Telling Stories!

The Storyteller

I have been working all the morning on this piece I am submitting for reading by a professional reader in the city centre. I am ninety five percent satisfied with it, I feel I want to 'tweak' it a bit more, but this is not advised - by anyone! Hmmm .... I never did do as I was told!

While flattered by this request it's also terrifying to have your work read out in public. I am not ready for this, but then what first time writer would be.

Watch this space as they say!

Jill Hobbs - Artist

Last week I went to see Mrs. H who showed me a picture that she liked and had cut it out of the local paper. I noted the name of the artist and came home and tried to look it up for her on the Internet. The Artist does have a website and I liked her paintings very much.

Jill Hobbs is a South-east Wales based landscape artist. Jill specialises in 'landscape paintings. predominately in the medium of pastels' she says on her Web Home Page. Born in Pembrokeshire she currently lives in Pontypool and runs the Griffithstown Arts Group.

If anyone wants to join her Arts group you can make application online:

jillhobbsartist@btinternet.com

There is currently an Art exhibition running in Newport Museum and Art Gallery marking the 60th anniversary of the Welsh Group of artists. It runs until the 13th June. I was wondering if Jill Hobbs was exhibiting there - well there is only one way to find out -visit!

I couldn't find Mrs. H's picture on her website, but the ones selected above are two that I particularly liked.

Creative Writing - new term

The commencement of the new term at UWN was welcomed by us all in the class. It was good to see old faces and some new, just joining for a term.

Children's writing is underway! The ground rules were laid down and homework given out; we will be working much closer with the Library Service this term as the subject matter will also be about picture illustrations as well as the actual writing. I have an idea in my head so I will be putting it on paper next. That is the enjoyable bit!

On 15th May there is a Creative Writing Initiative being presented in the City centre. This is to get other students, ordinary folk off the street and all 'would be' writers to come and join the writing course next year. Our story's will be read out while people sit and listen. I have been asked to put one of my pieces in for reading so I was quite flattered, but drew the line at reading it myself in the city centre. By choice I would rather not be there when it's being read out either! I will graciously accept the feedback!

The back yard makeover!

Sunday morning saw me in the garden early. After 90 minutes I showered and went to Church. It was just as well I did it that way around as by the time I came out of Church it was raining!


I'm having to hoe every four or five days and it's only a few small beds we are talking about. The weeds are prolific!!! I planted a fuchsia bush this morning, only a small one, as I don't have that much room. Two rose bushes to buy now and I think I have completed the make-over of my yard! It's been enjoyable. After I left Monmouth three years ago, I said 'never again' to gardening, but I have enjoyed this - mainly because it's small and I am in control of it!



The picture above is of my house plants. I put them outside yesterday in the sunshine and gave them a good watering with the watering can, so that the leaves had some water to absorb. They are looking so much better today. I had to throw four away though - no room for them in this little house!

'Hold out a Hand'

At the MU meeting this week we had a talk on bereavement. Had I known what the talk was going to be beforehand I would have asked friends along as a guests as I have several friends that have lost husbands or partners through death.

It seems that we have in this City a charity that is set up to look after the well being of bereaved people and they sound very innovative. The person who gave the talk was one of the founder members of the charity.

When CRUSE moved to Cardiff there was a void here in this city; several nurses and counsellors banded together and provide a service called 'Hold out a Hand'. Since that time they have opened a Charity shop and a coffee shop. Bereaved people can go into the shop, ask to speak with someone and there are rooms available upstairs for people to chat with trained counsellors about their situation. Further down the road there is a coffee shop called 'Marenghi's' where the people who wait on tables are trained nurses or involved in the organisation in some way. This coffee shop is very light and airy and user friendly to the general public. It's not just for those who need a helping hand, I went for a coffee there this morning and was really impressed.

It is good to know that these people are about. This charity is as much for children, teenagers or any person that has lost someone close to them.

