This summer has worried me for many reasons (climate change, wildfires, water etc), but it was also beautiful too, however outside my window as I sit to write this it feels quite different.. there is a wind blowing & with it some mizzle to dampen the dry ground. It’s a good reminder that we are inching into a new season soon, not quite yet though I hope.

With it being almost the end of August that means my September shop release is imminent- in just three days on the Tuesday of next week. I will hopefully have all of the listings on by 10am, the usual routine, please ask if you have any questions.

But before that, I’m also going to be at a Summer fair tomorrow! Come & see us at The Newlyn exchange, we will be there from 11-5, there is all sorts going on in Newlyn that day & it sounds lovely. We would love to see you.

I’m here to let you know that it is just 6 days until my Saturday August 1st shop release, from 10am. There will be all of the mugs, enamel mugs for picnics or some in fine china ones for presents. Organic cotton Tote bags (nice gifts & some are on sale) organic cotton T cloths & napkins. T-shirts in four sizes, & many, many beautiful prints large & small.

Please let me know if you have any questions about certain products that you’re interested in.

I am here to tell you about a new change.

I have slightly tweaked my first of the month only shop release (youngest child has finished full time education & I no longer need to do the school run, or in fact be limited by term times at all!)

I am still going to do the 1st of the month shop release for most things because I like giving your orders my time & care, I like hand writing the names & address & I like using our village post office (even if it is a bit slower), but I have decided to leave a range of products open all the time (so brave), easy to post items like the organic cotton tea cloths, tote bags, napkins & the smaller prints. With a price range that most of us can stretch to with quite a good choice for presents or treats.

This is exciting, a whole new chapter.

But firsts! It’s the first of July which is my online shop release day, as subscribers I’m happy to tell you first that it’s already open, a bit earlier than my normal 10am but it’s a nice gentle mid week opening this month.

Many new original prints on there, some smaller & therefore a bit more affordable perhaps. I hope you enjoy having a look.

It’s been wonderful.

We are open until Wednesday 1st July.

Of course it’s also my shop opening on July first, this will be the same as ever, I will turn on the listings by 10am- except I won’t start packing anything until the end of the week when I’m back.

it’s not actually long until our next event which will be back in Devon, The No 10 gallery in Chagford on THURSDAY 25 JUNE - WEDNESDAY 1 JULY, 10:00AM - 4:00PM daily.

Four west country makers celebrating traditional craft, natural materials and work created by hand.

There are also workshops- my workshop is Tuesday 30th June from 4-7 & will cost £60. Please contact me directly to book a place, there are only 6 spaces available

The festival will be open for three days from the 12th-14th of June & I highly recommend it!

This week! The event we all look forward to each year & I’m completely delighted to have been invited back.

I will be in the Out of the Woods tent with an amazing set of makers & craftspeople alex.finberg spoon maker, Angus wood blacksmith, cornish woodsmith, Bob’s pots & flo hamer

We will each be running demonstrations of our work through the weekend

Are you coming? Who are you excited about seeing there? It’s always such a fantastic standard of work, so exciting.

Even more of a treat, we will be staying in a beautiful landmarktrust house- a near perfect long-house of about 1500 in an ancient settlement on the fringes of Dartmoor, I’ll take lots of pictures!

Tickets for the festival can be found of the Craft Festival website.

This craft of mine is slow & while most of today will be folding tea cloths & packing products into old apple crates in readiness to travel to beautiful West Dorset at the end of the week for our much looked forward to Makers Market at Blue Barn, some of it will also be cutting these blocks, not for the Blue barn event, not even for the exhibition the week after that but actually they are for my print demonstration at @craftfestival ‘Out of the Woods’ on June 12th-14th.

Not one part of this lovely process can be rushed, there are no shortcuts, but every stage is very enjoyable.

So much pleasure from seeing the Starlings fly circles around the chapel on st Ives island

Blackthorn hedges plumping with leaves after the winter sketches of twigs & the spring snow of blossom

A robin perched in a small hawthorn tree

Swallows swooping back in over the clifftops to share the summer with us

Planting seeds

Sighting the first germinated seeds, nasturtiums I think

Warm sunshine on my shoulder as I walk across the white sand

The puppy asleep, curled up on the sofa behind my knee, soft snuffling sounds & twitching legs covered in fluffy grey like duck down

That green, dappled late spring sunlit through our hedgerow

I always dream about a ‘better’ garden. More cultivated flowers, more successful vegetables but maybe as wild & neglected as it is it’s the perfect garden.

The prints & tea towels will be available on my May 1st shop release

My first article, I’m trying to be kind to myself, I’m dyslexic & I’ve never been a confident writer, i’m also very new here, is this a good safe space? I wanted to try to write about the feelings of this spring which have been unlike that of any other. In my head I should be experiencing a refreshed mood having slowed down & rested over the winter but actually following our storms emotionally & environmentally which roared at us like dragons & swept through causing so much damage, the grief of Moth’s death & that constant, consistent rain… the rain! (house training twig the puppy through that rain!) that this spring is actually making me face quite how exhausted/burnt out I am!

The glorious sunshine today felt like someone holding me & saying that it’s ok to let some of it go & relax, but I’m not quite ready… the hedgerows filling out make me feel like I can pause- I’m not on my own here producing future sustenance, we will be ok. & to try to translate that to my work.

But in the same way that sometimes we say ‘goodness that flower is early/late this year’ maybe I’m late this year, I’ve shifted season & the spring will be my time to rest & restore myself, all I need to do is rest & let the sunshine in.