Since the beginning of Gorge View Cottage we have wanted to add some local art in and around the cottage, to both add some beauty and to promote some of the brilliant craftspeople and artists around this area. Yet we wanted to be careful we didn't clutter the cottage because part of its charm is the clear and calm ambience.
Well anyway we're pleased to say that at the end of last year we finally started (and I am only just getting around to telling you about it). As always intended we went down to the brilliant Somerset Crafts Centre down at the Avalon Marshes Centre, which happens to be right by the Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve out on the levels (so some beautiful walks to be had).
We talked about this place in an earlier blog, but this time we meant business - literally. What we bought was modest in a way, just what took our eye. And we'll be back as the featured artists, styles and items all change week to week and month to month. We picked up a couple of stunning framed photos by Val and Al at Avalon Prints: one a calm and evocative landscape view over the levels, and the other a triptych of images of the starling murmerations that the area is famous for. If you have not heard of these, this is where huge flocks of starlings take to the air at dusk and perform mass acrobatic ballet moves of as a swarm - producing and constantly changing abstract shape in the skies.
For our final piece on the day we chose a lovely mosaic called Pale Dawn Rising (pictured) by Kate Rattray. We loved it for the colours and the sense of the birds rising. To our surprise and delight the lady doing duty at the till that day (the artists share the work as a cooperative) was Kate Rattray herself. She was pleased we'd picked her work from the many pieces, and we were delighted to meet the artist.
The pieces are now hung on the walls, and we plan to add more: painting, photographs, sculptures, ceramics. Importantly as well as promoting the art and hopefully encouraging people to visit the Somerset Crafts Centre themselves, we will happily sell any piece in our small collection if someone should fall in love with it, and at the same price we bought it (this is not a profit making exercise). We can then enjoy replacing it with something else equally beautiful.

Here is one little gem of a place to eat. It's been around for a few years building up its fabulous reputation, and we can't think why we have not yet featured it. The Ethicurean (name says it all really) is a highly ethical but high quality small restaurant based at the equally lovely Barley Wood Walled Garden just on the edge of Wrington (so just north of the Mendips).
The main chefs, self-taught, focus on balancing bold flavours & culinary technique fortified with foraged, wild, & fermented produce. They source a lot of their produce from the walled garden itself and from nearby Chew Valley Community Farm. The result is imaginative and tasty food. Some unexpected flavours.
The setting is pretty informal and small - essentially guests sit in a converted conservatory at the top fo the Garden with wonderful views. Combining lunch with a wander through the walled garden, checking out the resident artists, makes for a wonderful outing. 
Anyway we're not the only ones who love The Ethicurean: they're in the good food guide, Michelin Bib Guide and have one or been runners up in the Observer Best Ethical Restaurant on two occasions in the last three years. If your visiting Gorge View Cottage and like good food then do try them out. But you'll have to book as their popularity grows.