Memories for Flower Friday

It developed into what looks quite a pleasant day today but still feeling grotty with this cold, 'flu, virus, bug, whatever, I decided not to push my luck and to stay inside. Having cut up a load of meat for the freezer and baked some bread I decided to relieve possible boredom by messing about with the camera. Remembering it's Friday I thought I'd call on some miniature artificial flowers.

The little black pot is little more than an inch high and comes from a village called Marginea in the Romanian Bucovina, famous for its unique black pottery (we've got several larger ones). The little pottery flowers are cream and blue.

Porcelain collectors might recognise the other vase as Belleek from Ireland. I bought it for my mother when on an extraordinary Press trip in 1970 or '71 during which the Irish Export Board ferried three of us in a Mercedes limousine over a few days between quite a few bars with, of course, Guinness and Irish whisky, and the occasional stop in some factories and tourist spots. Surprisingly I did manage to write quite a good feature - they knew how to organise Press trips in those days. I've loved Ireland ever since. The vase is cream; the shamrocks are green of course. The miniature artificial roses are pink but nothing to do with the Belleek.

As I said, messing about, so decided to make it sepia.