Our Daily Bread

Apologies for the infrequency of our blog posts - the price we pay for living in the beautiful Malvern Hills is that our Internet connection has been very temperamental of late and rather than spending hours trying to upload and write our blog, the precious times the connection is live orders and website updates take priority!
It may be due to the excessive wet weather, although that seems to have worked wonders in the garden, although we need some sun to bring out our cut flower garden in time for our next photo shoot.
We are in the throws of adding a new colour to the Ochre And Ocre range for Autumn, and as ever it involves lots of planning, analysis of order quantities, and brochure pagination and copy. I do love doing the photo shoots, as Rachel Spivey is such fun to work with, and as a self confessed lover of ceramics, it is the perfect excuse to pick up some lovely new/new preloved),  bits to use in the shoot. Our office is becoming a bit crowded at the moment!

Challah (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a break from all the planning, I am really getting into bread making at the moment. The Aga is as close to a real bread oven you can get, and it gives you a really tasty loaf. One of my latest creations was goats cheese and sun dried tomato, and next on the list is a blackened chorizo. I was lucky enough to get along to one of the Aga demonstations recently, and picked up a few new tips, although I've yet to be brave enough to prove the bread overnight in the fridge.
I really only get chance to get kneading at the weekend, but the results never seem to last into the week.
If the wet weather lets up the vegetable patch will also need some attention, and it is looking very wild at the moment, but my new venture this year of fennel seems to be doing really well, unlike the peas, where the rabbits have been on a wild rampage.
We seem to be over run with rabbits at the moment, and whilst it is nice to sit and watch the baby bunnies frolicking on the lawn, serious vengeance is required after a visit to the garden where holes and dug up plants are everywhere. Baby Ochre particularly loves them, as his favourite soft toy is Peter Rabbit, so I'm not sure how he would feel if his Mummy started pest control patrols!

Illustration of Peter Rabbit from The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rain Rain Go Away....

I know we needed the rain, but since it's started it hardly seems to have eased up. Fingers crossed it is just April showers as we have to plant up our veg plot. Last years effort was a bit half hearted, due to the early arrival of Baby Ochre, but this year we have good intentions of using all the raised beds as well as the greenhouse. We (that being the Royal we) have managed to plant a few rows of potatoes, but so far that's it! 

Our new lawn mowers have arrived for the Spring / Summer season; 3 sheep and 6 lambs. They have already settled in well, exploring our orchard and the lambs bouncing and skipping around. Puppy Ochre is particularly taken with them, and takes any opportunity to slip out of the office to sit and watch them through the gate.

On the business side for Ochre And Ocre our latest wholesale customer is the very lovely Webbs of Wychbold, and Ryton, the Organic Garden Centre. Both excellent days out, if you are near either we thoroughly recommend popping in.

With no shows this year, it is nice not having to load and unload stock and props, and it does give us more time to forward plan; we have decided on our new Autumn colourway. Weather permitting it would be great to get some shots in the garden, instead of the week before Christmas like we usually do! I just hope we can tear Rachel Spivey away from her summer weddings for a trip to the Malvern Hills one ( hopefully fine) day!

Business as usual

Time has flown by over the last few weeks and we have been really busy since the new brochures have gone out. Our wholesale side has also been busy and as well as some good repeats from customers like RHS, and The Hen House, we are thrilled to have got into some new accounts like Fenwicks in Tunbridge Wells and Rossiters in Bath. Both proper, department stores, offering a wide choice as well as good service. A novelty in some high street stores.
We have had some more press coverage in The English Home magazine, this time it was our new puppy who had a starring role, accessorised with some Organic Cotton textiles! Another mention in the Sunday Express magazine, all helping to give our brand some credibility.
Time to forward plan is in short supply but knowing the leadtimes our thoughts are already turning to new introductions, and it would be really nice to have a summer photoshoot instead of the week before Christmas! (Although the weather may not be any better!)
Outside it really does feel like Summer is on it's way, the Spring blossom is everywhere. We have so many apple trees in our area looking out of the office window it can almost look like a covering of snow some mornings.

Why I Love my Aga

We were thrilled to get some tabloid press coverage this week, with a lovely mention in the Daily Mail.

