Blog - Page 10 of 12 - Peter Arscott

tweet of the month

July 27th, 2015/in birdbath, Blog, bowl /by Peter Arscott

greenfinch looking for a bath

Imagine you are a garden bird. It is hot, the sun is shining, worms have been eaten and you need a drink. Perched on the very top of your favourite tree, probably a Lawson cypress, you have been singing away the early morning and your throat is dry (perhaps you are a greenfinch whose song is a prolonged nasal “tswe-e-e” in the breeding season, and you are exhausted). Looking down on what the neighbouring gardens have to offer, you see no puddles because of the heat, but you spot some inviting birdbaths. Alas, on closer inspection they are either too deep for your little pink legs or full of green slime because the bowl is porous and harbours algae.

belatrova birdbath

Happily, you are attracted to a particular birdbath – a fine ceramic bowl with an attractive turquoise glaze, standing on a reassuringly solid piece of oak. The bowl tapers to a depth of three inches in the middle, and the glaze ensures there is little algae, if any. Perfect. You have a quick look at the bottom of the bowl: of course, the “b” of belatrova is embedded in the ceramic – no wonder it such a fine piece. No deeper than three inches at the center and even shallower at the edge, so that a greenfinch can ease its way in. Many birdbaths are just not shallow enough.

Some people put rocks in theirs to raise the bottom, but it will require more work to keep the water clean.

bad cat

As a greenfinch you will know where a birdbath should be located. Not where cats can hide. Cats like to lie in wait beneath shrubbery and then jump on the birds when they’re wet and can’t fly well. Consider putting your birdbath at least five feet from such hiding places. Give the birds a chance to see the cat approaching. There should also be an escape route. The ideal location is under some branches that hang down within two or three feet of the bath. A wet bird can flutter a few feet up to the safety of the leaves.

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you don’t want shoebills in your birdbath

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A birdbath on a pedestal makes it easy to see from the house, easy to clean, and somewhat safer from predators. If you locate your bath on the ground, it is important for the birds to have overhanging branches to fly to. And place it within reach of a hose – make your birdbath easy to clean and refill. But locate your birdbath away from the feeding area, because seeds and droppings will dirty the water quickly. Change the water every few days, or even every day in hot weather.

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perfect birdbath

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Don’t forget to place the birdbath where you can see it from indoors, from your desk, dining room, or the kitchen sink. Then you can enjoy the sight of a blackbird or sparrow splashing away – well, wouldn’t you want to clean your feathers and remove any parasites? it can brighten up your day.

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blackbird perched on rim of birdbath bowl

blackbird about to have a dip

belatrova’s favourite tweets (just click the bird):

blackbird

thrush

goldfinch

Ah, birdsong; nothing purer or more natural…. “even Cathy Berberian knows there’s one roulade she can’t sing.“ (Steely Dan – Your Gold Teeth)

tweet, tweet

belatrova’s Tales of the Alhambra

June 18th, 2015/0 Comments/in art, art ceramics, Blog, ceramic art /by Peter Arscott

Granada and the Alhambra from the Sacromonte

belatrova has often been drawn to Granada (blog August 2014) in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and specially to the Alhambra, the great sprawling hilltop fortress encompassing royal palaces from the Nasrid dynasty, as well as the fountains and orchards of the Generalife gardens.

view of the city from the fortress

It first became a palace in the 14th century under Yusuf 1, Sultan of Granada, in the years when southern Spain was in the hands of various Moorish dynasties. It is a spellbinding place, all ceramic tiles, wood and plaster – Islamic art at its peak.

view of Granada through Alhambra Palace window

cool inside, hot out

It stands on its hill overlooking the city and from the cool darkened interiors you can see Granada below, through ornate lattice windows, sweltering in the white light of day. It is an indoor coolness reinforced by the tile work along its walls, the lightness of the intricate plaster ceilings, the presence of water in the courtyards and the calm the architecture seems to bestow on its surroundings.

tree-like

Part of its magic is the way you are constantly made aware of nature, specifically of light and water, no matter where you are standing within the palace; either because you are catching glimpses of the exterior, the patios, the views, the distant trees, the reflecting pools, or because your eyes are absorbing the gentle reflections from the chest-high ceramic surround and the extraordinary organic plasterwork of the domed ceilings and the tree-like colonnades of random columns (they are not, of course, they artfully appear to be scattered).

