Are You Missing A Small Orange Pony?

The story of Megan the escape artist Shetland Pony aged roughly 28 years.

“Approximately 1993” - 2021

Megan was my Shetland pony. She came into my life in 1997 when I lived in Cornwall on a farm.

I had two very small boys, Hayden and Henry who were about 2 and 6 months old.

I had been involved with horses since I was 7 years old and had recently completed my NCMH and AI at Duchy College in Cornwall which are both horse qualifications.

Megan had been found living in someones garden apparently abandoned there. They kept her for about a year while they tried to find out who she belonged to and she ate all their marigolds…..

Finally a Shetland pony in the garden was not as much fun as it may have first seemed and these well meaning people reasoned she would make a lovely pony for a child. How right they were. Somehow, and I cannot remember how now it was suggested she came and lived at the farm. I had a good knowledge of horses and I had a small boy, Hayden, who I reasoned would love to learn to ride. Of course he would, he was my son.

So Megan was collected in a cattle trailer and lived in the field behind the house with my very small flock of sheep.

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From the word go she was a character. She would round up the sheep and bossily herd them about the field. They would follow her into the next field and beyond through any gaps in hedges or poorly kept fences. I was always finding them fields and fields away from where I had left them and she would always neigh a happy greeting as if to say “ Fancy seeing you here” and calmly have her head collar put on and then follow me meekly back to their original pasture with the sheep trotting in a line behind.

Megan in her field behind the house.

Megan in her field behind the house.

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My son Hayden adored her and used to spend ages feeding her carrots and apples through the fence.

Eventually I plucked up the courage to put him on her back reasoning she hadn’t had a small boy on her back before and he hadn’t been on a pony before so they could learn together.

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Using a very old method which would probably be highly frowned upon today I got her to take a bit by rolling it in jam and sugar and gradually got her used to a bridle. For ages we didn’t have a saddle and I would just pop Hayden on her back and walk up and down the lane. She was a dream pony and didn’t mind a bit.

Me and Megan and Hayden age 3

Me and Megan and Hayden age 3

We finally got a saddle and our journeys got further. We would ride to play school in the village and to the village shop. She was such a lovely pony.

Unfortunately my marriage was not so lovely and was rather dramatically breaking down. A combination of us being far far too young when we had got married with and a realisation that our personalities were extremely different. Plus I missed my family and friends. Being down a long long track on a farm in Cornwall can be a very lonely and isolated place.

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So I made the decision to return to Essex with my two boys and dog and left Megan in the care of my friend who kept Shire Horses. She had a daughter who would in turn ride Megan and have the best years of her life taking her to shows and Pony Club and finding Megans inner show jumper ( which is what she truly believed she was.)

I built my life in Essex and married Matt and had Elliott and Anna along with Hayden and Henry who were all growing up. All the boys had riding lessons when they were small and one of them, Henry was quite keen.

Eventually my daughter started horse riding and when she was about 7 started making noises about “ Could she have a pony?” I was more than happy with the once a week riding lessons and remembered the ponies we had had as children and how it was always the bane of my parents lives trying to find someone to look after them if we went on holiday and as we got older and perhaps weren’t always enamoured with 6am starts to muck out. So I explained all of this and said “No.”

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Then, a couple of days after the conversation with my daughter about getting a pony I received a phone call from the lady with the Shire Horses who I had left Megan with all those years ago. She had noticed on Facebook that my daughter was having riding lessons and wondered if we might like Megan back. Her daughter had grown out of her and the family who had her on loan since needed to re home her.

Living in the middle of town with a tiny garden, a pony here wasn’t going to be an option so I asked the lady who runs the riding school where Anna was having lessons if she might fancy a Shetland pony on the yard…..

She wasn’t overly enthusiastic at first as obviously there is a limit to the passenger size on a Shetland pony and they are known for their craftiness and naughtiness and Houdini like escaping.

But eventually she kindly said Megan could come for a try. So when my daughter came out of school that day I was able to greet her with the now-famous-in-my-family line “You know you asked me if you could have a pony? Well I forgot I had one, she is arriving next week!”


4th May 2016 Megan arrives in Castle Camps.

4th May 2016 Megan arrives in Castle Camps.

So on May 4th 2016 , my birthday in fact, I was reunited with my friend Megan and Anna had a new pony friend. They immediately hit it off and had lots of lovely adventures hacking around the fields and having lessons in the school.

Megan made herself known to all the other liveries at the yard by breaking through all the electric fences and getting into everybody else’s field. She made firm friends with a huge 16.2hh flea-bitten grey gelding called Remi and could often be found in his field shelter curled up looking very smug.

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Over the years she spent at Castle Camps she taught so many children to ride enthusiastically taking part in the riding school and particularly enjoying Pony Days which she treated like a spa day and basked in being groomed and washed until she shone and then being adorned with hats and glasses and glitter hoof oil.

She was always so gentle with the children and, aside from trying to eat grass whilst on a hack which would occasionally cause a child to somersault over the top of her or a sly step on the foot from a neatly oiled hoof, she had few foilbles.

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We only took her to one show which was Hempstead in 2017 and she and Anna won a clutch of rosettes still proudly displayed in her bedroom today.

Megan was very keen on showjumping which she got very excited about and imagined she could jump way higher than her little legs would allow.

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Megan did have several memorable adventures which are still the talk of Castle Camps village to this day. One day Holly who owns the yard had a phone call from the landlord of the pub in the village to enquire whether she had “ Mislaid a small orange pony?” as there was one in his pub garden entertaining the customers……..

She also once munched her way through an unsuspecting villagers vegetable plot and held up the Haverhill bypass for 2 hours prancing along it refusing to be caught.

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Unfortunately three years ago Megan was diagnosed with a problem with her liver and we had to have a biopsy taken. When the vet came to do the biopsy under full sedation Megan still managed to kick the poor vet and defy all the odds and recover which is apparently very rare. When the vet came back to check up on her a week or so later she was galloping about the field so he shook his head in disbelief and left.

She carried on with her life in the riding school and taught so many children how to ride and so many children to canter or jump. Nobody forgets the first pony they rode so she will definitely be featured in a lot of life stories. The first ponies I rode were Sweep, Hamish and Smuggler at Bambers Green riding centre in the 1970’s.



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Anna grew out of Megan fairly fast which is not surprising given Megans size but still enjoyed taking her for walks and brushing her.

In February of this year Megan took another turn for the worse with her liver and we thought that was that but once again and completely against the odds she rallied round. Sustained by a liver supplement and sugar beet, an apple a day and a daily walk around the field to procure thistles ( which are an aid for livers) we all helped get her back to tip top Megan condition. So much so that one day we turned up to see her and were informed she had “gone to the village” we all cheered, although did feel sorry for the vegetable patches she may be destroying, but she was definitely on the mend. Fortunately she hadn’t gone that far and a bucket of pony nuts lured her back from the far way field she was munching in but she had her spark back.

We managed to have two wonderful months with her walking in all weathers and Anna helped lead her on hacks around the fields at weekends or in the case of this weekend a pony party.

Our condolences card from Amber age 6.  The glitter on Megans hooves was Megans favourite colour.

Our condolences card from Amber age 6. The glitter on Megans hooves was Megans favourite colour.

This weekend we were at the yard bright and early at 7.30am on Saturday to muck out Megan and our other pony Polly. We had lots happening that day as Polly was being clipped and had a saddle fitter coming. I had also had my covid jab on the Friday afternoon and was wondering how long I would last. I wasn’t feeling as dreadful as my husband who spent most of the day in bed reliving the horror of actual covid, which we had last year. I had a slight headache and felt quite nauseous but had a paracetamol and soldiered on.

The day was really busy at the stables with pony rides and then at lunch time the pony party. Megan was groomed until her coat shone and had glittery hoof oil applied and a watermelon tail conditioner. She looked and smelled amazing. She wasn’t showing any signs of discomfort or unease.

Following the pony party Anna and I went home only to be called by Holly at the stables about two hours later to say Megan had gone downhill suddenly and was looking very unsteady on her feet. I won’t go into the full details here of what was happening to her but she had gone into full liver failure which was what the vet had been warning us for three years could happen “at any time.”

The vet arrived and together with Holly and I we went out into the field and Megan passed away peacefully. It was all very surreal with Megan laying next us complete with glittery hooves and smelling of watermelon. There were tears and a lot of stories were shared about Megan and the colourful adventurous life she had had. “The Queen of the barn” is how my friend Jodie describes her and I think that suits her just right.

I feel so privileged to have had this funny little determined pony come into my life twice and to bring so much joy to my children and hundreds of others she has met along the way. Thank you to Senara and Tegan for having her for all those years in Cornwall and to Holly Garrett and everyone at Bartlow Equestrian centre for having her in Castle Camps for the past five years and sorry to Peter about the fences……..

Special thanks to Grace at Catley Cross Veterinary Centre who was so understanding, gentle and patient yesterday. And to Amber Ogle age 6 who was the last child to ride her at yesterdays pony party and who I know had a lovely friendship with Megan. We are so grateful to Amber for the beautiful card she made us today and will be putting it in a frame.

Being lured back with pony nuts from one of her adventures……

Being lured back with pony nuts from one of her adventures……









Crayola Crayon Dachshunds.

On Saturday in the post, from a friend, I received some ‘lego men’ which my daughter quickly deduced were made from melted crayons.

I was quite taken with these creations and set about working out how to make our own ‘melted crayon somethings…’ What a sensible use of long forgotten crayons lying about the house forlornly in discarded boxes and what fun I could have with Anna, age 10, and possibly even Elliott (w hat virtually 18 year old doesn’t still enjoy randomly melting ‘stuff’.)

