Visit to Dragon Kiln Pottery

Only a few days after returning to Singapore I was invited to join friends on a trip to a rather unusual place-in Singapore at least.

                                                                                                              In the western part of the island down an almost rural track  lies an 84ft dragon, well a dragon kiln anyway, at the Thow Kwang pottery jungle. Built in the 1940s this is the only dragon kiln now left in Singapore and was used to fire ceramic products for many years. It fell into disuse but was saved from demolition by enthusiasts and brought back to life in 2001.

 The kiln is heated by the traditional method of  burning fire wood and when I arrived a huge pile had been collected to be fed into the 'dragons head'

The heat from the intense fire then travels up through the dragons body snaking up behind the head and this is where the ceramic products are placed for 'firing'

 The side entrances to the kiln are sealed up once the ceramics have been placed inside

 The pottery jungle site is aptly named as there was pottery everywhere, some stacked for sale, some looking abandoned lying on the ground

I browsed the huge sales area which had a wide selection of goods on offer, I was a little disappointed to find that most of the pottery for sale was made elsewhere, mainly in China it seemed. There was everything from fabulous garden pots, huge beautifully decorated platters, vases, dining services and lots of ornaments and statues

 Some things were peculiar and some downright ugly. There were plenty of Chairman Mao statues..

      and figurines from Chinese mythology                                     

and Buddhist and Hindu icons

...plenty of light bases

finally I found a shelf of vases that had been made at this pottery, all quite 'rustic' and heavy looking 

 Before leaving I bought a vase that I will give as a gift for friends who have recently married, it's not been made at the dragon kiln pottery but hopefully they will like it. I forgot to buy something for myself but that gives me a good excuse to return to this fascinating place. 

Mountains and flowers and friends and family

Whilst being back in the UK I was lucky to have time to fly to Geneva and spend a few glorious days walking in Samoens

The alpine meadows were full of flowers

 and the views fabulous with snow capped mountains peeping above the clouds

 We were delighted to see several marmots 

 We stopped to eat our packed lunch at the Refuge Alfred Wills, not yet open for the summer season.  At first we couldn't find the signpost to show our route but whilst searching found it lying behind one of the huts! After a bit we managed to work out which way we should go

 Higher up we reached an area of snow and carefully started crossing it, it was quite slippery...

               but we got down safely and sunbathed for a while at some lovely little chalets with the cows dozing in their field below

The following day PD and I had slightly achey legs so picked a more gentle walk than yesterday's steep 17km circuit. We drove to Col du Joux Pane and walked to the tiny little Chapelle de Jacquicourt  

 Once a year a service is held here, the rest of the time it waits patiently enjoying the view

 Again we saw plenty of flowers, little violas

 and wild orchids

On our way down we stopped to admire the incredible view of Mont Blanc in the distance and the village of Samoens in the valley below

On our last morning we had time for a bike ride along the river before flying back to the UK

 I had a lovely evening meeting up with my old work colleagues, hearing their news reminded me what a brilliant but stressful job health visiting can be 

A few days later it was my mother's birthday and with my brother, sisters we visited Wisley again somewhere I hadn't visited in a long while  

 I particularly liked this sculpture

 By now my four weeks back in Europe was up, it was time to return to Singapore and to get ready for the in-laws visit

Just one last look at the beautiful english countryside from my mother's house

Family, friends and a very Welsh wedding

They say that time flies when you're having fun and this has certainly been true over the last few weeks which has been jam packed with family, friends, a wedding and a trip to the Alps.

 Papa T and I flew back to the UK in mid May, he for work, me for fun luckily. First stop was to Papa T 's family; little can beat sitting in an english garden on a beautiful summer's day... 

.....although a walk in the woods on a summer's evening was pretty good too

particularly when you come across such handsome creatures as these...

We then had a few days in London, Papa T working of course whilst I had time to for sightseeing and to catch up with friends. I can't remember the last time I was a 'tourist' in London, it really is a great city

After a lovely supper at Brasserie Zedel and to BT's surprise I had tickets to see Book of Mormon, which although very rude and  irreverent was hugely entertaining, we loved it

We discovered that our hotel was almost next door to where Papa T had first lived when he moved to London in 1980-Toc H House in Trinity Square. It's thanks to him living here that he and I met but that's another story.

I spent a couple of nights with BT and was pleased to plant up a few tubs for her and her housemates to enjoy on their large balcony. I also bought them some sunflower seeds so they can hold a growing competition which I hear is progressing well

Having waved poor Papa T off again back to Singapore I joined the family on the way up to Wales for the wedding of the year. On route we stopped off for tea with old friends who live very close to the Shropshire-Welsh border and admired their beautiful garden whilst catching up

My sister JN, Mother and I stayed overnight at a delightful B&B and the following morning had a stroll along the nearby Shropshire Union canal 

A canal boat holiday sounds very relaxing but this chap seemed quite stressed trying to turn his boat around in such a small area

Next stop was the impressive Ruthin Castle where we were staying for my brother and his beautiful Welsh bride's wedding. The wedding guests where starting to arrive ready for the wedding weekend.

Majestic peacocks patrolled the lovely castle grounds

The bride to be and her father relaxing in the Library

In the evening everyone gathered in the Italian Garden and the partying started

My brother and his lovely daughters

The following morning; and only a few hours before the wedding, our groom led a party of walkers to the top of Moel Famau for the wide reaching views-sadly completely obscured by thick clouds! However the very windy walk worked wonders in blowing away the remains of the previous nights excesses!

 On getting back to the hotel and smartening ourselves up it was time for the main event-the wedding, held in small chapel in Pentrecelyn with the bride's sister as bridesmaid and the groom's daughters as the most glamorous best 'wo'-men that I have ever seen

The ceremony was in English and Welsh, including the hymns and the vows

The very happy bride and groom 

After the ceremony we gathered back at the castle, this and the peacocks providing perfect background for everyone's photographs 

A very happy father of the bride making his speech

By this time in the proceedings the wine had been flowing and I stopped taking photos and just enjoyed the happy occasion, I feel very lucky to have such a lovely new sister in law join our family.