The mini write up had mentioned how our Aga pads were the writers favourite, and this has led to an out pouring of Aga love on the phones. I have spoken to people who have had their Aga's for 20 years and want to give them a face lift with some fresh new textiles, and to people who aspire to own one and are choosing the textiles first!
I grew up with a Range cooker, not as posh as an Aga but it was oil fired none the less. My mum used it daily, from boiling the kettle, to slow cooking casseroles, making lovely smelling welsh cakes, and there was always washing hanging up above drying. The range cooker came into it's own at lambing time, and I will never forget the look on my husband, (then boyfriends) face when the warming oven door swung open when he was staying for breakfast and a poorly lamb let out a pitiful bleat as he pushed the door. Needless to say lamb casserole was never on the menu during lambing time, far too insensitive.
Now as a working mum, juggling baby, business and puppy, my Aga really is worth it's weight in gold. It starts in the morning boiling water for the babies bottles. I often pop in something at breakfast time to slow cook through the day so it doesn't matter what time we finally sit down for supper.
Our washing is beautifully aired on the warming plate, babies bib is repeatedly washed and dries quickly before it's next use on the front bar. The fire kindling dries out well in the warming oven, and the puppy after a long day chewing up the packaging boxes and playing with the baby and his toys will recline next to it's warmth whilst I sort out supper. I love the background heat it provides to the kitchen, and when I am feeling really lazy it cooks ready made pizza's as well as a pizza oven! Bakoglide is the best invention ever, and I have found so many things you can cook without oil on the top plate, from oil free fried eggs, to aubergine slices and cheese toasties.
We do have a standard electric cooker, affectionately known as the ornament, as I think I've used it twice, when the Aga was waiting for it's service. I know the Aga was a big investment but it is more than just a cooker, it is like an extra pair of hands in the kitchen.

Free Postage

Image via WikipediaAfter much debate, mini surveys and quite a lot of number crunching we have decided to offer FREE POSTAGE for all UK standard deliveries on our Ochre And Ocre website. We know ourselves there is nothing more annoying than wanting something and paying more in postage than the item is worth.

We will be sending out all our parcels by Royal Mail second class instead of first class, but we do turn around our parcels usually within 24 hours so you will still receive your order between 3 - 5 days.

Heavier items we will send by our courier APC who offer a really excellent next day service.

You can get full details of our delivery rates here.

February Spring Fair

We've had a busy few weeks at Ochre And Ocre HQ this month, with a lot of time and effort put into taking part in the Spring Fair trade show at the NEC. It is essentially like setting up a pop up shop for 1 week - you have to be able to carry everything in and out of the halls on your own, and be pretty handy with a cordless drill and a staple gun!
Every year I look enviously at the "big guys" who have there own teams  who do all the set up and pack down, often you don't even see the owners behind the bigger brands. Although being a little bit of a control freak, (I had better say it before my friends do!), I do like being there to set it all up, so you know exactly what to expect on day one when the doors open for the public.
We had a great reaction from the trade to our stand and our Organic Cotton kitchen textiles.
There is always a lot of follow up from the show, and we have finally ticked off all our replies, sent out the first few orders, and tried to catch up on the rest of our jobs. As a small business, unfortunately a week out of the office means that there is no one left to do your role whilst you are out.
Next we are looking forward to our new Katie Organic Cotton collection arriving, so we will be busy checking off the stock, loading the new lines onto the website and sending out our shiny new brochures. Then it really will be Spring!

New Newsletter and yummy recipe.

Our new revamped newsletter has just gone out and we are really pleased we have already had a record number of opens. We've tried to give it a fresh look and there is also a new feature, a monthly recipe slot featuring seasonal, local food from our favourite local haunt, The Inn at Welland.

Their first recipe is a rather yummy Pan fried pigeon breast, with wild mushroom fricassee, and garlic croutons.

