The Potter's cottage

is where I live.

 

 

 

 

I suppose, when I think back, my most artistically productive years must have been during the 1980's. At that time I lived in Derbyshire in the UK. and I was a craft potter. It has its' nice scenic bits does Derbyshire, and luckily, that's where we lived. Derby, I'm afraid, which is the main city, I've always considered a bit of a toilet architecturally speaking, built for cars, not people, I avoided it like the plague, and if I go back there, I still do.

 

Before I rabbit on about the pottery, first let me give you a bit of background bumf.  

 

Having been born in the UK. in 1949, I do consider myself as being extremely lucky. Unlike my father who lived through two World Wars (cos some bloody oiks wanted to rule the world), I haven't had to endure the same misery and stupidity that he had to.

Warwise it's been pretty quiet in the UK. and, as I had always wanted to see the world (for free of course) I joined the Royal Navy, however, for the first five years I didn't step foot on a boat and completed my apprenticeship on dry land, it didn't take long after that to realise my mistake, and I subsequently left as soon as I could, joined the Merchant Navy as an engineering officer and saw the world and some of the ladies in it. (I'll leave that bit for another post soon)

 

So I didn't start my career  as a potter, I sort of dropped out of the rat race and arrived there a little later in life. Like everything I did at that time, and still do now to some extent, I read every book on the subject I could lay my hands on, I managed somehow to get a job in a local pottery suppliers, mending kilns and delivering clay, I got to know and help all the local potters, and I went back to college to learn. I must have been a pain in the arse to some people I'm sure.

All this time I was making my own pots and building my own wood fired kiln (couldn't afford to buy one), but like all artistic endeavours, it was a struggle financially and it took a while before I became established and started making enough money so that I didn't have to have a little job on the side to make ends meet.

The pottery business was doing Ok. life was good, if not a little hectic at times, so I decided to buy myself something I had always wanted....................................

 

One of these buggers.

 

 

  

That is a Yamaha XS 1100 S.

Super cool, quite fast and it could pull tree stumps out of the ground!! 

 

BUT, it wasn't long before some effin' dork decided to cut across the front of me in his poxxy VW. car and I went flying over the top of his car (lucky I didn't hit the side) and ended up in the hospital where my girlfriend (now my wife) was staff nurse in charge of operating theatres   SHIT!!! which was basically what she gave me.

Wasn't my fault !

 

I came out of that with no broken bones, but I couldn't walk for a month and my wrist had been dislocated. And guess what? that was the hand I used to decorate my pots with, so, nobody else could do the type of decoration that we had at that time and the pottery went tits up overnight. The VW driver's insurance would not pay up immediately (in the end, it took them three years) bastards!!  I had to lay off all my workers and close the pottery with an enormous overdraft at the bank over my head. The pottery business was seasonal and at that time we had spent a lot of money on material, before we started making for the season.

 

Any road up, I'm still here, I still don't like insurance companies and bank managers, but I do still like some of the pots I made before I tried to make a living at it. 

 

Here's a few photos

 

 

Slip trailed earthenware

 

 

decorated with a rubber bulb and liquid clay

 

 

I made this for a friend who left it to me when he passed away

 

 

told my dad that this was my artistic impression of him

 

 

harvest jug sgraffito decoration

 

 

 One of my mates masterpieces

  Charles Forster

for Chrich Tramway Museum in Derbyshire 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPEAK AGAIN SOON. 

You can tell a person

by the company they keep

 

Or so my mother used to say.

 The same nowadays could perhaps include, the You Tube channels they subscribe to. Certainly, as far as I'm concerned, the things that I watch on a regular basis probably would give anybody a good insight into what I spend my life doing, the kind of people and topics which I love listening to or watching and what I spend most of my retired life aspiring to. and I reckon, if you are a You Tube watcher, then that probably is the same for all of you.

My only problem watching You Tube is that my computer normally  runs out of steam halfway through, and just shuts down and switches itself off with no warning, I think it overheats, it's either that or the content is just so boring that it can't cope with anymore gardening or model railways !!!

 As an aside,

I did think of initiating my own You Tube channel, but sometimes when I watch some of them, it's a bit like watching paint dry, especially those that are just a series of photos, I find it's a bit like the difference between watching the film, or reading the book, nine times out of ten, I prefer to read the book. I don't think that the kind of thing I waffle on about here is the kind of thing that would suit the You Tube format either. Also, I know some contributors to You Tube who get thoroughly pissed off by some people not liking their efforts and giving them the big thumbs down, and these are contributors who produce totally innocuous model railway videos. If you don't like it, don't watch it!!!.

