Let me introduce you to Polly in her garden. Polly’s Garden is an automata made by me with my husband, innovative woodworker Steve Thompson. You turn a handle on the side and Polly and her goose trundle around her garden, in and out of the shed, through the gate and round the pond. The cat fidgets, the chickens cluck and the ducks get dizzy.  Steve did all the difficult stuff, I did the pretty bits.  It’s made from a 1970s record cabinet – for those of you too young to be allowed, that’s a cupboard you stand your stereo on the top of and keep your records inside.  Polly’s garden was made for Material Connections II, an exhibition at Craft In The Bay, Cardiff, in May 2011. The exhibition paired members of Makers Guild Wales (Steve) with non-members working in a different medium to create some collaborative work (me). Steve and I have had a bit of a thing about automata for a long time so we thought we’d have a go. She makes guest appearances at exhibitions sometimes, but otherwise she lives in my workshop.