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plasterwork of dome ceiling at the Alhambra

intricate and sublime

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delicate and voluptious

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The adjacent Generalife gardens also manage to maintain this fine balance of nature and architecture; no matter that you are outdoors, trees and hedges enclose you, lines of slender pillars appear and lead you into the welcoming shade of a domed space filled with mosaics. Birdsong and the sound of trickling water are all around you, and from certain vantage points, distant views of the Sierra Nevada, still snow capped, remind you of Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra and the story of how muleteers used to bring ice down to the city in great blocks.

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distant snow-capped Sierra Nevada

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toe-dipping allure of the Generalife

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Water is an essential ingredient in this manmade landscape, an important factor in the life of a culture shaped in the desserts of North Africa and so its presence is everywhere, even flowing in the stone balustrade that leads down a flight of steps to the gardens, and which allows a descending courtier or Sultan to dip his fingers in it.

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stone balustrade with water running down the middle

finger-dipping stone balustrade

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ceramic toiles and plasterwork on wall of the Alhambra

ceramic and plaster

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laberynthine plasterwork

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tiled wall

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Granada itself is a wonderful blend of medieval streets winding up to the Albaicín, gothic and baroque churches, a commanding cathedral, noisy squares filled with cafes and restaurants, fabulous ice cream parlours, incredibly helpful taxi drivers, shops brimming with blue and white ceramics, and one bar in particular that serves ice cold beer in freezing earthenware vessels (an idea germinating in belatrova’s collective mind – could this be applied to a Dry Martini?).

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ice cold in Granada

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magnolia

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belatrova resting

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The visit coincided with Granada’s Corpus Christi festival – a five day period of celebrations and religious processions. In the Plaza Bib Rambla families roamed around the square sipping drinks and watching a puppet show with their children, their young daughters dressed head to toe in their flamenco outfits.

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the courtyard of the lions

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passion flower in the Albaicín

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It was an inspirational visit, and made us want to get back to our ceramics, our birdbaths, but mostly to our tiled tables which we will be launching as part of the Bankside Studios Summer Open Weekend on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July. Please pay us a visit, and you will also get to see the work of six other makers. Hasta la vista.

Art Nouveau, hospital hygiene and ceramic spotlessness

May 17th, 2015/0 Comments/in Blog, ceramic art, design /by Peter Arscott

hospital corridor or ceramic glory

It was not because of excessive drinking and dining that belatrova paid a visit to a hospital only a few blocks from Gaudi’s famous Sagrada Familia cathedral, but as a result of our unquenchable thirst for cultural knowledge and beauty. It is yet another surprise on offer in the city of Barcelona that a masterpiece of Catalan Art Nouveau, built between 1902 and 1930, happens to have played a significant part in the evolution of medicine as well becoming a World Heritage Site.

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ribbed ceramic ceiling

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looking up from the patient’s trolley

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main lobby entrance

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The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau was founded in 1401 with the merging of six hospitals. Santa Creu, the Hospital of the Holy Cross, was right in the centre of the city but by the late nineteenth century, due to the rapid growth of Barcelona’s population and rapid advances in medicine, it became too small and thanks to the bequest of the Catalan banker Pau Gil, the first stone of the new hospital, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, was laid on 15 January 1902. In 2009 it moved to new premises built in the north-east of the precinct and the Art Nouveau site was reopened to the public, after refurbishment, in 2014.

ceramic roofs of pavilion at Sant Pau

This city within a city contains twenty seven pavilions, each one assigned a specific medical speciality and linked to the others by means of underground galleries and tunnels. Muntaner assigned an area of 145 m to each patient, including the landscaped grounds.

restful motif

What grabbed belatrova’s attention was the care taken in choosing the materials in order to create the best natural surroundings for the patients, primarily ceramics with which to clad domes, roofs, ventilation shafts, the decorative pieces and walls inside and outside the pavilions. Inside, the ceramics serve a hygienic purpose, tiles make disinfection easier, and also function as a therapeutic element. The colours of the many motifs used in the panels and mosaics combine harmoniously and convey a feeling of quiet tranquillity.

ceramic-clad tunnel link

Thanks also to the extremely high thermal stability of ceramics, which belatrovians know can be fired at a temperature of approximately 1280°C, this results in extremely solid products; and the hygienically smooth surface glaze is wear and scratch-resistant and is thus resilient to the abrasive cleaning agents that are frequently used in the sanitary facilities of public areas. Even concentrated hydrochloric acid fails to leave a mark on ceramic, but please do not try that at home.

