This afternoon I went outside where the tradesmen yesterday dug out some dirt in preparation for concreting being poured on Saturday.

The dirt in our area is fairly sandy and nutrient. With the rain, there’s a lot of leaves and worms in it so rather than buy it for my pots, I decided to scoop out some and keep it at the ready. Once the back yard is recreated to à Mediterranean village feel, I’ll need to plant lemon trees, olive trees, sage, and chrysanthemums in terracotta pots.

If I can’t get to Crete in Greece (my heritage), I’ll bring it to me.

In 1998, I returned from a three month stay on the island and I was impressed with the Minoan Palace, a huge archaeological site just outside Heraklion. The site had these wonderful frescoes showing life in the palace 2500 years BC. This fresco of the princesses was particularly striking.

I came away inspired by the art and the vibrant colours so I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to create my own. So I decided to buy some terracotta pots and paints and created my own. At the time, I was serving in the Navy and living in the Wardroom (Officers Mess). In my small cabin, I had set aside an art studio where I could draw and paint. My room was filled with pots and colour. It was a reminder of my heritage plus some pop of colour in an otherwise quite plain and boring room.

I found the pots in the garage today and didn’t have the heart to throw them out. Instead I filled them up with dirt and it got me thinking about it being time that I did some more of these. They’ll have a place in my new Mediterranean backyard!

Here’s an example of a pot I painted.

My father is an artist, who painted this huge hallway mural of a vibrant Minoan trading scene. You can see the palace in the background and the people carrying those terracotta pots filled with oil, honey, olives and more. If only I could find these types of pots somewhere…..