Hold out a hand Charity Shop

2 Livingstone Place

Maindee

Newport

NP19 8EY

holdoutahand@hotmail.co.uk

Their advertising could be more extensive and I have emailed the charity with some suggestions. I have also asked the 'leading lights' in the MU if we can have the discussion topic put on the agenda prior to a meeting. I have also suggested we do some free advertising through our Church magazine. Hopefully my small input will be of some help to someone in the future.

Well done to all who are holding this charity together.

A round of gras !

Asparagus Festival Evesham - 23rd April - 7th June 2009.

I don't often dwell on the past, it doesn't do; However this morning on Radio 4 I heard actor Trevor Harrison (Eddie Grundy in the Archers) talking about the Evesham Asparagus Festival which commences today. It was a huge thing in my life when I lived in the Cotswold's. I got lots of bookings for the Guest House from this festival and sometimes I went to have a look around the festival on the days when I could get away from the business. It was also a very happy time for me.

The locals say that sandy soil and a mild climate in Worcestershire is why their local asparagus is considered the best in the world and why it has been so for many years. I don't know about that, but what I do know is that on the last Sunday of the festival there is an asparagus auction in one of the local churches. It was great fun from memory and the asparagus was great too.

Not far away from Evesham in a small place called Bretforton. The local pub there is called 'The Fleece'. It is a wonderful example of how pubs were in the past. It is now owned by the National Trust, but the food was always superb, well worth a visit for lunch if you are in the area.

Back to the present and must grab a shower. Friend Bee is coming over shortly and we are off out for a few hours - must get changed!

Raku-yaki Japanese pottery.

Remember this ?

.......well here it is finished!

It was a return to a new term and to new initiatives in the Pottery class, but first we started finishing off the projects that were half completed, not all of them of course, but some.

Our tutor lives in Bath, where her local pottery club is being visited by a Raku-yaki pottery artist. We have all been invited to make something in class and take it to the Pottery Club for the firing, which will be done using the western Raku technique. What is Raku? Well, Raku is usually tableware, used in Japan for the Japanese tea ceremony. Most commonly the pieces are in the form of tea bowls. This form of pottery is characterised by hand-moulding of clay as opposed to turning on a potters wheel, resulting in each piece being one of a kind - my pottery usually is anyway!!

We are working for the next few weeks on a 'make it and take it basis'. The firing is the heart and soul of the Raku technique. No one can predict exactly what the results will look like. When finished, glazes crackle in a fascinating pattern and the metallic oxides change the colours. It is a new challenge and something exciting to look forward to. I will have to put on my thinking cap before next week and think of something slightly unusual to make.

Coffee and gardening ...

My free bag of coffee compost

I went into Starbucks for a coffee with a friend on the weekend. In a basket just in front of the door were these bags of coffee grounds for gardeners, so I picked one up as they were free. I have heard of tea bags and tea leaves being left to compost but not coffee grounds.

Sitting at the base of my newly planted Rosemary.

It transpires that they are very good for the garden. I have encircled mine around the newly planted herbs before I water tonight, but they are equally good to throw on the compost heap. It seems they slowly release nitrogen and act as a fast acting liquid fertilizer when watered, and they also help to repel pests.


It seems coffee grounds can also be mixed with soil for houseplants and are very good for digging into vegetable beds. The thing that amazed me about it is that I thought it would look like coffee grounds, but this just looks like good quality compost. I think another trips to Starbucks is required to find out more about how they are doing this - and to see if there is any more on offer of course!

'Your wish is my command ! .....'

My £1 acquisition.

Speaking to my sister some weeks ago about the forthcoming term at UWN - children's writing - she suggested I read 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson, giving this as a fine example of characters, descriptive work and atmosphere. I haven't read it since I was a young girl, and even then I am not sure I finished it, but I have seen many TV adaptations.