So we dug out some crayons.

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Then we stripped the crayons of their paper and began breaking them up in to lumps and inserting them into a silicone ice cube tray containing dachshund shapes usually for water.

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Then we put the silicone dachshund shapes full of crayon pieces on a baking tray and put it in the oven at 160 degrees centigrade.

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It only took a few minutes for the wax to melt. You can top up your shapes if they aren’t as full as you would like but bear in mind this will alter the colour variations obviously. Just pop them back in to melt for a bit longer if you do add more crayon pieces.

Melted crayon dachshunds in their mould.

Melted crayon dachshunds in their mould.

They need to be left to cool completely. You can put them in the freezer which I suspect would have been a good plan as couple of our heads and legs snapped off when trying to prize them from the mould.

But once free we found them absolutely charming and set about making more immediately with not a stray crayon left in the box.





Melted crayon dachshunds and one of my Stay at Home raku ‘cafes’.

Melted crayon dachshunds and one of my Stay at Home raku ‘cafes’.


























The Importance of The Local Pub.

We live nearly next door to the Best pub in our town. At the top of our street is the other Best pub in our town. This is not a coincidence. From a very young age my Dad instilled in me the importance of a good local pub. The landlord and landlady of the pub in our street have been there for 22 years today. The pub is obviously closed at the moment in these days of isolation so I thought I would celebrate The Local Pub in my blog and hope we can all be back in ours soon.


The Old English Gentleman, Gold Street Saffron Walden.

The Old English Gentleman, Gold Street Saffron Walden.

Your local pub is not necessarily always for getting wildly drunk in, although we don’t have far to stagger if we have accidentally got a bit relaxed. Pubs are often a mine of information and a place to make friends in too. My parents discovered this the night they moved out of London and into the sticks - the Essex countryside, to a village called Henham. On their first evening there was a power cut which was no fun with an 18 month old and an unpacked house. So my Dad ran down to The Bell which was the pub at the end of the lane and within the time it takes to drink a pint of bitter…….or possibly a restrained half as he had left his wife and young daughter in darkness, had the number for Sid Stringer the local electrician.

Sid was called and came and simply “flicked the trip switch” which became an all too familiar procedure during the 40 plus years we lived in Henham no matter which house we lived in. The relationship between my parents and Sid was one that lasted forever though and Sid was consulted on everything electrical from that day forward.

Due to isolation restrictions I am interspersing with photos from my dog walk today rather than all the pubs I am writing about…..

Due to isolation restrictions I am interspersing with photos from my dog walk today rather than all the pubs I am writing about…..

The Bell became a house shortly after as is the way with a lot of pubs since the 1970’s but Henham still has, and had then, another pub called The Cock which was in staggering distance from all the houses we lived in Henham. We would often go to The Cock for a-can-of-coke-and-a-packet-of-crisps after a family walk on a Sunday or for a huge treat we would have a meal-in-a-basket-chicken or scampi on a Saturday lunchtime after Dad had played golf and we had done The Big shop at Sainsburys with Mum. My Dad would often meet his friends at The Cock and put the world to rights. I had my 21st birthday there and our Nannies wake was held there.

It was the destination for many a family gathering or discussion as we got older and we even had a couple of Christmases there when we were feeling frightfully modern. I was employed at The Cock from the age of 13 to 17 in the kitchen washing up and progressing to starters and puddings and finally cooking steaks. This job, or the alternative usually given to a boy of walking the pub dogs, was a right of passage in the village. On my first day my family decided to generously book themselves in en masse and order starters, main courses and puddings which I had to wash up. I think my dad sent a round of drinks through to the kitchen which was traditional practice for locals.

I worked either Friday nights, Saturday lunchtime and Sunday night or Saturday night and Sunday lunchtime. Most of the people who worked in the kitchen were related and everyone who worked in the kitchen had the nickname of Stella. This was due to the Landlady and he daughter being called Stella, So we had Mum Stella and Little Stella. The other main women who worked in the kitchen were Maureen, who I think was a niece of Charlie and Mum Stella and Louise, who I had known all my life. They were both called Stella at work. It was always packed for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night.

After we had finished work on a Friday or Saturday night Louise, Maureen and Stella would often get a taxi to the local town of Bishops Stortford to the Juicy Duck nightclub or to the Indian restaurant in Stansted. I would watch them finish work looking tired and covered with a light film of chip fat only to disappear upstairs and return minutes later with shimmery purple eyeshadow and metallic blue or silver top, spray on leather trousers or jeans and vertiginous heels. They would have a couple of Tia Maria and cokes in the bar to top up the Tia Maria and cokes they had been steadily drinking all night before pouring themselves into a taxi. The following shift my eyes would nearly fall out of my head as they regaled their tales of the night before. The men they had met and sometimes the fights they had got into. It was a wild world outside of the village….

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Throughout my teenage years we all frequented The Boars Head simply known as The Boars in Bishops Stortford. Bizarrely it was next door to the Police station and yet it was rare for anyone over 18 to drink there.

I moved to Lincoln for college. Although I was attending an agricultural college a couple of miles from town I made friends with a girl from Lincoln, Jo, who soon took me to The Falstaff or The Folly as it was locally known. It was a pub frequented by bikers and hippies alike. It was a dark dingy place, the walls plastered with band posters, the floor sticky with Guinness and Snakebite and black, a juke box in the corner with slightly out of date songs. I can’t remember the names of the man and woman who served behind the bar but I do remember the occasional Reggae nights of music in the back room from Reggae John who became a friend together with his wife Corrine and her brother Dobbin and his wife Debbie.

It was where my then boyfriend James and his friends Stef and Joss used to hang out much of the time getting up to all kinds of mischief. Days would pass in a blur once entering The Folly. Once you were absorbed into the local melée it was the friendliest place in town. It’s entrance was slightly elusive hidden down a passage off of the High Street (270) at the foot of Steep Hill. The Falstaff has long since been gentrified and built on top of. I attempted to take my husband there about 20 years ago for a sticky pint of Guinness but was saddened to find it had been blocked out by some modern shops. Other pubs that were favourite haunts in my Lincoln days were The Corn hill Vaults and The Gay Dog ( now called The Dog and Bone) on Johns Road off of Monks Road where the Arboretum is.

When I eventually moved back to Henham and met Matt, who grew up withThe Nags Head in Little Hadham at the end of his garden and who was part of The Boars Head crowd from my youth, we lived round the corner from the Cock and used to do the same can-of-coke-and-a-packet-of-crisps dog walks with our kids. I think it was probably the first place we went to when venturing out with Elliott. Even going back there now after moving from Henham 16 years ago it has the reassuring comfort of home.

We moved to Saffron Walden 16 years ago this July and I can remember on the night we exchanged contracts having a drink in the Duke of York with Matt and my old schoolfriend Sarah, now the landlady. The Duke was one of my most favourite places to go when my friends and I were about 18-20. It has been smartened up considerably now but in those days had a tiny bar and a fantastic juke box. We do still go there now occasionally but if we do venture out it is usually to The Old English Gentleman which is oh so conveniently situated next door but one to our house. Jeff and Cindy, the landlords are our friends and we see them on a daily basis, not necessarily as customers but during dog walks or narrowly avoiding barrels as they fly off of the Adnams lorry on to a crash mat in the mornings.

We met our good friends Adam and Louise in the OEG one serendipitous night about 12 or 13 years ago when Louise, in animated conversation shot a glass of red wine straight over us, we have been friends ever since. I have had late night drinking sessions with my dear friend Marc putting the world to rights way past a decent hour for a Thursday. Matt and I have been to commiserate or congratulate our parenting skills after parents evenings. We have planned holidays, new kitchens, wall colours and life changing job decisions have been made here. I once met my friend Louise ( another one) and learned the very early stages of knitting a sock.


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When the announcement came from the government about closing pubs to deter people from venturing out and to restrict movement of people to protect the old and vulnerable during the pandemic of Covid 19 I immediately worried about all the people whose lives would be a perpetual isolation without places like The OEG. The men and occasional woman who prop up the bar from midday onwards and who, whenever I walk past with the dogs, don’’t ever seem to run out of things to say. I wonder how they are coping now without their friends and regular hang out. I hope they all return when this is over. I am missing the noise and the buzz of walking past or popping in on a Friday or Saturday night. That feeling of community and a frisson of excitement and possibility even though we are literally ten steps from home.

I don’t want to sound too dramatic as I do understand the importance of the lockdown during cornonavirus times but I hope that not going out doesn’t become the forever normal and as our Elliott approaches 18 in May I really hope it isn’t too long after that date that he can buy his Dad the traditional first pint in the OEG as a six pack of Heineken from Waitrose doesn’t have quite the same romance…..

Running out of gas.......

This has felt like the most normal day since corona virus arrived on the planet.

The clocks went forward. I woke up at about 7.45AM. Immediate panic set in… WHAT IF IT IS ACTUALLY 8.45AM…… I shot downstairs to retrieve my phone ( no phones allowed in the bedroom) as my watch battery has run out due to excessive and now I know pointless time checking in pre-corona times.

I arrived in the kitchen, the dogs were fast asleep and looked up all ruffled and confused as only someone woken an hour earlier than normal would. I put the kettle on and nonchalantly, so as not to worry the dogs, headed for the studio and my phone….. 7.55AM……. So the bedside clock HAD gone forward in the night…… Then I realised it was actually “in olden times” 6.55AM - WTF was I doing up at five to seven on a Sunday morning???!! I made some tea and faffed about letting dogs out that didn’t really want to go out and texting all my sons who would be asleep and wouldn’t care if it was Sunday or Monday or what time it was.

