Sunny intervals

Thank you to everyone who navigated the Essex lanes and came to see our Open Studio. On Saturday between increasingly heavy showers we had a sprinkling of visitors. In fact we had been very lucky, on my way home I could see that there had been much more serious rain close by. At home Cliff told me there had been storms and power cuts, and just then the power went off again, it stayed off for a long time so we cooked supper on a gas camping stove! As it was almost mid-summer it was still light outside so there was no need to get out the candles and lamps; the overhead power cables were repaired and the power supply was back by 9.30pm.


Sunday brightened up in more ways than just sunshine (but that in itself was lovely) and we were busy for most of the day. Visitors enjoyed being in the little garden behind 'May's Cottage' – old thatched cottages seem grow out of the ground like toadstools, I like how the thatcher has created organic curving shapes instead of imposing regularity onto her.


As well as our display of larger work in Annette's studio, we put smaller things and cards in the little conservatory. It was good that people asked us lots of questions about how I cut my lino blocks and choose colours; and how Annette makes her rag rugs and patchwork. And it was lovely to actually meet some happy customers and see some of my prints going off to their new homes.


And then, of course, at the end of the day we had to pack everything up – luckily Cliff had been walking near Saffron Walden and dropped by on his way home to help me, it was so much easier fitting everything into two cars!