While out shopping in the week, I saw a charity book stall in an outdoor market, and there on the table was 'Treasure Island' just waiting for me to buy it. I handed over my £2 (£1 for Treasure Island and £1 for another book) and took it home to read. I haven't put it down! I finished it last night. It has certainly inspired me in descriptive writing and the characters are wonderful, but I need a plot for my own story, although something is forming in my head.

Map created by Robert Louis Stevenson.

My brief for next term is 'contemporary and descriptive writing'. This book is about pirates and buried gold, a blind man and an amputee, it doesn't get more contemporary that that. A huge thank you to my lovely sister who has changed my thought process. I was locked into witches and wizards! (I will keep those thoughts for another time).

The title to this Blog 'Your wish is my command ...' is for my sister, who very many years ago gave me a poetry book by Christina Rossetti. I had nagged her for a whole weekend to give it to me and when she did she wrote on the fly leaf:

Your wish is my command !

With love from your sister.

October 5th 1990.

x.

Whenever she and I talk about books, I always see that inscription in my head. That book is one of my treasured possessions and a wonderful introduction to poetry.

Now, off to read book number two. 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' - and no, my sister didn't recommend that, this one is my choice! Another one skimmed through in my adolescence. Mmm ....

'Fast and Furious' chatting!!!

Vin Diesel & Paul Walker in 'The Fast & The Furious'.

My new friend Bee from Writing Class came around last night and asked if I would like to go to the cinema. I needed no second asking! So off we went, grabbed ourselves a McDonalds on the way and into the cinema. Bee likes to talk, and so we were chatting away. We were clearly told to go to cinema number 5, (there's a choice of 22!) but called in the ladies on the way. We alighted from the ladies and, still chatting, made our way into the cinema which was quite full. We took our seats. After about five minutes, Bee said 'This is a long advert', to which the chap behind said 'Sorry girls, this is no Ad, this is the main feature'. We slunk down into our seats and stayed quiet, knowing the chap behind was smiling at our misfortune! We had gone into the wrong Cinema - we were in cinema number 4!!!

Mmm .......

We neither of us had the 'bottle' to get up and leave, and anyway, the film we had originally chosen had already started - so we stayed put! This film called 'The fast and the Furious' is about two guys that get together to bring down an evil crime baron. It may be some cinema goer's idea of magic, it could be another's idea of hell, we were neutral. Well - check out the talent in the pics posted above. We weren't complaining! We giggled all the way home, I haven't really laughed for ages! Ah well, off to the dentist to have a tooth out now .............

Tredegar Tours - Yes!

The Memorial Stones, Tredegar where Nye Bevan used to hold open air meetings.

Mrs H. mailed me some information from our local paper. As it usually contains mainly City news I rarely buy it, but regular followers of this blog will know I do dip into it from time to time. Well, I didn't last night, but thankfully Mrs. H did.

There was advertisement advertising Valley Tours.

http://www.realvalleytour.org.uk/

It seems that you can take a tour of either Merthyr, Blaenavon, Bute Town near Rhymney, Tredegar and Aberdare. All these are half day or full day tours and the prices are very good. £10 half day and £16 full day tours. The Tredegar tour for example takes in Bedwellty House and Park, Tredegar Hospital, built in 1903 as a home for Samuel Homfray one of the former Iron masters in the town, and then down to the circle to see the town clock - standing 72 feet high. Among many important buildings in the circle is the former home of the Medical Aid Society - where for a small weekly contribution from their pay packets, people would receive free medical help. This scheme was the precurser of The National Health Service (NHS) introduced by Aneurin Bevan in 1948. This all happened just one year after I was born, not far away from the Medical Aid building, in the Nursing Home in Market Street Tredegar - I entered the world in 1947 .There are other buildings of historical interest to see other than the ones mentioned. The website address is given above, so have a look at what the tours offer.

It is easy to dismiss initiatives such as this as by saying 'Who wants to visit the South Wales Valleys?'. It's a poor person that thinks that. The valley's are steeped in history and not just for the Welsh. The cholera cemetery for example is a National Monument (although that is not listed on this tour).

