This evening is the opening reception for the two-man show of Mr. Kline and myself at The Washington Street Gallery in Lewisburg, WV. Gary Roper is a fine potter as well as gallery owner and he kindly invited us both to exhibit. The exhibition runs through the month of August. I wrote one of my first blogs about a visit there last July, 2008.

The Milways, not me. Since my Stratford post the days have been accelerating. Getting their house in order, shopping for a year’s supply of tea, finishing up a few pots, walking around the hill, dinner parties with Ann and Steve Marchant and lunching in the pub with Ron and Lorna Wheeler. Ron wrote the wonderful Winchcombe book years ago and has been working very hard on the book for Eddie Hopkins which will debut this week. A bunch of us have been working on his memorial exhibition which will open next week at the Winds of Change Gallery in Winchcombe.
Eddie was a hugely important figure at the Winchcombe Pottery for 35 years and very sadly died in the dreadful floods that hit these parts two years ago. He was an incredible pot maker and and a totally charming rougue. I’ll be writing much more about him later this week.

One of the best art events I’ve ever visited is held near Oxford each summer. Called Art in Action it is a true art extravaganza with something like 150 artists and craftspeople exhibiting…and demonstrating as well as a hundreds of hands on classes, music, great food and a marketplace for more sales of fine art and craft. Each year also features a different country’s work and this year it was Mexico. I just got back and the rain was a bit cruel but that doesn’t really slow down the British and it’s my favorite weather (instead of the steamy heat of Ol’ Virginny). Lots of my friends were exhibiting and sales were excellent! Sue and Ashraf Hanna, Laurence and Jackie McGowan, Paul Jackson, Peter Hayes and Nic Collins (we’ve just met and he’s a lovely guy). It was an inspiring day and makes me want to organize something like it back home.

Ray Finch has been inspiring me for more than 30 years and he’s still doing so. I finally got over to Winchcombe yesterday and there was the old boy, making vases and cider jars with more clay than he’s tackled in some time. The warm weather helps the feeling in his fingers (the winter is cruel for his circulation) and he was really pleased to be challenging himself with some bigger, vertical pots. When he’s not feeling as well he makes platters and bowls, but it’s great to report that he’s still at it. I gave him a hard time about his electric hair drier that he’s using to firm up a pot…he gave me a mischevious smile and carried on. We’ll spend more time next week. They will be firing the wood kiln Monday so I’l be visiting then.

Conderton is one of the villages sometimes referred to as a ‘string of pearls’ that encircle Bredon Hill. The hill rises to almost 1,000ft. and stands apart from the Cotswold range to the east, although it’s geology is certainly related, and the Malvern Hills to the west. It has several ‘standing stones’ and Bronze Age barrows, three Iron Age forts, a Norman castle ruins and a ‘folly’. It is a popular place to hike and if you go straight up the hill from here you will find the remains of a Roman hill fort. It’s not unusual to find shards of Roman samian-ware, which was very finely made pottery. The views from the top are fantastic and I’ll take some photos next time I go up. In the meantime, I took a drive around the hill a couple of evenings ago. It’s a route that bicyclists often take. Here are a few of the sights along the way.

Today is officially Bastille Day, France’s version of our Independence Day. I was fortunate to be invited on Sunday to Marthe and James Gardner’s for ‘a L’aperitif et ‘a Dejeuner at their elegant home, The Old Vicarage, in the nearby village of Beckford. The afternoon began with champagne on the lawn and then was followed by a magnificent meal in the old print shop. They are the proprietors of Beckford Silk, a world class silk printing business, and we ate in the original studio. They have since moved to a much grander space.
Marthe has lived her entire adult life in England, but her French heritage hasn’t been diminished a bit. She and her son Charles preceded the meal with a rousing version of La Marseillaise, played on violin and squeeze box. You might remember that great scene in Casablanca when the free French sing it to drown out the Germans in Rick’s Cafe…it was much like that!
These folks know to live…and eat. After the meal there were 6 or more ‘puddings’ (that’s desserts for you Americans) followed by cheeses, just in case there was an empty space to fill.
This was a almost a 4 hour affair and it is yet another reason that I love the life here in these country villages.

