Image: Annie Spratt

January

January feels so long ago. The first few days were spent preparing for the first Creative Countryside gathering in Edale, and I had no idea what to expect. Memories of the weekend include stargazing and watching shooting stars in the biting cold; frosty morning walks and diversions through farmyards; losing a sponge down the sink and flooding the kitchen(!); being pleasantly surprised that the cashew cheese I’d made was a hit; and most of all, meeting and chatting with the most incredible women and men, forging friendships that have lasted all year.

February

February was spent putting together the spring magazine (issue 3), and it was the month Monty started nursery, which meant I gained two whole mornings a week to work on the business. It made such a difference, and even though I was still working evenings – especially when one of my Masters assignments was due – it felt more manageable. Dan and I also managed to escape for a weekend away to The Welsh House, and we worked together on a piece for issue 3 that explored slow, simple living. It felt much needed after a busy start to the year.

March

March marked Monty’s first birthday and his Christening, so it was a busy month family-wise! Issue 3 – spring – was published, and it didn’t sell as well as I had hoped. This was made worse because I had ordered more copies based on sales of issue 2 and how I had expected the magazine to grow; I began to realise that changes were needed for issue 4. I also met Maddy from A Slow Adventure for the first time, and we immediately connected over a plate of pancakes and maple syrup!

Reflections: Hosting my first event was exhilarating because everything was new. I was nervous, but knew I had to do this. It broke even, which was my goal, and the magazine was selling slowly but steadily at this point. Really, my only hope during these first few months, was to make it through without sustaining a loss.

Image: Sarah Porteus

Image: Sarah Porteus

Image: Sarah Porteus

April 

April was spent preparing for the summer gathering, and it was lovely to work with those who had attended the winter gathering to plan the workshops. We managed to escape to Northumberland for a few days for a family holiday, and the weather was glorious. This month flew by and it felt like we were on the cusp of summer.

May

In May we welcomed Rhiannon and Rebecca to the team, as Poetry Editor and Book Editor respectively. Getting to know and work with incredible creative folk such as these two has been the highlight of my year, without a doubt. I was also working on the next gathering, and preparing issue 4, complete with re-design, for print.

June

Our second gathering of the year took place in June, and it was hot. It was wonderful to spend an evening with Chelsea (Loving Life in Wellies) and Rik prior to everyone else arriving, and things felt much more relaxed than the winter gathering. Memories of the weekend include learning so much about wild plants and flowers from Heather; Elizabeth attempting to go barefoot at all times, even making it across the service station carpark on the way home!; all the sunflowers; battling with clouds of midges by the bonfire; and hugging trees in a shaded circle of earth. Issue 4 – summer – was also released, with a whole new design, and 40 more pages. I felt so much happier with how the magazine looked when this issue was released.

Reflections: Hosting an event in the summer means everything costs more.  Despite selling almost all the tickets (two were left), the event lost money, and financially was a failure. However, I was so pleased with the re-design for the magazine, and the feedback was also really positive.

Image: Annie Spratt

Image: Annie Spratt

Image: Annie Spratt

July

In July I went to Timber Festival with a friend, and it was the first festival I’d been to where everyone sought the shade! It was lovely to have a couple of days to myself though, and the weekend itself was full of enlightening talks, nature-themed workshops, and relaxed music that we dipped in and out of during the day. This was the month where I felt creatively like I wanted to move forward, and in the final few days, I booked the venue for the autumn gathering and decided to launch the Creative Countryside Community. It was the first ‘oh let’s just go for it!’ decision I made of the year, and thankfully, it was the right one.

August

August was the month of community and connection. Supporters of the magazine right from the start and those who I’d never met before joined together to create the membership community that I’d been thinking about for a long time. It was a really exciting time, and I remember feeling so lucky that I was in a position to be able to bring people together in this way. I also began to write my final (15,000 word!) assignment for my Masters, though I didn’t get much done…

September

In September the first community e-book was sent out, and I spent a long time cultivating the Facebook group and thinking ahead to future resources. I finished my Masters (just in time!) and also ran my first workshop at Maddy’s harvest-themed gathering in the South Downs. It felt quite strange being on the other side of things, and sleeping in a tent reminded me so much of the year we lived in one at home. Issue 5 – autumn – was also released, and it was definitely my favourite one so far. We received the copies just before leaving for The Good Life Experience Festival with a stall, where Dan was my number two. It was busy and stressful, but we met some lovely people and I got some incredible feedback about the magazine. We sold just enough to make it worthwhile, and for our first stall I was pleased.

Reflections: Sometimes choosing to do something really quickly that you’ve been planning in your head for a while, is worth it.  The community launch was a success and is something I’ll be focusing much more on in 2019. However, choosing to take on so much in September meant I finished this part of the year burnt out and creatively exhausted.

