I was recently involved in a small catering job at the arts café, community hub and garden for the community where I volunteer. My role was simple, sandwich fillings, jams, pickles, shopping, homemade weed pies (including the gluten free pastry) etc. Then there was the making of the sandwiches, plating of all the food, with the help of my fellow volunteer, Shirley, who had made the slices and scones for the event.

While the food was being served, I opted to stay in the kitchen and clean up.  Of course, cleaning up means doing the dishes, and with only a half sized dishwasher on site, I opted to hand wash everything. As I mentioned above, this is also an arts café and one of the very talented artists, Peter Alan Cummings, wandered in for a chat. Seeing me doing the dishes, he asked for a tea towel and proceeded to dry the dishes as I washed. Peter and I often take time to chat in the café or garden at Segue, and on this occasion, the conversation turned to French artist Émile Gallé (8 May 1846 – 23 September 1904). Continue reading →