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the garden in Sant Pau

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Sagrada Familia from Sant Pau

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clock tower and facade

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Ceramic is even resistant to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, which is why we at belatrova use it for our birdbaths so that, combined with a resilient oak plinth, they can withstand British winters or Mediterranean summers.

resilient but beautiful

Resistant to extreme temperatures, water resistant, easy to keep clean, colourful, ceramic tiles are perfect for outdoor tables.

detail of belatrova outdoor tiled table.

To reinforce our message that belatrova products are safe, hygienic, tough and practical here is a picture of a large coiled platter with some gilt headed bream about to be prepared for belatrova’s signature dish: “Besugo al horno con patatas “. Click on the left and you will be taken to a video recipe – and you can practice your Spanish at the same time.

Hasta Luego.

bream

three legs good

March 23rd, 2015/1 Comment/in Blog, bowl, ceramic art /by Peter Arscott

belatrova’s Manhattan three legged bowl

An early morning run or walk can be a way to set oneself up for the day – you are out there with the dawn chorus, a hint of Spring in the air, plans assembling themselves in your mind for the day ahead, perhaps a squirrel just out of hibernation crosses your path, you breathe in the clean air of a new day, and then, an unfamiliar experience, the earth beneath your feet is right in front of your face, greeting you painfully on the nose. You have fallen over. Looking around to make sure nobody has witnessed your collapse, you pick yourself up and limp home with whatever dignity you can muster.

bipedalism

“Human walking is a unique activity during which the body, step by step, teeters on the edge of catastrophe.” —paleoanthropologist John Napier

Just how do we two-legged creatures manage to stay upright while in motion, or even when standing still? How can we possibly keep our balance on those flippers we call feet? Come to think of it, we are rather top heavy too, so why are we not keeling over all the time? Apparently it is all to do with voluntary and reflexive, neural, muscular, and skeletal systems collectively coordinating so as to allow us to walk without a second thought. But we shall not go into that; we simply bring it up because it leads us to an important belatrovian issue that we propose to resolve here and now.

quadrupedal thing

Within the tightly knit belatrova team, harmony always prevails. No matter what the weather outside, or the music being played, or the occasional badly made cup of coffee, we all beaver away happily and get along. Tea breaks are relaxing opportunities for discussions on topics that range from underwater basket weaving to why on earth men have nipples, from the benefits of taxation in a functioning society to the lingering suspicion that chocolate may actually not be bad for one. Important subjects for debate, we agree.

However, there is one issue that consistently divides the team into two camps: the tripedalists and the quadrupedalists. Dear belatrovians, are three legs better than four? With the spirit of conflict resolution guiding us towards a hoped-for conclusion, research was undertaken and the results are the following:

Try this at home. With your hand slightly cupped, point your thumb, index finger, and middle finger upwards and then place a flat piece of card or paper on top of them. The card will lie on all three points. Now stick a fourth finger into this experiment (perhaps somebody else’s) to add another contact point. It is now a little harder to exactly fit the paper on the plane.

Conclusion – the triangle formed by the three fingertips is stable because no matter where any of the three points of the triangle lie, they will always define a plane. So, a three-legged stool is guaranteed not to wobble, because the ends of its legs always form a plane. Thus a camera tripod; no matter which height each leg is, you will get no wobble. Even on an uneven floor.

It’s much more challenging to make a four legged table whose fourth point of contact is in the same plane as the first three points. Any point that is added to that plane will make it harder for the plane to be stable. On some uneven floors it may be quite impossible for a four legged table to be stable if it gets moved about. Five or six legs would be even worse.

a perfectly balanced four legged table by belatrova

Quadrupedalistas, graciously accepting this explanation (despite some sarcastic mutterings about making three legged tables, birdbaths and lamps), have come around to the wisdom and logic of belatrova’s decision to make three legged bowls. Place one on any surface and your olives, peanuts or cheese puffs will not roll off due to wobble. What is more, the bowls carry a certain elegance that is a touch retro – 1950s perhaps?

three legged bowl

And talking of retro, MoseyHome are a new London outlet, and they are showing belatrova’s three legged bowls. Pay them a visit if you are in the area. You can also visit our “three legged” Pinterest board.

stability on legs

As for our monopods, our beautiful birdbaths, lamps and slab pots, they will be appearing in the next few months in Country Living and Garden Illustrated.