 

 

Changing the subject 

 

 

either the back or the front depending !!

 

That's one view of my front, (or back) garden in winter. I like my garden, but to see it at the moment, you wouldn't believe it. It's either getting larger or I am getting older ! The white shed down the bottom by the way, is my chicken shed (with windows cos I had some hanging about), the chickens seem to like it, but not sufficient enough at the moment to give me any eggs in return for my endeavours. 

 

The house itself was built on top of the rock,  before it descends down into the Dordogne valley, (that's the rock, not the house) with the river below. The river side of the house was originally the front, with a road for access built that side (due south facing, as nearly all houses in this region were). Then a new road was built the other side of the house, putting us and our neighbour on a kind of island, so that has now become the front of the house with our gate and driveway, it's all a bit confusing really. We normally get about a dozen cars a day past our house and as the road is only wide enough for one and a half cars, traffic jams do sometimes occur, usually two tractors !!

 

Life's exciting ain't it ?

Wet and windy

and a bit nippy

 

So I decided today that I'd do some baking and tonight's dinner would be BURGERS. (today being Thursday of course).

I don't buy burgers in a box or plastic wrap, (cos I don't know what's in them) all that reclaimed meat stuff probably, and the French don't do soft bread rolls (except mass produced in a plastic wrap) which I did buy once, and inadvertently left on the side for a couple of weeks after I had opened the packet, and guess what? they were exactly the same as the ones I had eaten when they were fresh!!! HOW DO THEY DO THAT? Full of chemicals I assume, so they are a no no. as well.

 

Here in France, on the butcher's counter in the supermarkets, you can ask for them to make burgers for you. The meat is chosen from the counter and put through a mincer and shaped to the size you want, the only problem being that they are not spiced at all, just meat, which I personally find a little dry, so to make my own.

 

Firstly, the soft bread rolls, a recipe from Michel Roux Jr. 

 

500 grams flour 50/50 bread and plain flour. (16 oz total)

10 grams instant yeast (half oz)

10 grams salt (half oz)

20 gram golden syrup (1 oz)

25 gram butter (1 oz)

350 ml warm milk (14 fl oz) 

 

Place flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cold milk and syrup, warm until tepid, and mix into the dry ingredients. At this point I usually mix everything in my Kenwood, with a dough hook for about ten minutes on a fairly slow speed (or of course you can knead by hand). Leave in a warm place to rise (at least double in size), and then give it a good wallop to knock it back. 

As this makes about 10 nice size rolls, weigh the dough and cut into 10 equal lumps.

To shape the dough  place the measured dough onto a non floured surface, cup your whole hand around the dough lightly and make a circular movement with you hand until the dough is a round ball, place each ball on a lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle with flour and lightly cover with cling film, let them rise again until they are between 3 and 4 inches in diameter and place in a pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for about 12 minutes or until brown. 

 

 

 

 

They should look like that (almost good enough to eat!)

 

Next the burger. Put the mince beef in a bowl, add some caramelised onions, herbs and an egg and mix together, before placing in the fridge. When it's cool, divide up and form into the patty size you want. Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the burgers how you like them (please don't incinerate them), cut the buns in two, add the relish your little heart desires and put you burger in. 

 

Open your mouth wide and enjoy.

 

 

 

Mussolini the motor car

Going around in circles

 

 

Today, I have mostly been going around in circles, I seem to have odd days like that, and today was one of them.

 It started off not too bad, managed to get up, feed the chickens,  take all my pills and do a bit of work on the latest model airplane. Had a small lunch and this afternoon, decided to try and find my way around Blogger, a little better than I do at present, so that I could put a few of my airplane builds on a different blog. BIG MISTAKE, It is soooooooooooooo frustrating (for me at least) to read the "how to", do what I think is exactly what I am meant to do, and bugger all happens. Then I read another persons' "how to" try again and bugger all happens again.

That took up most of my frustrating afternoon, until it was time to pick up my lad from the railway station, by now it was dark, my wife was still teaching and had the decent car, so my choice of vehicle is usually our Peugeot 205 (25 year old heap), the station isn't far so no problem as long as it starts, which it didn't !!!!!! that car is parked right up against the camping car,so couldn't use that either. One left, MUSSOLINI the 28 year old heap of a Fiat Panda. The driver's seat has collapsed, but with about 3 thick cushions on the floor, where the seat squab is, they lift your arse up enough to see where your going. Noisy and Smelly but at least it started, after having been sat in the garden for the last six months without being touched.

