A little test!

I'm trying out a new feature on Facebook where you can use the 'embed' function on your business page to add a link to your blog with minimum fuss. Now I know there are the techi types out there who already know how to do this, my ex-husband for one. Hi, if you are reading this!! :-) However, the key thing here is the 'minimum fuss' for those of us who don't have a degree in software engineering and quite frankly would rather be creating our own designs than fighting with tech.

So here goes. If all works well you should see a link that goes back to my Facebook page and be able to like and comment on it. If you can see it I would really appreciate if you would like and comment saying that you have followed the link from my blog, otherwise I can't really be sure that I'd done it right and I rarely get things right on the first attempt (or the second for that matter) when it comes to tech!

I'm going to link a photo of one of my mother's paintings because it's my current favourite.

Post by Ty Siriol Ceramics & Crafts.

Somehow this doesn't look right but we'll see. If it didn't work then we'll have 'test part 2' at some point! 

Cath xx
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics

Craft fair: sneak peeks!

I'm going to be in Abergavenny Art and Craft fair again this Thursday. I'm looking forward to this one more because I know what to expect this time. We have booked a double table as we found that we were very cramped last time. We have 3 main sections to our stall, ceramics, paintings and crocheted goods. I'm also thinking of adding a small section for Christmas themed gifts. I wonder if it's too early but then I'm surprised at how many Christmas things I've already sold online.

I thought I'd give you an idea of what we will have on our stall. So here are a few examples of the ceramics that will be there. (Unless of cause they are bought online first! Website links are at the bottom of the post.)

My signature piece, the leaf bowls. These are suitably autumn themed.

A ceramic garden plaque for the green fingered member of your family.

'Time to drink Champagne and dance on the table' 

Ty Siriol's handmade and hand painted ceramic ring dish.

My mother's work is showcased in the Art section of our stall. She's a talented lady so I urge you to check her out. I'm working on trying to convince her to make prints of some of her pieces but she's a stubborn lady! Here, check out some of her work.

Wild flowers and butterfly silhouette.

Beautiful snowscape in oils.

Love birds silhouette. My favourite of the silhouette range.

The other section of our shop is the crochet section. We are going to be focusing more on this section at the next fair as autumn is most definitely in the air now. I'll be wearing my gauntlets to keep my fingers warm enough to do some crochet if it's quiet early on.

A ripple wrap shawl in peacock colours of blues and greens.

Crocodile stitch gauntlets. I'll be wearing mine to keep warm on the stall!

Triangular shawl in grey and white sequinned yarn. Beautifully soft.

Infinity cowl. I have several different colours available. See the Etsy link below.

Ripple scarf in midnight blues.

For those of you who saw me at the last craft fair, the scarf in midnight blue (above) is the one that I was making behind the stall. :-) It would make a fab Christmas gift... if I can bare to part with it!

Talking of Christmas... yes, I know, it is early but as I said above I've been getting Christmas orders for some time now. So here are a few Christmas things that will be on the stall for the next few months.

Box set of Christmas tree hangings. 'Peace', 'Love' and 'Joy'.

Christmas stockings with hook for hanging.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, with hook for hanging.

Santa nibbles dish.

So that was a sample of what we have to offer on our stall at the Abergavenny Art and Craft fair this Thursday (2nd Thursday of each month). If you are local and can pop by then please come and say hi. It's always lovely to meet you all in person. 

All this talk of ceramics has reminded me that I have to go and see Kenny (my kiln) and see what delights (or disasters) he holds for me today. It's like Christmas all year round with Kenny! :-) 

Thank you for reading my blog.
Cath xx

www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics 

Gluten free in Weymouth

Over the bank holiday weekend the Ty Siriol Clan went to Weymouth in a motorhome. It was the first time I've ever spent a reasonable amount of time there and I think I might have fallen in love with the place, well nearly. 