Well done to the organisers of these tours. Not everyone has a car or want to drive themselves around outside their comfort zone. There are people out there that will be glad that these tours are running. I, for one, sincerely hope they will be well used.

Feeling smug!

What a busy day. I am writing this Blog while waiting for the floor to dry. What an exciting life I lead! Why am I washing the floor in the middle of the afternoon? Well my friend and I brought some things through the house that were destined for the tip; the only way to get stuff from the back yard to the front and into the car is via the house, the living room in fact. As it was wet this morning the floor looked a mess, so this afternoon - wash time! There is no back access to this house which is a pain!

I also got some stuff out from the attic today, and finished assembling my new table and chairs for the newly dug rear garden. I consider this to be a productive day and I am feeling quite smug!

The photo above is from last summer taken in the previously mentioned back yard!

A day out ........

Primroses

What a difference in the weather today. After several days of being out and about it's a day of getting down to essentials today, so maybe it's just as well the the weather has turned!


I saw some spectacular scenery yesterday. The Brecon steam railway is a very popular tourist attraction in the valleys, but even though it was Bank Holiday the crowds visiting were small and did not detract from the day, maybe it's all down to the current climate as it is quite an expensive outing. Tourists travel in the all-weather coaches behind a vintage steam locomotive into the Brecon Beacons National Park (BBNP). The journey starts at Pant, just outside Merthyr Tydfil and goes to Pontsticill.

The steam train, Pant, Nr. Merthyr Tydfil.

Along this journey there are some amazing panoramic views of the valley. A lot of walkers were using this line as it takes them deep into the BBNP where they can walk for hours as the last train back is not until the evening.

Brecon Beacon National Park.

If you are a real railway enthusiast, upon your return to Pant station there are workshops where old steam locomotives are restored and new ones built. There are also licenced tea-rooms and a shop where souvenirs can be bought, as there is everywhere!

It is a good day out for walkers, railway enthusiasts, photographers (which is why I went) and people with children from about 8 years upwards, although smaller children are catered for. A drive up to Brecon afterwards completed my day. My next Blog will probably be a huge moan about my mundane day catching up on all that has slipped behind during the Easter break!

Easter Day.

This is the most important religious celebration in the Christian year. Christians gather on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Christ three days after his Crucifixion. Hallelujah Christ is Risen!!

We don't have a Sunrise service in these parts. It is a service where Christians gather together on a hillside to see the sun rise on Easter morning. I have only been to one, when I lived in England, and it is the most remarkable feeling of freedom, and humility I have ever experienced.

Easter Sunday also marks the end of Lent. So all you people ( you know who you are) that have been asking me 'How much longer?' can tuck into your chocolate or whatever you have given up for six and a half weeks. Today's the day!


The first Easter eggs were bird’s eggs. They were painted bright colours to give them a more special meaning as a gift. Today, we give chocolate eggs. Enjoy!

Good Friday, or Holy Friday.

Friday of Holy Week has traditionally been called Good Friday or Holy Friday. On this day the Church commemorates Jesus' arrest, his trial, Crucifixion, suffering, death and burial. The Holiest of Holy days. Since Church services on this day are to observe Jesus' death, there is traditionally no Communion on Good Friday.

Last night in Churches all over the world, alters will have been stripped of their coverings, crosses and candles. The chancel and alter coverings will have been replaced with black coverings and all candles are extinguished. They are left this way through Saturday, but will be replaced with white before sunrise on Sunday ..........

Maundy Thursday

Two things happened on Maundy Thursday. The first is one of the final acts that Jesus did before his death. He washed the feet of his own disciples. This was done for a purpose, 'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another' His disciples were to love through service, not domination, of one another.

