This month, Hugh will celebrate 40 years of pottery with an exhibition in our showroom here in La Borne.

He trained from the age of 18 at two art schools. When he was 21 he opened his own pottery. He has had several workshops since then, in England and in France.

It must have taken a lot of courage, to borrow a substantial sum at that age and to set about making stock enough to support himself - and later, his family.

We're almost ready for the opening on Saturday 5th. My black and white photographs have been framed and hung. Every surface has been cleaned.

A very large pot, one of Hugh's raku pieces, stands in the empty window. On Friday, we'll place the exhibits. These include the first pot Hugh made when he was 18. He gave it to his mother who took good care of it. She was very proud of her son.

On Friday, we visited the Redan Pottery, just outside La Borne. Our friends, Viola and Alfred Hering, took part in  France's Heritage weekend when doors are open all over the country, giving access to areas that are usually closed to the public.

Viola applies her special skills to decorating her husband's tableware and to making wonderful amusing figures. She is inspired by the animals they keep at Redan and by their four young children.

Chickens and geese are everywhere: on shelves and among the garden flowers. They make you smile while also serving as plant pots and fence post markers.

Most of the visitors were choosing pots for their own gardens and window ledges. Numbered discs indicate the prices in euros. 12 euros each (₤10, $16) seems very reasonable for two little chickens arguing over a worm.

At night, the garden looks magical with lanterns in the trees and the grass or on the walls.

Inside the shop area, I found more to amuse. This is a very special roof decoration, al least a metre (just over a yard) long. I love the cosiness of its Dickensian characters.

The children's dishes and mugs have lovely free decoration. Viola is obviously inspired by her three little girls and their brother.

Other very popular lines are these salt cellars and bells.

Nothing but charm at the Poterie Redan!

Hugh and I moved to La Borne eleven years ago, having sold our tiny home in Cornwall. We had managed to squeeze four growing children, ourselves and Misty the cat into our terraced cottage. Suddenly, in 2000, we found ourselves alone: all the children had left home, Joe's lovely cat had died and we had lost our pottery. The chance came to buy a house with workshop and kiln room in the pottery village of La Borne, about 30 minutes drive from Bourges in the very centre of France.

I think we were quite brave, not to say foolhardy, to up sticks in the way that we did. There was more work to do to the house than we had bargained for - a few nasty surprises in store - and now that I compare photographs I wonder that we had the courage to take it on.

Our first task was to rip all the ivy from the front wall and to paint the house to cover the scars the ivy left behind. We changed some doors and windows around and renewed them along with their shutters. About 4 years after the move, we took down those unsightly zinc-covered doors and turned the gloomy barn end into a small showroom. We also had an interior staircase installed a few years ago.

We have a small garden behind the house and another across the road. Eleven years ago, there was rough grass and some very old fruit trees (out of sight to the right).We have a deep row of wonderful raspberries along a wall, raised vegetable beds, some rather unruly flowers and a new pond - a very small pond which we hope will help the bees in our three hives. Best of all, three years ago we made a garden room. It has been our favourite spot ever since, even when it rains.

The interior was daunting, although we weren't put off by the dirt and neglect. I am surprised to hear myself saying this as I like things to be very orderly. Electrical wires trailed everywhere, there was no bathroom and the kitchen was (how can I put this?) amazing. Behind the curtain, where my work top now is, was a bath. A pipe carried water into and out of the sink next to it. There was a wooden affair attached to the outside wall, serving as the lavatory, with plank and bucket. I won't go into further detail.

The sole source of heat in the entire house was a wood fired stove made from an oil drum. The exposed pipes helped to heat the room downstairs. We scrubbed the walls and beams and painted everything white. Quite recently, the hand made floor tiles were relaid with a damp-proof course. Formerly, they had been laid on sand and were not grouted so that there was always dust between them - and they moved, even when the cat walked over them.

The former owner lived, worked and slept in this room. You can see how the oil drum stove had blackened the beams and walls over the years. Cleaning them was one of our biggest tasks.

