Another busy week

Yet another week has passed us by, it will soon be Easter and this weekend has witnessed the spring equinox, so spring is now here and summer is on its way (thank goodness).

Our week started with a call for help from Tess's Daughter. She needed the bedrooms swapped around in her flat to accommodate the pending new arrival of her second child (her partners 4th). So, toolkit in hand and two pairs of willing hands, Tess and I spent the day in Newlyn helping daughter and her partner prepare for the new arrival in September. It wasn't exactly pottery however it was a welcome break from the norm and a very good excuse to get out of the house for a while as this lockdown is beginning to drive us all a bit stir crazy!! By the way ... for those of you who are wondering how we could do this given the current restrictions, Tess's daughter is in our family bubble for obvious child care reasons.

Tuesday was the day we got to pick up our new kiln, wheel and glaze supplies, we have been after this kiln and wheel for some months. It will make a very useful addition to our firing capabilities, enabling us to run bisc and glaze firings simultaneously. The extra wheel will also come in very handy for our workshops once we are able to run them again. That said, for various reasons we have been unable to collect these things especially the Covid restrictions. However, after taking some advice, we were assured it would be okay to do so on Tuesday, which we happily did. We may well have taken advantage of the day by stopping off at Long Rock beach for a cheeky coffee and a pasty on the way though :)

(Long Rock Beach)

Wednesday was a day of sorting out the studio. Having arrived back at base with new kiln and stuff on Tuesday night we decided to leave the moving and sorting out until we had fresh strength and enthusiasm on Wednesday. After clearing space and getting new equipment in the door, we spent the rest of the day organizing shelves and cataloguing our new glazes and stains. Not sure how long it will stay this organised but we can live in hope.

We finished the day with a celebratory dinner for studio dog Tali's first birthday, there was feasting of much cake and other goodies by both humans and dogs alike.

Thursday and Friday were spent doing some serious pottery, with commission deadlines looming. I had some serious decorating and making to do. Tess had promised a 'studio Barquhar' sign (long story)for a while now and has used this week to get started. I for one cant wait to see how this turns out, I reckon it's going to be a real cracker!! and a brilliant announcement to the arrival of any visitors studio entrance. We ended the day with a sunset photo session of the river Cober Platter. The river was beautiful as always but the sunset could have tried harder to match the platter. However, whatever the weather, we absolutely love where we live. feeling blessed right now.

Vinyl Friday as we have affectionately come to call it, started with a good blast of 'Rod The God' greatest hits, that was enough to supercharge us into the day. We loaded the bisc kiln with mugs jars and sea creatures, Clay ones of course! and set about making once again. The day ended with our usual Friday fish and chips and a cold one from the fridge. Are we becoming creatures of habit, we ask ourselves??

Saturday and the end of our working week came around all too soon. Tess used the morning to edit and upload the new video for our 'Take home Tile printing kits'. We have enlisted the help of our friend Natasha and her new daughter Autumn, to demonstrate how to use the new kits. After much laughter and a couple of fails Natasha and Gareth, her partner, managed to get a perfect print of Autumn's foot onto the tile provided, and Natasha demonstrated her extensive artzy skills decorating the second tile. These are on there way back to us for a glaze firing and will be returned to Natasha, Gareth and Autumn, to be displayed in pride of place. These kits will soon be available from our website shop starting from just £15 why not put an order in for your own kit?

so that was just about the gist of our week, how was yours? drop us a line and let us know.

take care all.

Best wishes, Ady and Tess