Image: Eleanor McAlister-Dilks

October

After a hectic September, we spent a few days in the New Forest at Warborne Farm at the start of October. I was still a bit overwhelmed by everything going on over the previous couple of months, and I think it was only as we drove home that I felt like things had started to re-set themselves. I spent a lot of the month preparing for the autumn gathering, and towards the end we had the first community meet-up at Attenborough Nature Reserve. We crafted twig stars, drank cinnamon tea, walked and talked and basked in the autumn sunshine; it was my favourite part of the working month.

November

November was consumed with producing the winter issue of the magazine (issue 6) and preparing for the gathering. We travelled to Shropshire for a weekend in a rustic farmhouse, hung leaves from the beams and lit candles to guide us into the darkest part of the year. Feasts, leaf art, branch calendars and lots of laughter featured throughout the weekend, and I felt like this was our best event yet.

December

December arrived with all its festive cheer, but I spent the first week finalising orders for issue 6 and preparing for our solstice celebration in Hereford. The venue was beautiful, and the small group size was perfect for a quiet, reflective start to what can be a busy season. It was lovely to connect with everyone, and I caught up with Jenny, who began a sabbatical for Creative Countryside at the start of the month. Dan and Monty came with me as the venue was booked for a few days, and we were able to enjoy some much-needed time as a family. I also included a few ‘bundles’ in the shop for Christmas, and hand-picked a few products from makers who I really love.

Reflections: The autumn event was by far the most popular, and sold out in twelve hours. Marketing really does pay off. But deciding to book in two other events in close succession wasn’t a brilliant idea. The solstice celebration lost money and the first event for 2019 didn’t sell as many tickets as I had hoped. Selling bundles in the shop was also time-consuming and didn’t make me any money.

Image: Annie Spratt

Image: Annie Spratt

2018 in review

Now for some honesty and straightforward facts.

From January to December this year, Creative Countryside made £4,238. The autumn gathering was by far the most successful, making a profit which all three of the other events did not. Issue 2 continued to sell well throughout the year, and issue 5 was the most successful issue after the re-design. The community accounts for around half that profit, and we ended the year with around 50 paying members.

I’m sharing this number to give you some idea of what the first full year of running a part-time business alongside a toddler and a Masters degree can look like. Segmenting the profit equally evens out to just over £350 per month, not enough to sustain a business, but it covered Monty’s nursery bill, and helped a little towards household costs. But the magazine makes very little per issue, and for some issues make nothing at all. Money is not the reason I do this, but it has to play a part, and as such I’ve been thinking very carefully about how to move forward with the various elements of CC as we move into a new year. But more on that next week!

The biggest part of looking back over 2018 is an immense feeling of gratitude. That I’m in such a privileged position to be able to experiment with what works and what doesn’t. That I have such a wonderful support network around me. And most of all, that you’ve all stuck around.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You make all of this possible.

Join me next week as I look ahead to what’s in store for 2019!

All images by Meaghan Clare Photography

Lady Farmer is a sustainable apparel and lifestyle brand, striving to cultivate a community for those seeking independence from existing food and fashion systems that are harmful to the planet and its people. They offer functional, fashionable, sustainable clothing and products for the intentional lifestyle and a resource for the modern woman of all ages who yearns for a simpler way of life. 

The first Lady Farmer Slow Living Retreat was held in November at the beautifully restored Zigbone Farm in Sabillasville, MD, located just over an hour outside of  Washington D.C. and Baltimore, MD.  This gathering was a weekend exploration of a sustainable living, celebrating community, connection and self-care, designed for the modern woman seeking an inspired and healthful life through changes in energy management, consumer behaviour and daily rituals. A full weekend immersion in workshops, speakers and a supportive community, all taking place in a beautiful natural setting with exquisitely prepared farm-to-table meals,  this experience was intended to provide participants with the tools to create more slow and intentional living for themselves and their families. 

The retreat began on Friday evening with a reception welcoming approximately forty-five women arriving from locations far and wide, from local to international.  Many came from Washington, DC or nearby locations in Maryland and Virginia, but others came from distant states or from as far as Canada and France. A heavy rain meant that the planned bonfire was moved indoors to the living room of the cozy old farmhouse, where strangers soon became fast friends over wine and snacks around the woodstove. 

The weekend programming was launched on Saturday morning with opening remarks by Mother-Daughter team and Lady Farmer co-founders Mary and Emma Kingsley, followed by a presentation by keynote speaker Amy Dufault, a sustainable fashion and lifestyle writer.  Amy is the Director of Digital Content & Communications for the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator and a co-creator of the Food & Fibers Project,  a project that looks at the connections between what we eat and what we wear. Speaking on the problems in the fast fashion industry and conscious consumerism, she was the perfect spokesperson for the intersection of sustainability in food, clothing, and lifestyle.