I made Matt and I some tea and took it back upstairs “ It’s OK.” I loudly announced to his sleeping body “It’s only 8.20.” I hopped back into bed and Matt stumbled out towards the bathroom…. He returned “It doesn'‘t matter what time it is or even what day it is really…” He said turning to go and get a bowl of cereal which were followed by some stretches with a band and press ups whilst I instagrammed on my phone….

Eventually everyone was up and washed and dressed except for Elliott who is sleeping through as much as possible of the lockdown. It started hailing. I suggested to Anna we walk the dogs knowing full well by the time she had got her coat and boots on it would be bright blue skies. And I was right. The two of walked the dogs, laughing and chatting and saying “hello” to people we knew.

When we came home Anna wanted to have a shower and to wash her hair which she wanted me to curl…..Having being deprived of a Girls World as a child I am always up for trying out new hairstyles…. But first I noticed the bathroom could do with a bit of a clean so set to task cleaning the loo….. Anna looked on in absolute horror…”Mummy! That is absolutely disgusting. I am never cleaning a loo……I will definitely find a husband that does that!”

“Good luck with that.” I chuckled thinking I have never ever met a man who has cleaned a loo…. maybe it will be a post-corona thing……..?

One dog suitably exhausted post walk. Plus lovely daughter post shower and hair curling session.

One dog suitably exhausted post walk. Plus lovely daughter post shower and hair curling session.

This past few days has seen much improvement in Matt. He has progressed from afternoon naps and gangster movies to staying up and awake for great swathes of the day now. In fact I think this weekend has seen him awake for all daylight hours. He has painted some windowsills and fixed the downstairs loo which is always a good introduction back into family life.




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We have been doing daily walks with the dogs around the town and across the fields. It has amused me to see the routes I regularly walk completely in solitude, save a couple of dog walkers, is now busy with people out for daily exercise. It is like the reverse of government guidelines as the countryside has suddenly become congested with people, I wonder what their daily exercise was before this? It also makes me think about how little my life has changed. Other than the school run and not seeing a little girl who we have looked after following school three times a week for the past five years our life hasn’t changed to a huge extent. It is sad not to see our older children, Grandma, Nanny and PopPop and our sisters and their families and our friends. Waitrose seems to have got on a more even keel with the shelves stocked to a fairly ordinary level and no queues at the times we have shopped.

Our friends house in our beautiful town.

Our friends house in our beautiful town.

I have been intrigued by half a dozen friends who have been taking enormous precautions with their shopping including washing and wiping it all, isolating it all, wearing protective clothing to shop in and getting changed after shopping and washing all their clothes. I am not surprised in the least that we managed to catch corona virus as we weren’t taking any precautions at all other than fairly sporadically washing our hands. I am still not convinced it survives for any length of time on surfaces but then I am not overly worried as I think we are now immune. These days people appear to be adopting a lot of “Crystal Maze” measures to avoid something they cannot see, smell or touch and I can see avoiding something so mysterious and potentially dangerous must cause a lot of anxiety and worry especially if you have someone with health problems in your family.

Clapping for the NHS on Thursday 26th March 2020

Clapping for the NHS on Thursday 26th March 2020

On Thursday evening we all went out on our doorsteps to clap the NHS which was a lovely thing. We are so fortunate in out country to have the National Health Service and I do hope that after this pandemic is over workers in hospitals can access a few things that one doctor I heard interviewed put so succinctly “ Free Parking, Free tea and Coffee and less abuse from patients.” Not much to ask for is it?


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Clapping the NHS with our neighbours.

Clapping the NHS with our neighbours.

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I have made and finished a lot of work this week and am so grateful that my studio is at home and I can carry on working. I held an online sale which sold out in record time and I was so overwhelmed and grateful I just stood and cried in the kitchen. I just hope the postal service isn’t stopped anytime soon. One of my biggest fears is running out of propane gas or clay and not being able to get any more supplies. Not a huge problem in the overall coronavirus scheme I realise, but at present, I am the only person able to keep working in my house and frankly that needs to carry on. Other fears I have about this pandemic continuing for a long time are for my older sons jobs and whether they will still have employment (one of them) or be able to keep employing people and remain self employed (the other one) when this is all over. Having just read this evening this lockdown may all be carrying on for six months at least I am even more fearful. But we have to trust it will all work out. I know that we are all at home to save lives and protect vulnerable people and I am not doubting the importance of this. It doesn’t make me less fearful of the economic situation we will face when we go back to our “normal” lives.

A wonderful card I received this week all the way from Inishbofin Island off the West coast of Ireland. Somewhere I visited nearly 30 years ago but where I still have enormously fond memories and am so happy to have befriended Tara who lives there t…

A wonderful card I received this week all the way from Inishbofin Island off the West coast of Ireland. Somewhere I visited nearly 30 years ago but where I still have enormously fond memories and am so happy to have befriended Tara who lives there through Instagram. Definitely on my list of places I want to go to when this is all over.

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I have had a lot of people asking me about symptoms we had when we had coronavirus as they think they may have it now. Ours were aches and pains in muscles, loss of taste, temperatures, dry annoying cough. Other symptoms included sore throats and headaches and loss of appetite. We very sporadically used paracetemol but drank a lot of water and slept as much as possible.

Today has included flute practice….. and dog yoga

Today has included flute practice….. and dog yoga

At the beginning of this piece I said it was the most normal day we have had since our experience with coronavirus began. We had a dog walk, Anna did some flute practice, Matt cooked a roast dinner. We danced in the lounge with the kids after dinner with Elliott our in house DJ playing the top tunes. We also went to see a friend whose 50th birthday it was today. We put her presents on the front door step and then stood well back and had a chat for a few minutes once she and her husband answered the door. It didn’t even feel that odd not to give her a hug to say happy birthday or not to be invited in……how times have changed and how quickly we adapt to new situations. I hope we can all remember how to celebrate when we are allowed to mingle again……..

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Anna and I embarked on a paper bowl making project from a book called Book Arts by Clare Youngs. It was great fun and very satisfying until we ran out of pritt stick glue and couldn’t just pop to the shops for a new stick. If this ever happens again in my life time I will be stockpiling pritt stick and felt squares. Two things I didn’t realise I can’t manage without.

I don’t feel I have enough hours in the day never mind one being snatched from us today for British summertime. I seem to spend so much more time communicating with my Mum, older sons, sister, friends and Matt with his family than ever before even though none of us have been doing anything different or exciting and no one has anything new to say. My Mum is on a permanent cycle of Rosemary Conley fitness DVDs, a regular walk to a shop she (wisely) won’t go inside followed by a cribbage tournament with her partner, the winner of whom buys lunch at the pub they had their first date at ten years ago if they are ever allowed out to roam again. They have at last managed to get on the vulnerable people list for Sainsburys delivery and so we won’t have to worry about them starving….. As she can’t get hold of one this spell might wean her off of the Daily Mail although I think she may well work out it is available online….. She sent me a photo of herself yesterday and I swear she is looking younger by the day with isolation…..probably because she knows exactly where everyone is at all times.

Anyway I am going to draw this blog to a close now as without the extra hour the day has run away with me and I need to get some sleep before I start worrying about all the things I can’t do anything about anyway especially at 3am.




Me earlier when I managed to delete the first version of this blog……

Me earlier when I managed to delete the first version of this blog……





Liverpool FC, Sylvanians and Zoom parties.

The blog titles are going a little more upbeat as I am no longer focusing on having Covid 19 come to stay as thankfully it has now left the building. Matt is still very very tired but no longer has a temperature or persistent cough. He is a bit wheezy but not as bad as at the weekend. Anna, Elliott and I are completely back to normal - taste and smell restored, no cough or temperature, no aches and pains….

Going out into the limited new world is a strange place since I was last “out” is quite bewildering. Yesterday whilst walking the dogs I wondered why there was such a huge queue outside the chocolate shop before I realised it was the very spaced out queue to get into to the chemist….. Nobody smiles or says hello anymore, everyone looks suspiciously at each other questioning why they are out……

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We received a lovely bookbinding package from Sal Broadhurst for Anna and I to make some mini books…. so far we have been so busy we haven’t had time to make them which must be a positive….. “something to look forward to” has become my mantra for anything that looks vaguely fun….

Bookbinding fun….

Bookbinding fun….

Yesterday Matt managed a day without going back to bed. He did this by watching back to back programmes about Liverpool football club… A curious quirk of this virus is that Matt hasn’t picked up a book once. Normally Matt reads all the time, he can’t wait to go to bed in the evening to read and if a spare hour comes his way in the day he will happily disappear into a book. But with cv19 he has become addicted to twitter and Liverpool FC programmes. He was a huge Liverpool FC fan before cv19 so I can’t guarantee your husband or son will react with the same enthusiasm for Liverpool FC but for Matt this has certainly helped him on the road to recovery.



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Yesterday afternoon we discovered the delightful television adaptation of Malory Towers the much loved Enid Blyton books about a girls boarding school in Cornwall. We limited ourself to two episodes last night but got completely carried away and high on life and watched three today. Tomorrow we are going to have to impose stricter rations I can tell…..

Yesterday I was in charge of tea as Matt has completely lost his appetite and has no energy to cook so it will be a miracle if we all survive until he gets better with my cooking repetoire…… Yesterday was tuna pasta bake which the kids loved and Matt nibbled a mouthful or two cautiously before retiring to bed again.

