Autumn Leaves

I love this time of year - its that half light and beautiful Autumnal trees that makes you want to get outside for a long walk, wrapped up in a warm coat.
Ok, it was partly an excuse to get outside for half an hour - I popped over to Compton Verney this afternoon, to pick up some of the lovely Autumn leaves. They compliment our Ochre textiles so well - I just had to get my camera out, and do a few pics. Our beeswax candles have been doing so well recently, I thought it would help give people ideas how they could "decorate" them for their dining tables.
It does also feel like you are on a bit of a countdown to Christmas from here on in -especially as I need to start fine tuning the Christmas gift guide and newsletter.
I hope the Riverford Organic offer on the October newsletter has spurred a few of you on to try one of their veg boxes - it will certainly make for more adventurous menus!
I'm meeting up with the lovely Kim from Lavender Ladies later in the week - our new Lavender bags have arrived in the lush Rouge Venetien, so I'm going to pick up the stuffing!! It will be a nice fragrant job filling the Lavender Bags.

Cheltenham Food festival

Life is slowly getting back to normal, after we spent 3 days over the weekend at the Cheltenham Food Festival, with Ochre & Ocre.
We had a really great reaction to our new Organic Italian Linen range, with people really understanding the beautiful finish.
It was a really nice show, and the other exhibitors were very friendly. Our friends from Riverford Organics were there with their great value, organic veg boxes. Whilst chatting with Marc, I sampled their Italian Organic white wine, and fresh strawberries, which were yummy.
It always suprises me how much work there is after a show - it took me several hours yesterday to pack away the stock and all our shelving etc. I also had to wash and iron all the display stock, as we were quite close to crepes stand, so everything had a foody smell about it!
Our new honey handwash and hand lotion is ready to go - I just need to pull together the labelling information. The organic essential oils smell divine, with fresh lemon, basil and bergamot.

Yet another photoshoot!

It's strange how things always seem to happen at once. I've spent the last few days trying to finish off the tickets and point of sale for the Good Food show next week.
Marc from Riverford Organics dropped me a note Tuesday night to say that they want to go ahead with the link up with their veg boxes, both in Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, which is fantastic news. I had a late night designing the leaflet we are going to use, so that Riverford can approve it.
Another call yesterday from a freelance journalist, who had come to see our house a few months ago -to possibly feature in a home mag, and she wanted to bring a photographer here on Tuesday.
Unfortunately that is our day to set up at the NEC, so we've agreed that they will come here Sunday instead.
I know my friends will say I have Monica like tendencies most of the time anyway - (I am a Virgo after all!), but even I know it is slightly crazy to iron pillowcases. I've been up since 6 this morning, cleaning windows, the oven,washing the floors...... and I've still got the garden to tackle! Plus organise the stock ready for the show - I just hope the new Organic Linen range gets here in time, now I that I have sent the press releases out!
We've had a lot of interest already for our Homegrown flowers, and were featured on Sheerluxe, Buy it today, as well as the Little Green Blog.
Fingers crossed the weather stays sunny for Sunday....

Seal Wrestling

Ok, I lie, it wasn't a seal, it was my bulldog Gertrude. But trying to hold her down whilst waving a small bottle of eyedrops in the general vicinity of her eye is no mean feat. Gert, being a wise old lady now, has got wise to the stealth approach, and only seems to sleep on her side with her good eye showing. She is also a lot more vocal now, I dread to think what the translation would be of her growling.
Yet another trip to the vet this morning, to get her eye checked, and her trauma starts before she even gets onto the vets examination table. I think it all stems back to the time a thermometer was inserted into her nether area, (a traumatic event by anyones standard). She now has to sit on my lap whilst we wait, nothing strange there I hear you say. Now imagine 4 stone of quivering bulldog on your lap, complete with whining noises, and you can see why the whole episode is such an upheavel to her normal routine.
I think she was actually pleased last weekend when Paul & I were at Tewkesbury show, as it gave her chance to catch up on her sleep!
We had a really good show, and it was nice to talk to so many people, who were interested in Ochre & Ocre, We also met some other interesting exhibitors. Marc from Riverford organic food boxes was one of those genuinely nice, down to earth people. The fruit and veg he had on display looked fantastic, and with prices cheaper than supermarkets you can see why they are so popular.
There were some lovely local cheeses, our favourite was the lovely blue veined brie from Simon Weaver organic.
With over 7000 tickets presold for the James Martin cookery demonstration, there was no chance of seeing the man himself, although I did sneak off the stand for a while to hear Ben Axford talking about cheese and wine tasting. He certainly knows his cheese, and I picked up some interesting tips. Did you know that mature cheddar actually goes really well cider!
We were in the craft section, and we also met some really nice people there too. If you are ever near Tewkesbury why not make a detour to Conderton Pottery, Toff Milway was a great character, and he certainly knows his pots.
Our next show is going to be a long one, 5 days at the NEC, at the Good Food Show. I'm glad to have a few weekends off before then!