as a port for hundreds of years. Previously the centre of the Cornish China Clay industry but is now more famous as a yachting destination.

Fowey's most famous resident is the well known authoress Daphne du Maurier. She spent many years holidaying and living in and around the harbour town until her death in 1989. Cornwall was a strong influence in many of her books.

There is also a great choice of tea rooms,a delightful fudge shop, gift shops and art galleries displaying local art and craft and I fell in love with these pottery boats.

and raku fired fish by Tony Worthington

The cloud started to clear and the sun came out in the afternoon so I was able to get some good photos of the Bude coastline on our way back. It really is breathtaking.

We had a lovely few days, thanks to my friend now back to reality!

New Puppy

Apologies for not posting for a while but I have been a little busy with our new addition to our household. We have a gorgeous new jack russell x toy poodle puppy named Daisy.

She is so black it is hard to get a clear picture of her face but she is adorable.

We got her when she was 8 weeks old and now she is 13 weeks old. She has grown a lot and is very lively. She loves playing with her toys and chasing the mop! We couldn't resist putting her paw print on to a pottery heart as a keepsake.