Exhausted from back to back Steven Gerrard and friends……

Exhausted from back to back Steven Gerrard and friends……

This morning I woke up about 6.30am. We had run out of milk and had barely anything to make a meal with left in the fridge so I thought I would be super organised and get round to Waitrose when it opened at 7. I actually made it for 7.30 and there was a huge spaced out ( physically, not on drugs) queue going down the hill. The lady on the door explained that Waitrose was letting 39 people in at a time. She did not explain about the first hour of the shop opening being for NHS workers, over 70’s and vulnerable people, something which had apparently been in the press and on tv a lot. We rarely watch actual tv and don’t receive a regular paper, we just get a free Guardian if we go to Waitrose which of course we hadn’t for over a week. I can at this point of writing hear my Mothers voice say “Well darling, if you had a Daily Mail delivered every day like I do you would know this was the case…”

So I queued for about 15 minutes in a very jolly queue and then when I reached the front at 7.45am the lady who had advised me about the 39 shoppers allowed informed me that I couldn’t come in because it wasn’t 8am. I felt really stupid that I hadn’t heard this piece of information anywhere and embarrassed joined the end of the queue at the bottom of the hill again hoping it would take another 15 minutes. I hadn’t taken my phone with me and so was unable to tell anyone in my family that I was still valiantly trying to buy milk and essential items……..

This queue was quicker and I reached the front at 7.50am. I had ended up with some of my neighbours from our street behind me so I let them go in front and then I explained to the now man on the door that I really didn’t want to queue again and could I stand and wait until it was 8am. He looked a bit fed up that his system was being disrupted so early in the day but when I explained I didn’t know about the first hour rule because I had actually been coping with cv19 he let me stay and pretty quickly I was allowed in.

The shelves were pretty empty but not as bad as I had heard they had been in previous days. I bought my essential shopping and scampered home for some reason feeling a bit emotional about the whole experience. Going out to so many changes that everyone else has already adapted to is really bewildering. I felt like I was going to get something wrong or get told off at every turn. My hands were actually shaking when I went to touch the touch screen to checkout with my self service scanner. I wondered if I should still be touching a touch screen, surely that sort of outlandish behaviour was now forbidden. I wasn’t wearing blue latex gloves like nearly every other shopper in there. I have no idea where one even gets such gloves. I felt like I ought to tell the shop assistant I would definitely be washing my hands when I got home and apologising for my ungloved hands. I didn’t tell her, but I did nearly get knocked over by her in her rush to hand sanitise the hand held scanner and screen I had touched with my ungloved hand as I turned to leave.

I did thoroughly wash my hands when I got home and then put away my shopping and realised, as we always do, when we come back from Waitrose that I had forgotten a couple of items. In a normal world these would quickly be procured by sending a child round and bribing them with a chocolate bar for their trouble but not today! No way was I sending one of my children to run the gauntlet of the spaced out queue and then the complicated black lines you have to stand behind if not using self service. Plus I had already been the person in the house to do our essential shop and so more fool me if I was too stupid to remember some of the items. We would have to go without, probably until Matt is better ……..


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I didn’t really want to go out again at all after that experience and felt so relieved to be home where I know the rules. But I had to walk the dogs. So off we went with me half expecting all the way to be stopped by the police and questioned as to why I was out. “A daily exercise outing. A daily exercise outing.” I kept muttering under my breath like a fugitive on the run trying to get their story straight. We saw a few people, mostly without dogs which always confuses me and most said hello and all nearly fell off the verge into the field or road to keep the 2 metre distance.

We managed half the distance of our usual walk before I headed home somehow convinced there was a time limit on being outside ( there isn’t I heard on the 10 O clock news this evening) and I was going to break it and like Cinderella my wellies would turn into pumpkins or some such inconvenient fate.

We got home and I was relieved that was the last of my going out for the day. Funny how I was so desperate to get back to normal last week only to find there is no normal anymore and I don’t know how to play the new game.

I then made some coffee and took lots of pieces I had made before cv19 out into the garden to glaze. Anna was doing her school work, there was washing in the washing machine, Matt was on the sofa looking at Liverpools greatest goals and improving by the minute. Elliott was still trying to sleep his way out of lockdown. All was well.

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I listened to yesterdays Womans Hour podcast and glazed a few houses. Matt came out with some coffee and said he was feeling better. Not well but improving. He still needs to take it slowly and I think he may run out of Liverpool FC programmes and matches to watch but as he has watched the corner taken by Trent Alexander Arnold in the game against Barcelona last year every day since I don’t think he will mind some repeats.

Recovery dog.

Recovery dog.

Matt then went and made us all egg mayonnaise sandwiches for lunch which we all devoured. That was obviously one exertion too far and he went back to bed and to sleep for the rest of the day until about 6.30pm.

Anna and I decided to tackle the playroom and sort out all the toys she had grown out of and what might go in the loft ( for potential grandchildren) and what might reignite a spark of imagination……. I have no idea when the last time was anyone went in the playroom. It’s a funny shaped attic room above our bedroom with very awkward jutting out ceilings that one can’t fail to hit their head on at least once whilst up there. For many years it was Elliotts bedroom but when Henry moved out Elliott was able to command his old bedroom and this became the playroom. Anyway it’s basically home to lego which was the boys favourite toy forever but not something Anna has ever really got into. We will hold on to the lego for any grandchildren that might come along although I’m not entirely sure Henry has grown out of it…….

Apart from lego there are a few dolls, a marble run and Sylvanians galore. I barely invested in anything Sylvanian myself Anna was extremely fortunate to be given two big boxes of them and their homes and cars and clinics and fish and chip vans and hospitals and nurseries by two friends of mine who had grown tired of stepping on their spiky limbs and hoovering up all their microscopic accessories. So we have Sylvania upstairs now. It’s a Cv19 free utopia where this afternoon they were all roaming their streets freely and going on picnics and to the shops and parks. We talked about how we take all those things for granted and how we won’t ever again ( except I expect we will!) It was a delicious few hours of just playing and I hope Anna does more of it during this isolation. She did mention about 500 times how the experience would be improved if Emily ( her best friend) or Lyra ( her cousin) were there but she made do with me for today….

At about 5pm we went downstairs and made a cup of tea and watched three episodes of Malory Towers, again pure escapism. Elliott came back from his daily exercise which was a dog walk. The dogs looked highly suspicious as to why they are suddenly in demand but not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth went along with it…..

I cooked tea, left overs from the chicken dinner we had on Sunday with extra veg and chopped up bits of chorizo. We listened to some catch up episodes of The Archers …… I can’t help but wonder what has happened to me, never have I had to catch up on Woman’ s Hour or the Archers their timings are so ingrained in my everyday timetable…. How do I seem to have less hours in the day when I am barely leaving the house! The Archers is intriguing at the moment as they aren’t yet experiencing cv19 in the script and this evening we heard the disturbing news that there are to be fewer episodes broadcast per week as I suspect they are running out and I suppose can’t record more due to social distancing. I really will feel the world has collapsed if The Archers stops……… I had also showered and changed as I was “going out” later to meet some friends for wine and darning and a catch up on a Zoom date….

As I am so inexpert at cooking and timing I ended up taking my dinner with me to the Zoom date in my studio where we all logged on to our computers and got very excited waving at each other and just being so happy to see each others faces. We cheersed our wine or beers and showed each other our darning projects and had a jolly good catch up. It was so lovely to see everyone and to be able to chat about what we had all been going through lately. Most of us are self employed so how we would all survive was a hot topic for discussion. The meet up lasted for about an hour and left me feeling very energised and happy and I am looking forward to next Tuesdays one. Tuesdays are the new Friday in isolation land.

All in all a good day. I am happy I don’t need to go to Waitrose tomorrow but am happy to be taking the dogs out, working and watching some more Malory Towers. Hopefully we will see some more improvement to Matts health too…..

When Covid 19 Came to Stay part 5

Today Is Mothers Day in the UK. I am a Mother and a daughter and a daughter-in -law. We have three sons and a daughter ranging from 24 -10. One of our sons lives in London and the other one does live in Saffron Walden but not with us and so we were unable to see either of them. I couldn’t see my Mum either. Prior to us all self isolating my sister had invited everyone to their house for a Mothers Day Lunch which we obviously had to cancel. Such a shame but we all understand the necessity for this.

This morning I had to make my own cup of tea which I took back to bed as Matt has still no energy at all. Hayden, our eldest phoned up and immediately cheered me up and made me laugh as he always does. Anna came in and offered to get me breakfast in bed. She was having a bowl of Weetos and bought me some up too. I could taste them!! What an auspicious start to Mothers day!

Anna and I then decided to have a spa in the bathroom with pedicures, manicures and face creams followed by nail painting. We then went to plant some ranunculus bulbs in the garden which are due to flower in June which will be when we can see Mum again as she will be one of the people who is advised to stay inside for twelve weeks. She announced to us earlier that Boris will be writing to her……

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Our next door neighbour collected us some bread and milk and bought us some wonderful rhubarb from their allotment. Elliott really fancied chicken soup and Cranberry juice so asked his friend Jake to go to Waitrose for him and I added butter onto that list as I am always in fear of running out of butter….. Pretty soon our front door was overflowing with food. Both Jake and Sheila reported that Waitrose was not as bare as it had been and there were even reports of pasta on the shelves at 2pm!

