Autumn Cottage Diarist

Pots of Inspiration

The First of June - already - though outside the clouds are grey and the wind is rising. O, our British weather!! We are warned of winds of 60 miles an hour this evening - but also given the promise of rising temperatures and the arrival of 'proper' summer by the end of the week. Something to look forward to in sybaritic terms - I look forward to basking in the warmth on the 'Mediterranean terrace' at the back of the house (my fanciful description of 'the hot bit' where I keep my more tender plants) - but also a reminder to get as many plants in the ground as I can before the soil becomes hardened and unworkable and wilting is more of a problem than waterlogging!

Five weeks lost to being medically poked and prodded (outcome positive, with some provisos) at a time when the most work needed to be done in the garden was frustrating, but priorities change when health issues call; I am just happy to now be in the position of being able to get digging, planting, propagating and harvesting with full enthusiasm once again.

For a break from all the gardening work, however, we made a journey last week to a place I have been longing to visit for twenty years. Whichford pottery is not at all far away (about an hour), situated in a very pretty little village on the edge of the Cotswolds and has been making high quality terracotta garden pots for nearly 40 years. I bought the book -written by owner Jim Keeling - on the subject of terracotta container gardening twenty years ago and since then I have only developed further my passion for growing things in pots; the more varied the pots, the better.

A feast of possibilities - gallery in the background

Whichford's website will tell you all about the process and their history - what I can tell you is just what an immensely friendly place it is to visit. I was positively encouraged to wander through the potting sheds and past the kiln, to see the various stages in the creation of some of the most beautiful pots I have seen, all very subtly different as is to be expected from hand thrown pottery, but all of the very highest quality. Not cheap, but you very much get what you pay for here; in these pots I feel I am getting something which will in time become loved family heirlooms.

There is an attached art gallery, displaying other potters' work (though I got so excited at buying our own particular pots that I did not even make it around the gallery!), whilst outside there are several different areas of garden, each with planted-up pots inspiring you to have a go at making your own little pieces of Paradise. That is the joy of 'pot gardening' - even the smallest spaces can be enhanced and made into little havens of pleasure, which can be easily changed around as the seasons pass.

Enjoy the photographs, which will give you just a flavour of our day - centred on the pottery, but also enhanced by our ramble around the lanes of a particularly beautiful part of the English countryside, at one of the loveliest times of the year.

Inside the Pottery - one of the workrooms, used for storing moulds

Loading the kiln by throwing pots down to the loader from above; much confidence, co-operation and knowledge needed here!

One of five different 'Shakespeare' pots,  all bearing quotes from The Master

On the left, 'Acorn' pots - one of which  came home as a gift to Autumn Cottage

Even the smallest garden could find room for a corner like this?

In the village - Whichford church

So many textures - old tombs and gravestones, a dry-stone wall and burgeoning flora

Much scratching and scraping could be heard as I entered the church...

This was the reason - restoration of 14th century painted glass

...the skilled craftsman placing the precious glass back in place

A wisteria in full, glorious flourish on a barn conversion gable end, opposite the church

A reminder of my childhood - overflowing hedgerows of Queen Anne's Lace, Campion - and a newer addition -escaped rapeseed

Back at Autumn Cottage - two more pots which came home with me.

Now about that return visit...

To Be A Pilgrim

I have been intrigued by the concept of Pilgrimage for many years; though it is normally thought of as a journey made by those with religious belief to a site of religious power, the concept can, I think, also be applied to anyone making a journey - physically, emotionally or intellectually, between one place (physical or metaphorical) and another, and being changed in some way by the process of that journey as much as by what is sought - or discovered - at the end.

There are thousands of pages out there exploring pilgrimage in great detail and with considerably more intellectual and practical knowledge than I have myself. I have never been on pilgrimage (which does not mean that I never will), but was reminded of my interest once again by watching a fine, 3-part series ('The Sacred Wonders of Britain') presented by Neil Oliver which has been on UK television recently and which may, in time, appear on YouTube or PBS. He visits sites which have been considered sacred in the UK, covering, in the course of the series, some 5000 years. The final episode visits some of the medieval sites here, which hold particular interest for me. So I thought I would share with you here three encounters with (in these particular cases, Christian) Pilgrimage that I have had, which have touched and changed my own life in some way.

 

The first is in the form of what is, to me, an immensely moving sculpture. It is of pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostella, the great shrine to Saint James in Northern Spain, upon one of the pilgrim routes to which the little town of Pons in the Charente-Maritime department of France stands. The sculpture actually sits on a traffic island on the outskirts of the town and I first saw it when staying with a dear friend at her cottage a few miles away. We were visiting in temperatures of 38C - but the (almost life-sized) figures in the sculpture are wearing clothing of heaviest construction, wrapped as if to protect the wearers from bitter cold and lashing rain.

