Monday, June 02, 2008

What a Sunday



Yesterday I made the most of being in the Cotswolds. First I went on a long hill walk with McBeth and my DH. The weather was wonderful. They both went home to rest and I went on to a 21st birthday celebration for a local pottery! Toff Milway is the potter at Conderton Pottery. He used a salt glaze and makes gorgeous pots. His talk was very interesting. On one table he displayed pottery he has purchased over the past 20 years. On the other table were post he has made during the same time span. He then talked about how what he has purchased - which generally looks nothing like what he makes - has influenced either directly or indirectly what he creates. None of them were copies. It was more like - he bought an icecream dish with a fish on it. The fish idea stayed with him (and he loves fish pie...lots of food references in his talk) so he made a fish plate and a dish for fish pie using a - you got it - fish. (I think you can just make out a fish dish and a fish candle-holder in the photo.) It was a very informative talk without being too academic. I started to think differently of my own quilt and pottery collection.

All and all a great morning...but, there's more!

On my way home I ran into one of my neighbors who owns a flock of sheep. They (my neighbors) have been very patient with my lamb-paparazzi tendencies. To my amazement she asked if I would like to come over to the barn where her husband was shearing sheep. How cool is that! Another thing to cross off my "what I'd like to do while in England list!." I was amazed at the different personalities among the flock. One the ewe fought like crazy and jumped the gate! The next was so mellow she looked like she was going to fall asleep. Isn't it great to have neighbors like this.

I have been spending a lot of time playing with Picassa. Tonya put it on my computer while she was visiting but with company in town I only just started playing with it...what a blast! I've done lots of wild things with my Stonehenge photos. By the way the National Geographic channel has a special on Stonehenge that I watched this weekend. I highly recommend it. Not that I agree with everything they said but they do present some new ideas on the site and have some wonderful cinematography (but hey, it is National Geographic after all....)

So what does this mean for quilting. Uhmmm...I haven't done much with a needle this week. Lot sof ideas though....

11 comments:

Nines said...

What a sublime day!

I love all the things you did! Pottery is so wonderfully...wonderful! And our nearest neighbor- about a mile down the road, is a shepherd. Love to see the new lambs!

There's nothing like a walk to settle your mind and inspire you.

sewkalico said...

What a great day. I still haven't seen the sheep being sheared on our farm and the barn is only a few yards away!

Mad about Craft said...

I'm so glad you are managing to tick off some of your 'to do' list. I hope you get to tick off many more (so to speak)

Sharon said...

Thanks for the great pottery photos! My DH is a potter and he would have LOVED to hear that talk by the potter! I love English pottery. And what a great idea - talking about what you've purchased from others doing the same thing and how it affects your own output. Something we quilters can relate to.
So cool about seeing the sheep shearing. The sheep does look pretty mellow!

Tonya Ricucci said...

it all sounds marvelous.

*karendianne. said...

What a great outing and I learned a thing or two as well!

Gypsy Quilter said...

Salt glazed pottery is one of my favorites. I wonder if the finish comes out differently in Englad because of the difference in humidity and overall temps. Hmmmm?

atet said...

It sounds like a lovely day. I must say that I enjoy hearing about people's creative inspirations and how they translate them into their own work -- pottery, fabric, etc. it really doesn't matter, it's the process I'm fascinated by :0).

Mary Johnson said...

I'm always interested in how creative people work and where their inspiration comes from.

Mary Johnson said...

I'm always interested in how creative people work and where their inspiration comes from.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh my! I LOVE that pottery! Good thing I don't live near there!