Sheila also kindly walked the dogs and Anna and I did some more of the Moomin Land she is making. I cooked a very basic roast chicken without any trimmings and then we all watched Absolutely Fabulous with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley and decided on an early night as virtual school starts tomorrow and I have, thankfully, work to make in the studio. I foolishly decided to bring my laptop to bed as writing at the end of the day has become quite addictive.

I began this blog to share my experience as a family of what we went through whilst ill with, thankfully, mild (except for Matt) symptoms of coronavirus. For yesterday and todays entries I feel like it is becoming a journal of our gardening and crafting activities as the illness is now over for me and the kids. I think I will probably continue keeping an online journal of our time during the Coronavirus pandemic for our own interest if nothing else, as I keep telling Anna these events are unprecedented in even Grandmas lifetime. You are welcome to check in of course…..

I can taste and smell, I don’t have a temperature or cough and I am not aching. If I count from when I now know what were cv19 symptoms I probably had the virus for about 11 days. Tomorrow I will have self isolated for the required seven days ( had I known the symptoms of aching and losing my sense of taste that happened the previous week I would have isolated then taking us to 11 days) I imagine I am now immune. I am not about to test this out. I will only be going out to walk my dogs and going to the shops for essential items, limiting my time out of the house as everyone has been advised to do. I will be observing social distancing and I will be constantly washing my hands still.

I have been astonished by a couple of messages I have received today either advising me not to go out for a while longer or suggesting to me that I shouldn’t be going near elderly people or the vulnerable as a I may still be contagious. NOBODY should be going near the elderly or vulnerable. I certainly won’t be even going near my Mum even though I will probably be immune. I have followed the NHS and PHE websites guidance on when I can leave my house and except for a few late night runs around town with the dogs, when I didn’t see a soul, I haven’t left the house for a minute. I don’t intend to leave the house unless it’s with the dogs or to pop to Waitrose, pretty much all I ever did anyway!

I know this is an extremely frightening and contagious virus and I know how scared everyone is of catching it. We were terrified when we realised we had it and even more so when we realised I had probably had it longer than we thought…… Matt is still completely knocked out with it. He is absolutely exhausted if he does anything more than come downstairs. He is vanishing before our eyes and he has had it now for seven days with no signs of leaving the bed or sofa let alone the house ( except for the drive by chip shop queue check out last night) He has a wheezy chest despite two weeks ago being the second fastest swimmer in the world and holder of British Records. He normally has enormous lung capacity and I think this has saved him from ending up being even worse than he is. We are obviously monitoring his progress and thankfully he doesn’t seem to be getting worse. He was reassured a little this evening when he read a post on twitter of swimmer Cameron van der Burgh who seems to have had an identical experience of cv19.

Here is a chart that shows you the 7 day /14 day isolation pattern in case you are in any doubt as to when you should leave the house if you too succumb to cv 19. I am the Mum in this example.

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I would like to end this blog with a huge thank you to our dear friends and neighbours who have helped us get shopping and dog walking and you know we are here and ready to return the favour. I will continue to update with Matts progress back to health and hope our experiences are of help to anyone who is worried about catching cv19 or who has it right now.

A quick shout out too to Amy Louise flowers of Saffron Walden who delivered two beautiful Mothers day bouquets to our mothers this weekend as we were unable to see them. A thank you to Emily at Straw London who wrote and posted Mothers Day cards for us as we were unable to do that too and Hannah at Polished Grey Jewellery who made, wrote a card and posted my friend Rachels birthday present as I was unable.



When Covid-19 Came To Stay Part 4.

This morning I woke up to the sun streaming through the window……… “Oh beautiful” I thought…. and it’s Saturday….. I got out of bed and went into the bathroom still half asleep thinking about what we might do today…. a dog walk, a wander round the market, maybe one of our ‘spring bbqs’, wonder if our friends have plans…….? And then I began brushing my teeth and couldn’t taste the toothpaste and the whole boring misery of our current life swam back into my head. We aren’t going out for any dog walks or strolls round markets and we can’t see our friends.

I then felt really really angry. Not really aimed at anyone in particular just a boiling rage that made me stomp about and be generally foul tempered. I drank some coffee I couldn’t taste and ate some toast with about 5 cm of marmite on it just to give it the opportunity to tickle my suffocated taste buds.

Matt, having had his breakfast was exhausted and went back to bed…… I, on the other hand was feeling completely normal and raring to go. As a dog walk was just off limits ( all being well I will be allowed out on day release on Monday) I decided it was time Anna and I began our new yoga routine…..

So after a chat with my friend Jenny which is becoming a lovely habit in the mornings Anna and I found a free yoga app and rolled out our mats. Pretty soon there were three of us doing our yoga practice……..

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Following the yoga I was determined Anna and I were going to make the most of the sunshine and get out into the garden. I had received a very kind package in the post this morning from my friend Anne-Marie with a packet of seeds….


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Preparing the ground…..

Preparing the ground…..

I had some other seeds I was keeping for presents but I thought it would be as good a time as any to get them planted especially as I had an enthusiastic helper….

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The sunshine felt so good, there was a constant flow of people walking in a social distancing way to and from town outside our house, many with armfuls of flowers for Mothers Day….. everything felt a bit more normal than it had done. Our opposite neighbour came and took the dogs out for a walk, even Daisy who won’t normally go with anyone now seems to realise she needs to take her chances when they come….

Several friends we are in a whats app group with mentioned they were going to Homebase and I thought, with envy, as I love Homebase…. What a typical British response to this crisis - DIY….. and my next thought was should that be encouraged as someone always ends up with an “DIY trip to A&E anecdote” and the NHS really doesn’t need that at the moment….

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I was feeling so much better and looking forward to soon being able to walk my own dogs and get our own shopping. A friend dropped round a loaf of bread and said that all the shelves in Waitrose were empty. Another friend bought us milk and wine ( more on that later…) and said the same. It sounded horrific out there and I am still mystified as to why everyone is still panic buying? If you are unwell and isolating there is a very good chance you will have friends, family and neighbours who will get you food I’m sure and if you aren’t unwell you are allowed out to shops as normal. Whats the panic? To be honest once you lose your sense of taste your desire for much to eat evaporates pretty swiftly anyway.


My studio with it’s new exercise regime.

My studio with it’s new exercise regime.

Determined that something positive was going to come out of this isolation and new surge of energy I asked Elliott to bring down my rebounder from upstairs which is now taking up half the studio defying me not to use it……. I bought it a few years ago during yet another “determined effort” to do some regular fitness…. and it has been doing a good job of being a clothes horse. Now it shall be a constant source of marching on the spot and stretches and lunges and I shall no doubt be permanently clad in lycra and sweat bands and leg warmers.



Bouncers.

Bouncers.

It was quickly hijacked by some family members with way more energy than me. I will have to wait for Monday and virtual school to start up again before I try and have a go.

We had lunch. I slathered a super thick layer of mustard on a cheese roll in the hope it would tantalise the taste buds into working again. It sort of did although that much mustard under normal circumstances would have made my eyes water and my nose sting so not out of the woods yet……

Matt had been back and forward to bed and so had Elliott, I don’t think Elliott is unwell anymore just trying to sleep his way out of incarceration the way teenagers do. Matt is definitely not well yet, a friend of mine who is an anaesthetist explained that men do get affected with coronavirus worse than women due to their increased muscle mass……

Now, look away now if you are not ready for a overload of kindness….. I had already received the generous seeds this morning from Anne-Marie, a beautiful card with a silver house from Hannah , yesterday I received a book of dog poems from my friend Gaby and Anna received a lovely collection of crafting pieces from Kathy this morning……And then, this afternoon just when we were about to put the kettle on there was a knock on the door and in true coronavirus style we saw a girl running up the street leaving this cardboard box…….. ( I feel like I am living in a constant game of” knock down ginger” - Until this week it was only Amazon delivery drivers who knocked on the door and ran away now it’s everyone…)

Mystery box……

Mystery box……

Lucky Lucky Lucky me - thank you Hannah xx

Lucky Lucky Lucky me - thank you Hannah xx

Delicious carrot cake from the lovely Jane.

Delicious carrot cake from the lovely Jane.

In the box which could be recycled so no confusing casserole dish dilemmas was a generous supply of carrot cake. Home made carrot cake no less from the lovely Jane who is a lady I have known on and off for a great many years and some one who once you have met you just aspire to be a bit more like. Creative, generous and funny and what a baker!! Her carrot cake is the stuff of dreams. Elliott ate two pieces at top speed and I haven’t seen him that happy in a long while. Matt had two pieces and declared it THE BEST CAKE HE HAD EVER EATEN EVER EVER EVER. and he loves cakes. I had a piece and was shocked, amazed and delighted to find I could taste it ( I am assuming from his response that Matt could too…) Janes carrot cake is a scientific miracle. It should be prescribed on the NHS for resurrecting the taste buds of the coronally afflicted……

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What a day this was turning out to be!

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Some serious crafting was in order with Anna who I had now kept entertained non stop since breakfast time and even though I was feeling a little tired I was enjoying her company and the living room was a riot of paper, glue, paints, cardboard and fabric and not a screen in sight as she constructed a “Moomin House.” inspired by a brilliant craft book that I had bought ages ago and hidden for her birthday ( not until August) but that I felt needed bringing out at this juncture.

We cut and painted and glued and sewed and suddenly realised four hours had passed! I was then allowed to check my phone ( all screens had been confiscated at the beginning of Crafting) and saw this “Breaking News” from Sky News sent to me by Jenny….