For those of you who don't know I have coeliacs disease and cannot eat gluten (wheat, barley and rye). It is always a challenge to find places out that are safe to eat. Even if the meal wouldn't normally contain gluten there are many tricks that the catering industry use that add it artificially. Did you know that pre-grated cheese bought in by caterers is dusted with flour to stop it from sticking to itself and keep it looking nice? Often the flour used is wheat so unless the cheese is freshly grated I can't even eat that! 

Anyway, back to Weymouth and what I have found out about where coeliacs can eat. 

First we stayed in a delightful campsite in Portesham, Portesham Dairy Farm Campsite where we were self-catering. It was a no frills site with a shower block and kiddies play area. There are plenty of hardstandings with hookups though for the campers out there. The place was spotless and the shower blocks were immaculate. Even though there was no bar onsite, we were only about 250yds from the nearest pub. The good thing about no bar on site is of course that it is peaceful. This site seemed to attract young families like us and L'il Miss Ty Siriol had plenty of friends to run around with. I was really impressed with this site and will definitely be going back in the future. 

Ty Siriol Clan temporary residence.

 If you would like more details about Portesham Dairy Farm Campsite then please check out their website and let them know where you found them. 
porteshamdairyfarm.co.uk/

The downside of going in a motorhome is that it is also used as our car and we have to pack up every time we go somewhere. It can also mean that narrow lanes and parking are an issue. Mr Ty Siriol did exceptionally well though. Our solution to this in Weymouth was to use the new park and ride. At only £3.50 for the day and bus returns included for up to 7 people I thought it was a bargain.

Finally I made it into Weymouth. Then my anxieties about what I could eat started to set in. 
 

Weymouth front from the Sea life tower.

The first day I took my lovely (Not!!) gluten free sandwiches with me. The bread is passable if you can warm it up, toast it or dip it in soup but none of these are really feasible when you go out. I dare not make a mistake with my diet as I get so ill and can have anaphylactic reactions so I either find/take something safe or go without. Still, at least the menus and staff all spoke English. I haven't tried gluten free overseas yet as I'm too chicken.

We did our usual thing and go online to check out the Coeliac UK website. Turns out that we now have to pay to use their site! That's new. 

We did some more searching and found a few recommendations. The first one we tried was 'The Old Harbour Fish and Chips'. I really miss fish and chips so off we went. I have to say that the food was gorgeous there but don't expect it to be cheap. Gluten free is ALWAYS a lot more expensive, but this was my treat. Surprisingly, batter is the one thing that we all agree tastes better when it's gluten free, it's a lot more crispy. This place had an area for eating in and I really can't fault the service. We were treated like royalty. I really did enjoy eating there and will go back again. So I had my first victory in Weymouth and was starting to feel better about my diet. 

The Old Habour Fish and Chip shop where coeliacs are catered for.

 Our second day of food hunting didn't work out quite so well. We found that Wetherspoons have a gluten free menu so we thought we'd check it out. We also needed to sit down after doing a lot of walking. We went into Wetherspoons and in front of everyone we were asked to leave. I didn't know what the problem was and then we were told that L'il Miss couldn't come in as she was under 18. This was lunch time at a seaside town! How bonkers! They turned away 3 meal orders and the pub was deserted apart from a few pensioners with coffees. 

This wasn't good. Where could I eat now?

Across the road was a Yates bar. I'm not a fan of these anyway as they are pretentious in my opinion. We still went in though as we needed a drink after being out in the sun. Mr Ty Siriol asked at the bar if they had a gluten free menu. The answer was no. So he asked if they could advise if there were any dishes on the menu that might be suitable. The guy behind the bar simply said no and went back to talking to his mate. Typical Yates service in my opinion. So for the coeliacs out there, Yates are not an option as they can't even be bothered to talk to you.

We were all getting grumpy and hungry by now so I suggested that they eat without me. Mr Ty Siriol, bless him, said no, we were going to find something as it was my holiday as well. 

We turned a corner and found the most amazing stall just after. They were selling cakes that were suitable for as many people as possible. There were gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, fat free and your usual cakes. I had just found heaven. Let me introduce you to Henni's Sweet Treats. 

Please note that the phone number is now 01305 319930/07731 594182.