The rest of the day unfolded as participants were given a selection of workshops to attend. Topics included slow gardening, affirmation journaling, exploring personal cycles and rhythms and gathering energy and power from nature.  Though there were numerous talks and workshops offered, scheduling allowed for attendees to take time to reflect, explore and get to know the rest of the Lady Farmer community gathered. 

The day culminated in a special meal on Saturday evening, a beautifully prepared farm-to-table dinner featuring delicious, locally sourced fare, including organic, biodynamic wine and a signature dessert. It was a highlight of a weekend celebrating the best of slow living-- community, sharing, learning, and nurturing. 

The retreat continued on Sunday with a full day of programming lead by environmental educator Shayn Gangidine, exploring the healing benefits of being outdoors. In an engaging talk,  Shayne discussed our historic connection to the land around us, as well as modern research in the effects of nature on brain patterning.  Workshop participants went outside to observe their surroundings, gather objects or meditate, mixing relaxation, mindfulness, and whimsy. These and other guided activities, such as nature art and prompted journaling, gave them the knowledge and tools for enhancing their lives and those of others through meaningful interaction with the natural world. 

Mary and Emma closed out the retreat that afternoon with a Q and A conversation wrapping up the weekend and a sneak peek at what’s next for Lady Farmer.  In addition to an abundance of learning opportunities, the weekend was a wonderful experience of friends old and new coming together to be nourished, restored and inspired by all things slow living.

So, you might ask,  who are these Lady Farmers who gathered for a weekend retreat in the country? What drew all of these women together? 

Whether she owns and cultivates country acreage, tends to a home garden or dwells in the city with a desire to create space in her life for more sustainable living, the Lady Farmer sows the seeds of slow living all around her.  She is any women who cares deeply about personal connection, cultivating meaningful relationships with the people in her life and the land under her feet. She chooses, uses and purchases thoughtfully, understanding her individual impact on the world and the future. She has a motherly instinct, whether for her own children or all children, embracing the idea of the world as a village and tending to the growth of her community. She brings an open heart and a conscious mind to living on the earth. These are the women who came together for the  Lady Farmer Slow Living Retreat 2018. 

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Visit the Lady Farmer website to sign up for their newsletter and get more information on their sustainable apparel line, lifestyle products, blog and upcoming events.

Alongside her heritage work, archaeologist and author of A Treasury of British Folklore, Dee Dee Chainey has always had a love of folklore.  Starting up the hashtag #FolkloreThursday in 2015, Dee Dee began writing and sharing folklore from around the world every Thursday as part of what was to become the successful online magazine FolkloreThursday.com with co-founder and fellow folklore enthusiast, Willow Winsham.  When she was approached with the idea of writing a book solely on British folklore, she jumped at the chance to pen her passion for magical tales and their history. 

A Treasury of British Folklore delves into the stories, songs, customs and legends which were once part of a rich aural and written history passed from generation to generation.  Heroic tales, magic and witchcraft, customs which encompass the milestones of life, these stories allow us to dip our toes into something a little more magical and mystical than the ordinary.  Dee Dee presents a tradition of storytelling which conjures up an insight into cultures and lore, some of which have been long forgotten.  A Treasury of British Folklore is an engrossing collection which prompts us to remember the cyclical nature of the seasons once peppered with rituals that marked ancient festivals and feast days and a selection of regional British customs still celebrated around the country today.

Stories of giants hurling stones, the legend of the Lambton Worm, thirteenth century monks treating snakebites and leprosy with the humble bluebell whilst the Elizabethans used the juice from its bulbs to starch their ruffs – Dee Dee’s book is a reminder that so many of our legends and superstitions have shaped British culture, each community and generation making them their own.

Sharing her fondness for old wives tales and superstitions, Dee Dee chats to us about how it all began.

Rebecca: Have you always had a fascination with folklore and folk tales?

Dee-Dee: I remember having the Ladybird fairy tales read aloud to me when I was small. I was given a copy of the Brother Grimm tales when I was around 9 and I remember being fascinated by how strange they were. One I particularly remember is the tale of ‘The Three Spinners’. It begins with the mother of a lazy girl beating her as she refused to do her spinning work. The queen overhears and asks why. The mother, not wanting to admit her daughter’s laziness, says it’s because the girl spins so much she can’t provide enough flax. The queen takes the girl away with her, saying that if she can spin all the flax in a huge room within three days, she will be rewarded with marrying the prince. During the night, three spinning women magically appear in the girl’s chamber: one with a huge lip from licking the thread, one a huge thumb, and the last a huge foot from pressing the treadle on the spinning wheel. They offer to spin the flax secretly, on the condition they will be invited to the wedding as the girl’s aunts. She agrees. All ends well when the king questions the women about their oversized appendages at the wedding. When they reply that it’s down to spinning, the king decrees that his new daughter-in-law will never spin again!

