You don't own gold. Gold owns you.

When we saw Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum some weeks ago, I noticed one thing survived intact. Gold. Everything, furniture, bread, fruits became carbon. A dog and humans were steamed alive and left as void as the ashes rained down on them.  There was one display for a wealthy woman who wore lots of pure gold jewelry. She seemed to return her house to take more gold jewelry after the eruption. But she was killed at the entrance of her house with the gold.

There was another display of not-so wealthy woman. She wore some metal jewelry with beads, they were all carbonised.

This month there was a big fall in the gold price. It hit a two year low. Then I again remembered Pompeii.

We don't own gold, but gold owns us.

Last year my own mother frantically tried to sell her gold, which she bought in 1980's at the height of the previous gold boom. I don't know if she actually sold it or not.

I don't hold a position in gold. I think gold is too dangerous, too powerful and too risky for mere mortals, like myself. It is the only metal that doesn't corrode, as you know. There is something very special about it. The story about dragons collecting gold must be a cautionary tale to us.

I wear it. I enjoy it. It only goes to someone else after I die. But I am not going back to home to retrieve it in fire. It will stay there after the fire is put out, probably as it is.

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We are slowly getting better at the pace of two steps forward and one step backward. Mike felt better during the weekend so he did too much. He took a sick leave and had stayed in the bed this afternoon. I started a little bit of clay work yesterday, but found it exhausting, so I have rested and done desk work today.

Hellebore, narcissus and primura

Here are some garden flowers. Apple blossoms started. Most spring flowers opened. It has been bright recently, still temperature has been quite low. Saturday was 9C. Sunday and today are just 12C maximum. (That's about 50F) The sun makes a big difference to me, especially because I have stayed inside except for quick dog walks (poor dogs!).

The first apple blossom

Watching flowers, birds and the sunshine from the window makes me feel good. Little birds are busy. We had a chaffinch. They only come to the garden once a while. They are one of my favourite garden birds.

Mt favourite Lilly flowered tulip.

    

A gig, music vs ceramic, and my post dog.

Hello Everyone! Did you have a good weekend? We have had a busy, but nice one.


We went out for a little gig Saturday night. Beverley Craven. Do you know her? I didn't. Mike used to listen to her a long time ago. So I went with him to the Gulbenkian theatre at UKC, the University of Kent, three minutes by car from our house. 

Her voice is beautiful. Even when she talks, there is a ringing tone. I liked her voice very much and totally enjoyed a couple of hours there. I couldn't imagine she has just hit the road again recently, after a long time off. She had a saxophonist called Frank. He was good too. Although a couple of times, I wondered if his lung would cope, but it did.

Cancer survivor

Her songs are highly emotionally charged. She has had happy moments and sad moments in her life. She made songs from her all these experiences. She told us a short story about the song she was going to sing; 'This song is about a bloke, who broke my heart', or 'This is about my girlfriend who dumped me when she found a boyfriend'. Each story was a bit funny and a bit sad.


On one old song, she said that she wanted it to be a la Sade (I have been a big fan of her for years), but her producer arranged it in a more upbeat way. So she now sings the way she initially wanted. Her voice is too 'sunny', I thought, to express Sade's smokiness.

I wish all success and a good luck to Miss Beverly Craven. I definitely go to her gig again when she comes back to Canterbury.

Rabbit in a bunny suit ver.2

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Music and ceramics



This reminded me of my experience at Artists' Open House last October. I kept telling visitors a background story on each work. (They loved to hear them!) My works were inspired by my observation of people and the nature. I see the world in a slightly different way from others. I like to show how I see it. You won't see my raw emotion there in my works. But Beverly and late Amy Winehouse among other great singers write their raw feelings into songs. When they sing, I feel as if they re-live the pain although Beverly Craven said that singing is a therapy. 

No wonder more singers die young than ceramists.  


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Our posting day


Mondays has been our posting day recently. We post packets for eBay customers. I always take Topaz to the post office because Mike forbade me to take Pearl with me. He said she would be dognapped while she waits for me in front of the post office, but Topaz can be ok. (I'm glad Topaz doesn't understand English!) Crazy but very clever Topaz knows when I go to a post office, probably because I carry this bag.   

 My little post dog

She leads me to the post office. We cross two pelican crossings on the way. One of them has music for deaf people. She won't cross it until music starts. Clever, huh?


When I came out of the post office today, she was surrounded by small kids. They stared at her down in silence. When Topaz found me, she looked overjoyed to be able to free from these little gazes. But, one of the girls kept staring at her and me! while I was untangling her lead from a metal post. It was a bit spooky.( one day the kids are going to be my ceramic sculptures! )


I was going to take off tomorrow and visit Lucien Freud exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. I found that the nearest available tickets I can book online is for the 28th April! April has just begun yesterday! There would be 500 tickets available everyday, but the website warns that a queue should be expected. I don't queue. It is not what I do to spend my precious time. So I need to make Plan B.       

Imagination

Imagination? (Canterbury)

Phew, finally a weekend came. Today I finished my work in mid morning. It was a quiet day in the market. Mike took an afternoon off. We went to the post office, a bank and a super in a big hurry at a lunch time. I posted my sale item to USA. I hope it will arrive safely in one piece. I have never experienced any damages in post, despite I have sent a dozen pieces of ceramics overseas in the past. I pack really well. Still, it can be a worrying until it gets there.

Imagination! (Reculver)

I start imagining what if somebody treads on it....! From childhood, my imagination has been strong. Once I start thinking, I start visualising a scene in detail and in motion. So I try not to worry about this type of things until it happens, because it may not happen at all.

Imagination....(Reculver)

Because of my imagination, I don't watch horror or thriller films. The monsters or killers in the film start moving on their own in my head, and they will run amok for a couple of weeks. Hmmm, difficult life, you might think. Yes and no to that.

Imagination.(Reculver)

I can entertain myself with my imagination for days on end. I giggle suddenly (because I was 'watching' somebody, say, a funny faced rabbit starts walking in a funny gait in my head), out of blue, start singing (because the rabbit finds wild flowers, sniffed them, and starts humming, so I will join him), or suddenly start talking (because he talked to me and asked questions). I usually don't imagine when people are around (luckily!). So nobody even my parents or close friends know I do this, except for Mike. I sometimes lapse in front of him. He has seemed puzzled. So one day, I asked him if he has had such experience. His reply was 'No'. I was perplexed because I thought everyone has these things moving in their heads. I became curious, so I asked other people. All replies were 'No'!?! One of them thought I was a bit nuts! I am not. Hahaha!

What do you think? (Beaper)

I am happy spending time 'there', but I can't get there whenever I want to go. I need to be in a right kind of frame of mind. If I stay there for a long time, I struggle to switch off. Over there, I meet people, animals and all others between the two categories. I bring them into this world by creating them with clay. It's fun!

Give me water!(Scooter)