They seem almost alive and they bring to life, for me, one of what seems to me to be an important feature of physical pilgrimage - that of encounter with adversity, whether it be of the weather, or of the physical limitations of one's own body. This installation, embodying such immensely realistic depictions of real people on a real journey, brings me each time I see it into immediate contact with the vulnerable humanity of travellers from many centuries. It touches my heart in a very profound way and I love it very much indeed

 

My second encounter came with a visit made in 2013 to the Cathedral Church of St David in Pembrokeshire, West Wales;

Again, the physicality of the site is striking; the cathedral sits at the end of a wild and rocky route and anyone wishing to visit over past centuries would have had an arduous journey - even now, with the luxury of travelling by car, it was not always easy. But I did also experience the sight of the newly restored shrine of the Saint, complete with five beautiful modern icons.

Saint Non - the supposed mother of Saint David

Pilgrims were, at the time of my visit,  attending a service at the shrine and it was impossible not to be moved by the obvious intensity of their experience; though not believing in the same way as the Christian participants, that encounter with deep reverence had a great impact upon me. It also reinforced my feeling that - easy as it is, nowadays, to look  upon pictures and watch films about these places - it is not the same as standing in actual, physical proximity with other humans as they - we - experience something apart from every-day experience, in community - the essence of Victor Turner's Communitas.

But for all the failings of book, image and film - they are still a very worthwhile resource - and so to my third encounter with Pilgrimage; a short (20 minute) and I think little known film - 'Pilgrimage'  made in 2001 by maestro film maker Werner Herzog, who always seems to get further under the skin and closer to the heart (though it may be a dark heart) of an issue or phenomenon than almost any other director I can think of. The music is by another maestro, John Tavener. Together, the images and sound are transcendent - I hope you enjoy it; it certainly gave me pause for thought in my otherwise ordinary daily life.

Mornings With Mary - 1

Once again, a visit to Rebecca at Recuerda mi Corazon, where she hosts Mornings with Mary each Monday. Rebecca's blog is inspiring me greatly at present (two posts here in two days!!) - now I am taking the leap of participating more. This is one way of enjoying  sharing with others some of my own pleasure when I travel (and when I create imagery at home) in discovering the beauty of religious art. I do not practice any one particular faith but am drawn to  intense spirituality of both people and place - it fills that 'hole in my soul' that we all, I think, possess - but which is filled in different ways for different people.

The first images I would like to share are of  two of those of Nossa Senhora de Fátima - 'Our Lady of Fatima'  to be found in churches all over Lisbon in Portugal. This portrayal of Mary is a popular figure in Lisbon, seen in many different places, Fatima being a 'local' site of important pilgrimage, just over an hour from the capital.

Two churches - two portrayals of Mary - but how different they are in the emotions they conjure in me. The first, above, is found in the Basilica da Estrela on the outskirts of Lisbon. Like many Lisboan churches I did not find it to be welcoming - but rather dark and forbidding, and here, Mary is also distanced from those who come to look and venerate. She is separated from the viewer (and from the images of the two children who first saw her in visions) by plate glass; swathed in a lurid yellow light. My first sensation was that of being instructed to perceive this effigy of holiness from afar. Kept at much more than arms length, she had nothing to do with me, but was literally separated by a barrier that I was forbidden to cross. (My second observation was 'who on earth chose that horrible soda-light glow?!)

Compare her with the second image - from the Igreja de São Domingos in the centre of Lisbon. Again, a dark and rather depressing interior, but here, although the placement and iconography is more or less the same, no glass separates the compassionate visage from her onlookers - She is gentle, compassionate, warm and  accessible. I could touch her if I wanted. The glow comes not from a switch thrown by a sacristan - but from individual candles, lit by individual human beings as invocations for intercession or remembrance in times of gratitude or difficulty.  For me, the link between human and Divine is made so much more clearly here - unsurprisingly, I like this portrayal a great deal more.