R: Do you have any particular favourite tales or folklore?

D: Personally, I love calendar customs from around the world. There are so many amazing festivals taking place across planet all the time, and it’s only recently people are beginning to photograph these. Here in Britain photographers like Henry Bourne are documenting the festivals and traditions taking place, while Charles Fréger has been doing the same across continental Europe.  I love seeing what’s happening around the rest of the world and meeting people who are documenting festivals to share in that magic too. It’s just amazing to see the costumes people wear, dances and food shared – things we might never get to experience, but can admire, nonetheless, whether they’re from a small village at the other end of our own country or somewhere on the other side of the world.

R: Are there any folk traditions which have made it into modern life with you?

I’ll admit, I never step on paving cracks in case it breaks my mother’s back and I certainly don’t walk under ladders. We also have a horseshoe hanging near the doorway here at home, although it caused quite a stir one #FolkloreThursday when I put up a photograph!

D: Is it just about telling stories of our past?

Folklore often provides an outlet for imagination and creativity.  It helps us to remember that the world is an amazing, mystical place.  It isn’t just about stories and magic.  It’s how we communicate with each other, how we celebrate and pass on our traditions and values. Folklore has been used to help us find our place in the world for thousands of years, teaching us right from wrong, good from bad. It’s a way of passing on traditional knowledge, from learning traditional stories that teach life lessons to teaching us how to prepare a specific dish for a special occasion.

R: How do you think these tales relate to us in modern times? 

Now folklore is being used is so many new ways — in community projects and schools — as well as the old tales being reworked in really exciting forms to reflect modern ideals.  Many modern writers have retold tales to showcase stronger female characters that do things for themselves whilst others prefer the original tellings.  It’s great to see how the old tales still resonate with the modern reader and find their place in the modern world, rather than being forgotten.

R: With so many different stories, and so much folklore out there, how did you narrow down what you wanted to put in the book?

It was actually really hard to decide what to include and what to leave out! I wanted to get a really great mix of all types of folklore — from sayings, to traditions and superstitions, right through to legends like King Arthur which bring the landscape of Britain to life. It was important to me to show how folklore is a living thing, not just something old and stuffy from the past. I wanted to make sure there was something for everyone, so I spent time collecting folklore from as many regions in Britain as I could. My favourite part was looking at the folk tales of the creatures that lurk in rivers and woodlands right across the land, like the Lambton Worm which used to eat children until killed by a local hero in Durham.  I love the Gille Dubh, a kindly forest spirit who helps lost children in the Scottish Highlands too.

R: What sparked the creation of #FolkloreThursday? 

The hashtag was started when Willow (her co-founder) and I were chatting on Twitter about the Efteling fairy tale theme park in the Netherlands.  We joked about how we should pack our bags and head off on a trip right away and that’s pretty much how we started chatting about our shared love of folklore. We wanted to create a central place for people to find all things folklore and that got us thinking about the need for a hashtag day specifically for folklore so we decided to create our own.  We launched the first hashtag day on 18th of June 2015 and things just took off from there.

To join in with #FolkloreThursday, simply visit this page: #FolkloreThursday Each week there are new posts and you can add your own to appear on the hashtag feed.  You can also find an array of folklore features and articles from around the world at folklorethursday.com

Dee Dee Chainey, A Treasury of British Folklore, published by National Trust Books

My inner twitcher had wanted to see a murmuration for quite a while. After a bout of flu last winter, me and my partner Suzi drove up to Dumfries & Galloway in search of those beautiful birds. We had been reading up on good locations to spot them and from our research, Gretna seemed to be a good place. So we packed up the car with all our camera gear, overnight bags, and headed north. We stayed in a cute little Airbnb with the most amazing views over the Solway Firth, it was the perfect hideaway for a few days.

On the first day, it was pretty grey and wet, so we didn’t hold out too much hope. There was a stillness on the edge of dusk, as the day gave into night. We drove into Gretna and watched a cute mini murmur, probably of around a hundred birds. And suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a smudge on the horizon. We jumped into the car and followed the fluid black cloud as it moved across the sky, we felt like tornado chasers. And then suddenly we were right underneath it.

 As dusk raced in, smaller groups joined, and the flock grew. We've since learnt that every bird is keeping an eye on the other 7 birds around him or her, so this is how they keep tightly together. It was so fascinating to watch the constant ebb and flow of the murmuration, and the beautiful patterns it made as the birds swirled in the sky.

During the day, we travelled around the area a bit more and we headed to Caerlaverock Wetland Centre for more twitching! No starlings, but many other different types of bird. We saw egrets, whooper swans, geese, teal, widgeons and many more. It was a beautiful crisp winter's day. The sun was lowering, and bright pink streaks began to form in the sky, so we headed to our familiar spot and waited for the birds to arrive. We had mentioned our sighting to a couple of people at the bird reserve, so they turned up to the spot to wait for them too. We were a bit worried as it was getting late and we hadn't seen a sign of any birds, but fortunately, they all suddenly appeared over the other side of the M6 and started their silent dance.

