Well, yes, today was my birthday hence the "more" in the title. Had a quiet morning after a late evening having a go at a bit of weaving last night. Never done it before and I have to say I am encouraged by my first attempt:
It started out intended to be a rectangular hanging but seems intent on becoming a tapering hanging, which may suit it's theme & purpose better, we'll see.
Later we went out for drive arriving at Brougham Hall (said Broom, apparently), where we had a good look round then went into a special place. Something I have always had a fancy for trying is pottery, at Crafty Monkeys Ceramics Studio (http://www.craftymonkeyswebsite.co.uk/) I was able for a modest fee to partake in the art. Having looked into it a few times and watched the innevitable crafty shows on tv about it, I finally took to the wheel. My first attempt was I think quite a success, I made a small - ish mug. My second attempt was not quite so straight forward, I was aiming to make a breakfast style bowl but it seemed more intent upon becoming some mishaped heap of ruins. On my third assault by trying an alternative technique it worked out. Both items are now drying & should be fired later in the week which means I will just have to go back again (hard life, eh!) to decorate & glaze them, no complaits from the kids though since they got to paint some ready made pieces of their own. Eilidh chose a nice little tortoise whilst Ben went for a cute litle puppy, very nicely painted in original colours.