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Clearly I am a scientific genius as had suspected this a few days ago after it happened to me last weekend ( I may have mentioned it several hundred times throughout this blog….) My friend Claire who is an anaesthetist called me Professor Banham in a text message which has a certain ring to it…….

From that point on I think I had used up every ounce of my new found energy and was drained. I thought since my taste had been so magically restored by Janes carrot cake a little glass of wine from my neighbour and a sit on the sofa was in order……. Unfortunately wine was the most stupid idea ever. I couldn’t taste it and made my mouth go completely claggy which is the only word for it. And I couldn’t taste it. BOOOOOO

Tea was sausages ( no taste ) and chip shop chips( unfortunately no taste either although I could mildly taste ketchup) from our opposite neighbours lovely son who kindly went to the fish and chip shop in our hour of need. Matt did nip out and drive past the chip shop which is in the next street to check the queuing situation out before we asked Oliver to go round there, he hasn’t left the house at all since Monday and found it quite disorientating.



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Beginnings of Moomin land …..

Beginnings of Moomin land …..

Then we watched The Graduate while Anna was released into Face time land with her friends who she had plenty to catch up with having not spoken to them since breakfast.

All in all a much better day than yesterday, still a bit more tired than normal but no temperature, no cough, no aches and pains and I can taste but only Janes carrot cake. The fury I experienced this morning just turned out to be good old PMT as my period turned up this afternoon, sorry if thats more information than you needed ( told you I was an over sharer) but it was quite reassuring that that was all the feelings of rage was about , not some crazy new corona symptom…… but more heightened and apparent than usual probably due to living in such an intense environment which is what isolation becomes.

I am feeling a little more generous spirited to the sharing of ideas for isolation now the rage has subsided and I have had a burst of normal energy levels . I am a huge audiobook listener when working in the studio and so here is a list of some books I have enjoyed lately or am currently listening to:

1) Pour Me - A.A Gill

2) A Bit Of A Stretch- Chris Atkins

3) Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata

4) Big Girl, Small Town - Michelle Gallen

5) My Wild and Sleepless Nights - Clover Stroud

6) Motherwell - Deborah Orr

7) Jailbirds - Mim Skinner

8) Lost Dog - Kate Spicer

9) The Stopping Places - Damien Le Bas

10) Lady in Waiting - Anne Glenconner

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When Covid-19 Came To Stay Part 3.

Today we woke up at a “normal” time of 7am. I made us a cup of tea and we looked at our phones in bed. I chatted with my friend Jenny whose daughter has cystic fibrosis and so they are in isolation and have been for some time and will be indefinitely as it would be extremely dangerous for them to have C19 in their house. It really bought home to me how many people I know directly who are in the vulnerable group of people. We did make each other laugh as we always do with anecdotes about our Mothers and it felt good to know my sense of humour hadn’t been wiped out with my sense of taste.

I checked my emails and noticed the yoga studio next to my house where I sporadically go to classes was holding “live” yoga sessions using Zoom which is an app I have repeatedly been invited to join this week to join up with various events. I really fancied doing some stretching and yoga and Jac who runs the studio is so lovely and calming I knew this would be just the perfect start to the day. I enthused to Matt that I was going to do a live class every day and would be booking bundle of classes straight after my shower….

Who knew how exhausting brushing your teeth and having a shower is….. I was shattered. Completely wiped out. I ended up having to lie back down on the bed feeling really fed up with heavy leaden limbs. I was so fed up. With my usual bullish determination and reluctance to take heed of my body I dragged myself downstairs to find my yoga mat and purse to book on to yoga…… In the kitchen I could hardly even lift my yoga mat up let alone lay it out or perform any moves! Anna and Matt were eating their porridge and eyed me cautiously…

I made it to the sofa and laid down, exhausted. My muscles ached and I felt like a lead weight. I had to accept that this was a new phase of C19 and I wasn’t going anywhere. My new life as a regular online yoga practitioner was going to have to wait.

Matt didn’t feel as bad as me initially and decided to mow the lawn as that always makes everyone feel better.

I did drag myself off the sofa for blog purposes to photograph him as I am like an investigative journalist and never one to miss a scoop in the exciting Banham household….

I did drag myself off the sofa for blog purposes to photograph him as I am like an investigative journalist and never one to miss a scoop in the exciting Banham household….

Following his grass cutting activities Matt was absolutely shattered and had to join me on the sofa until he couldn’t handle the exertion of sitting up watching you tube videos about carpentry any longer and had to go back to bed to sleep.

Anna was at “virtual school” and it was so lovely to hear her laughing and chatting with her friends and to see her teacher who is teaching from isolation himself, a teaching assistant in the classroom and the whole thing running seamlessly.

Virtual school.

Virtual school.

I managed to darn a roof of a house…… ( red one, left hand side)

I managed to darn a roof of a house…… ( red one, left hand side)

Anna finished virtual school and was chatting to other friends in self isolation online. Elliott still hadn’t appeared and it was 12.30 but to be honest Matt and I were so wiped out we imagined he probably was too.

Matt appeared and made us baked beans on toast and Elliott made an appearance …… We all agreed that even though we couldn’t taste the beans on toast the taste is so familiar and etched on our memory it’s as if we could taste it. Tea and coffee is a bit like that too.

Baked Beans on toast and mug of tea. No taste buds required…. Mug from Laura Lane

Baked Beans on toast and mug of tea. No taste buds required…. Mug from Laura Lane

After lunch Matt went back to bed and I cleared up the kitchen. Elliott wanted to watch The Phantom Thread ( Daniel Day Lewis film) which is excellent but I didn’t have the energy for it so I vacated the lounge and attempted to darn another house in the studio but there is no where comfortable to sit in there and it was freezing and everything ached so I decided go to bed too. I was exhausted and I hadn’t done anything all day except darn a house.

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I slept for a couple of hours only woken by Jane our west highland terrier barking in the garden, she is finding isolation a huge challenge and I am absolutely desperate to get her out for a good long walk. Our neighbour did take them out this evening for a good walk which I was very grateful for.

I went down and checked Anna was happy, still chatting to her friends online……. I didn’t have the energy for sewing clouds today which is not a sentence I thought I would ever write…… Must try and up my game tomorrow.

Being in isolation feels like being held back in a race as everyone “outside” seems to be learning about new ways to navigate shops and everyday routines. I am trepidatious about what will be available when we can go out. Today a lovely friend bought us some french bread which we made garlic bread with this evening and another friend messaged to say she would make us a cake which actually made me cry. Our friend Michelle bought us oranges which I was delighted about as vitamin c is supposed to see of C19.

When I had the idea of this blog I was planning to share links of online resources such as fun things to do with children or creative pursuits for adults but I haven’t done that yet as I have not felt well enough since C19 took it’s grip. I have also on occasion found all this enthusiasm people I follow on instagram keeping posting about for “learning new things’ and ‘ using our time wisely’ overwhelming even though I know it is meant with the kindest intentions. I suspect it is because I haven’t had the energy to do anything due to being ill but I have also had enormous feelings of guilt today that my daughter has basically spent probably upwards of 7 hours on a screen….

I am sure we will find a new way of doing things once we are feeling better.

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This evening we had homemade lasange from the other day with our garlic bread and watched Meet The Fockers as a family and we laughed and laughed which felt very energised by.

I am sorry this post hasn’t got much in the way of humour or even very interesting information I hope tomorrow is a better day…….

When Covid-19 Came to Stay. Part two.

After I finished writing my previous blog post last night at half past midnight I crept out of the house and walked the dogs round the town. There wasn’t a single person about, not surprising as it was 12.30am on a Wednesday but everything just looked so dark and closed. I had a tear for all the shops and restaurants and cafes and scuttled off back home to bed.

We woke with a start at 8.30am. I shot out of bed like a rocket much to Matts confusion…… I had arranged to leave the dogs in the garden so that my next door neighbour could take them and walk them at 8.30am…. Had I missed her ….. was their chance of a walk doomed…..? I dashed downstairs in my pj’s and shoved the half asleep dogs in the garden whilst phoning Sheila who said she would be there in ten minutes. When Sheila arrived with her dog Anna and I stood behind the glass door and waved and Sheila took Jane, who couldn’t wait to get out of the gate, and Daisy who looked really reluctant and had to be slightly dragged…..

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I then went to empty the kiln with gloves of all the kids Mothers day gifts from school pottery club. My brother in law was kindly transporting it to school for me and it had to be in the Corona-Shed (as my clay store shed in the driveway is now known) by 9.30am. Anna also had to be at her “desk” for virtual school on the ipad and as she was now temperature free there was no excuse!

Virtual School…..

Virtual School…..

As a family we are always up by 6.30am - Matt even earlier and I felt really confused about how late in the day it was and how even though we didn’t have to BE anywhere or even walk the dogs we were already late!! I had had a good nights sleep which is unusual for me ( probably peri-menopause symptoms) but I had a cracking headache and felt “hungover” which seemed really unfair as we haven’t had any alcohol for days.

Anna was installed at virtual school. Matt was on his computer in the lounge although still looked quite tired and was coughing…. I decided in my infinite wisdom that Elliott needed to be up and showered and dressed as “You always feel better when you are up and dressed.'“ as my parents would say…… I banged on the door and nagged and cajoled but he wouldn’t get up… “ Whats the point?” He said “ I don’t need to be anywhere.'“ Both valid points but both sent me into a panic - had he slipped into a depression because he couldn’t go out and see his friends?