Sometimes like tea leaves swirling in the pot, then we’d spot a punctuation mark. They created speech bubbles, UFO shapes and love hearts, we were transfixed by these momentary sketches in the sky. We were lucky enough to see these beautiful shapeshifters on three consecutive evenings. Watching the sky full of birds is one of the most amazing sights we've ever witnessed, after the birth of our daughter this year.

We met our friend Leena a couple of days after we got back from our trip, and we chatted about the starlings. In Latvia, where she's from, the first sightings of the starlings signify the start of spring. They leave the UK at the beginning of March and migrate to Northern Europe to breed. It's traditional in Latvia to make a little birdhouse for the starlings, and you hang it in your nearest tree to welcome the weary travellers. We are itching to see them again, and we hope our little daughter will feel the magic too when we go on our next adventure looking for that sky full of birds.

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Sarah Mason is a photographer based in Hebden Bridge. Alongside her partner Suzi, she takes pictures and makes films about life, love and connections. Find out more on the Sarah Mason Photography website, or follow on Instagram and Twitter.

Image: Bright Corner

Light is fundamental to our well-being and happiness.

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“The light that surrounds us on a daily basis has a huge impact on our brains, our mood and our mental health and yet, on the whole, we tend to pay it very little attention.”

Karl Ryberg, Light Your Life: The Art of using Light for Health and Happiness

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Sunlight increases serotonin levels which in turn makes you happy but during the winter months our source of natural light is greatly reduced. Therefore, lighting your home correctly is important to make sure you create emotional cosiness, leaving you feeling happy.

The Danish have a word called Hygge, meaning a quality of cosiness and comfortable feeling of contentment or well-being. Mood lighting is a massive part of this, big bright lights like hospital or office lighting makes you feel uncomfortable and on edge. For a well-lit happy room, you need to have several light sources, creating areas of darkness as well as light, giving a space character and personality, creating an inviting atmosphere.

Flickering light from candles and fires are also great for a space, they create a sense of life and energy making you feel relaxed. Fairy lights also have that twinkling, magical effect, they add a sense of wonderment and adventure to a room.

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“You want to create small caves of light around the room”

Meik Wiking, The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living

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Colours such as red, orange and yellow evoke feelings of happiness, optimism, creativity, success and energy. So warm coloured light bulbs with a low lumen number, are best for that cosy, dimly lit, happy vibe.

Winter can be tough, especially after the festivities of Christmas, so leave your fairy lights up all year round. Good interior lighting design is crucial for emotional cosiness. Look at your lighting arrangement in your home, make sure it creates mood and ambience making you feel inspired, warm and happy.

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“Light is the magical ingredient that makes or breaks a space.”

Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, Elle Decoration

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Chloe Harrison is the founder and owner of Bright Corner, who design and make simple wooden LED lights. Follow her on Instagram to inspire a happy home with a calm and cosy atmosphere.

Today Jessica Townsend tells us a little about ‘her’ countryside.

Callum: Where in the world is ‘your’ countryside?

Jessica: The heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds, a small village surrounded by fields and sky. It’s where I grew up and I was instantly drawn back here when I left the big city life for a slower pace. This landscape is home - from the muddy paths leading to my front door, to the bird who every day calls me to the second tree on the left in Farmer Terry’s field – I know it all so well.

Callum: Earliest countryside memory?

 Jessica: The land where our house now sits was once part of the fields that surround it. I remember when my parents first bought the land, seeing nothing but long grasses and running through them getting stung by nettles. When I do the same now it always brings me back to that moment, when we first came to this place and called it home.

Callum: Why do you love the countryside?

 Jessica: I love the quiet and the noises that disturb it - the chatter of birds, the rustling leaves, the whispers of the wind. I love the absolute solitude that can be found just moments from my door, and the inspiration that can be found in it. But most of all I love the amount of sky. The Lincolnshire Wolds are relatively flat and at times it can feel like the whole world is nothing but wide, open skies. It makes me feel free.

Callum: You have 24 hours, anywhere: describe your ideal day in the countryside.

 Jessica: I would start the day with crisp, autumn sunshine overhead and a steaming coffee outdoors, followed by a walk with the dog through paths of red and gold. Rosy cheeks are a must, and a stroll through the woods wouldn’t go amiss. The day would end with a lakeside pub and a warming cider as we wait for the stars to appear.

Callum: Favourite season and why?

 Jessica: Spring first comes to mind, as I love the sense of new beginnings and nature coming to life. However, after becoming part of the Creative Countryside Community I’ve been shown such beauty in the autumn months that I may be a convert, especially after the never-ending summer we just had. Autumn is also a time I can wear socks, boots and jumpers everyday and that definitely has my vote!

