Ceramic Sales...David slays Goliath/ NHS slays coronavirus19

The year 2002 was quite a year for us at The Potters House Penketh.

Alan's dad..Sydney Snape died.

We bought an old guest house in Morecambe 5 minutes from the beach.

We went to Spain for the first time and stayed in the beautiful apartment owned by our niece and nephew... up the hill from Marbella.

Alan made this large bowl with his typical comic aproach to some of the Bible stories.

I loved it.

I didn't want it to go.

He often stashed it on the top of a storage cupboard in the back studio.

In that way ...it wasn't going to sell.

Until today.

The buyer asked about Gath...was it local?

So the potter told the story of the small David and the great big hulking giant Goliath.

She'd never heard it before.

I think Goliath is "coronavirus 19" and David is little NHS...that defeats it.....chops of it's head!!

This year...back to Morecambe one day soon I hope.

Next year back to Spain..I hope!

Wild Gardening

At the start of this year I decided that we would honour what was naturally happening in the large garden here at The Potters House Penketh...let's call it "Wild Gardening".

We call the back garden the  field as it's almost an acre of land.

Wildness around the apple orchard.

It was part of the Penketh Heath..and the road we live on was once the pathway through the heath on the east.

Then as we all know...coronavirus struck ...and affected us here in Penketh on the edge of the Mersey like everyone else around the world..

So locked in behind the iron gates of the field...there is little to do but garden!

Gone is the thought of a wild garden

Instead the grass has been cut,,,

 the labyrinth trimmed..

.and the vegetable patches have never been so prepared as this year.

a spot for peas and beans...

..I even had time to string up these cd's and stop the wood pigeons chomping on the domestic cherry tree this year...last year we got nothing!

The apple trees have been trimmed...and the blossom is already budding.

In the untimely heat of this April lockin..the garden is glorious.

Time to wander on the paths...the potter says seven circuits might make a mile

...so far I've done three each day!

Sketch and paint...right handed.

I haven't sketched anything since I broke my left wrist...

well if I'm honest..

I haven't sketched or painted anything since last August in Donegal with Rosie's Art Group sketching holiday.

So the wrist has been a good excuse!!

I keep telling the family to stay creative...I thought it's about time I did something for myself!

So I dug around in my studio and found a sketch book..sorted the desk easel and opened up my paints.

Right handed drawing is so hard!!

I'm in awe of those artists who do it!

The weather is warm

The flowers are beautiful.

I chose these auriculas for the first tentative go.

Forbade the potter from saying.."that's good".

Daft...isn't it...just feeling my way back in.

Easter Bread...Bank Holiday Monday

This wonderful loaf was left on the front door knob of The Potters House Penketh yesterday by Krisztian Talmachi...

(he's just become a dad to Eric...)

and also lots of Hungarian goodies from his wife Elvira...

We attended their wedding last summer in Hungary..such a very special time.

Well we had finished all the croissant in the freezer...

so we sliced the bread, toasted it and loaded it with butter...

ladled on the lemon curd

and ate with some strong breakfast coffee this morning

kosonom...kosonom...kosonom