Au secours! Help!

There's a nasty alligator in the pool!

Gummidge or Worzel?

Yesterday was our anniversary so we exchanged cards as usual - when I say as usual it is because we have now exchanged the same cards for 3 years!  The one Mark gives me has a wheel with different numbers on it so he just turns it round and the one I give him gets the number re-written inside.  It saves all that hassle of having to choose and makes us laugh!!  Anyway, after all of the excitement that caused, we decided to escape for the day to a small town called Montmorillon, about 20 miles away.  I just want to point out here that it is Mont mor ill on, not Mont mor illi on as so many English people here keep calling it!  Maybe they are getting confused with a rock band in the 80s called Marillion!  Anyway here is Mark having a rest on the bridge - he kept his cap on as he needs to go and see Uncle Roy to be de-Gummidged.  (This is our latest talking point, Mark keeps saying why not de-Worzled but that doesn't sound nearly as good to me).  We had a wander round and came across a new art gallery where the owner specialises in Raku.  She might be interested in doing a joint exhibition with Mark at some point, or perhaps stock some of his ceramics, we will see.  Having booked a table for lunch at 1 we wanted to make sure we were in good time so arrived at 12.45, after all the morning had been strenuous.  The specials of the day sounded fab so we didn't even look at the menu.  Ecrevisse (crayfish) in a filo nest with a cream and mustard sauce topped off with a piece of smoked salmon - yum.  Then we had a sudden memory of a meal a few years ago when Mark ordered ecrevisse.  A very large bib was fastened round his neck and some alarming utensils that looked as though they belonged to a dentist were placed on the table.  Then the waitress appeared with a huge copper saucepan, plus lid, which were ceremoniously set in front of him.  This waitress loved the theatre of taking the lids off all of the dishes, waiting for the attention of all involved and raising them high above her head - a bit like an unveiling.  Several diners were heard clapping during the evening! So, lid duly removed Mark looked inside with relish.  His expression then changed from anticipation to consternation as the antennae of these supposed delicacies appeared to be moving.  Neither of us could work out how to use the utensils either so most of this dish went back to the kitchen.  

Our luck was in though, this time the crayfish were orderd with full assurance that there were no antennae or shells to deal with!  The main course was delish too and we eventually staggered out feeling very well fed.  This photo was taken from the restaurant - maybe the man is catching crayfish?    

Posh pots

The latest kiln firing reached temperature (1250C) in record time (14 hrs!) after Mark replaced a couple of the elements.  Glaze firings are always more of a nail biter than first firings of either stoneware or earthenware as the glazes can be a bit temperamental.  If a glaze is prone to run it can dribble onto the kiln shelf and then it is permanently stuck to the shelf - so both the pot and the shelf may end up in the bin.   His latest trick is to put a slither of firebrick under the pot so that any dribbles land on these, then the firebrick can be flicked off, or ground off with an angle grinder and no harm done!  The kiln is a bit of monster in terms of capacity and consumption of electricity, so every pot counts!

Anyway since we've been in France getting a blue glaze right has been a trial.  Dribbling, crawling, inconsistent ... etc.  So when these ones emerged it was a big hurrah!  (The white glaze with the iridescent areas is called Irise, the blue is Bleu Royale and also has iridescent particles in it.)

Why Posh pots - because The Posh play in blue of course!   

Art for All!

For the past fortnight Mark has been giving art classes to two girls from Paris who were here on holiday with their "papa".  They had great fun doing both pottery and painting and on their last day they put on a mini exhibition!

 
 "Papa" didn't go home empty handed either as he bought this painting!

Introducing Anita

Not far from us there is a spa town called La Roche Posay ( or as one of our lovely guests called it La Posh Rosay! ), anyway this town is a national centre for the treatment of skin conditions, making use of the spa water, which you can also drink.  People from all round the country are sent for the "cure" and stay for three weeks or more.  Naturally at some point they want to get out and about to explore and one day this resulted in a lady called Anita arriving to have a look round Mark's studio.  We chatted to her and Mark did a demonstration on the wheel and she very kindly bought one of his stoneware bowls.  Away she went and we said "what a nice lady" and never expected to see her again.

The next day Anita rang - could she possibly come to the studio again to buy another bowl?  Of course, I said, never being one to turn people away!  So the day after that she came again and regaled us with all sorts of stories about her visits the day before, to restaurants - where she had talked about us, to tourist information centres where she had talked about us ........ oh yes and she very kindly brought us a jar of soup from her region of France ( remind me to tell you the "big" soup story - in fact there are two and might be three, who would have thought that soup would be so interesting! ).

In we go to the studio and Anita chose another bowl and then went to look at Mark's paintings - he does all sorts of things with optical illusions and lighting so another demonstration, after which Anita asks the price of a few of them.  And bought one!  After that introduction, please meet Anita posing with her painting and Mark.  Thank you Anita!

PS That wasn't the last time we saw Anita - a couple of days later she rang and asked if she could come to lunch and we said "yes, of course".  And since then she has sent us a selection of photos that she took here, including the one above.
For those of you interested in bespoke headwear, the creation Anita is wearing came from a local craft market.

Pots of gold

We haven't been able to get on-line for a few days as we've been out looking for the end of the rainbow. Anyway we found these lovely pots of gold and thought you would like to see them!

What's this wet stuff?

See the colour of the sky - grey - that's because its raining!! At last.  We put downpipes and water butts on the corners of the studio in April and since then we've had about two lots of rainfall and for the rest of the time they have remained empty.  The grass has gone brown and some of the leaves on the trees have turned red - and its only the beginning of July.  The two girls who are staying in the gite at the moment are in the studio having a pottery lesson with Mark so that's perfect timing!  We wouldn't mind if the rain continued all day but better not be greedy.  Yesterday a group of randonneurs came along to have a pottery demonstration and sample jam.  One little boy managed to get his hands on the clay as you can see!                   Puddles - hurrah!!

   

International plant rescue

Agapanthus knightyitus - discarded on a Guernsey compost heap before being rescued and brought to the international plant refuge at Chenevaux and now showing its appreciation for all of the attention and nurturing it has had since it arrived.

Some days aren't so sweet!

Plumbing isn't our thing - but its definitely our nightmare!  Luckily we discovered that we had a problem whilst we were in-between guests, although not for long, so reinforcements were called in, in the form of Roy, who is not only a plumber but also cuts Mark's hair.  In fact he used to have a chain of hairdressing salons in England and now he coiffs for most of the English people round here - not me though, I go to the village with my hair wet and have a chop now and again for the princley sum of 12 euros - Mark has to pay 15 but he does have the choice of a winter or summer cut and the benefit of Roy's wisdom.  Roy also plays golf, and his other half Jill looks after horses.  At the moment they can't get hold of any hay which is a bit of a worry.  Anyway the blockage has been unblocked and the hole will be filled in soon so when our next guests arrive tomorrow the air will be smelling of roses again.  Phew.