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Check out Jessica’s slow fashion at House of Flint.

Our Gifting Guide

Join us in celebrating and supporting our small, handmade and sustainable businesses. We’ve hand-picked a selection of creative folk who we know you will love just as much as we do.

Day 1:  Greetings

Festive cards by We are Stardust

Where art and science collide, these hand illustrated festive cards are a perfect seasonal reminder for friends and family. Get 10% off your Christmas order using the code CCCHRISTMAS2018 (offer ends December 2018).

Day 2: Time out

The Empowered Entrepreneur by Elizabeth Cairns

As the year draws to a close, the The Empowered Entrepreneur, Elizabeth’s first book, complete with botanical illustrations and pictures,  is the perfect antidote for reflection and self-development.

Day 3: Bringing Nature into the Home

Mini wreaths by Botanical Tales

Add a touch of seasonal creativity with these cute little handmade wreaths. Perfect for Christmas place settings or even a small token of appreciation.

Day 4: Indulge

Natural and homemade skincare by Kindred + Wild

We love the Lavender and  Chamomile bath salt, ideal  for those who are always on the go - a simple reminder to slow down and enjoy nature’s gifts. Last orders are December 5th. They’re also offering a gift wrap service!

Day 5: Let Light In

Hand Blended Aromatherapy Soy Wax Candles by The Smallest Light

Let some light in over the dark period with this hand-blended festive candle duo. Environmentally friendly candles are the perfect gift for those with consideration for the earth.  Get 10% off using the code ‘community’ (offer ends December 31st), or buy our Yule bundle, which includes a ‘Star of Wonder’ candle.

Day 6:  Make Do and Mend

A copy of Mending Matters by Katrina Rodaugh

This book is the ultimate gift for those looking to learn how to keep their old clothes and give them a new lease of  life. We’ll be running this as a book giveaway early 2019!

Day 7: Capturing the natural world

Artwork by Deborah Vass

If you like to be cosy during this time of year, why not bring a touch of the outside in with this wonderful oil painting of a scene in Sussex, a print of a wren in winter, or this beautiful painting of a yew bough.

Day 8: Dress Up

Slow, handmade fashion by House of Flint

Think seasonal and practical pieces made of organic cotton and linen. Our favourite is the fold dress made out of Irish linen and available in three autumn / winter inspired colours.

Day 9:  Catching the moment

Iconic bronzed leaves by Ashleaf London

Time goes too fast but you can preserve the moment with your very own bronzed leaf. Ashleaf London provide a customisable handmade service. Check out their Instagram for some awesome behind the scenes.

Day 10:  Join the club

Simple and traditional crafts by Snapdragon

Snapdragon is a wonderful membership site which offers craft tutorials and products for the home and garden. There is something for all ages!  Our favourite is this embroidered flower apron to keep our best clothes clean from all of that Christmas baking.

Day 11: Embrace the Elements

Frost inspired pendant by Silver Nutmeg

Keep the winter season close to your heart with a handmade silver sterling hoop pendant beautifully packaged with eco friendly materials.  

Day 12: Finishing touches

Porcelain tree decorations by Kate Luck Ceramics

Replace plastics with luxurious porcelain ivy, holly, oak, bramble or feather decorations handmade with love. Our favourite is the holly!

Thank you for helping us to support these wonderful small creative businesses!

All images courtesy of Annie Spratt.

It’s hard to believe how quickly the Autumn Gathering came around this year. At our community meet-up in October we all said how warm it still felt, but just a month later we could definitely feel the autumnal chill upon us.

Eleanor and I arrived early at the beautiful Cronkhill Farmhouse in Shropshire and couldn’t help but marvel at the space and the stunning views to be seen at each window.

Once we’d unpacked we were soon joined by the first arrivals for a seasonal cocktail of ginger, apple and a splash of gin. As the rooms slowly filled, we chose to gather on the cosy sofas and chatted as the daylight waned.

I took this time to give a short tutorial on how to insert the ‘Scraps Pockets’ everyone received in their goody bags which, as the name suggests, are pockets ready to be inserted into any garment, made from waste material from my cutting table. I had also brought along a few garments from House of Flint, which everyone was invited to try on and wear over the weekend if they wished.

Dinner was enjoyed beneath fairy lights, with a candlelit table and easy conversations carrying us into the night. Our first day ended with a calming tea ritual led by Eleanor.

As morning broke on the Saturday, Elizabeth led a meditation for those who wished to join. At the Summer Gathering the meditation she guided took me utterly away from myself, yet during this one I delved deep inside my mind without a necessarily conscious choice of doing so. It’s amazing the difference between the two, how she guided myself and others to places we may not have found otherwise.

