Last week, two lovely visitors, Jane and Katie, popped over the county border from Winchcombe for tea, cake and chat. Partly business, mostly pleasure, it was my first time of actually meeting Katie Morgan, apart from chatting on Twitter and reading her blog. (Whoever said that the internet is killing social life? I have no time for such ill conceived nonsense). Katie is as fascinating as her blog suggests, I could have spent all day listening to her. She had brought along a beautifully restored antique clock dial - restored by herself, as that is what she does, alongside many other things. At the moment she is restoring a 1938 fairground Waltzer (a phenomenal job) - Katie's website is crammed with the gorgeous work she has done and is now working on. Well worth looking at if you are interested in painted Romany wagons, fairground and narrowboat art.
Copious tea and very chocolatey chocolate cake (not made by me) kept us going for several hours as we discussed the Winchcombe Wool Festival which Jane - of the Winds of Change Gallery - is heroically organising. It will be held in April and last for three weeks, celebrating the long history of this historic wool town and the modern legacy of British wool. I will be doing a needle felt workshop towards the end, (date and price to be confirmed). So if you are in the Cheltenham area, watch this space; it will be limited to about six places. I'll be announcing the final arrangements here and on my Facebook page.
As it's been a while since I bought my two Matt Grimmitt mugs which are in the top picture, I treated myself to one of his lovely slipware bowls. It's a pourer, so is perfect for beating eggs. Matt often has work for sale on a certain well known auction site, and the best way to find out when he is selling is to follow his Facebook page here.
I like to think that perhaps, 150 years ago, similar country pottery was once used in this little cottage.