Maundy Thursday is also important because it was on that night that Jesus first introduced the Lord's supper, or what we now call Holy Communion. Jesus and his close friends met in a secret room to share the Passover meal together - for the last time. There Jesus transformed the Passover into the Lord's supper saying 'this is my body' and 'this is my blood' as he prepared to die for the sins of the whole world. John's gospel makes it clear that the last Supper took place before the regular Passover meal. Jesus died later .....

BHF - The Diet Myth

The other day I telephone British Heart Foundation Helpline number given to me by the RGH. I wanted their diet sheet and somehow got talking to the nurse who answered the phone. She told me of some of the popular myths that are about and said to follow the suggestion made by the BHF only not listen to what I hear! Good advice!

Myth 1.

Lemon juice will cleanse the body fat.

Not true. Whether you have lemon juice in hot water, add lemon juice to food or have a slice of lemon in drinks, it has no effect on the absorption of the fat you eat.

Myth 2.

The craving for food means your body needs more of it.

Not true. Cravings can arise because of an overly restrictive diet, not because of nutritional deficiency, or because you are hungry. Managing your diet to allow a variety of foods in the right proportions means you shouldn't feel cravings or deny yourself any foodstuffs.

Myth 3.

Food eaten in the evening turns to fat during the night.

Not True. It doesn't matter what time you eat. If you are eating too much, you will gain weight - a calorie is a calorie any time of day.

There are many more tips like this given out by the BHF in their promotional booklets. I prefer to follow guidelines like these than to pay £5 a week for a slimming club, who push their own products at you and generally make life - and meal times - complicated. It really is all down to calorific value at the end of the day. If you exceed more that your allotted amount a day, you will either gain weight or remain static. Stick within your calorie band is the name of the game I think!

Sargy Mann - Artist.

Landscape - Sargy Mann

My fledgling interest in Art has been neglected somewhat over the past few months due to the Writing Course. That finished on Monday for two weeks, which means I really must do some other things.

When I was at my sister and brother-in-law's on the weekend they had a very vibrant picture on their dining room wall. It had once belonged to the writer Iris Murdoch. I took an instant liking to this painting and was told the story of how they acquired the picture and a bit about the artist himself.

I decided to look up his work on the Internet and, indeed all his paintings are as vibrant as theirs is. There is a marvellous mix of colour, brilliant oranges and yellows on pale backgrounds, really dazzling the observer with a festival of colour. I would love to own one, but a bit out of my price range I think! The amazing thing is that Sargy Mann was blind. The majority of his paintings were done after he became blind. His paintings were done totally on his memory of colours.

Black shed, Pink cushion, Orange roof - Sargy Mann.

The two pictures I have chosen for the Blog are the ones I like best, but there are four or five I like equally as well. What an amazing gift for a blind man; to be able to paint like this.

.....................................................

Have just be told by my beautiful grand-daughter that she is not returning to Britain to live, that she will stay and make her home in Australia with her new Australian partner. I am very sad for me and delighted for her.

Lots of Love & Luck from your Gran.

xx

'Bobble Chair'

'Bobble' Chair.

Having gone to my sister & brother-in-laws straight from Church yesterday, as I made my way into the dining room I saw the pretty little 'Bobble' chair was in there. I have always been covetous of this. My sister picked it up in a small quaint antique shop, over twenty years ago, when we were out shopping. I commented yesterday that I hadn't seen it for a while to which she replied that she had no room for it now, and would I like it. Would I just!

I phoned a friend of mine when I got home and asked if there were any upholstery classes about, and we agreed there must be. So my project for the summer is to re-upholster this chair. I have re-upholstered before, a long time ago, but I lived in the Cotswold's then and Oxfordshire C.C were running the classes. I have not seen one advertised locally, but my friend is very 'arty - crafty' and she thinks maybe I won't need a class with her help. Yes please, I can't wait to start it!

'Bobble' chairs were very popular during early Victorian times and had a 'resurgence' sometime later in the mid 1930's. I shall try and find out more about them and no doubt chart it's refurbishment progress!