After a warming breakfast of porridge and cinnamon stewed apples, Bex from Botanical Tales taught a workshop in which we created calendars full of intentions for the season. Each intention was written on a small piece of paper, rolled and tied to a branch with dried flowers and foliage. Each of us shall individually reveal a tiny scroll every week for the next three months. I’ve begun mine early and unrolled one in which I told myself to go for a winter picnic in the woods, which was such a lovely thing to do that I may not have made time for otherwise.

A hearty lunch and then outside we went, with Hanna from Ashleaf London leading the afternoon. She shared with us her love of leaves and made us all look a little bit closer at them as we gathered our favourites to use for the next stage of her workshop.

Within Ashleaf, Hanna is dedicated to preserving leaves in bronze, and we were lucky to be shown the first part of this process before trying it out for ourselves on our chosen leaf.

Following the day of creativity, those who wished took some time for themselves to read, write, take photographs or simply sit by the fire in quiet conversation. A special thanks to Mugdha, who tirelessly helped me to hang leaves from the ceiling for our autumnal feast that evening.

Three delicious courses ended with apple crumble before we slowly embraced the darkness and each light was put out until only a single candle remained. Eleanor led us into this dark with some words about the season and the darkness it brings. As she extinguished the final flame a shiver of something quite magical went up my spine.

The final day began and a few of us braved the cold and took a walk through the fields and lanes surrounding us. I tiptoed along a fallen tree and tried to avoid falling over before returning to a feast of bagels and plenty more cinnamon apples.

Our final activity was led by Chelsea, who took us on a foraging scavenger hunt and asked us to take note of what we found with each of our senses in turn. I noticed the smell of a holly leaf and the sound of a pinecone and felt truly present in the time spent exploring with each of my senses.

Lunch signified the end of our time here, and as each person took their leave I noticed new friendships formed and the meaningful connections that had been made over our few short days together.

I’ve often spoken of the importance of community and yet again I left this gathering feeling inspired and thankful to those wonderful people who joined us. I hope to see you all again - or if you were not able to attend, for the first time - soon!

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Jessica Townsend creates slow and sustainable fashion at House of Flint. Follow her behind-the-scenes on Instagram here.

‘Gatherers’ is a handmade photographic and recipe book which celebrates and shares the stories of the modern hunter-gatherer. Photographed in Cornwall, it captures different subjects throughout the diverse ecosystems the county has to offer, using a combination of film photography, typewritten and handwritten text.

As a result of the fast growth of our society around material growth, we can too easily become detached from our connection to the resources we consume in our day by day. Even while living in the big city and being distracted by the hectic pace of the metropolis, this book leads us back to those playful moments of outdoor exploration and connection with nature we lived throughout our childhood. 

In addition to re-connecting us with the natural world by engaging with the gatherers, it also emphasises the importance of sustainability and challenges what it means to be sustainable. For the gatherers in the book, to be sustainable is to be aware of how the natural resources we use have been extracted and where they come from. For most of us, this knowledge is limited by what we are told on a label, even in local produce. Instead, the gatherers in the book show how the concept of sustainability goes beyond a piece of paper, by making an effort to knowingly search and forage these resources for themselves. Always being conscious of how much and how to extract them without breaking the fragile balance of their local environment.

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Jaime Molina is a Colombian photographer based in the UK. Find out more about his book and how to get your copy here, where he is currently selling through a Kickstarter campaign that ends December 9th. You can also follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

As we dive into the final months of this year, many of your thoughts will be turning to a new year, resolutions, and a new beginning. The New Year is a well-known time for us to plan a fresh start, but is it the most logical? Perhaps not, when we think to the seasons.

With this in mind, spring is the season that becomes our obvious choice for this fresh start, being so full of new life and signifying the re-awakening of nature from its wintry slumber. In the past I have always used this time to make my fresh start, and intentions for the year.

However, this year has been different. The last ten months flew by in a whirlwind with the completion of my degree and my clothing line beginning to take shape. I feel that, quite without realising it, I’ve stumbled past spring, summer and autumn without truly taking a moment to think about whether the path I’m running along is the right one.

Now, winter is beckoning to me and I look to it with delight. It is not demanding the big changes and to-do lists that a conventional fresh start may require, it simply suggests I stop, and take note. This is the season in which nature pauses, so shouldn’t we too? It does not rush to be something new and exhilarating after the boldness of autumn’s colours. Our grey skies are peaceful, the sun hanging low, and commanding no hurry within your day.

It is with this in mind, and a constant reminder through my window, that I begin anew as winter draws near. Questions I’ve been asking myself will now be answered, however long it takes, and my intentions for the coming year refreshed.

This is the season to think, to read, to write, and to slowly implement those little changes that will bring about your goals. But there is no hurry, no deadline. So pause, and breathe, feel the crispness of the air on your skin, and make that your fresh start this season.