 

It's All in the Detail

Red-thread cross stitch on white linen

I've collected textiles for four decades now and I have always been particularly drawn to the details of  traditional costume; in the use of colour, the methods of construction and also, more recently, the symbolic nature of much of the stitchery and other ornament. I thought it may interest some of you to see some details of the costumes worn by the folk dancers from several agricultural co-operatives (mostly from the environs of Lisbon and the Alentejo) , who gave a really exuberant  display of dancing in Rossio Square (Lisbon, Portugal) on May Day this year (2013)

Particularly intriguing for me were the gold frontal jewellery worn by some of the women - clearly as part of a distinct local costume (their garments were, in contrast to the other dancers, very plain and sombre - which only served to show off the gold to greater advantage). The gold was fashioned into many symbols - mostly of hearts but with some crucifixes, and also a number of gold coins set in filigree frames. It would be fascinating to discover more about the reasons why particular symbols are present and also how they may cross cultural boundaries and be used in many different ways and places.

I can see I have some reading, talking and listening (particularly, I suspect, to Rebecca ) to do - and also some hunting to find my books by the intrepid traveller, collector, interpreter of symbology and all round amazing woman Sheila Paine. So much to discover, so little time - but for now, enjoy these few images and a little of the flavour of Portuguese folk dance

Another example of cross stitched borders - this time white on black

A detached pocket (? - difficult to see structure) - note the revered heart symbol upon which 'AMOR' is stitched

A lovely example of simple smocking over the hip to contain fullness of fabric in the skirt

More red stitching on white - note the lettering over the left breast. Also a relatively modest gold frontal display

More stitch detail and a considerably more elaborate display of gold jewellery.

A closer look at the weath displayed on this woman's breast - many hearts and some crosses...what else can you distinguish?

Static images for the detail - but here is a taste of the atmophere  on the day, when the themes and colours came alive with music, gaiety and friendliness, all helped along with a generous helping of balmy sunshine!

 

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After a Gap, a Gathering of Thoughts (and Pictures!)

After a Gap, a Gathering of Thoughts (and Pictures!)

Painted Ceiling of the Swan Hall, Royal Palace, Sintra

Several weeks away from Autumn Cottage Diarist pages - during which I have waited for Springtime to properly arrive in the garden (it's been a long, long time a-coming!). I have filled the creative well by travelling to Portugal for a week, and have spent the gaps in between by listening to silence and discovering what it held for me.

Now here I am again, refreshed and renewed, to share some of these events and activities with you. A few weeks before I went away, my old camera 'gave up the ghost' - which was alarming in one way ('oh, no - I'm going on holiday in four weeks time!!) - but an opportunity if viewed from another perspective ('Oh, no - I'm going on holiday in four weeks time!! - perhaps it's time for a new camera??').

The old one was seven years old - ancient and hobbling in digital camera terms, so I awarded myself a new one - a Fuji Finepix S4500 - which has since been set on 'Auto' while I have got used to it, and with which I am - up to now - totally delighted. Don't be surprised if you see more pictures than words here for a while!

Here is a taster of what has been happening for me - in and out of Autumn Cottage - for the last couple of months…

A pheasant thought he was a blue-tit at our bird table

Pip decided that springtime HAD arrived ! 

 

I gritted my teeth to climb on a plane…landing in Lisbon

The view from our apartment

…all worth it, to enjoy café life and watch the world go by

Rossio Square

I was able to immerse myself in colour

and music

May Day celebrations in Rossio

Enjoy wonderful food and wine in tiny, local, backstreet restaurants

Walk in beautiful gardens

University Botanical Gardens, Lisbon

Gaze upon spectacular scenery

The Castelo dos Mouros, above Sintra

Tiptoe through a  City of the Dead

Prazeres Cemetery, Lisbon

...and sit in some rather nice places to do a bit of living...

The Church of Sao Vincente da Fora, from the Porta da Sol

Latin American music at the Porta da Sol

But after all my adventures, I've now returned to Autumn cottage and the springtime garden - which is where you'll  find me for the foreseeable future!

 

The Dream Scheme

As well as living in Autumn Cottage, I've run a number of therapeutic writing workshops here over the last few years. For a variety of reasons, 2012 was quiet in that respect, but I am, at present, creating a schedule of workshops to run again in 2013. Though they are mainly journal-writing based in essence, I do also include some expressive arts - up to now mostly collage and free sketching, but this year I will also include simple book making, to incorporate in a series of wildlife/writing walks through the year in my local woodland.

So you can imagine how delicious I found this blog post to be, and how much it feeds my fantasies of my 'Dream' lifestyle.This young woman, Rachel Hazell, has been teaching book-making workshops in '12 interesting places' - one each month of 2012. You can imagine further, knowing my passion for Venice, that the super dream workshop is the one she describes here, teaching her art to a group of participants in that irresistible city. (Her photographs can be found here on a separate blog).