 Their website is: www.hennissweettreats.com

The gentleman was a little shy and hid from the camera.

Any array of gluten free cakes and sandwiches (made to order).

The owner was very knowledgeable about dietary needs and very helpful. I also have other food allergies that he was able to advise about. Henni's Sweet Treats also holds a certificate for passing the strict gluten free guidelines. He was telling me how they have to send off samples to be tested in the lab in order to get this status and that by the end of the year all gluten free caterers will have to do the same. I wonder though if this means that even less places will try to cater for us?

I bought a large piece of chocolate cake and the price was really good. I would expect to have paid more for normal home cooked cake let alone gluten free. Please check out Henni's Sweet Treats if you are in Weymouth. They also have stalls in Cowbridge, nr Cardiff, and in Bridgend and Poole. 

I walked off feeling very pleased with myself and we ended up in another Wetherspoons. I checked out their pathetic menu and the only proper meal (without having things deducted from your meal but still paying full price) I could eat was a jacket potato with tuna. (Remember, cheese is a no no.) But I didn't care because after my jacket spud I tucked into my cake while still sat at the table. If they won't cater for me properly, despite putting themselves on the coeliac UK website, then I will eat outside food at their tables. I was willing to pay for their food afterall if they bothered to live up to their statement. One snack on a whole menu (that might be contaminated) does NOT mean that they are allergy friendly. 

So all in all I found Weymouth to be a mixed bag with regard to eating out. I will still go back as it's a lovely place. At least next time I know I can have fish and chips, GF sandwiches and cake without being ill. Other than that I can always fall back on a jacket potato in a cafe and a very sweet coffee for some energy. 

Not all our weekend was food hunting, in case you wondered. We also spent a day at the Sea Life Centre, which we all really enjoyed. We went up the Sea Life Tower, even though Mr Ty Siriol is afraid of heights. I loved the shops around the harbour and mooching through the Bazaar and galleries. And lets not forget the gorgeous beach with it's yellow powdery sand. L'il Miss had a wonderful time on the the bouncy castles, trampolines etc. We didn't get to see Punch and Judy this time and I spared the donkeys from having to carry me! There is so much there that I must go back to see it all. I should add as well that Weymouth is flat so it's ideal for anyone who has mobility issues or young children in pushchairs. 

I'll leave you now with some pics. 

At the beach.

The Sea Life Centre, Weymouth

Jelly fish under UV light. Why? Because it's so cool!!!

Me digging myself into yet another hole!! Oh, and my attempt at building the Sphinx!

Cath x
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics 

The first craft fair for Ty Siriol at Abergavenny Art & Crafts Fair.

I've wanted to do a craft fair for years but have been putting it off for ages for the fear of not being able to guarantee being well for the day. Unfortunately, I'm not even able to guarantee being well on my wedding day next day and at the moment I'd say it's 50/50. However, I'm not going to get any better so I bit the bullet and went for it any way. 

I choose to start off slowly so I opted for a local craft fair in Abergavenny. It's on a Thursday once a month and has a very relaxed feel to it. I've been to a few of them as a customer and chatted to some of the stall holders who were kind enough to encourage to go for it. So with a great big push from Mr Ty Siriol I signed up.

Thankfully I was aware of how much work is involved behind the scenes after the many car boot sales I've done in the past. Of course, this is not a car boot so presentation was more important. My brother was kind enough to make some props for me to use on the stall. He made me some shelves and a pendant tree. It is useful having a carpenter in the family and all he charged was a few lagers, even better!! So look out for his handy work in the pics. 

I had a practise run in my dining room and set up my stall. I'm glad I did as well as I found a few problems with the set up that were fixed before the day. I have to say a huge thank you to everyone on facebook who gave me some great advice. In particular I have to thank a friend of mine, Cookie, from Cookie & Mo who was invaluable to me. Please help me show her my appreciation by popping by her facebook page and saying hi on her wall. Tell her that I sent you because I'm bossy! 
www.facebook.com/cookieandmo.uk

It's about time I showed you some pics. Here is my practise run. 

