Due to a lack of any inspiration for a post I thought I would just take a few photos of some things in my home.

I bought this new about 25 years ago and still love it. When you take off the cover it reveals the pig in bed with the couple.

This hand is my husband's first attempt at making anything at the ceramics class we attend. I thought it would make a good soap dish in the new bathroom.

The loaf of bread in this photo is actually a money box.

I made this lamp a while ago by covering a lampshade and painting and distressing an old wooden lamp base.

This statue was bought about 30 years ago; I think I paid about £2 for him and he is one of my favourite possessions. The shoes were a more recent acquisition.

I bought this picture round about the same time. It is embroidered with gold and silver wire.

The theme of squirrels is echoed in this embroidered fire screen.

I particularly like this art deco vase my godmother gave me many years ago and it looks lovely with a night light inside it.

These two pieces of copper are in the kitchen. The top one is an escargot pan which I bought in France about 5 years ago. It was very black and I didn't know what it was when I bought it.

I love this mirror I bought from an antiques shop which was closing down about 3 years ago.

I thik this will do for now!

Primroses

There is still a lot of snow outside but I bought these primroses yesterday (a bargain at 25p each) to remind me that Spring is on its way.

The Beach This Morning

This was the beach at Lee-on-the-Solent this morning

and the seagulls mugging the ducks!

Raku

First of all, I have been very lax with my posts and I realise it is a whole month since I have written one. It is far too late to wish you all a Merry Christmas but not too late to wish you a very Happy New Year and a successful 2010. Thankyou to all who read my blog, I have made some great new friends here in blogland. And now for something completely different......

A lady across the road from me holds a weekly ceramics class and I have been going for about six weeks. My first attempt was a coil pot which is now in the back of a cupboard! Just before Christmas we did something called Raku which originates in 16th century Japan. I cut out some heart shapes in clay, then a few days later we went along for the firing process. I drew a patttern on the hearts, then painted over with a slip and glaze.

Then they went into the kiln.

I was rather nervous taking them out once they were fired.

They were then plunged into sawdust which was set alight

and came out of the drums looking like this.

The glaze is then peeled off to reveal........

Our bathroom is now almost finished. We knocked a separate toilet and bathroom into one room. It still isn't that big and we toyed with knocking through to one of the bedrooms as well but decided against this. I still have to put a blind up at the window and 'dress' it with some nice bottles etc. as it still looks a bit clinical.