A cuppa by the Aga…

Hi there

Thanks for popping in. Back home and enjoying a cuppa by the Aga. Shoes off, and breathe … After a most overwhelming, successful few hours on Create & Craft with my dear buddy Paul Church, it is good to be back home. We doubled the stock levels, you know, to try and keep the shows going, (and we started with plenty!), but still it wasn’t enough. What a testament to our SHAC friends, to our SHAC designs, eh?!!

If you were watching at the start of the 6pm launch yesterday, you’ll have caught me have a little emotional wobble. Thank goodness my good friend Dawn was presenting; she steadied me and carried the show for a little while – for which I am so grateful. And that was it, you know. Believe it or not, it never even crossed my mind that I would have a weepy moment. Never entered my head. Then as soon as I opened my mouth to speak, whoosh. It was the wave of gratitude which took me out at the knees. I was hit by an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am so lucky, you see, and at so many levels, that just in that moment it caught me out. Gulp. Thank you so much for cheering. I knew you were there too.

Did I feel wiped out afterwards? Not at all. But that was enough for me too, and I was quite happy to sell through and leave the building early. It’s always nice to get home when it’s still light, don’t you think? Paul was the driver; I just watched the countryside roll by in the sunshine.

There’s not much will move me from a cuppa by the Aga, except the cats at the kitchen window, begging to come in, or another cuppa. With one great exception: THE KILN. I have been known to get up at 5 in the morning and run across the garden in my pyjamas to check THE KILN. With Dave right behind me! So I was just chillin’, when I remembered I had set the kiln to slow bisque something special before I left for the TV studios! Straight out to the garage to check on Norman and his two mates!!

Perfect. White slip exactly right. And even the thin bow and arrow bits came out in one piece!

This sculpture that I worked on before Christmas has been waiting patiently for me. Thing is, when clay is bone dry but not fired, it is also at its most fragile. So despite it being rather extravagant, firing up the kiln just for Norman and his two mates, I decided not to risk breakage.

Next step? Oxides. But that can wait now, until I’ve done some testing. Once something’s bisque fired to 1000ºC, it’s toasted hard. Safe. What is it, this thing that it is? No idea. Art. Has it got a function? Does it need one?

Oh. And I cleared up my pottery studio on Tuesday evening. It was such a mess.

Now it is asking me to get out there and try out my new CLAYPRON – birthday gift from Grace…

Check out the amount of clay I have stashed under the wedging table!! And if you look underneath the table by the kiln in the photo above, you’ll see a load of black packs.. they’re the porcelain. Yep. It’s an addiction alright.

Like I said. I am so lucky. So much to be grateful for.

Quote for today? The lovely presenter Joe Remblance quoted a great one today. Now let me see if I can remember…ah yes.

Love always,

Barb xxx

PS. I know just the thing for us to doodle on Monday, when the Bus No. 300 leaves the SHAC Depot at 10am ! You’ll love it. I thought of it in hospital…