Ingredients:-
1 x wood pigeon breast
75g woodland mushrooms
1 clove garlic - finely chopped
15g unsalted butter
50ml chicken stock
1 pinch chopped parsley
Salt & pepper
Truffle oil - few drops
Slice of ciabatta bread
Watercress to garnish

Method
1.Rub the garlic clove over the bread, lightly oil & grill until golden, reserve & keep warm until needed.
2.Sear the pigeon breast in very hot pan in vegetable oil (45 seconds eachside)
3.Take out to rest.
4.Add mushrooms, chopped garlic & butter, sauté for 30 minutes
5.Add chicken stock, cook until reduced & thickened
6.Season with salt & pepper, a few drops of truffle oil & parsley
7.Place the ciabatta in a warm bowl, add the mushrooms and the pigeon breast, coat with the sauce and garnish with watercress

We would love to hear how the recipe turns out for you and look forward to sharing another recipe with you next month in our Ochre And Ocre March newsletter. 

Fairs and Filing

There seems to be a never ending pile of admin at Ochre HQ at the moment - orders to be logged and stock updated, bills to be paid and filed, and what feels like piles and piles of paper. Although we strive to be green in all aspects of our business, we recycle, shred and reuse, and try to do as much as possible online, we still seem to end up with a desk covered in stuff.
We have occasional purges where afterwards we feel very self righteous and Monica like, then we go back into the spiral of mounting piles of stuff.
With the big Spring Fair approaching at the Nec next month, we have extra piles dotted around - piles of samples requiring ironing and labelling, paperwork that needs to be taken(more paper!), and random props - a few mannequins dotted around and a ladder!
Going from working all day in the beautiful Malverns, with stunning views and the ability to get up and stretch your legs in fresh air when ever the want takes you, to spending a very long 6 days in the NEC, with no daylight and recycled air is not something we are looking forward to - but it will be the first chance we will get to get a reaction to our new design and feedback from existing retailers of the Ochre And Ocre brand, so we are weirdly excited.
Right better get on with reducing the next pile....it's nearly the weekend!

Happy New Year - finally!!

Why finally you ask?? Because I have been woefully tardy on updating our blog, but I do have good intentions of keeping it more up to date this year! (New Year resolutions and all that!)
We have already had a busy start to the year at Ochre HQ - the Clearance sale has been going great guns, and it is great to start seeing some empty space on the store shelves. Just in time as our new addition to our British Collection, Katie is arriving shortly. We had a great photo shoot with our photographer pal Rachel Spivey just before Christmas.(a sneaky peak at one of the new images below). It was a lovely clear day, which gave our images a beautiful winter light. We have been laying out our new brochure, and trying a few new things in there to give it a revamp.
We are also working on giving our newsletter a fresh look and have a new feature that we are very excited about starting in February. More on that in a later blog.
Our annual trip to the Spring fair is only a few weeks away as well - and we have been updating our stand ready for the wholesale crowd. So as you can read, although we've been quiet we certainly haven't been putting our feet up, it's full steam ahead here ready for an exciting year at Ochre And Ocre!

Christmas Fair

Due to the extra family members this Autumn Ochre And Ocre are not attending the usual Christmas Fairs and shows. I have to say it has been nice not to have been a travelling salesperson and packing up all of our stock into my tardis like car. (It never seems to fit when I repack after a show!I once travelled home from the Country Living Fair with a plastic stool around my neck, and boxes on my lap - as a passenger I must add!)

I obviously felt like I was missing out so I came up with the idea of doing a mini fair at Ochre HQ(aka as our family home!). It will be a chance to raise money for my two favourite charities, our local Hospice and Cancer Research). Also to help promote my business more locally and meet the natives....I do hope they are friendly!
However this has resulted in us having to finish off the last few jobs in the kitchen, resulting in long weekends and late nights. I know it will be worth it when it's done, but once again as D day approaches I do wonder why I add extra stress to my life, on top of the website and brochure, oh and a baby and a puppy!.
Luckily two of our good friends will be in supporting roles with their wares - the very lovely Emma and her Little Soap Company, and the talented Jo Verity with her beautiful decoupage. We are very fortunate to live in such beautiful surroundings so if nothing else visitors can enjoy the views!
If you are intersted in coming along this Friday and Saturday do drop us an email to our customer service address and we can send you the details and a map, (essential!)

Better late than never!

