Hello Again,
Here in the UK, we are just entering the fourth week of lockdown and I have just finished War and Peace for the second time and Hilary’s, The Mirror and The Light awaits me on the shelf.
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Peter Jordan – geograph.org.uk/p/164221
Seriously though, Caron and I are well although my Hay Fever has kicked off as it normally does at this time of the year and I have had to explain this allergy to others on a couple of occasions.
At the time of writing, the good news is that things seem to be improving for our Spanish, French and Italian cousins and slowly but surely, the first steps to recovery seem to have been taken.
One thing that fascinates me is why the German model appears to have been quite successful against other countries in Europe. If my sums are correct, there are about eighty three million people in Germany against some sixty seven million in the UK but the models have been so different.
When this whole thing dies down, the research into this pandemic will be vital to future generations.
Thankfully Boris is on the mend as many of us feared for him. Like Churchill in the last war, you need strong leaders and Boris for all his faults has provided that.
During this lockdown Caron and I have looked for interesting things to do and one of these was to make use of Caron’s undoubted culinary skills and to eat from some of our favourite plates.
We started this about a week ago when Caron cooked a great Beef Bourguignon (thank you Julia) and we were going to use some of our much prized Susie Cooper plates just to celebrate the dish. But first we had to queue at Tesco’s for a few days to get the ingredients and here lies a story of our times.
As normal, Caron and I combine our shopping with exercise and after purchasing the essentials we walk around the almost deserted common to the east of the town. On this day in particular, the sun was quite warm and we rested for a while on one of the terraces with a bottle of water.
Whilst we were there we noticed a jogger dressed all in black who appeared to be photographing the one or two people on the common which was a little odd. But we thought no more about it until we were stopped by a handsome blonde policeman in his beautiful squad car on the railway bridge.
He asked if we were ok which I thought was a rather strange question even though we were carrying a Tesco bag. Caron in her best Celia Johnson voice, explained what we were doing and how she hoped to cook a delicious Julia Child based Beef Bourguignon for our evening meal.
Poole Pottery Twintone
She explained that at present, we might not be able to go to France but we can certainly try to bring France to Hungerford. The young policeman smiled and drove off quite happily and we continued our gentle walk.
The meal that evening tasted heavenly and was made all the better by our little adventure although, I am sure that the jogger in black reported us.
Call me Fox Mulder but some things cannot be explained.
This said, apart from Caron’s delicious meal, the whole experience was made all the better by our use of our Susie plates and drinking a delicious red wine from our vintage glasses. And guess what, these were all purchased from the Arcade and this short article is about having fun with ceramics.
That is the great thing about the Arcade, you can pop in at any time and these items will be awaiting you either in the Junk Stall or some of the other units. It is fun to do it this way as quite frequently one can purchase a named dinner set for less than twenty quid.
Susie Cooper Teaset
Before the restrictions were imposed, there was a quite modern Susie Cooper tea set that tempted me and there is always plenty of Poole to be found.
We each have our favourites I like Susie’s works and Caron absolutely adores Poole.
I asked her why she likes Poole (especially Twintone) so much when we were taking tea a day or so ago.
Here are her thoughts:-
I have enjoyed collecting Poole ever since my Mother-in Law gave me a cup of coffee in a Poole Mug many years ago.
To drink or eat from anything made by the Poole Pottery, it is an experience that I believe should be shared.
This said, I have my favourites and show these off when having friends around for dinner.
Twintone has to be the ideal dinner set with its soft easy colours and smooth texture. It compliments any meal whether it be good or bad.
Each of the mixed colours has its own personality and one can become quite obsessive when purchasing these beautiful items.
It is a guilty pleasure but why not, as it is there to be enjoyed.
Whilst I do like Poole, I tend to collect Susie as a first choice.
This said, although Susie Copper creations can be quite cheap as with all things some are much rarer than others and therefore more expensive.
I have collected Susie for over twenty years and some of my items will never leave my display cabinets.
Clarice Cliff Serving Dish
It is very much like Clarice Cliff who I also collect to a lesser extent and yes, I sometimes use (on special occasions as with Susie) some of my more common Clarice items (like our serving dishes) but I would not dream of using my Bizarre plate which I purchased after my horse romped home in the Grand National.
If we have guests (do you remember those days?) I tend also to use my coronation cups and saucers (which are very common) as this adds a nice touch to afternoon tea with your favourite aunt away from your feral and savage children.
I have just mentioned Susie Cooper and the Poole Pottery, but there are many others such as Woods, Radford , Meakin , T.G.Green (more for kitchen ware) Grays and Midwinter. This is by no means a comprehensive list and I have obviously missed as many as I have recorded.
Instead of going to a boring old shop and purchasing (and maybe spending more) a foreign made dinner set or the like, you can purchase history from the Arcade.
Not everything is that old as there is a great deal of retro stuff around which is just as suitable and if you are into the decade that fashion forgot (the 1970s), then finds in the Arcade are very common.
You can eat off of the plates that Mummy and Daddy used to use when you were a child, imagine that.
Possibly the most important thing is whether you like what you see or not. If it floats your boat then purchase it.
Also as I pointed out to a dear friend, not all things are dishwasher friendly (I am surprised that I am ever invited out).
I do hope that this helps as hopefully quite soon Boris and his buddies will indicate that things are beginning to get back to normal and as long as we are all sensible we can mix together within certain boundaries.
For the last four weeks we have had Julia Child staying with us in the spare bedroom and I do not think I have eaten so well.
My life has changed and I will be sorry to see Julia leave, but this will mean that the Arcade has reopened and that I will again have the opportunity to have fun with ceramics.
Do look after yourselves and we all look forward to life becoming normal once again.
Happy Hunting
Stuart & Caron (not forgetting Julia)