I have twice rented an apartment in Venice for personal visits (here, for those of you who have not read about it, is the story of my first adventure there…) - but the apartment in question really only sleeps two (four at a stretch - or should that be a squash?!). To be able to run one of my workshops there, I would need a bigger venue - and I am not sure I could go with one up ninety-odd steps, as Rachel seems to have done.

But on a snowy day, when I have cabin fever, a raging case of household attention deficit, and a longing for another adventure, her blogs are the perfect place to browse and dream, and maybe plan and plot a bit more practically than *just* dreaming of castles (or workshops) in the air. Is there anyone out there, reading from La Serenissima, with space to accommodate a week's journaling workshop in Venice for eight? (And in the meantime - I'll be in Lisbon soon - I wonder where we could park our pens and paper in THAT beautiful and fascinating city??)

Longing for Warmth and Colour on a Cold, Grey Day

Miradouro de Santa Luzia swathed in bougainvillea - one of the viewpoints in Lisbon looking out over the River Tagus

Lisboa is on my mind and on the menu again. I need to be distracted from certain issues right now...I need an injection of colour and joie de vivre; So for me - and for others out there who would sit with me at the Miradouro Santa Caterina with a a glass of wine, here are a few pictures taken four years ago in the sunlight, sensuality and mystery that I have glimpsed of life in Portugal. (Forgive me if you have seen some of them before...)

The view from the apartment we rent, down into Rossio, the main square in Lisbon

Folkdance in Rossio on May Day

Exquisite carving on the monastery at Belem (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos)

Physical and spiritual shelter in the shade of the monastery cloister.

  The Carmelite Church - collapsed in the earthquake of 1755

Always - surrounded by blue and white...

Miradouro Santa Caterina....

...where the writers (and readers) hang out...

On Litha's Eve

Velvety, royal purple bearded iris

Just a brief visit tonight after a summer cough causing an unscheduled absence. Normal service is now resumed - with a few photographs to celebrate the Solstice. Flowers from France - to savour now, and remember as the days grow shorter - posted as the half moon shines in through my window, inhaling midsummers breeze.

Blue and bougainvillea in Royan

Memories of childhood - a cornflower-filled field

Does anything speak more of Midsummer than the rose?

How do you celebrate Midsummer?

Closer to the Cottage...

Sunlight through bearded irises

Just a few more images today from the visit to France - this time just to show you what we did when we hung out at the cottage, rather than out-and-about, looking at interesting stuff. For myself, 'at home-from-home' time was some of the most enjoyable time of all. Time to just sit and stare at the beauty all around - the flowers and the wildlife - to listen to the non-stop song of the birds in the daytime and cicadas at night...to read, to write, to sip wine and break bread - just to be away from everything that busies me at home. I'll share more flowers with you another day - but for now, just enjoy a quiet place on the patio with me...

The Garden room leading directly onto the patio - my bedroom for the week. Several 'little  visitors' (of the lizardy and toady variety) found their way through the door :-)

The view from my room

A glass of wine, a garden and a journal - recipe for a perfect afternoon

On other days, a light lunch before venturing forth

A constant 'I-Spy' of things to look at......house-leeks

Lizards

Shutters

Terracotta tiles

And on a couple of evenings...a fish barbecue treat...

From 'the cooks'

To 'the customers' - who just sat back and enjoyed the feast!

Can you see why I already long to return??

Village Vide-Grenier on a Sunday Morning

As I type this, I still have delicious memories of what I was doing 14 days ago, when I was able to stroll around this street bric-a-brac market - a 'vide-grenier' ('clear your barn') in Janzac. Somehow, the setting is a distinct improvement on some of the windy fields and race-courses I have more usually experienced when I venture to car boot sales here in the UK. Hard to beat a Romanesque church and a blue, blue sky as a backdrop, isn't it?

   

  Romanesque capitals and window arch on the church

I had great fun conducting bargaining sessions in my schoolgirl French. (Ha - bargaining? They knew exactly how far they would drop - and I knew exactly how much I would pay!). As always - 95% rubbish - but the 5% held one or two treasures for me...including this instructional reading book for children published around 1860.

As you can see, the front cover is shot to pieces - but I recognise damaged items like this enough (I was a dealer in antiquarian books and prints in another life) to know to look inside - and when I did, I found the delight of these hand-tinted engravings. I find the last one of these examples particularly amusing - I think it would make a charming addition to a nursery. (Anyone who would like a higher resolution copy of this to print out and frame is more than welcome to email me for the .jpg).

 

 

So - for today's walk - would you like to accompany around the village? Shall we stop off at the patissier for a mouthwatering tarte or two?