battered and rattled

I was about to go and garden, when I received a call to say that The Carpenter had been knocked off his bike....off to the nearest side of Cardiff, where , as he'd ridden his bike from one road across to the second exit of a roundabout...a car going from the outside lane of the first exit,  caught him broadside.

The driver was quite solicitous and hung around until he was loaded into an ambulance (along with his bike!)  As the policeman turned to find him he'd walked away and was driving off without leaving his details.

Would you assume that that was fine to do, when you've knocked a cyclist over, damaged his  bike and he is being taken off to hospital bleeding very nicely? Especially with the police in attendance as well.

Five hours later we left the hospital, with bumps and grazes in all sorts of places and a well stitched ear upon which he had slid along the road after bouncing off the bonnet of the car . The bike was still in the police secure store at the hospital where a paramedic had put it, as the hospital security couldn't get in there!
First we had to pay £2.20 to leave the car park- we were within minutes of being charged double that!!
Then to say "hello and goodbye" to The Wizzard who'd been playing polo with his team from Manchester, before they headed back North.

Home for lunch at teatime.       What a day.    We're so glad that we'd renewed our British Cycling memberships and gone for the highest "gold" level.....full insurance and free legal work if needed...didn't expect to need it so soon!

busy week

On Monday the sheep heads were done bright and early. Which is more than can be said for the weather...it was foggy and chill, so I went by the steep lanes from Risca via Lisvane to St Ffagan.
It was still cloudy when I finished there, but gradually lifted as I drove home, then suddenly by Risca...sunshine!!
The kiln was ready so the glaze firing started by 1.30pm!

The Carpenter had ridden well in the Bristol Polo tournament, his team coming 8th(?) which was a good result. He has a few scrapes and bruises and a nasty cold as souvenirs, therefore a lift to work was deserved on Tuesday morning! On to finish the sheep, and that is sheep making finished for now until more stock is needed. At least the day wasn't so grey as Monday and again the sun came out as I reached home!

Kiln unpacking was a little disappointing, as the new black glaze turned out a dark brown. An interesting dark brown...so this needs working on. Perhaps I underfired a little in trying not to overfire as I did on the previous glaze firing. The new red just isn't working which meant mixing a batch of the usual red glaze.

Packing for the next firing started straight away! The platters are in this time! Hopefully the old red glaze will test ok, and the last firing will be mostly red!

Today the kiln went on as dawn broke, still misty, to the sound of birds singing. The traffic noise soon drowned that out, but it was lovely to start with. The mist is hanging on, but with any luck it will lift later. Tredegar (fifteen miles away) was the hottest place in Britain yesterday, at 15 degrees C ! I'm itching to get back on the allotment, but firing the kiln comes first.