The pendant tree that my brother made for me. Isn't he wonderful!

My mock fair in the dining room. Practise makes perfect, or so I've been told!

Finally the day came. I had lots of help so a big thank you to everyone who helped out, whether it was lugging boxes, smiling at customers, or taking turns to keep L'il Miss Ty Siriol happy as it's school holidays and I didn't have a sitter. 

The stall looked like this. 

Me! Standing proudly behind my creations.

These are a selection on my mum's paintings.

Mr Ty Siriol having a well earned sit down. He lugged all the boxes for me.

 Lots of friends and family turned to to show support which was great. I felt really proud seeing all my work on display and being able to show friends and family what I do. L'il Miss Ty Siriol was very good and wanted to help out. She went shopping with Nanny for a bit and came back with lots of books. In the end it was all too much for her and I found her trying to sleep under the table. Take a look. 

L'il Miss Ty Siriol plum tuckered out.

All in all it was a good day. We had a few sales even though it was a slow day due to the summer holidays. I got through it physically and thankfully it finished at 3pm. In fact I have now signed up for the remaining Art & Craft fairs until the end of the year. Happy all around. 

Here's the link to the Abergavenny Craft fairs.  
http://www.abergavennymarket.co.uk/

Cath x
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics 

The Big Cheese Festival, Caerphilly

The Big Cheese is one of my favourite days of the year. It's a weekend long festival of all things Welsh and of course medieval as it's set in one of the greatest European medieval castles, Caerphilly Castle. Caerphilly Castle is actually the second largest castle in Britain with only Windsor Castle being bigger. 

Caerphilly Castle, Wales

If you'd like to know more about the castles history check out this link where you can find lots more impressive photographs.
www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html 


The Big Cheese Festival has lots of craft stalls from all around Wales with demonstrations in a variety of crafts, including wood carving, wool spinning on a wheel, smelting of arrow heads as well as more modern crafts. 

Wool that has been spun by hand and dyed.

Examples of tools used for smelting arrow heads or jewellery from molten metals.

There is also the obligatory funfair with all the rides and games that you can think of. That's not really my thing but L'il Miss turned out to be a dab hand at 'hook a duck'. I don't trust her yet with darts! :-)

Mr Ty Siriol's favourite part was the food festival. He loves anything food! There are so many stalls to choose from that you'll never go hungry. 

Mine and L'il Miss' favourite part of the festival was the re-enactments of medieval life and military. As well as having a medieval village set up in the castle itself there were also demonstrations of the different weapons they used and how they were trained. Boys as young as 7 years were recruited and trained to fight. Mock battles between rival tribes were re-enacted followed by demonstrations of different swords and later on, muskets and canons. Yes, they fired a cannon for us! L'il Miss didn't like the loud noise much though. After the demonstrations we were free to go and talk to the musketeers and swordsmen, and even hold some of the weapons! 

Re-enactment of a battle between tribes. Note the dead lying on the ground.

Cooking dinner on an open fire in the medieval village at Caerphilly Castle

L'il Miss Ty Siriol ready for battle!

Family life in the medieval village at Caerphilly Castle

Mrs Ty Siriol going into battle. Maybe I need to work on the camouflage?

Mr Ty Siriol ready to protect his clan! My hero!

Master John demonstrating the musket. In the foreground is the canon!

Demonstrating the long sword and hand canon.

It was a fantastic day out and there really is something for everyone. As over 80,000 people attended last year I do however recommend that you use the park and rides (there are several of them) rather than try to park in the town. The park and ride was free last time I used it. In fact the event itself is free! Maybe I should have mentioned that sooner. 

I'm now looking forward to the next date in my calendar, the Caerphilly Medieval Christmas market. Another one not to be missed and what little one wouldn't want to see Santa in such a gorgeous setting? Link below for more info.
www.visitcaerphilly.com/events/item/70823/Caerphilly_Medieval_Christmas_Fayre.html?

That's all from me for now. I hope you enjoyed the review and maybe I'll see you at the next event?

Cathy x
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics