We've had such a nice relaxing few weeks here, despite the initial endless rain and the usual manic house organisation we put ourselves through before we get visitors, however, we reached a calmness that surprised even me and Gav!
We made a decision to halt any further work in the shop as it's now taking up a lot of our time and concentrate on finishing the house. Anyway, i digress, Gav's parents arrived last Monday and we threw ourselves into looking after and entertaining them for the week. Nicci got called into work every day so it entailed some jigging about of the schedule, but we managed to get out a few times. Gav took them off to Ellesmere on the Tuesday where they walked around the mere and had a nice lunch, Wednesday we managed to get to Shrewsbury and looked around the old part of town, including some beautiful stained glass windows in the church. Gav also had an hour in the antiques centre and me and his mum took ourselves off to Waterstones......aaahhh bliss!!! On Friday we went to:
Outside in the garden
Dad enjoying playing with the dog
See the bee?
In the "very informal" cafe!
Lovely food freshly prepared and Chocolate and Beetroot Cake!!!!
Mum and Dad enjoying the sunshine
A peacock hen with her chicks
The Male
hiding her chicks
Lizzie, sat at the kitchen table enjoying some attention!
Walks along the canal at Berriew
Flowers in the guest room
This is where we saw Stefan Knapp's (1921-1996) beautifully vibrant enamel murals.
Set up in April 2011, in what would have been her late husbands 90th year it was the ambition of his wife Cathy Knapp - whom i met at a book signing evening in Bishops Castle a few weeks ago and where she suggested we take a look - I hadn't managed to get there before now and as we had visitors we thought it was a good time to go.
Set up in April 2011, in what would have been her late husbands 90th year it was the ambition of his wife Cathy Knapp - whom i met at a book signing evening in Bishops Castle a few weeks ago and where she suggested we take a look - I hadn't managed to get there before now and as we had visitors we thought it was a good time to go.
"Stefan Knapp was born in South East Poland in 1921 and was arrested in 1939 and sent to a labour camp in Siberia. He was released in 1942 as a result of the Churchill-Stalin agreement and made his way to England where he trained as a Spitfire Pilot and did reconnaisance work until 1945. He suffered terrible nightmares as a result of his experiences and used painting as a way to exorcise his mind..."
If you're in the area pop in and see the exhibition it's really worth it
Finally, I just wanted to mention this. I get lovely comments all day long about the shop from our customers, they come from all over the world (i know it's not specifically to come to Indigo Moon, but if they're in the area they find their way here), this week we have our stock making it's way to Australia, Germany, France, Africa, Ireland, California, New York and all sorts of other lovely places as well as lots of places around Britain.
So it was extra special to find this blog that mentioned us, i remember the lady telephoning us to ask us to put a sold sign on the cupboard and keeping it for a few weeks, they paid us immediately over the phone, but what they didn't know was that another lady had been in that very morning and was returning with her husband the next day!! She was very disappointed to find it sold, but without a deposit there was nothing i could have done. I'm pleased for the people who bought it, it is nice when something you buy fits so perfectly into the home! Thank you Kat and Rich.
"Painting is silent poetry"
~Plutarch, Moralia: How to Study Poetry
