Sunshine on Mayfield

Visitors to this year’s Mayfield House Spring Fair were greeted with glorious sunshine. While it would have been enough to soak up the sun in the front garden amongst the handmade decorations and colourful mosaic flowerbeds, the folk at Mayfield House had also prepared an abundance of fun crafts to get stuck into.

At the front entrance, the Garden workshop gave visitors the opportunity to learn how to strip willow, and to admire the basketry work made from last year’s willow (watch this space for the upcoming issue of the Garvald Pigeon for a more in-depth look at the gardeners’ willow work).

Inside, the Pottery workshop invited visitors to take part in making a collaborative bowl. Participants designed their own decorative tiles to be added to the piece, which will be displayed in the garden when finished. Across the hallway in the Jewellery workshop, visitors tried their hand at embossing pendant necklaces and making colourful, beaded dragonflies.

Downstairs, the Mayfield chefs had also been hard at work, with freshly baked scones and rolls as far as the eye could see, alongside an array of beautiful cakes, homemade jams and tasty soups. Legendary in-house pianist and Garvald member, James Brown, set the scene with an uplifting live piano set at lunchtime.

Across from the main building, in the newest space at Mayfield House, the Art and Print studio showed off an amazing selection of vibrant prints. Visitors were also invited to design their own badges (a particular big hit with the little ones).

It was a wonderful afternoon, and a great opportunity to see the varied, skilful work that goes on at Mayfield House.

Many thanks to everybody who made the day such a success.