More photo's here from the lovely Sandrine, I'm loving these, they give a real feel of how it is round here most of the time although it's rare I ever decorate a table quite so well!

I've slowly started adding some of them to the website and have settled to the fact that the website is always going to need work, as the work is always developing.

This week I've hard a few hours to play with my jugs! I've been exploring a shape which is more like a decanter and have a few samples I'm happy with, as always, I'll add photo's when finished.

Whilst she was here Sandrine also did a series of shots in the house which was kind of her. Really interesting to see my house through some else's eye's.

And Bill was around to oversee all proceedings, he's around mornings and evenings and has enjoyed raspberries whilst they have been in season.

And now? Well September is a busy month with orders and shows coming up. I'm pleased with how the work is progressing though and the contacts we're making. Lots of visitors to the studio and I'm getting sorted on what is 'stock' and what's commission only. That's going to help manage the space we have available to store work. 

This morning I ran with my friend who helped me do photo's last summer, some of the first we tried to take and I honestly thought that was two years ago - I remember thinking at the time it would be good if I could get a photographer to photo the products here at Sytch Farm and a year later Sandrine arrived! I know there's more photo's to come and I can't wait.

I've been playing with glazes, again, and above are two little dishes I'm in love with at the moment, I let two glazes blend into to each other. I've tried this before but the difference this time was keeping both of them really thin and man! I'm keeping these two, they look like abstract paintings!

I finally got to meet the lovely Sandrine who visited us this week. We spent an afternoon and morning together setting up shoots and layouts, she worked fast and instinctively, reacting to light, props and opportunities as they arose, some beautiful images came out of it and I can't wait to see her final pictures. The picture above is one of her's., below are snaps I took whilst she was working.

And there's more images to come. Her photography will hopefully really lift the appearance of our website and give people an idea about how the products can be used and appear, it's like the last missing link really.

And I'm starting to understand how the website needs to work, we can't put every product on there in every glaze as it's simply to much. I think we're going to look at working with more of a limited range for the buy now shop and encourage people to order bespoke so they can have exactly what they want. 

That why everything is available, just on a time scale which will depend on the time of year or orders waiting. 

Writing this waiting for some dinner guests to arrive and looking forward to a relaxing evening, first test run of the pizza oven! Not pizza though, shoulder of lamb on a grill rack Jon welded together today, I'll add photo's later.

My mum will be pleased to know I've had a night off as we booked ourselves into Hampton Manor as a treat whilst delivering the last of their order.

Above was our room, it was huge and so well thought out, massive bed, beautiful bathroom and lots of thoughtful additions. I would really recommend staying here.

Even a cute map of the 46 acres that belong to the hotel which your free to roam round on your visit, beautifully designing by Fjona, the wife of MD James, a lovely lady. We really enjoyed meeting Fjona and discussing the future plans for the hotel.

And dinner, we had a treat for dinner and made our way through the Taster Menu, delicious, inventive and in a room which was so beautifully decorated and relaxing. We were in heaven!

Above bread, warm, fresh and so tasty, so here's the dishes, I can't remember the names for all of them but each one was fab.

Starting with a muse bouche, you can tell me if I've spelt that wrong, in my bowl,

followed by Heirloom Tomato, Burrata and Basil, a truly tasty dish, my cut and altered dish,

Organic Salmon, cucumber, horseradish with lemon and dill,

Then, Foie Gras with Sweet and Sour onion and bacon,

followed by Wild Turbot, cauliflower, orange and Iberia ham,

And on to the duck dish where they even supplied the Laguiole knives, we visited the little town in France where these are made a few years ago.

Muscovy Duck, Lavender, carrot and golden raisins, I was struggling by now even though the portions were taster menu size, the flavours were incredible!

so onto desserts, Passion Fruit, white chocolate 'aero' and liquorice,

Hazelnuts and chocolate on my plate,

And finally, on another one of my plates, Strawberries with tarragon and buttermilk and yes by now I was stuffed!

Needless to say we had very little for breakfast. It was such a beautiful place, the foods incredible, all the decor is inspiring, all the staff were superb. I'm booking to go again. It was such a buzz too to be served on our products and in speaking to the staff to know how much they love them. 

I throughly enjoyed the day James brought the team over to meet us at Sytch Farm and design the pieces they wanted, a brilliant experience to see the finished dish.

And after a great night away we're back to work. This week I'm finishing another order for The Hand of Flowers, owned by Tom Kerridge and a restaurant in Harrogate, The Wild Plum. Also getting ready for Carfest next weekend, and hopefully getting a little more on top of stock supplies.

I'm also excited as Gill from River Cottage has received a selection of pieces for photography for a new River Cottage book, can't wait to see how they use them. 

Still pinch myself, how did all this happen! 

That's it! Schools out for summer and hopefully forever for me, got my card, flowers and nice words today. From here it's 100% pottery work. How mad is that! 

To start the ball rolling I've been testing new glazes. Lots of people asking for pinks and purples so trying one out, also a glossy blue which breaks into a light mauve colour.  A few more tests before we'll make decisions. 

 It's great to be able to work outside right now, to be able to enjoy the days weather. I find myself starting a little later in the day after a bit of gardening, and finishing later too as the warmth of the day hangs around. 

Finishing off a few big orders right now, waiting on the 'go' on another one and over excited to be asked for products for a photo shoot for the next River Cottage cook book. :) #happydays

The lovely James from Kiln Care is with me this morning looking at both kilns, one is firing too high and the other needs a few new elements fitting, he's cracking on with all of that forcing me to do something else on a Monday morning!

So I've been picking fruit and flowers instead, a nice way to spend a few hours.

But not for long, James is done, on his way and I need to load the kilns, prep the clay and start throwing, a small break, but a break no less!

After months of playing myself with photography we finally got the professionals on board. These are some of the first images by Sandrine, look at her work at www.sandrinephotography.com and also her blog littleberriesandco.com

She's going to build up a portfolio of images we can use on our shop site to show the products off better. She's also going to visit and do a series of shoots at Sytch Farm. I'm really pleased about this, it's like the missing link really.

On the shop site we are limiting the amount of products that can be brought purely because of space, and time. If anyone wants to order specific pieces, plates, large bowls, cups etc then they'll go in the order book.

Jon's had an operation on his wrist but all's well. He'll be working hard once it's better to get his pizza oven finished ready for Sandrine's arrival.

We're still a little shocked at the response from the BBC Good Food Show and orders continue to arrive. This weekend is The Shrewsbury Food Festival and again we are showing there. It's been a fast year since we showed there for the first time last year.

And I'm completing my last days of teaching, after a few hours today I only have a day and a half left, then I'll be a full time potter. I'm really pleased and excited, it's been hard work and a massive learning curve. If you've never been back to the start of this blog before do so and you'll see I started it right as I was building up an idea of running a pottery business. Never imagined it would end up like this though!

We're back from the BBC Good Food Show and we had a fab time.

The response to our products was tremendous and it felt like all the hard work was worth it.

The comments we received from the organisers, the chefs  and the customers was brilliant, it really helped keep us going on days that were far too long.

I have a waiting list of orders and people wanting products and couldn't be more chuffed!

Right now though I'm shattered, think I'm losing my voice but happy, definitely happy.

To think this was my hobby, it's all down to the encouragement of lovely friends and family, especially Mel Price inviting my show for the first time two and a half years ago in her lovely Christmas Fayre and my brilliant, supportive Jon.