It was on May 24th that we visited a small pottery shop in Colle di valle d'elsa. When we were in Italy in 2006 we happened upon the shop and bought two pieces which were shipped home. We quite liked the work - this isn't an industrial pottery studio like you might find in Deruta. Instead, this is a small enterprise run by a husband and wife team. They shape, decorate, and fire the pieces themselves.
Because we were so happy with our purchase we decided to return this spring. In fact, Paul declared that he would buy my anniversary gift at the pottery - anything I wanted - and have it shipped home. I liked the sounds of that!
We had no trouble finding the shop, it had expanded a bit, but was still run by the same husband and wife team. We selected the pieces we wanted and arranged for them to be delivered.
I must admit that I got a bit anxious as time passed and we hadn't had a delivery. I knew that one piece had to be made up specially for us and assumed that this would delay things. I also assumed that the company would shut down for much of August like much of Italy seems to do. Finally, two weeks ago, Paul received an e-mail from them saying that the package had been shipped by UPS and a tracking number.
We would have had it sooner but the folks at UPS were jerks. It took many calls, rants, and finally a demand to talk to a supervisor before they modified their position and agreed to deliver the pottery to my office. It came yesterday, I checked to see if the big piece was intact (picture an excited kid at Christmas time) and having decided it was, left the rest of the box for later.
Today I drove into the office to retrieve the stash. Of course, this morning I was on the phone when a colleague walked into the office, looked in the box, and proceded to open up everything and have a look. She loved our pottery, in fact, she absolutely coveted it!
I managed to rescue it from her and brought it all home without incident. Tonight, when he arrived home from work, Paul checked it all, and made sure that everything was as it should be. His comment 'I Know what you'll be blogging about tonight . . .'
He was right!
Wasn't it convenient that I had a vase full of sunflowers left over from dinner on Saturday night?
The large decrative jug was my anniversary gift. It sure says '10 years of fun, excitment, and happiness' to me. We also bought a napkin holder, a square plate, a salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar set with a carrying tray, and three decorative wall plaques. Just what I needed today after a bear of a day at work.
Jerry, how fun to get a delightful memory in the mail--makes the trip alive again. And...I am so happy that it all arrived in one piece--knowing full well the disappointment when it doesn't. Enjoy your treasures!
Posted by: Jane | September 09, 2008 at 11:07 PM
Gorgeous pieces!
Posted by: Cindy Ruth | September 10, 2008 at 12:13 AM
Beautiful! The colours are impressive!
Posted by: Sandra Ree | September 10, 2008 at 04:04 PM
Jane - I hear you! Your experience worried me a greta deal but we were OK. Happily your trials have a happy ending.
Thanks Cindy Ruth and Sandra!
Posted by: Jerry | September 10, 2008 at 09:25 PM
Lovely pieces, Jerry! Well-worth waiting for.
I think that's roughly what I'll be looking for when I go ceramic shopping. I love the beautiful blue background with the happy yellow sunflowers.
Posted by: sandrac | September 11, 2008 at 01:09 PM
Sandra - I hope that you have great luck hunting for pottery when you're in Umbria!
Posted by: Jerry | September 12, 2008 at 09:10 PM