A very brave American lady stepped on to an aircraft somewhere in the northern U.S.A a couple of weeks ago.
She was on her way to a holiday of a lifetime here in England.
She had friended me and a couple of other carving/turning chaps on Face Book, and after a while she decided it was time to visit.
She had arranged that an old friend of mine, John.R, would take her on a guided tour of the sights of the West Country, middle and Northern England and include popping over the border into Wales.
"LAND AHOY" !
Or whatever they shout in aircraft these days...
'Meri old England'...
After John had collected Patti from London Heathrow they headed on the A303 toward the 'West Country', my home for the last 30 years or so.
At about half way Patti and John stopped off at 'Stone Henge'
Stone henge is prehistoric and dates back about 5000 years. Here is some more information...
After a tour of the henge Patti and John headed on to our home in the hills.
They arrived early evening, Sarah and I settled them down in there respective rooms and after showers for the hot travellers we all gathered round the kitchen table for a chat.
I had promised to make Patti an authentic Indian curry and so she watched me with great interest as I conjured with all manor of different spices.
My curry recipes are given to me by my great friends Tas and her sister Alefyah...
Here is a link to the recipe so you can try it yourself...
Well...Once it was cooked and served with Basmati rice and Naan bread we all tucked in. It went very quiet for a while as this curry is so delicious.
Patti declared it a great success and I think she may be a convert. I'm sure the spices required are available in the U.S...
Well after a little wine and some good conversation about carving and our different cultures we all went to bed full and happy knowing we had all made new friends...
Up early and a breakfast of strong black coffee with Irish fruit cake(well for me anyway) our intrepid travellers set off for the 'grand tour'...
Some days later and quite a few hundred miles covered with lots of exciting new places visited (John is a mine of historical information) Patti and John arrived back at our home. We feasted on Jamaican jerked beef and resumed our conversation with Patti and John telling us all about their adventure.
John and I decided to take Patti up onto Dartmoor and visit some of our more local ancient monuments.
I have mentioned Grimspound in my blog before and Patti said she would love to visit the place with both John and I conjuring up a vision of what the place might have looked like in the late bronze age period...
It takes a little while to tune your eye in but after a short while you start to discern the small stone rings that were once the dwarf walls to the teepee shaped buildings...
A little closer with the rolling hills of the Moor in the background...
Patti and John.R at one of the entrances...
After this we nipped over the road and had a look at some building remains dating from the medieval period.
We found a curious sign attached to a bridge...
And then found the reason for the sign...
Then on to Challacombe...
Here is a super link that tells the history of this thoroughly interesting area...
We then walked through some stunning scenery to have a look at the old 'Golden Dagger' mine...
Above is a view toward the old mine with the white building being the 'Warren House Inn' ...
The day was good and hot, so after all this exploring we set of for Widdecombe and a good old fashioned cream tea...
Then back to my home for a spot of carving...
Patti is a very clever relief carver and carves the most beautiful things. She has recently decided to take up spoon carving as well. Apparently it is common in America for spoonmakers to use all manor of electric tools, band saws, Dremmels and the like. Patti asked me if I could show her how to rough out a spoon blank with an Axe.
I sharpened up the old Roselli and we set to. Patti is a determined woman, but at first she had quite a difficult time conversing with the Axe god. We had a great afternoon practising and I filled her head with all sorts of advice...
I seem to remember we had a good roast that night and of course great conversation about carving techniques and stories of travel...
The next morning I knew would be our last with Patti and we sat together chattimg and carving in the conservatory...
It came time for her to go ...
She had taken a liking to one of my 'Ale hens', so we did a trade, and now the hen lives with her in the northern U.S.A...
Patti has gone home now... But she is trying hard with the Axe work still, and enjoying every challenge...
Her first home grown Axe hewn spoon blank...
We all had such a great time.
I have met quite a few people from Face book and other social media sites. Chris Grant, the chap who makes such wonderful knives, the MaChris being one of them, and my great friend Sean Mulhall who has taught me so much in the time we have spent together.
I guess what I am trying to say is, there are some super people out there and I have been tremendously lucky to meet some of them in their adventure called...
'Life'...
Enjoy...
Jx