Broad Beans
Gooseberries
Loganberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Flapjacks (for Paul!)
Stilton cheese
Elderflower cordial
Cauliflower cheese
Brussel sprouts
Leeks Scrumpie
Real Ale
Tea
Digestive biscuits
Cake
Gin and tonic
Granary bread
Greengages

Last evening I met blogger Matt and his lovely lady, Tig, at The Royal Oak pub in Gretton. When I worked at Winchcombe in the late ’70’s it was our ‘local’, being just up the hill from the pottery. There was a closer pub, but in those days it wasn’t a ‘Freehouse’ and therefore they only sold beer from the big breweries (think Budweiser…just don’t drink it). ‘The Oak’ was an intimate and dark place in the good old days, but since then it has been transformed by a big glass addition which gives fantastic views of the Cotswold escarpment across the Vale. A lot of the pubs in these parts have been ‘tarted up’; cleaned, polished and sanitized. It’s not always my favorite idea, but I don’t want to be a Luddite…
Meeting fellow bloggers on this trip has been a real bonus. What a fantastic group of fun and thoughtful people they/we are! Matt has pottery in his genes, being a descendent of Elijah Comfort, who taught Michael Cardew a thing or two! Matt and Tig are both working towards a career in craft and you have to admire their pluck. An 8′ x 8′ shed in the garden is matt’s workshop (kiln included!) and Tig makes soap in the kitchen. We talked for hours and are planning to meet again next week. I’m here to tell you that these youngsters are as charming as their writing would lead you to believe.
I’m including a shot of the bread plate that Ron inquired about the other day; Margaret Brampton was correct that they are made by Andrew McGarva. Fantastic decoration!
I met with the folks planning the memorial exhibition this morning for our friend Eddie Hopkins. On the way home I passed about 20 of these old Aston Martins parked by the side of the road. How can you not love this place!?

Today starts the first of 5 Test Matches between England and Australia. Altogether they make up what is called “The Ashes” and it is the most highly anticipated contest in the Cricket world. It is a marathon test of endurance for both players and fans, lasting up to 5 days for each match and altogether 25 days of great sport.
I was first introduced to cricket by my old friend Eddie Hopkins at Winchcombe, where he would listen on the radio day after day in the summer while he made pots and kept up a running commentary. It took a long time to wrap my brain around this sport, but it has become one of my favorites as the years have gone by.
My further education came by way of George Webster, Georgie’s dad, who was ‘dead keen’ on the game. He played for the city of Aberdeen when he was a lad. I often sat for hours with him in his last days while he explained the finer points of the game. I miss George and Eddie, now when I listen or watch I think of them.
It’s true that the players stop for tea…and lunch…and it’s easy for we Americans to poke fun at it, but I much prefer it to baseball (sorry Hollis). I won’t bore you with why, but I’m tempted.
Sometimes I think that my role here is to preserve the old ways…tea drinking, real ale and cricket, just to name a few.
Last week, Hughie and I went to the warm-up match between Australia’s team and the England Lions. My first chance to see professionals in the flesh. It was great. And very sunny.

Tonight it’s off to the pub to meet blogger Matt. Sorry you can’t join us, Hannah!

All is quiet in the village now as the Milways departed at 3AM this morning for deepest, darkest Africa (Uganda, to be specific) and I am now King of the Castle, Lord of the Manor and Keeper of the Dreaded Parrot! Parry is a very talented African Grey who long ago decided that we were never to be friends and as he gets to enjoy some freedom each morning in the kitchen, he reminds me daily of his lack of regard for my well being. It is a kind of pitched battle of wills that I have no chance of winning. Still, his/her singing and vocalizing is amazing, from the Scots brogue of Georgie’s dad to the sounds of bottles being opened to pour a drink and all the whistles and coughs that emanate from his powerful beak. He is another of the colorful characters that play a part in my life here in rural England. You will see from the photo that he has his very own parrot-sized mug and he does like his tea…with milk, please!

I began loading the kiln early last week. Almost every day was marked by torrential rain with more than 12″ in 10 days time! One day we had 5″ in 24 hours. Much of it was accompanied by lightening and thunder storms and on two occasions hail. It made for a disconcerting week. Sometimes the noise on my tin roof was so intense that I’d end up staring out at it instead of working. Difficult to concentrate.
So Tuesday was the day to fire, and the rain kept us company that day as well. We often get dramatic weather in the summer…as the heat and humidity rise through the day it will build to a dramatic storm towards evening. Tuesday the first storm began at 7AM (unheard of!), 3 hours into the firing. An hour and a half of crazy rain. I was feeling smug that I’ve built such a grand kiln shed so that survival was possible in these conditions.
By the evening the rain returned with a vengeance…2 more hours of insanity.
There is no doubt that this effected the chimney and it’s ability to draw. In spite of it and the challenge to stay on task with such distractions, the firing, I am pleased to report, was fabulous.
Here are too many photos. I’ll write more tonight about my trip to England that begins tomorrow. Thanks to Stephanie for the outdoor photos.


I pulled these reduction cones out after they melted and the one covered in carbon was a worry. It led to some very dry surfaces illustrated by the pot below.

Wood chamber pots.

Anagama?


My new iMugs!


My first bird!