Another weird week at Larkswold

Sometimes I can’t tell you how much I love our tutors; what wonderful people they are etc etc. BUT then you go to ask one of them if they can do a new date 📅 in the summer and they send you their amazing ‘I’m clearly sat in a wonderful sunny Mediterranean beach cove with gently rippling turquoise water followed by a mouth watering crushed pineapple 🍍 cocktail’.

In these situations at 6.45am in the morning when they have no right to be awake let alone sunning themselves in a holiday paradise NO I do not love you Tracy ‘I’m the best leather worker’ Faulkner- sometimes you go to the bottom of the favourite people list 😜…. But seeing as you do undoubtedly deserve it; enjoy ☺️

Back here Emma and I have been acting like big kids (so business as usual) at the wonderful Cheltenham Science Festival. It really does tick a lot of boxes for me. When I was younger I loved building set designs for school plays and quite often day-dreamed about being a window dresser for a fancy London department store (in between wanting to travel with an international orchestra but my flute 🪈 playing didn’t quite hit the mark.) Anyway- the science festival allows me to bring out my papier mache/ plaster of Paris skills as well as letting my imagination run wild with ideas to create something eye catching to attract the youth of today to come over and play at our stands in the makershack.

The competition is tough with Dyson making marble runs, Duracell and their Duracell bunny (mistaken by many children to be the Easter Bunny) and Gloucestershire College making slime!

But did any of them have a giant plaster of Paris moon and an even bigger 3D wooden sun????? No, and neither did we at one point when the moon kept popping whilst covering it with the plaster of Paris and then I might have underestimated its size and we had to squash it down to fit it in the boot to transport it to the show!

All the challenges on the way just make the annual show more exciting and it’s like coming home when you enter on Monday to set up and see Helen and Kelly the event mangers and friendly faces that volunteer their time like the wonderful Dave, Chloe and Declan.

"Science is joy that every child needs to master. It teaches us how to think and how to approach problems creatively."

For much of my life I have worried/ struggled to fathom why I just don’t see some of the obvious solutions that others do and I am bemused that others can’t see the ‘obvious to me’ routes I would take. I can confirm that Em seriously could not see that we needed to build our 3D structures (and let’s face it- she’s nearly always right). For me I have learnt so much about 3d structure, whilst working with plaster of Paris and been inspired to ponder how I can improve my structural integrity and technique for the next project.

As I write this we have already enjoyed 3 successful days at the festival. Too many adults have come to reminisce about their love of Spirograph as a kid whilst having-a-go/helping their students create Spirograph sun bursts and so many children have created wild and wonderful clay craters to adorn the surface of our sun and moon. We are here until 5pm on Sunday so make sure you get yourself over here.

All this joy, friendship, and hustle have helped keep me going during a difficult week. I’d like to say a personal thank you to so many of you wonderful Larkswold lovelies who sent such kind, heartfelt words of condolences for the sad loss of Pip, our dog. She was a big puppy personality who gatecrashed many workshops and won the hearts of many a guest. Maybe not so much when she had run through the river to cool down and then jumped through the open doors during a yoga class! And not when she came to play when we were are knitting with the giant balls of wool! You will be missed, Pip Pickle Nicholds-Brown. ♥️

Many of you come to the studio with heavy hearts or life trials, and we are honoured every single time to welcome you with warmth and friendship and shower you with a little loveliness for a few hours.

Our latest two offerings do not fail to do just that. We have talked about Cecily from Siblings Gin a few times, and the dates are finally in the diary:

Gin Blending - August 18th

Wine & Cheese Pairing - October 19th

We also have Hannah from Highgrove coming to deliver a Goldwork & Beaded Bee Brooch Workshop on 26th October which we know is already getting phenomenal interest and if it’s not already booked out by our other tutors wanting to have a go you might just get a spot.

Enjoy your weekend, and see you soon.

M