I had quickly moved on from yesterdays panic about “Had We Done Something Wrong?” as my inbox on Instagram and emails was absolutely bulging with people saying “Actually, having read your blog I think we have HAD C19 and we didn’t really realise it a few weeks ago….” So I think there are thousands of people walking around who have had it and didn’t self isolate and loads of people who have it now but are in the early stages of ACHING MUSCLES AND LUNGS and NO SENSE OF TASTE.


Jane on watch from her chair…..

Jane on watch from her chair…..

The morning moved on, I was online for a lot of it answering emails and Instagram messages about the previous blog which I am so glad has helped so many of you…. although we are not out of the woods yet!

It was raining so I couldn’t even walk round our tiny garden so I consoled myself with tidying up the studio and deciding which of my “seconds” could be reglazed and refired to improve their look…..

Re glazed and ready to be fired……

Re glazed and ready to be fired……

Even though we aren’t feeling our best, we are tired and today I have had a headache all day and my chest hurts, I have still felt as if I haven’t got enough hours in the day! Possibly due to my extended lie in and also to do with the lethargy that C19 appears to bring. I think I may, as usual, been “putting a brave face on it all” and just trying to carry on as normal as I abhor wasting time. But I am tired.


This afternoon my Mum attempted to come round and sign some forms that needed signing. Actually she didn’t intend to come and do that when she first came round. She initially shoved a letter through the letterbox and ran away.

This is not the first time she has run away from me in a compromising position - in fact the last time was just shy of 18 years ago when I was having a home birth with my son Elliott. I had Matt with me and two lovely midwifes and I didn’t need my Mum to be there lets just make that clear. I know Mum does not enjoy anything “medical” in any way shape or form. But there I was in labour in the lounge of our cottage and Mum knocked on the door…… Rosie the midwife opened the door a crack and peered round the door…. “Hello?’ She said to Mum….. “Amanda is a bit busy at the moment.” Rosie went on. “I Know” Mum would have probably theatrically stage whispered “I’m her Mum.” Rosie flung open the door “Oh her Mum! DO you want to come and be with her?” Mum looked absolutely horrified and thrust a bag at Rosie “ NO!” she practically shouted “ HERE IS A CHEESE ROLL.” and she RAN off up the road……. Rosie came in bemused to me and said “ I think that was your Mum? She threw a cheese roll at me and ran away.'“ I laughed “ Oh yes that was her…”


So this afternoon after Matt spied her shoving a letter through the door I knew we had to act fast….. “Matt, quick call her back!!! I need her to sign something…” Matt flung open the door causing the dogs to go into frenzy of excitement at the prospect of fresh air….. “ Sylvia!” He shouted vainly looking left and right…… Mums head popped out from behind her car “Hello” Matt beckoned her towards the house whilst I waved the paperwork at her….. I put it on the front step with a pen and stepped back into the hallway whilst Mum approached “Hello!” She shouted even though I was literally 6ft away. I waved. Mum, age 77, but very fit and dynamic and clearly not adept at self isolation, lent over and crouching on our front steps signed the forms chirping “I will wash my hands as soon as I get home!!” She then stood up a good 8ft away and said “ Right, er, Cheerio,” and dashed off to her waiting car and sped off up the road. I suddenly felt like crying. I couldn’t even hug my Mum. I couldn’t even invite her in for a cup of tea. I couldn’t even think of anything to say because I had been shut in for days and hadn’t done anything. Miserable.

Throughout the day at times I cant pinpoint as without the structure of dog walks the day becomes a bit of a blur, I have had several phone calls. These days we are so good at pinging texts and whats apps we hardly remember to call each other. My sister is really good at phone calls, she is better at those than texts as I always feel she is cross with texts as they are so abrupt with no emojis.

However her phone calls are warm and expansive and she shared with me everything she had done that day including running group with my sister in law which I have ideas about joining when I join the real world again….. Suzie told me there wasn’t a dog food shortage in Waitrose in Saffron Walden as I had been discussing the dog food shortage in Eastbourne with my friend Julia earlier. She did try and buy us some bread flour but there wasn’t any in Waitrose which is a shame as making a loaf every day has been great for Anna.

I also had a phone call from my friend Liz who talked me round Waitrose as she tried to find something on the empty shelves for her families tea. It was interesting, if alarming to hear how little was there day after day…. where is everyone putting all this food!!? And the shelves are restocked every morning so why do people feel the need to keep stock piling?

Matt and I were making a cup of tea in the kitchen lamenting our lack of sense of taste and the loveliest sound of Annas flute playing wafted down from upstairs. It sounded so ethereal and surreal and was definitely my favourite part of the day. It has been interesting to see how we are all getting along with our “new normal” in the house…….

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Elliott suddenly appeared and quite cheerfully informed me he had taken part in two online lectures at college and was feeling absolutely fine now so could he go for a walk? I felt awful having to explain that at present in the middle of the day he couldn’t go for a walk. He went away and I went back to looking at Instagram where I saw the ‘stories” of my long time Instagram friend Nancy ( @avocadofairy) who sadly has a brain tumour. She was explaining that her essential chemotherapy has been stopped for the time being due to the fact that the intensive care beds at the hospital she attends are all full and the surgeons are needed for the C19 patients. If that doesn’t make you stay at home if you have any symptoms I don’t know what will.

Anna and I had started a project yesterday for her “new” bedroom. Before all this started we had planned to redecorate Annas bedroom this Easter to make her room more suitable for her as she begins secondary school this September. Anna’s plan is to have all the walls white except for one wall which she would like dark blue and adorned with these little clouds which are filled with lavender.




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We are aiming to sew one each every afternoon whilst in isolation……

Matt and I have both lost our sense of taste and smell. I lost mine on Saturday and it has been the most frustrating thing for me throughout this episode. I assumed it was part of the whole C19 package when Matt lost his and was proved right this evening when Matt “googled it” and found out that Nadine Dorries has also lost her sense of taste and smell and also experienced the extreme muscle aches that we have had and SHE HAS BEEN TESTED so by proxy as we share all her symptoms we are now sure what we have is Covid-19.

No sense of taste or smell hell.

No sense of taste or smell hell.

Today has not been physically as easy as yesterday for me. I have had pains in my lungs and a headache most of the day and I have felt tired. I am really fed up about not having any sense of smell or taste. I think a lot of these ailments would be solved by a good long dog walk but I can’t do this at present and should probably be kinder to myself and actually rest rather than trying to “use my time productively” and keep up my normal frantic work pace. I still think our symptoms are relatively mild which is fortunate but I think even I have to admit I am not feeling my best. I think I have been trying to keep the mindset that if I carry on regardless as if everything is normal I will come out the other side and seamlessly go back into normal life. But I think even I have to admit that is a long shot……







Elliott the darning wonderboy.

Elliott the darning wonderboy.

Elliott reappeared an hour or so after I had explained he was still confined to the house to ask for some more yarn for his darning project…… I was so happy to see how adaptable he was at finding something else to do and immerse himself happily into it.

For dinner Matt cooked a chicken curry which now only Elliott could taste. Anna has lost her sense of taste too…… I am now looking at that as progress although I won’t be happy until Nadine Dorries ( or we) get our sense of taste BACK!

I will update you on further developments tomorrow. Off to creep round the streets with the dogs before bed……





When Covid-19 Came to Stay. Part one.

You don’t need me to tell you that these are unsettling, strange times. We have just heard on the news that the schools are closing on Friday for an unknown length of time. Self isolation for three months at least has been suggested for the over 70’s and anyone who is “vulnerable.” Supermarket shelves empty as quickly as they are restocked, we have become a nation whose currency is loo roll.

But, as far as I know not many people I know have actually contracted IT….. But we have….. Or at least we think we have as it’s impossible to get tested if you have the (thankfully) mild symptoms.

I thought it maybe helpful to write a few lines everyday about our experiences in order to hopefully ease some anxieties about the physicality of this virus if you were initially in general good health before Covid-19 came to stay. I will be writing a little about what we have been doing every day as much for us to (hopefully) look back on and marvel at what we all went through.

So to start with the people who live in our house comprises of my husband Matt, age 48, very fit regular swimmer and goes to the gym every day. Me, Amanda, 47, Dog Walking is my main activity I am slightly ashamed to admit…. very intermittent yoga practicer……Potter the rest of the time. Elliott age nearly 18, fashion student, quite often plays basketball and Anna, age 10, Hockey player outside school and active at school.

I am reiterating again that we haven’t been tested for C19 so we don’t entirely know what we have been experiencing…… and until this week we were as bemused as a lot of people about the stock piling of loo roll, paracetemol, pasta and chicken. We knew to watch out for persistent coughs and a temperature…. Last week we were all in good health, I had a slight cold, more sneezing than anything else and definitely no temperature. I did have some pains in my back and legs which I put down to sciatica or “time of the month” and stretched my way through them on the living room floor. By Saturday all this had passed and I felt fine and normal except my sense of taste and smell had dulled - My Mum has always had a really bad sense of smell and taste and so I thought maybe mine was deteriorating fast as I approach 48. Matt and the children were absolutely fine.

We went to the theatre on Saturday afternoon and agonised for hours prior to leaving over our decision to drive all the way to London and not to take public transport the whole way. Our plan had been to drive to Blackhorse Road tube and then park and catch the tube into London but when we arrived at Blackhorse Road the huge car park that has resided opposite the tube station FOREVER has now turned into a building site full of cranes and empty half built buildings. I mention this outing really as Saturday now seems such a long time ago and life was obviously not “normal” as we would always just hop on a train to London in “the olden days” but something was shifting in our conscious…..

