After nearly 6 weeks in hospital after several mini-strokes, my Dad came home the day before yesterday.  It's hard work nursing someone getting over a stroke - I never knew there was so much to it!  All his food has to be pureed, there's a whole list of things he can't eat, all his drinks have to be thickened with starch until they're like wallpaper paste (until his swallow function returns properly).  He's very weak compared to how he was before so he needs a lot of help.  But he's walking with the help of a stick and can wash and dress himself, so I guess he's a lot better off than many others.  In time, I'm sure he'll get almost back to normal.

Work has of course suffered over the last few weeks, but that's a sacrifice worth making for such a brilliant dad.

Here's one of my latest pots - I decided to try something a bit different after being inspired at the Royal College of Art exhibition in June.  This vase is 10.5 inches tall; I also made a large cylindrical one about 12 inches tall and a small cylindrical one about 3.5 inches tall - they're all on the Shop page of this website - until someone buys them of course!

Last week I travelled down to London to see my old friend Ashraf Hanna.  When I first met Ashraf, he was just beginning to work with clay, and frequently came to my studio with his girlfriend Sue (now his wife) to use the facilities.  They later set up their own studio in Hackney, where I acquired one of his early pieces (which I still have).

They now live in Wales, but Ashraf has been studying at the Royal College of Art for the last 2 years and this exhibition was the end of course show.

Ashraf's pots can be seen behind us in this picture.  As you can see, he's a brilliant potter.  He handbuilds and does a lot of raku.

When I got home my dad Bernard collapsed with a stroke and life's been very hectic since then.  I'm gradually managing to get back to potting after having to drop everything the first couple of days.  My routine is now to work in the mornings and to visit Dad in hospital in the afternoons.

It's a very worrying time at the moment.  I very much want Dad to get better and come home but I guess these things take time.

So if you're waiting for an order, hopefully it will still arrive on time but if there is a slight delay, please bear with me - I'll get to it!