SPANISH INVADERS

Bluebells for MotherShipton! Sorry  - these are not proper British bluebells - these are those Spanish imposters...

They are bigger, not better - bit like their strawberries?
They have no perfume -  bit like their strawberries?

From 1556 to 1714 Brussels was under Spanish rule & known officially as "Bruselas".

For 29 years my workshop was in a beautiful old Spanish-built house in central Brussels. It was built in 1697 - every day I climbed up to the third floor, treading the original oak stairs which had been sculpted by millions of feet over 400 years.

My uncle Ian Magnus once gave me a piece of Roman earthenware with a perfect roman potter's fingerprint - it's funny to feel so close to the past!