Along with the rest of the UK, the islands were ravaged by storms in the early months of this year. Our little freight steamer struggled to make it over and cancelled her trip on more than one occasion.

However, as a by-product of the terrible weather, large quantities of wonderfully distressed driftwood arrived on our shores, so I have started putting it to good use.

My latest venture is to chisel out shapes in the wood and set tesserae (little mosaic pieces) into it.

I have also discovered that the Cornwall Scrap Store stocks a very good substitute for gold leaf... but much cheaper! So the reverse sides of some pieces have their rough textured surfaces highlighted in gold!

I have photographed the first batch, and at the moment, I think I'm going to keep the one on the left.