With only a month to go, we would like to remind you that we are opening the workshop to the public on the weekend of 25th and 26th April. You are most welcome to visit, and try your hand at making a tripedal bowl. We’ll be there with five other makers for this Open Spring Weekend:

Spring Open Studios

Here comes the Sun

February 8th, 2015/2 Comments/in art furniture, birdbath, Blog, ceramic art, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

Helios

That huge ball of incandescent plasma at the centre of our solar system that provides all the energy we need for life here on Earth – in the depths of winter, on cold and overcast days, we miss seeing the old sun shining down on us, stimulating our pineal gland deep in the brain, and generally making us feel good. So let’s hear it for big Helios (you could fit 1.3 million planets the size of Earth into the Sun, apparently) and think ahead to Spring and Summer in a practical way – just as everything in the solar system orbits around the Sun, so do belatrova’s ideas revolve around our clientele’s happiness.

image of cross section of brain showing Pineal brain

cross section of belatrova’s brain on a Friday evening showing Pineal gland.

As the days get longer and the promise of heat starts to become a reality it is easier to imagine yourself on your balcony, or terrace, or veranda, or in your garden, glass in hand, as you soak in the rays and relax. What will enhance this experience is something that is associated with warm Mediterranean cultures, something pleasing to the eye and to the touch, something we have seen in palaces, gardens and fountains. Imagine the heat of Cordoba, then imagine stepping into the shade of its courtyards and passing your fingers over the cool surface of the tiles that adorn the inner walls. We would like you to enjoy our tiles in the same way, except that we have incorporated them into a new range of tables that can be used both indoors and out. There is no better surface on which to put that cold gin and tonic, that cup of coffee or that glass of lemon juice.

cool belatrova tiles

The advantages of tiles? Well, they are scratch, fire and stain resistant, they will not fade in the sunlight, they are waterproof and easy to clean, and, for the tabletop dancers amongst you, slip resistant. The metal frame and legs make them sturdy enough to support the weight of, say, a large goat. The tiles are grouted and held in place on marine plywood, which, of course, is waterproof.

tiled tabletop with metal frame and legs

So if you find yourself oversleeping, gaining weight, craving sweets and starchy foods, lacking in energy and irritable, it could be the beginnings of Seasonal Affective Disorder. However, remember that Spring is around the corner and that belatrova is always here to help. Many of you are gardeners and will be thinking of what needs planting and doing, and being bird lovers (having no doubt fed them throughout Winter) you will be wondering about the springtime needs of our little feathered friends: a good bath, we say. And we do make beautiful birdbaths, a wonderful combination of ceramic and oak. The picture below shows you how the oak turns after four full seasons exposed to the elements.

a year ago

one year on

Here is a picture of some snowdrops taken in belatrova’s garden, just to emphasize that Spring is nor far away. Don’t forget to visit our website www.peterarscott.co.uk/dev and if you are on Pinterest have a look at our boards: https://www.pinterest.com/belatrova/

Give us a ring if you want to drop in: +44 (0) 1531 634082

snowdrops

To a snowdrop (William Wordsworth)

LONE Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they

But hardier far, once more I see thee bend

Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,

Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,

Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay

The rising sun, and on the plains descend;

Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend

Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May

Shall soon behold this border thickly set

With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing

On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;

Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,

Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,

And pensive monitor of fleeting years!

Resilience (ελαστικότητα)

January 2nd, 2015/0 Comments/in art ceramics, art furniture, birdbath, Blog, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

belatrova, art for living, and “a good half of the art of living is resilience” (Alain de Botton).

coffee table resilience

With austerity uppermost on European minds our thoughts turned to contemporary Greece and the hard times its citizens are going through. And because our minds often drift in the workshop, we started thinking about ancient Greeks, and not just about their pottery and sculpture, nor about them going around in togas eating grapes, but about their influence on our thinking.