With my grateful thanks

to the previous owners.

xx

Palm Sunday

Palm crosses like the ones that will be given out in Churches today,

Palm Sunday.

This Sunday reminds us of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. There were many people waving palm branches and proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah King. The Bible tells us that he rode into the city on a donkey, and in doing so emphasised humility. The irony of his acceptance by the people was that only five days later they cried for his execution. This should be a reminder to all of us that we, as humans, want God on our own terms. This cannot be the case. We have to live as best we can by his word, but sadly in modern society, the thinking is that we can 'bend the rules' to suit ourselves and still be good Christians.


It is with these thoughts that I go to Church this morning, where Palm crosses will be given out as a reminder of this day many years ago. These Palms will help us, hopefully, to make the connection between Palm Sunday and the impending events in Holy Week.

Cholera Cemetery, Tredegar.

The viewpoint, Cholera Cemetery, Tredegar.

On my way back from Aberdare today, where I had been to place flowers on my parents grave for Palm Sunday, I had an idea. I decided, as I was coming back through Tredegar anyway, that I would try and identify where the Cholera Cemetery is. I rang a friend from another valley and he told me straight away where it was. Cefn Golau pond! Why didn't someone point that out to me before? I have been looking at maps and Google Earth, and still couldn't place it. I went straight to a well known spot (for courting couples) and there it was! How on earth I never knew about this is one of life's mysteries.

A broken gravestone.

It was very poignant. I felt very humble there. Just me on this vast moor, and these poor people who didn't qualify for burial in their Churchyard, alone on this piece of waste ground where they were laid, away from Townships and Hamlets.

There are only 26 gravestones still standing, all surrounded by broken fragments of many others. The rest are lying down on the ground with huge cracks in them. You can look down into a black nothingness where the grave has sunk.

A bleak burial ?

It is so desolate and bleak there. These people who were terrified of catching cholera, knowing they would die if they did, must have known where they were going to end their days. I took many photographs, and plan to go back with a friend at some point, so there will be much more to say about this place in the future.

This is a sceduled Ancient monument

of National Importance.

It is protected by the law.

A day in the life of ....me!

Flowers in my living room with greenary from Miss L's garden.

It was overcast and cold when I got up this morning. I was down the surgery by 8am having my bloods taken. B, the phlebotomist, was back from leave. Brilliant! She is quick, can find a vein and the process is painless. Waiting for the nurse last week for one and a half hours was no joke and then she couldn't find a vein, it took her four goes! Ughhhhh.

Home for a cup of tea and breakfast by 8.20am. Then shopping, just locally today, before going home to do the housework!

I had just finished and went to get out a file from my filing cabinet, and BANG, the whole top draw collapsed. My friend J. repaired it six months ago, but it's really gone this time. Off out to get a new one! The guy in the shop put it in the car for me, then when I got home I couldn't shift it. I approached a rather handsome young man, (all tanned and lovely to look at) who was painting the house across the road, if he would help. He did! Mmmm. He was painting the 'powder blue 'house and yes, it's official, it's to stay powder blue. I asked!!!

Then my sister rang to say she is going to be a grandma again! That means I will have another little great niece or nephew. I have 5 grandchildren of my own, 2 God children and 4.3 and a bit 'little greats'. I am getting like 'the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe'!

The sun came out this afternoon. Had calls from several friends, re-jigged the new filing cabinet and finished off my homework. A very ordinary day, but somehow very satisfying!

My Book List.

Homework from writing class came in two parts this week. One was to write a very short story about an inanimate object, and the second part was to list five books that you either liked enormously or had left an impression on you.

My inanimate object is a ten-pound note! It has been in a money box for five months and is savouring the freedom of being back in circulation!

My list of five books is as follows:

1. I heard The Owl Call My Name - Margaret Craven.

This book left a huge impression on me and is one of the few books that I have read and re-read.

