From Angie Lewin: Plants and Places

A further explanation for her craftsmanship and attention to detail must be that both her father and grandfather were blacksmiths; in her grandfather’s case for a travelling circus - a startling and telling history.

This is another sentence that fires up my curiosity. What would a blacksmith’s day be like when they worked for a travelling circus? What would a mobile smithy look like? How did they get enough heat to work metal from a moveable furnace? Did they mend or make cages for animals? Imagine the feeling of responsibility if that was your job! So many questions and wonderings!

I enjoy throwaway sentences like this when I have the time and attention to play with them.