Welcome to the Cotymog Shed Blog
Colourful words along artful lines. Welcome to our blog, where Mary will be sharing news, stories, and insights into the world of Cotymog Shed. Here you'll find updates straight from the studio and garden, tales from the past, and a peek into the inspiration behind Marys work.
WARNING: As the editor is a bit of a muggins, ie not very techie, you may find some repetition and deviation, but little hesitation, on these pages…
Fresh News from the Studio
We plan to bring you fresh news here, straight from the studio, the garden, and suppliers, as well as stories from the past, ancient and modern... in fact, anything we think might interest you.
We hope you have had a very happy relaxing Christmas. We have been lucky to have family here, cooking for us !!
Other members have flown off to Roatan, off the Honduran coast, and we’ve seen their poor depleted bodies stranded on the beach or being surrounded by the detritus of feasting and drinking. Still others, not so fortunate and poorly with it, have taken themselves off to stay with in-laws and be well-looked after! Much food has been eaten and wine consumed, but the kitchen still resembles the aftermath of
the Feeding of the 5,000!
We are so very fortunate.
We are also honored and delighted by the arrival of green parakeets in our garden. We thought they must migrate up here daily from ponds on the Heaton Mersey common…but now it appears that they’re nest hunting in our cedar tree. They also adore our golden crabapple tree, as do tiny finches and tits , blackbirds, magpies and the squirrels.
It is terrific to welcome a branch of our favourite bird family to our northern garden, especially for Christmas! When they’re flying into the ☀️, their wings light up from below and are truly golden underneath.
[Hedgehog house appears to be un molested. Hopefully we’ll have a resident 🦔 one day]
Meanwhile, enjoy your New Year!
Wow! Apparently over 100 of you, dear readers, have visited this site since it opened at the beginning of August! Thank you so much for your support. 🤗
And if you know anyone who might enjoy it too, please pass its details on.
The first Cotymog interview with Vanessa Jones has been much enjoyed by you.
A 2nd interview was posted in early October with Mary’s hand mulling paint designers, Reg and Emma, from Devon, who gained some traction from you and others.
And then we brought you Heidi Knight, potter, also from North Devon, with a tantalizing glimpse of her Japanese-inspired wares.
And now we bring you Joy in December!…Her lovely expressive work is this month’s ⭐️ attraction!…
We’re still trying to work out how to archive the interviews.
If you have any hints on how we might achieve that, please do tell!
Art, Books, and stuff
Scarf for Dementia UK, weighing in at 56”, awaiting its laterally tassles…
I mentioned Art, Books, and stuff. Well, for us, stuff encompasses other things, including Food and Film.
As we’re concentrating on Light and Love, for a change, remember, we have a truly JOYful arty piece for you this month!
Meanwhile, bear in mind that STUFF also includes science. You thought we were all about Art? Well, we spoke last month about Science and Maths in Science, with Prof Kit Yates, whose first article at www.livescience.com appeared last month.
Kit is the author of several books on Maths in everyday life. Available in bookshops and online, you’ll find his writing full of amazing info about ourselves, our bodies, and our lives.
Do check him out. Kit’s is a voice of reason in our mad wilderness…you can find his input on all social media, and especially on Substack. Hands up how many of you also read Substack? As well as Kit Yates, ex New York Times journalist, Anand Giridhiradas speaks Truth to US. You’ll find many other worthwhile contributors there too, as well as wonderful writers like Elif Shafak.
While we’re on the topic of books, I’ve just read Susie Dent’s GUILTY BY DEFINITION. If you love the history and beauty of words, you’ll surely enjoy this intricate piece of detective fiction, set in Oxford.
[ We’re still only halfway through RIDERS, Ilana and Sue! There’ll be plenty of time towards the end of Dec for a catch-up!]
As for Art, all we’ve managed to do this month is a set of tiny Christmas cards of garden animals, on sale at Bud Garden Centre in Burnage - or from me here at CotymogShed.com
Priced at £5 for a pack of 5 (+ envelopes) they are just under 100 mm square, painted with Reg and Emma’s watercolours (@ArtScribe) and printed onto card by our local printer, Simon at logo2print.com
Not that Mary’s been totally idle, reading, writing, cooking and stuff, always with you chaps in mind!!
Share Your Thoughts and Experiences
A World of Artful Themes
I’d love to draw you into my world, where we can explore together some of the themes which concern me, as artist, crime and historical fiction lover, ceramics collector, knitter, cook, sewer( as in someone who sews…), but speaking of food - we’ve found a new eatery on the Moor,. Called Cure Bistro, we’ve found it a soothing and happy place, kind to our pockets as well as to our stomachs!
We’re sad to see Juno go - times and tastes change and coffee shops seem to be easiest hit.
Perhaps small businesses will get a fillip in the next budget…
No harm in living hopefully, eh?!
It would be really good to hear about your similar loves/experiences, so please leave comments on the blog content as well as on my gallery pages.
Feel free to share this blog on your favourite social media.
And if any of my work grabs you, and you'd like to purchase, please let me know and we can discuss.