Greek struggle (Laocoon & sons)

Resilience – that chief weapon of the Stoic and Cynic philosophers who stated that much emotional suffering is caused by mistakenly assuming external things are directly under our control. However, if you remember that only your own actions are truly under your control and external things are not, then you will become emotionally resilient and achieve a kind of happiness. Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.

Resilience, that is what everyone needs as we face the year 2015.

Diogenes by Waterhouse (detail)

Which brings us to Diogenes of Sinope (c.400-c.325 BC) who denied pleasure and physical wealth for asceticism and had the nickname ‘the dog’ because of his shamelessness. He used to live in a wooden barrel with only possessions a robe to wear and a stick to walk.

It is unlikely Diogenes would ever have been a belatrova customer but we like to think that he might have approved of our use of that humble material, wood, a material that has evolved over millions of years to withstand the worst that weather can throw at it, with the possible exception of lightning. He would have spent time gazing at the beauty of our oak birdbath plinths as he undoubtedly did his own wooden home as it changed in appearance after years of exposure to all sorts of weather, because oak is extremely resilient and can be easily left outside both during strong sun and rain, and even snow and hail. See what a difference a year has already made to this belatrova “blackbird” bath:

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new birdbath

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weathered by time

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On the other hand, when it comes to our tables, though we use robust beech legs, and though we know external factors are beyond our control, we do improve the odds by making decisions that minimize any unforeseen impact. We do not use oak or beech for the tabletops but rather medium-density fibreboard (MDF), an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. MDF is isotropic; its properties are the same in all directions as a result of no grain, so no tendency to split. It is consistent in strength and size, flexible, it shapes well and has stable dimensions, so won’t expand or contract like wood.

All this makes it the ideal material to seal, prime, paint and varnish – and thus more resilient. Two tables left our workshop over the Open Christmas Weekends at No 9 and went to good homes:

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Kleescape coffee table

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Kleescape on rug

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Roseburgh

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Roseburgh on blue

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There are a few coffee tables still awaiting the right owner, each one a true original:

a row of coffee table tops

Come and see us in 2015. Happy New Year.

Best wishes:

Ziggy, Thelonius, Peter, Stuart, Roger, Wendy and Fleen

Happy Christmas from belatrova

December 19th, 2014/1 Comment/in art ceramics, art furniture, Blog, bowl, ceramic art, design, hand painted coffee tables, lamps, lighting /by Peter Arscott

Here’s to 2015

www.peterarscott.co.uk/dev

golfing for muralistas

December 12th, 2014/0 Comments/in Blog /by Peter Arscott

Chauvet cave – 30,000 year-old mural

Winter is closing in, but thoughts of warm Mediterranean weather have been circulating in the collective mind of belatrova. As well as making lamps and coasters for next year, we have been commissioned to create a ceramic mural for a house in Spain, and have been given a generously open brief.

Conventionally, a mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. And ceramic murals are traditionally made from tiles, but strictly speaking belatrova’s work will be a ceramic wall sculpture made from ceramic pieces using the wall space as a canvas and allowing the blank areas of the wall to play their part in the overall composition.

detail- legging it to Spain

The pieces are of different shapes and sizes, some abstract, some representational, and will be slab rolled as flat as possible without causing them to crack in the kiln – the larger the piece the more likely it is to warp or fracture in the heat, specially if there are stress points in the making which do not show up before biscuiting. Some preliminary tests have taken place, with interesting results. Here is a tantalizing detail of pieces so far that we have glazed (left).

And here below is a piece that nearly made it but cracked during glazing:

notice the crack between the eyes

The wall space is above a doorway in a hall and measures more than 2 x 3 metres. Foolish members of the team are very keen to accompany the pieces and install them, and have ostentatiously been bringing golf clubs into work to practice their swings because, you see, the house in question is next door to Spain’s best known golf course, Valderrama.

the ceramicist’s silent scream

Rudolph hit by golf ball

ball

belatrova did once play golf, in Richmond Park, and hit a deer with the only ball he managed to get into the air.

However, all this is in the future. What about the present? Well, it is an easy step from ceramic coaster making to tiles, and from tiles to tables with tiled tops. This is our first metal-framed coffee table with a ceramic surface made of nine glazed tiles in the Brushstroke Blues range. There will be more to come.

tiled table in Brushstroke Blues

coaster

tile

belatrova wishes all its supporters a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. 2015 promises to be an even better year for us and we hope that will be true for all of you too.

belatrova Christmas opening times

November 22nd, 2014/0 Comments/in Blog, ceramic art, hand painted coffee tables, lamps, lighting, pots /by Peter Arscott

Ledbury viaduct

belatrovians may well want to know what the Ledbury viaduct has in common with our Christmas opening, and the answer is: clay.