I have been very tardy of late with my blog entries - I blame it on my to do list. You see my to do list is constantly evolving - some entries have been on there for months, constantly pushed to the bottom by more demanding items. Wrapping and packing orders always takes precedent over any other jobs, although of late even those are taking place by the midnight oil. I am quickly discovering that babies and puppies require a lot of time, ok scrap that, all your time! The sleeps and snoozes are getting shorter and more random, whereas before I could set my watch by them, and plan my business day, now it is snatched moments here and there. Whilst I have been living this very un Virgo like circumstances, Autumn seems to have crept up on me, and suddenly there are more jobs. Due to the unseasonably warm weather the tomatoes I had been saving for Green Tomato chutney have turned red, and so were turned into Asian Chilli jam. I just look despondently at the apples falling off the trees, with no spare hands to pick them, as I take my hourly turn around the garden with the new puppy and baby! (Puppy nappies would almost be a good idea less accidents!).
The toadstools have been popping up all over the common, and the leaves dropping faster than a strippers feather boa, due to the high winds, and dry conditions.

But I am slowly ticking things off my list - our kitchen now has water and heating (all mod cons here!),  the bathroom is liveable and "almost" finished. The garden is looking well maintained (ok I didn't actually do it, but it was on my list!). Business wise the new samples are underway for our Spring launch, the photoshoot date is booked, and the new brochure layout is almost there. My main problem at the moment is when I do get a quiet moment, when the two babies are sleeping, I am blinded by to do lists - the main one, the scribbled down by the phone one, and the when I have time one..... now I better get started on my Christmas one!

Autumn Already!

I can't believe that the leaves are falling off the trees already - I know it's been a dry summer, (albeit without much sun??), but it does feel so early. Autumn makes you want to curl up in front of a fire at night, drink hot chocolate and have long walks through woods kicking leaves around. I wish! Life is just as hectic as ever - Baby Ochre is teething, which means lots of distraction techniques are required to help the poor wee chap forget about the erupting white ones.
Our new Ochre And Ocre brochures have arrived -so me and Mr Ochre have spent the past few nights sitting in front of the tv with a glass of vino, (so not all bad!), stuffing brochures into envelopes. Once again it's not until you do this exercise that you realise how many typos you've made! Despite scouring the mailing list before printing off the postage labels -I still managed to type Newscastle?!
The other exciting thing happening is preparation for the pending arrival of Puppy Ochre - stairgates to be fitted - play pens to be built -multi purpose obviously for both Baby and Puppy Ochre! Plus many a happy if late hour spent web browsing for cute new collars and harnesses in which to dress up our new arrival.
Our third Birthday seems to have past in a whirl - without us hardly having chance to celebrate the fact we are still trading through tough times. But no rest for the wicked only a 1000 or so stamps to stick onto envelopes, and I'd better get my screwdriver out to fit those stair gates!

Courgette Crazy

Image via WikipediaIt's that time of year again, when the veg patch has gone slightly crazy, and seems to produce vast quantities of one vegetable at a time. Our friends groan as we appear with yet another bag of courgettes as gifts, and poor Mr Ochre has yet another meal with a cunningly hidden green vegetable lurking inside.
I'm finding new ways to utilise the abundance by making use of the new Aga. Sundried tomatoes, (albeit done in the Aga rather than the Tuscan sun), are making a welcome addition to our salads. Slow cooked Mediterranean vegetables, sprinkled with chilli, make a quick and easy pasta topping. Last year I made several different types of chutneys and ketchups, which we gave as Christmas presents along with local cheeses. We are hoping to bottle sloe gin this year, which I'm sure will be well received at Christmas.
With the kitchen refit nearly complete - just the electrics and worktops to go, I'm already perusing my recipe books in eager anticipation of mass cook ups, I just need to find the time in between packing orders for Ochre And Ocre, looking after Baby Ochre and as ever DIY!

A-Day

We are very excited at Ochre HQ today, as D Day has finally arrived - renamed A Day, as our shiny new(reconditioned) Aga has arrived. From the lovely folks at Aga Twyford, it is the ultimate in recycling, and it looks as good as new. It does make you wonder why you'd pay for a brand new one. I've chosen a classic white model, as it is the best backdrop for the Ochre And Ocre textiles, when we do our next brochure shoot in our own kitchen. I suspect I won't get away with putting it through as a business expense, unfortunately!!