We have worked on improving the throwing and kiln rooms and have turned part of the attic into our bedroom and a tiny work area for me. The whole thing has been a wonderful adventure - and we haven't finished yet.

There are more pictures of our home here.

We are not even halfway through February but the cranes, which have a flight path directly over our village, are on the move. They have flown up from North Africa and are heading for their breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Russia.

Normally we see them in March and they are a sure sign that winter is over. The weather in the south has been so unusually mild that it seems the cranes have begun their journey too early.

Instead of flying in orderly V-shaped formations, they stayed quite a long while over our lane, swirling round and round and calling loudly. No doubt they were discussing their next move.

This is how the weather map looked today. We have 15 degrees in the Centre while the Pyrenees are basking in 18 degrees of sunshine.

We already have one or two primroses in our garden. Let's hope they survive the frost which is bound to follow.

Click on the pics!

For roughly twenty years, the potters of La Borne having been dreaming and planning a new ceramic centre.  Until this year, exhibitions and administration were held in the village's one-time school for girls.

There were meetings and long discussions, much of them heated, and then the foundation stone was laid last May. We had our first real idea of the design and size of the project. Some of us were disconcerted by the future building's austere appearance.

On 10th April, the new centre was opened to the public, incomplete though it was. It can be seen here, running alongside the old school.

 The association's chairman, among many others, gave a speech and we were able at last to walk the concrete floors beneath the unrelentingly bare roof beams.

Two ceramicists from other areas of France, Jean-François Fouilhoux and Jean-Luc Pinçon, were invited as the first exhibitors in this new space.

These shots show the exhibition space from each end.

Hugh showed four of his porcelain pieces in the general exhibition area where work by all 55 members of the ceramics association was on view.

The new centre also has a conference area and a shop.

Corinne, Isabelle and Michelle are responsible for administration and for receiving visitors.

At nightfall, we all returned for a display by Michel Moglia who makes music by sending fire through banks of organ pipes.

On the whole, I think it would be fair to say that many people were disappointed by the new centre which has cost several million euros and is no doubt set to change La Borne forever. Let's hope this will be for the better!

Click on the pics!

Yesterday was officially the first day of Spring. We heard cuckoos calling from the forest. Usually they arrive in mid-April.

These things were out in the warmth and dazzling light of the sun today:

A tortoiseshell butterfly sunning itself on last year's fallen leaves.  Primroses and violets.

A cyclist on the road up to La Borne. A neighbour's cat sleeping on the lintel above her front door.

And me!

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According to a German saying, the wind is a heavenly child. The wind last night and today is a child in a rage!

Most of France is on red alert with winds here in the Centre at 140 kms (90 miles) an hour.  We spent an anxious night listening to the wind rushing through trees and beating against the house.

It took a long time to drive down to the horses' fields. There were branches all over the lane which had to be cleared away.

While Bronze ate his muesli and kept an eye on us, we walked the boundaries of his field. The wind had brought down branches every few yards along the electric fence which could easily cut the current. We don't want to lose Ingeborg's beautiful stallion.

We spent some time with Bronze. He is in very good condition, always pleased to see us.

The mares enjoy their hay well away from the mud. You may have noticed that we feed them on dry ground now, rather than from the metal hay rack where the muddy ground became impossibly churned up under their hooves.

We were very concerned to find that the wind had ripped a corner off the roof of Laurent's showroom. It also dragged a flourishing honeysuckle bush off the wall, metal support and all. Fu-fu, Dalloun and Hugh discussed methods of mending the roof to keep rain away from the showroom ceiling.

After lunch, although it continued windy, the sun came out. The roof was soon given its temporary tarpaulin cover.

How many men does it take to tie on a tarp? Four: one to hold the string and shout encouragement (Dalloun), one to hold the ladder steady (Hugh), one to provide a long ladder and instructions (Fu-fu) and one to do the battening and tying (Michel) - all good neighbours.

Click on the pics!