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Jessica Townsend creates slow and sustainable fashion at House of Flint. Follow her behind-the-scenes on Instagram here.

‘The stillness of the moon belies the wind-singing branches and clouds flashing by.  ‘Tis nearly 3am, but there’s little sleep to be had as the wind dances through trees still heavy with leaf while their branches rattle across rooftops and rain thunders down, lashing at the window.  The first of the autumn storms breaks the season into a rapid departure from summer.’

When Suzanna Crampton returned to the farm in Kilkenny which had been in her family for generations, she set about making her own mark on it whilst cherishing the farming ways of the past.  Determined to work with nature and not against it, she began by introducing a flock of Zwartbles sheep alongside alpacas, horses, ‘egg makers’ and dogs, until a rather special cat strolled into her life one day, 11 years ago.  Who would have thought when Suzanna took up a suggestion to go and look at a cat in an exotic novelty toilet-seat shop that she’d end up lending a paw to write a delightful and heartwarming memoir on its behalf?  However, this is just how it happened and how a fine looking feline in need of a home became Bodacious the Shepherd Cat.

From the very beginning, we hear how Bodacious established himself as the boss of the farm,  and how he has come to be Suzanne’s right hand ‘man’ on the farm.  As Suzanne began telling stories of her shepherding companion on her blog and Twitter account, Bodacious’ following grew.  However, I’m not sure that she ever imagined that Bodacious would end up with his own YouTube channel with over 500k views let alone his own book.  Such is his charm.  He’s even graced the cover of The Lady.

This is a story of seasons and the little moments capturing the highs and lows of farming life in rural Ireland.  The narrator is an avid observer, recounting his experiences and adventures of flocking his herd with a serious injection of humour as he chronicles a year in his life as a shepherd. 

You may think it rather odd to have a cat as narrator of country life but believe me, Bodacious is no ordinary cat.  His prose is lyrical and witty, anecdotal and charming – in fact, he steals the heart from the first page with his sheer pluckiness.  Tales of farming life are interspersed with beautiful descriptions of the landscape within which the farm sits and as one season flows into another, we journey with Bodacious and his Shepherd as they cope with inclement weather, trials and triumphs on the farm, the passage of time on the landscape and the patter of tiny feet at lambing time. 

‘All is quiet, only the rustle of straw as the lambing ewe circles and paws the ground in anticipation of her first lamb.  Both Overmitt and I purr in the comfort of companionable company.  The rest of the flock are all cosy in straw sleeping or methodically quietly chewing their cuds.  Time continues gently to weave its way through these calm moments of reflection.  It helps to strengthen a pattern woven into the fabric that is our life; it enables us to absorb frenetic events that occur throughout one’s lifetime.’

Although Bodacious is well and truly the storyteller of the book, never far behind are little asides about his dog squad friends Pepper, Bear and the Big Fellow as well as cat shepherd apprentice, Ovenmitt.  For those who love a light-hearted countryside yarn, Bodacious The Shepherd Cat makes the perfect read.  It’s the sort of cosy fireside reading that we all need in our lives this time of year.

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‘Bodacious The Shepherd Cat’ is published by Harper Collins.  To read more about Bodacious and his antics, visit his website or follow him on Twitter.

I fill the coffee pot each day, staring outside while it bubbles and steams on the stove. The garden is overgrown, life pushing its way through mesh and bark and turf. Moss holds the lawn together and prickly grasses, long and wispy stand tall leaning only in the rain. Upturned pots and an abandoned hanging basket are notes, a memory of time passing. Another year of plans put aside as life takes over. A sudden flurry reminds me that the garden is not only for me.

Today is harvest lunch, a host of winged visitors gleaming under autumn sun gathering to take their pick. Two rowan trees lean, naked now but for soft, overripe berries which drop with the faintest breath of wind. Tiny flashes of yellow dart through the long grass, blue tits searching for the ruby morsels. A tall, dark ivy strangles one of the rowans, reaching high above its branches, it’s thick foliage the perfect spot for a blackbird family to wait its turn. Here they nested in summer, losing little ones to predators but still they reap the benefits of the ivy’s grip. High up, two crows sit watch, holding court and flapping their wings once in a while to remind everyone of their presence. A flash of red against cornflower blue sky is a bullfinch, now two, dipping in and out swiftly to grab berries from under the nose of a plump thrush. Then a swoop of starlings, young, boisterous, sends everyone into the air. Branches sway and more berries drop. In a moment, only the crows remain, steadfast. Lunch is over for today.

Yesterday, under dull skies, the garden was bleak, a burden, another missed opportunity. Today, it is a garden of Eden, a safe place where all comers take their turn. There is plenty to go around. So I’ll leave the lawnmower in the outhouse, put away my gardening gloves. For a while at least. Until the feast is over and each feathered creature has had their fill.