I grew up with a version of an Aga, (A Cleopatra oil range), and have many happy childhood memories; Helping to make Welsh cakes on the top, my mums kitchen filling with the smell of baking. Sitting with my back to it, when it got really cold. Slow cooked stews bubbling away. Woolly hats warming on the top before going out in the snow.  My then boyfriend(now husband) had the shock of his life, when he came to stay the first time, sat down for a farmhouse breakfast, and the door of the warming oven swung open, followed by a loud Baaaa and a small lamb fell out. (No, we weren't cooking the lamb! They are a great reviver).  So I know how they are more than just a cooker, but a very central part of family life.
I have already started scanning websites looking for recipes, and have started to stockpile some ideas. If any of you out there are Aga fans I would love it if you could share your favourite recipes. What to make the first time??? It has to be Welsh cakes..yum!

Friday Feeling

Even though I work from home, and often work through the weekend, I still get that Friday feeling. I'm not sure why - it must be ingrained after years of working in an office.
Friday's in London used to be quite special, as often there were informal get togethers in bars and pubs as you waited for your train home. In summer when it was hot people would spill out onto the pavement. Living in a rural location now, I still like to kick back and chill out, even with a 3 month old - so we were very excited when a rather gorgeous Gastro pub opened up on our doorstep. Now as much as we want to keep it to ourselves, I suppose it's in our interest to share it!  The Inn at Welland. In a lovely setting, decorated with soft muted greys, and BTC lighting, the food is pretty good too! Fortunately they welcome tiddlers, and with lots of outside seating you can make the most of the weather, and enjoy a smog free drink! Happy Friday everyone!

Routine

One thing I am discovering with a young baby and working is that you have to be a lot more flexible. I am quite a creature of habit and in my pre baby days I loved to start my day with a walk or bike ride in the Malverns, before spending the day working on Ochre And Ocre . Now my day seems to be snatched moments of work interspersed with feeding and changing. My phone answer service is certainly getting more business, as holding a baby, and a phone leaves no hands free to write. So I tend to have to call customers back during nap times.
My other baby; the house build / renovation also takes large chunks of time. Builders are also creatures of habit; they like to have their tea breaks at set times, and I've learnt if I'm not there ready with their brews, they walk muddy booted into the house to make their own. Not to mention the constant questions throughout the day, as to what thickness of ply they should use, where I want a pipe positioned - I do feel like I'm blagging it a lot of the time. The end is nearly in sight, as the doors are being fitted this week, and plastering this weekend, I'm busy dreaming up all kinds of meals we can have once I have the use of a hob and oven again!
With all this going on something had to give, and it's been our garden. We have inherited a beautiful garden, or rather it has the potential to be beautiful if it were tended. I am the first to admit I'm not a gardener, I like to look at the finished piece, but I can't tell a weed from a flower. So it was after much soul searching we took the decision to employ a man who can. It feels rather bourgeois, to have a "gardener", but my need to sleep means there are no free hours in the day at all.

He came for the first time last week; and such is the scale of the task he asked me where I'd like him to start; I vaguely waved at an area, not knowing quite what the plants were and suggested he start there. I hope it won't be like using a mechanic - once they know you know nothing all kinds of problems ensue! I am still responsible for the veg patch and greenhouse - which is currently going great guns, and I'd welcome any recipes that use cucumbers, but don't need a cooker!

Monica's Unite!

Image via WikipediaHands up all you Monica's out there - there are a lot of you I know, sometimes closet Monica's, some who are very much out there! For those of you wondering what I'm talking about, Monica is a character of the US sitcom Friends, who likes to clean, some say even finds it therapeutic. I have to admit to having Monica like leanings, which is why I am finding it really hard at the moment. With the arrival of Baby Ochre I was willing to let standards slip slightly - but with builders, plumbers and plasterers in every room of the house bar one, I feel like I am coming out in a rash due to the need to hoover and polish. We are now hopefully on countdown, signalled by the plasterers being here, but unfortunately with plastering comes that fine white dust that hovers in the air and settles everywhere, white footprints up and down the stairs, plus the odd bit of old render which has been pulled off the wall, dragged through the house and dropped down the stairs.
Everyday I think, "maybe I'll get the hoover out this morning, whilst the baby sleeps", then by mid day I've given up, slumping into despair at the state of the house. I'm also a Barefoot Monica, normally I wander around the house barefoot, bliss after wearing heels in my previous life. But a few well placed splinters, and bits of cement have soon put paid to that; instead of my bohemian feet, they are more slumdog. I know, I know it will be worth it in the end - but it seems to never come at the moment!
If you are a Monica, and feel the need, the need to clean, you will be more than welcome to help when we are done!