It is one of the best selling classics of Native American Literature. It is about the new generation of native Americans in an ancient village where old customs are being replaced. They are sent a new, young, white American vicar who is dying but doesn't know it. It is a story of happenings which add up to significance. A compassionate, poignant and compelling drama, which I first read about 10 years ago. A story of cultural change which is told brilliantly.

2. Jeans Way - A love story - Derek Humphry.

This is true story, a unique and personal document about a women who is dying of cancer. She makes a pact with her husband that when the disease gets too bad that she will end her life herself, but she has to ask his help, which he freely gives. A tender, honest and moving book which tackled the issues of euthanasia before it became a topic of global discussion. I first read this book in the early 1980's.

3. Last Tango in Aberystwyth - Malcolm Pryce.

This book is hugely funny, but I think it will help to understand the humour if you are Welsh! In a fictional Aberystwyth the main character, Dean Morgan, is a Private Detective and accidentally takes possession of a suitcase belonging to a Druid assassin. He falls in love with a porn star 'Judy Juice' and she becomes entangled in the dark imagination of the plot. It is hilarious, with the author's imagination firing on all cylinders!

4. A Prison of my Own - Diane Nichols.

Another true story. Divorced and in prison, John, found God's love was deeper than any dark pit he could sink into. He had lived a double life and had murdered his secret lover. His wife Diane, the author of the book, felt she was sentenced to a prison of her own. It charts her life on the outside and that of her children, while discovering John's thoughts and change process on the inside of the prison. The story tells of her coping strategy and the road she had to travel, before the whole tangled mess could be unravelled. Her understanding of God, when she was about to give up the struggle that is normal life, is very sensitively written.

5. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwen.

This story begins on a young couples wedding night. The couple are portrayed as educated young people from very different backgrounds. While threads of class difference runs through this story it is ultimately sexuality that the novel is based on. Edward and Florence, two sexually inexperienced people, who on their wedding night discover that they are totally sexually mismatched.


The events of that night are described so sensitively, results in a painful tragedy that is impossible to revoke, and what happen that night, and afterwards, will effect them both for the rest of their lives. I read this book for the first time about a years ago. It is set in the 1960's, which is when I was married myself for the first time, and in Dorset which we knew very well. It is definitely on my list of books to read again.

My friend from reading class called in when I was writing the critiques on these books, and is gone home with three of them! The picture above is of some of the books in this brief resume.

End of Term - Pottery.

This 3 months has gone so quickly, I can hardly believe it. Above is my wall plaque which was glazed today and ready for firing. I am not very good at painting, but the glaze will hide a multitude of sins!

This is the next stage of building my Clarice Cliff teapot. The spout is complete and the pot part is being constructed. This has been double packed with wet sponges for me to complete next term. I have had an offer of help with the decoration when the time comes, but there is a long way 'twix cup and lip' as they say!


My 'two tone' bowls and my tiny hot water bottles are all in the various stages ready to be completed next term also. I am looking forward to it all. I have enjoyed this course immensely, to be recommended if you have even the slightest interest!

All Fools Day.

Youngest son - b. April 1st 1971

Happy Birthday my son. 38 years today. The big 40 is in view, you will be catching up with your brother!

My youngest son - pictured above aged 2 years - was born on All Fools Day, a fact for which I have never been forgiven. It was not my intention to give him this birthday, he was due on April 8th, but nature took over! No matter how much we tried to explain that 'April Fool' is until midday only and that he was born at 3.20pm in the afternoon, it has not mollified him at all!

Although 'All Fools day' is celebrated in many countries, its origin is not clear. The popular theory is that it was first celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar and the term 'April Fool' referred to someone who still adhered to the Julian calendar. Whether this is true or just a myth I do not know, but what I am sure of is that my son would have preferred to celebrate his birthday on any other day. It doesn't bother him now of course, but as a child he was teased mercifully about his birth date!