Christmas Holiday!

My last blog of 2010 - so a chance to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and lots of health, wealth and happiness for 2011.

A special thank you to a few key players whose support has been invaluable.
Ms Rachel Spivey for her amazing pics - Lindsey Joyce for adding that magic touch to my unfinished artworks! Phillippe Oligario for keeping the website looking trim, and my long suffering husband for allowing Ochre And Ocre to take over our home / life / weekends! Not forgetting our loyal customers, without whom there would be no business!

As a "home worker" the current weather does not have the same impact as when I was office based - with minimal commute, there is no excuse not to carry on working, although psychologically I still find something about the snowy weather that makes you want to shut down the computer and go and play in the snow! However it has impacted our deliveries, with couriers refusing to pick up from us, we can't offer our guaranteed next day service, and the Post Office under siege from all the delays it has become impossible to offer our usual 48 hour turnaround. I just hope come January it will all be back to normal.

We are closing for our Christmas holiday from 1pm on Wednesday 22nd December until January 3rd, when our sale starts. We are closing a day earlier than originally planned due to the weather conditions. There are a few piccies attached to give you an idea of the conditions here - and hence why a trip to the Post Office is not so straightforward!

We are holding our first ever January sale from January 3rd until January the 17th. With over 90% of the range included in the sale, we have some big markdowns in order to clear our stocks ready for new ranges arriving at the end of February. More about the new ranges next year........

So have a good one! x

Christmas Build Up

With all our Christmas shows finished, it is nice to be able to catch up in the office again. The bulldog is certainly pleased that her daily routine is no longer disrupted by early mornings, and late nights with shelving and boxes moving in and out of the house.
The weather has certainly been challenging over the last few weeks - I won't even start my rant about courier companies who have used the Scottish weather conditions as a reason not to bother collecting / delivering parcels here. I know we are based in the middle of nowhere, off a dirt track, but if dear old postie has been able to make it up here most days, (and the Ocado man thank fully!), there really is no excuse. I have to sing the praises of the Postal service - as our first class parcels seem to have been arriving without a hitch.

The scenery has certainly been pretty here in the Malverns, last week we had a very heavy frost, and the whole Common had an ethereal, Narnia like feel to it. I took a few pictures of the garden to show just how thick the frost was.

With Christmas, and our last posting day fast approaching, orders are still coming through steadily, and lots of people have been taking advantage of our free gift wrap service. I have to admit though, after spending hours wrapping gifts up for other people, I'm not that keen to wrap my own gifts! Boxes and ribbon sounds like a better plan!

Planning for next season is full steam ahead, sorting out our new brochure, setting up new lines, and preparing for our first ever January sale!