 Off I go, and promptly forget where the headlight switch is, no light in the car, so pushed every button I could feel, found the hazard lights, fan and lots of other stuff, until I remembered it wasn't a button and found the funny Italian switch which works the lights, when I arrived, I kept the engine running for the two minutes before the train arrived, lad got in and off home. Half way back, on comes this HUGE red light, it was like a fog light on the dashboard BIG AND BRIGHT. I did ask my lad if it had anything marked on it, guess what, NO it didn't. Typical, what's the point of that then? made it home none the less, for  "HAM NIGHT " 

 

 

 

I think Mussolini had a moustache for a while, if he didn't not to worry.

Ham Night, by the way is ham, egg, chips and baked beans, and was named that after having watched the animated film "The Pirates". If you haven't watched it, then you need to take the time to, utterly brilliant.

I don't need to guess what I will have to do tomorrow RUDDY FRENCH cars !!!!!!!!!!

 

Men in sheds

or other bolt holes

 

Let me advise you, RETIREMENT CREEPS UP ON YOU, TOO BLOODY QUICKLY.

 

Don't let it get you down, the problem stems, I think from the fact that you're not getting up each morning with the day already organised for you. Now, YOU have to organise it for yourself. Luckily for me, for quite a bit of my working life, I was self employed, and so I have

  had to make my own decisions of what I had to do any given day. So nothing much changed for me, but I do meet lots of people who see retirement as the beginning of the end, and let lethargy and worse overwhelm them.

 

Just before I retired, one of my daughters bought me a little book called "Men in sheds", I've always had a shed or at least a bolt hole in almost all of the houses I have lived in (there have been quite a few) I think it probably stems from my father who had a shed at the top of his garden, full of all sorts of rubbish, according to my mother. The only problem that he had with his shed, was that it was in full view of mother whilst she was standing at the kitchen sink, and she could spot the ciggy smoke emanating from windows, as he was having an illicit fag, I could see the poor bugger try to waft away the smoke before mother arrived at the shed with her words of wisdom about some of his pastimes!!

 

Anyway, "Men in sheds" brilliant, full of wonderful and sometimes unusual things men get up to in their "sheds". I have often wondered, do women love sheds ?, or is it just a man thing ? 

 

I am lucky enough to have a shed (more of an outbuilding really) as well as a bolt hole (the loft) here in France. The problem I find with sheds or bolt holes is that they soon get filled up with "INTERESTING THINGS" if like me you have more interesting things than are good for you. I've never been a particularly neat and organised anorak so I'm always looking to expand into other underused spaces in the house. NEVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY if you are a model maker, it will come in useful one day.

 

At the moment I'm in the middle of moving my extensive model railway (every man should have one, cos they are therapeutic) down into what the French call a cave, which in our house is a vaulted tunnel under the house, initially used for storing wine, it's about 20 ft. long and about 8 ft. wide, should make for an interesting new layout. The reason for it being moved is so that I have somewhere to build and store my increasing collection of model aeroplanes and model boats, and the area where the railway is at present, fits he bill perfectly. 

 

I reckon that hobbies, or, and sports, keep the old grey matter active,  My problem is that I just have too many things to cope with at any one time, so I try and organise them seasonally. That's the theory anyway. 

 

SPRING...................... gardening a lot, getting model aeroplanes ready for the good weather.

 

SUMMER....................model flying, boating, cycling, holidays, more gardening.

 

AUTUMN....................more model flying, more gardening, perhaps some stamp collecting (hummm), starting to decide on which models to build next,  model train time.

 

WINTER...................... more of lots of the same, apart from gardening.

 

This, interspersed with house repairs, car repairs, bicycle repairs and model repairs, tends to to keep me gainfully employed and off the streets.   The rest of my time, what little I have remaining, I cook and bake as well as taking photos of what I do for this and other blogs which are normally written in the evening, whilst there is crap on he telly. I have been reliably informed that if you cut the head off a chicken, it runs around in circles. The difference between me and that chicken, is that I still have my head !!!!

 

I do find, that for me, it's nice to belong to a club of like minded anoraks, these are my friends, the people I talk to about all sorts of topics, not just models, it opens up a whole new world in retirement (I think). It certainly works for me.

 

As I have gone to the bother of taking a few pictures of my model chaos, I thought you would like to see them.

 

 

  

 

Loft (playroom) chaos. 

 

 

 

more nearly finished boaty stuff

 

 

 

and finally, a dead model aircraft (the one I planted in the farmer's field) on my half removed model railway. 

 

I love my life, it's good to be an eccentric anorak.