After leaving Wales, We drive to Cornwall to meet up with our old friend Joanie. It was Joanie who volunteered to be my ‘get-away-driver’ last year on my last visit. This time we know where we need to go and what to do to collect another few kilos of Sericite porcelain stone. It’s a trivial matter this time, rather than the week-long epic of last year.

While we have a few days with Joanie, we decide to walk over the causeway to St Michael’s Mount. It’s a really interesting place, we end up spending the entire day there and miss the return tide window of opportunity, so have to catch the small boat back at high tide.

The tide comes back in while we are still at the summit and we see people wading back  across the causeway in chest high water, until it becomes impossible.

We enjoy lunch and afternoon tea on the island taking in the full tour of the old house/castle. A really enjoyable and informative day taking in all the history of the ancient site.

After a few very relaxed days with Joanie, we move on to Devon to visit our friend and fellow wood firer, Svend Bayer at this new pottery kiln site in Kigbear. Svend has decided to sell up in Sheepwash and move on to the next phase of his life. We really love the ancient thatched roof, cob cottage in Sheep wash, but times change, as do we, everything changes. We must adapt. It really is an exquisite place. So romantic!

We are lucky enough to get to see assembled, an amazing collection of Svend’s best works, collected over the last few years of firings here at Sheepwash.

We are totally privileged and very lucky to turn up at just the right time to see all these wonderful, master works, before they are all exhibited and sold.

Svend’s new kiln, as might be expected, is pretty big. There are 5 potters sharing the kiln  firings at Kigbeare with Svend. It’s his way of training the next generation of wood firers, passing on the baton, by mentoring these lucky, and committed, next generation potters. It’s a huge kiln!

We are lucky to turn up on the day of the un-packing of the kiln. There are pots everywhere. So many nice things to temp us. It’s the end of an era and the beginning of another. We are so lucky to be here to experience this moment.

We spend a few days here. The next day Svend takes us to see the local Museum at Bideford, with a great collection of local earthen ware pots.

Earthenware pots have been made here for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is the home of the famous Fremington terracotta clay.

We call in at the Post Office after visiting the gallery, as the post office is just across the road. I have 5kg of sericite porcelain stones in a cardboard box all taped up and ready for post. I can’t carry this extra weight home on the plane. Svend is visibly shocked to hear that I just paid Au$250 for postage! he enquires how I can do this? I reply that last year I did the same and when I got home I processed the stones into its unique porcelain body and managed to get 3 very good pieces out of the firing. I sold them for $900, $750 and $500 respectively, through my Show of ‘5 Stones’ at Watters Gallery in Sydney. They were nice pieces and found good homes. The return covered the cost of the postage, but not the 3 months of processing, making and firing.

Still. I don’t do this to make money. If I wanted to make money, I’d have got a job. I want to live an interesting, engaged and well-considered life. As long as we can get by, I’m happy.

Tomorrow we travel on, making our way slowly back towards London.