Built in 1860, the viaduct was constructed using 5 million bricks made on site from the clay dug out for the foundations; and clay is what brings together a cluster of Ledbury ceramicists.

Wendy Houghton’s delicate abstract sculpture can be seen next to husband Stuart Houghton’s robust hand-thrown tableware, Fleen Doran’s alluring salt-glazed pots next to belatrova’s beautifuly painted slab pots and lamps. It is an exhibition of contrast and style, as well as a chance to buy a unique Christmas gift.

meet the ceramicists…

Yes, four ceramicists in one venue, and the ideal Christmas present.

Look out for the red h Art signs. Parking is available, as is disabled access.

Tea, coffee and mince pies will be served.

We look forward to seeing you.

Tegestology

November 12th, 2014/0 Comments/in art ceramics, Blog, ceramic art, design, oxides /by Peter Arscott

moon coaster

Coasters, specially ceramic coasters, have become desirable designer acquisitions in recent months, partly in response to the growth in interest for cocktails – something in which we at belatrova have had a hand (you need only go back to earlier blogs to see our recipe for the perfect Dry Martini, and others). Of course, you may not have been aware of all this, which is why belatrova, always in the vanguard of taste and style, thinks it is important to bring this to the notice of all belatrovians and help them solve the annual dilemma faced by so many: “where can I find that special Christmas gift that is both uniquely attractive yet practical?”

men behaving badly – William Hogarth

Why are they called “coasters“? According to our research, coasters were originally called sliders in the 1700s and were used as a stand to prevent moisture damage to a tabletop and for sliding the bottle of wine along a tabletop from guest to guest after supper when the table cloth was removed and the servants dismissed, leaving the diners (usually men) to fend for themselves. Cue drunk and unseemly male behaviour. These sliders later became known as coasters in allusion to their circulation around the edge of the table. Early ones were made of silver, china or glass, and some were fitted with wheels or with baize-covered wood bases to reduce friction on bare tables.

coaster cornucopia

Some coasters are collectible items. Tegestology is a term coined from Latin (teges, a small covering or mat) defined as the practice of collecting beer mats or coasters. Consider, then, becoming a tegestologist by acquiring belatrova’s ceramic coasters and thus simultaneously easing your Christmas shopping experience.

At £5 a coaster belatrova is offering sets of six for the price of five, plus a delivery charge of £5.95, making it a very affordable £30.95. There are three choices: Brushstroke Blues, Valencia or the Selection (a combination of both).

set of brushstroke blue

set of Valencia cioasters

selection

You can ring us on +44 (0) 1531 634082 and order over the ‘phone.

Or visit us during our Christmas weekend openings (28 – 30 Nov, 5 – 7 Dec)

Or pay us a visit on any day – just ring us beforehand to make sure we are not out delivering.

Or visit the Studio Gallery in Ross-on-Wye

This is how we make our coasters:

biscuited coaster awaiting oxides

oxides painted onto coasters

coaster dipped in glaze

cork backing

In order to give you some idea of size we have placed a coaster next to a familiar eveyday object:

ant eater

Leech Man

We know we are way ahead of ourselves but were thinking of recommending a new cocktail for you to drink on Christmas morning, something called Marmalade Fizz invented by the London Cocktail Club, but in the end decided to be traditional and went for that mellow but elegant drink: Black Velvet. It is guaranteed to get you in the mood for the day

Ingredients: a bottle of cold Champagne, a bottle of cold Guiness

Method: fill a Champagne flute halfway with the Guiness then top it off very gently with

smooth

Champagne so that it lingers atop the Guiness as a separate layer. Try pouring the Champagne over the back of a spoon to prevent it from plunging straight into the stout. This ephemeral separation is fleeting but satisfying. The drink is smooth and effervescent, just like belatrova.

Cheers!

And finally we would like to announce the winner of the “guess the NSPCC panto auction price of the belatrova table” competition (see previous blog):

L.H of Malvern will be getting a pair of ceramic trivets.