Visitors

We have had lots of visitors to Ochre And Ocre HQ recently; as well as the numerous well wishers for Baby Ochre, there have been some of the winged variety.
We were surprised to come across a swarm of bees that had decided to make their home in the end of a roll of fencing wire in our orchard. Fortunately we have a friendly local beekeeper, who came to investigate. It turns out the bees were probably from one of the pollinating hives on a nearby field of oil seed rape. Unfortunately the Queen Bee was no where in sight, and without their queen the swarm was slowly dying, and there was nothing that could be done to help them. The bees were tipped onto the grass and as the beekeeper rather quaintly put it, they could go back into the life cycle as bird feed. Later on that evening the orchard was filled with 100's of little songbirds eating up the bees.
Apologies for the poor image but Baby Ochre and I were advised to stay well back whilst the bee keeper investigated.

Also recently arrived are our own mini flock of sheep and lambs; whose main employment is to eat the grass in the orchard, thus saving time mowing. (We are very keen for any time saving schemes at the moment!). The lambs are at an age when they are just starting to play independently from their mums, and have spent the first few days roaming their new home, checking out all the places to hide and jump off!

With all the sun and rain we are having at the moment everything seems to be growing very quickly - Baby Ochre is nearly out of his newborn sleepsuits, and our veg plot is quickly filling up with radishes and lettuce. If only our new kitchen extension would grow so quickly!

Baby Ochre

I think I have a fairly good excuse for not updating my blog for nearly a month - we were somewhat taken by surprise by the early arrival of Baby Ochre. 4 weeks early, and weighing in at a light 5lb 8oz, our daily routine has been slightly disrupted.

Fortunately he sleeps most of the day, unfortunately not much at night time. So although I have peace to sort things out in the office, make calls and pack orders during the daytime, lack of sleep is making it hard to concentrate, and stay awake!
I know the common advice given is to sleep during the day, but unfortunately it wasn't just us who were caught out by the early arrivals, the builders were still in full demolishing mode, so during the day jack hammers, steel saws and cement mixers whirl. Whilst Baby Ochre seems blissfully unaware, and snores away softly, I cannot sleep through the noise. So instead I blurringly try to continue with my daily jobs, inbetween feeding, nappy changing, and making countless cups of tea for the builders.
Once again our lovely customers have been very understanding, and patiently leaving phone messages with the answer service, so that I can call them back when I have a free hand, (I quickly realised I couldn't hold the phone, baby and write at the same time!). I also had to time the calls in between the power tools, so I could at least hear the customer at the other end of the line!
I know when it's all done it will be fab - I'm hoping it will be ready in time for an Autumn photoshoot with the lovely Miss Spivey, so we can shoot the new ranges for our Spring brochure. In the meantime I am getting quite adept at cooking on a single ring camping stove, and typing one handed as Baby Ochre snores softly in the crook of my arm.

Spring babies

Spring has well and truly sprung in the Malverns -  we currently have the cutest pair of baby rabbits living under our store. They race up and down the drive, nibbling the weeds, and generally looking cute. I know if they appeared near my newly planted veg patch I wouldn't be quite so keen on them.
The lambs are also roaming the common. We had a bunch hanging around our gate last night - they've got to that age where they are more confident and cheeky; racing each other up and down the hills, and trying their luck at getting into our garden!

There are lots of baby calves too, all gangly legs, and completely fearless when it comes to road sense! Once again my daily trip to the Post Office has become a game of chicken. They tend to wait until you are almost driving past them, before making a bolt across the road.
Even the pigeons are at it -there was a very cute pair necking on the fence last night.
We are also on our own countdown for Baby Ochre, suddenly it's no longer a distant date, but a fast approaching reality! But sitting in my office, looking out at the blossom on the trees, and the Malvern hills, it's a pretty cool place for a baby to be brought up.