Canal walk.

Posted on September 5, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Barlaston, Blue boat, Canal walk, Miles, Nature, South of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Trent and mersey canal, Walking, WaterLeave a comment

Hubby is walking to Barlaston in Staffordshire along the Trent and Mersey canal South from Staffordshire. Here is a photo of a blue canal boat that was passing as they walked along. Its at least seven miles so I hope they will be OK as they might be waking back as well if they don’t contact me to give them a lift. I would have walked with them but I did four up and down hill yesterday and my legs, particularly my knees are very stiff today.

Seeing photos like this makes me realise what a green and wet country we live in. We do get droughts but not as seriously as other countries. Waiting for their call….

Wire fairy kit

Posted on April 20, 2020April 20, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Barlaston, Busy, Craft kit, Enjoyment, Fairy kit, Monthly craft Market, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Tired, Wedgewood, Wire fairy2 Comments

Trying to make a wire fairy I got before Christmas. It was from a stall at the monthly Saturday craft Market at Wedgewood pottery, Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

My arms are aching from twisting wire. I’m currently trying to get the hair done and then later I’ve got it try and make wings. I lost track of time and missed joining in choir practice. After an afternoon of pulling up weeds and brambles, and trying to tackle two lots of russian vine that has taken over a corner of the garde, I am whacked. Now I’m off to cook some food. Might try and finish this later tonight…..

Swans and ducks

Posted on January 30, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Barlaston, Blogging, Canal, Ducks, Photos, Staffordshire, Sunshine, Swans, Trent and mersey canal, Winter dayLeave a comment

What better on a crisp winters day than to take photos of a Swan and a couple of ducks. Interesting how the sky is reflected in the first one and not so much in the second. They were taken last year out at a place called the plume of feathers, at Barlaston, Staffordshire. The pub sits alongside the Trent and Mersey canal. Much more picturesque than where it runs through the city, the canal offers an opportunity to glide along in narrow boats on self catering holidays. The boats are beautiful to look at, but they can be quite expensive to rent for a week, so I prefer to walk for free by the water and allow the Swans and Ducks to do the gliding….

Got my plate

Posted on March 12, 2019 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Barlaston, Cat, Gracie, Life, My cat, Pottery, Staffordshire, Wedgewood2 Comments

I’ve just had a plate delivered. It was one I designed at a “have a go” session at the Wedgewood factory in Barlaston, Staffordshire. You had to draw the design on a piece of paper then it’s photographed and printed on a plate and sent out to you. I’m a little disappointed because its a bit paler and duller than I was expecting. Also the cat, Gracie, is not as central on the plate as I was had drawn and was expecting. That may be my fault. The second image is where I have upped the contrast, and actually looks closer to the original. And the photo of the back tells you when I drew it.

If you decide to do something like this beware using felt pens and pencils that are a bit worn down or dried out. This will effect the outcome. On the whole I enjoyed the experience and its nice to have something of your own to bring back. Its a souvenir of a good day out.

Wedgewood artisan market

Posted on February 10, 2019 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Barlaston, Blog, Cat, Crafts, Design, Fun, Life, Pottery, Something to do on Sunday, Staffordshire, Wedgewood, Wedgewood artisan market4 Comments

It was a fairly bright morning once you dodged the rain showers so we decided to visit wedgewood artisan market (2nd Sunday of each month). It’s at the Wedgewood factory, near Barlaston,, Staffordshire. We had a fine potters full breakfast in the dining room there (with beans and oatcake). Our friend from Yorkshire was visiting so it was good to show him one of the local attractions. Once we had eaten we went round the outdoor and indoor stalls. Charis Jones with her Sculpted Steel was there, together with Pat Myatt and her potteries art work. Other stalls included whisky fudge, crafted wool blankets, various cheeses and cakes, you could even buy your own fairy kit to make a fairy like the ones at Trentham Gardens. My partner bought me a kit and I bought him a wood turned pen. We also went inside the wedgewood visitor centre and I spent a happy hour trying to create a cat design plate. The pens and pencils they had were not very good but hopefully the image on the plate (a lithograph) will be OK.

I took a couple of progress photos but not one if the finished design. It might take 6 weeks for it to be delivered though…

Feed the birds

Posted on January 30, 2019January 30, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Barlaston, Birds, Bread, Duck food, Ducks, Food, Moorhens, Staffordshire, SwansLeave a comment

We went out for lunch today at Barlaston in Staffordshire. We stopped at a lovely pub next to the canal. There were lots of hungry ducks on it as we pulled up. I decided to have a meal that would include bread so I could feed them when we came out. I got a crusty bread roll with my starter and put it in a napkin for use later on. After a delicious lunch we came out and went back to the canal. Now a couple of Swans had joined the ducks and moorhens.

Out came the bread roll. I broke it into tiny bits and tried to share it between all the birds. My hubby went off to buy a loaf of bread (by now the gaggle of birds had grown to around 20). When he came back we started feeding them. There were birds flapping and chasing each other everywhere. We kept breaking the bread up into small pieces so that it would get wet and not swell up when they swallowed it. Some of the moorhens skidded across the frozen ice on the canal when they tried to catch the bread. We finally managed to get rid of a whole loaf!

Recently signs were put up telling people not to feed birds with bread to stop them choking… Now there is news that birds are starving to death…..

I’m glad we fed the birds, even if it wasn’t the correct stuff. It was at least brown bread and they seemed healthy.

Black star ceramics

Posted on December 14, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Barlaston, Black star ceramics, Colour, Glazes, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent4 Comments

My husband treated me to a couple of lovely pots today from a pottery called black star ceramics. They specialise in beautiful gkazed pottery and the colours can be spectacular. I particularly like the red and yellow ones.

I know they sell the pots at Spode but I think they also sell at the Wedgwood makers market that is on the first Saturday of the month. This is out at the wedgwood factory near Barlaston, Staffordshire I think they also sell at other markets but I’m not sure where.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Barlaston