Simon and I are now finally having a break this weekend, and it looks like the sun is going to shine for once. The open gardens didn’t start out so good. The week before we tried our best to rid the garden of pesky weeds in between dodging the ever-present rain showers. June and July have not been kind to us. April was freezing and dry, and now most of my lovely roses have perished in the damp and fallen.
I have tried my best to make pots, however I feel the heavens are asking me to seek an ever-present direction to help others be creative and make wonderful things. I have been so busy since restrictions have eased, teaching pottery from my studio, I haven’t found time to be creative for myself! I shouldn’t grumble there are much worst ways to make a living, but I did find myself short of pots to sell in the open gardens. I did panic a bit and managed to make a few simple things and push them through the kilns just in time, but I hate having hot pots. Doing things in a rush doesn’t sit well with me. I managed to pull together some lovely lamps. Which was a nice new direction to present.
Standon and Puckeridge are 2 villages that over time have merged into one. We share the same parish of St Mary’s in Standon. Open gardens is a celebration of community and raises money for our local church. Standon is the archetypal English chocolate box village, with a beautiful green, church and parade of shops. It’s a very idyllic setting. Puckeridge is what you would term a highway village. It’s bang on halfway between London and Cambridge, and the perfect resting place for people and coaching horses. It’s one long road of medieval Tudor coaching Inns. Some date back and are listed in the William Cromwell’s Doomsday books. This year Standon widened the gardens to be showcased, being the only Puckeridge garden taking part we felt the need to do our bit for Puckeridge. The build-up was monumental. We did our best and were presently rewarded on the day, but we were a little bit far flung from the main flurry of activities. My Simon loves a party and starts to hand out free gin and tonics around 3.30 in the afternoon. For some reason by 6pm people didn’t seem to want to go home. I wonder why!
So, this last weekend we have been taking it easy and having friends’ round for a BBQ and have been making the most of this glorious weather. It’s important to stop and smell the roses. You can’t be busy all the time!