By Tuesday afternoon around 2pm Matt was in bed with a temperature and a cough having starting to feel ‘not right’ on Sunday evening. Anna then developed a temperature out of nowhere and slept for hours. Elliott and I were astonished and suddenly realised we were now in Lockdown as per the governments guidelines that if a person in your household has a temperature or dry persistent cough the whole family must self isolate for fourteen days.

It is such a strange feeling when you are not feeling unwell at all to be told you cannot leave your house at all… I had, by some miracle, bought enough food for the week in Waitrose on Sunday. This was mostly inspired by everyone who was in there panic buying and so I had shown uncharacteristic tenacity and bought more than “just the next meal” which is how we always shop as Waitrose is basically in our back garden. And of course I have the dogs to walk several times a day, not to mention suddenly having to explain to our family and friends that they can’t pop in and we can’t come round out of nowhere……..

So there I was suddenly unable to leave the house with two family members in bed with temperatures and loads of parcels to get to the Hermes delivery shop as I had held an online sale the previous evening in my “old life” that suddenly seemed to be like a little puddle down the bottom of a very long well.

I had, more for what now seemed like not very funny comedic effect, wiped all the pieces in my online shop with antibacterial spray and kitchen paper as I wrapped them up….. I was suddenly so relieved I had done that I could have wept, until one of my well meaning friends pointed out I had “breathed on the boxes” . What fresh hell was this?!

I wasn’t even ill for heavens sake and here I was locked in the house with loads of parcels that I could'n’t drop off and I had apparently breathed noxious fumes on them. Fortunately a quick look at The Royal Mail and Public Health England ( my now most looked up page) revealed that the virus doesn’t last long on parcels and they certainly wouldn’t survive the trip to the parcel drop off. Such a relief……

So on Tuesday afternoon, my old carefree life a distant memory, I had to phone my son who doesn’t live with us and tell him there were 23 boxes in the boot of my car in the driveway. Could he please come and text me when he arrives instead of coming in the house so I could unlock the boot of the car with the remote through the breakfast room window and then can he drive the boxes to the drop off as the family are now under house arrest. I think he thought I was drunk or or drugs but after he had finished work he did just that and I breathed a sigh of relief that I had completed the first test of not going out.

The next hurdle was the dogs. I consulted the NHS website which said that you should not go out into a public space under any circumstances if you are in isolation for 14 days not even to the shops or for exercise. I also looked at the PHE website as it was the one the government are using for guidance and I was sure I had heard Boris Johnson say that you are allowed out for exercise if you are isolating for 14 days and sure enough it did say that. So I took the dogs out with my scarf tightly wound across my face, head down not making eye contact with anyone. I was petrified some one was going to stop me and demand to know what on earth I thought I was doing and march me back home.

Later on that evening I developed the world most annoying cough. I had also still not regained my sense of taste or smell. Elliott then came down with a temperature and cough and went to bed. Anna was much improved by the evening and so was Matt. We went to bed and I had the most astonishing wildly vivid, scary dreams and woke up exhausted and hot. Matt had mentioning having really astonishing vivid dreams the other morning so I mentally added these to my checklist of potential C19 “things.”

Wednesday morning 8am we receive a phone call from a lovely friend “I’ve left something on the doorstep, open the door before it’s nicked!” We open the front door to see a bottle of red wine sat on the front step. Isolation suddenly doesn’t seem so bad. In fact the thought of popping out and leaving potentially anonymous gifts on friends doorsteps made me feel strangely excited.

Even though absolutely no one had taken a blind bit of notice of me on my walk the previous day now I have a cough I was definitely not stepping outside the front door. I urged the dogs into the garden and made them run about a bit. They looked so confused poor things. They did the thing they do on the weekend when I faff about for hours idly drinking coffee before I walk them and they follow me expectantly from room to room theatrically hurrumphing onto the floor every time I don’t put their leads on. I had become uncharacteristically anxious and miserable ( probably because I hadn’t walked the 6K I do every morning without fail) and busied myself in the studio sorting out months of unopened post (!) and tidying up.

I felt as if we were somehow filthier than everyone else and had failed in the basic instructions to wash our hands. I felt as if we had let our children down by allowing this to happen to them even though Anna, still with temperature, had pretty much bounced back and was tidying her bedroom playing music ( I can’t guarantee tidying bedrooms is a symptom but we live in hope) and Elliott was still peacefully asleep (given half the chance what teenager isn’t half asleep at 9.30 in the morning.) Because at this point we had only told a few people and knew fewer people who had C19 in their life I felt like it was something to be ashamed of and we had done something very wrong. This was very different from the almost exhilarating feeling we had had last night when we were discussing how much help we could be to other people once we were through this and immune…… Where had my usual positivity gone? Washed away with my sense of taste.

I worried for a long time about money and we will survive and pay the bills. Sorting through paper work does not help with this frame of mind but I felt like I wasn’t “allowed” to create anything in the studio as we were in lockdown. These is a new chapter for us anyway, Matt has now resigned from his job in London. Next month was supposed to be an exciting new start of being self employed and his own boss…. His old job wasn’t meant to end until end of March but because he is now isolated he won’t return there and his plan for his new self employment is looking rather fragile at this moment but frankly I can’t think of a single line of employment that doesn’t look perilous today.

I am not going to paint a worse picture than it is for us. At this present moment we are ok. We can pay our bills for a while and we have money for food. But long term I don’t know how long we can last but I think everyone is in the same boat at the moment which holds a little comfort. I am a natural worrier about money at the best of times and am always making sure I don’t owe anything and have enough for our outgoings which are fairly sensible but I know “home economics” will be what I lie awake thinking about most nights even though I know Matt will try and reassure me everything will be ok………

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the postman knocks at the door “YOU CANT OPEN THE DOOR.” I yell at Matt who is perfectly under control of the situation. The Post people have now all been instructed to leave post on the doorstep ( if there is room with all the bottles of wine) and take two large steps back to allow the recipient to open the door and retrieve their parcel but with safe social distancing observed at all times. I had read this yesterday on one of my many website devourings to learn “all the rules” and not get caught out in my new life. But still I shriek at Matt and then run into the studio so I don’t have to witness the very ordinary transaction ( if a little sci fi) of the post arriving. Matt comes in and hand me the post and I am so overjoyed to see a little bundle of delicious coloured yarns from Loop for some of my darned houses I can’t stop looking at them. It seems like weeks since I chose them and was planning houses for Craft festival ( postponed), an exhibition in Brighton (now online) and another exhibition during the Hay literary festival ( I haven’t heard the fate of this yet… but I expect the exhibition will continue even if online) simpler times….

So Wednesday continues….. I get myself feeling so fed up I am very relieved I can’t go out anywhere as if the shock of speaking to someone outside of us four face to face would be too much to handle. I have to then give myself a talking too as I normally spend all day completely on my own in the studio with only the dogs for company and so why am I making such a big deal out of it now. I felt overwhelmed with the amount of messages I was receiving even though most of them were perfectly normal messages as I have said hardly anyone knew we were all in isolation. A lot of messages were such lovely enquiries about buying my work and several house commissions so I should have been feeling extremely fortunate but I just felt overwhelmed and sad.

I began tentatively to tell a few more people outside my immediate group of friends that we were in isolation and all have either coughs or temperatures and everyone was concerned. “Is it awful?” “Do you need paracetemol?’ “Can we help?” “Let us know if you need anything?” One friend did say she would swear it to secrecy which did immediately plunge me straight back into gloom and that feeling we had done something wrong. I absolutely loathe secrets. I am as open a a soaring birds wings, ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I probably overshare rather than keep secrets about myself. I can’t remember what my reply was but her saying that was partly why I wanted to write all this down. To put it out there to say it’s hopefully going to be ok for me and I think it will be for you too if you have basically started this experience as a fairly healthy person. She did then go and buy us lots of milk and the kids some delicious cake so she is now on my hero list…..

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful with this next sentence and it has actually made me chuckle all day when I have said it to other people but another genuine reason I was worried about telling people we were in lockdown is in case people started bring round casseroles and we didn’t have room in the fridge or the freezer and if we had to remember whose casserole dish was whose and that we couldn’t return them because we are in lockdown etc etc…… This casserole saga did actually happen when my Dad died and I think it probably wouldn’t have been as overwhelming if he hadn’t just died but then no one would have bought any round…… If anyone is thinking of helping us we will have run out of food by Saturday and we will have a list ready!

The day went on with Anna improving by the minute. She finished off a school art project of lino printing and then we did some sewing together which was really lovely. She has been participating in “virtual school” with a live link up to her classroom at school which has been fantastic at keeping up with school work and her friends. She has also had longer than usual on face time and messages with her friends after school so she can catch up with everything that has gone on that day. I think her mental well being is holding up best of all of us.

Matt has been really tired, wheezy and “not well” he has slept quite a lot but his temperature has gone. Elliott has been asleep nearly all day but got up for lunch and dinner. I think he feels a bit better this evening as he has been down a couple of times to get water. I think he will be the one desperate to get out first when he feels better especially as all his friends will be finishing school on Friday for an undefined period of time. I feel so sorry for his friends who were all due to sit their A levels this summer and our friends whose son was doing his GCSES. That must be such a confusing and unsettling time for them all to comprehend.

We ate a homemade lasagne this evening which Matt made this afternoon. I couldn’t taste anything BUT neither could Matt!! That then got my mind racing as to whether I was actually ahead of my family on the C19 journey as I lost my sense of taste on Saturday and had had the weird aches and pains that week. Matt had complained of aches and pains that sounded like mine this morning……..

So that made feel all up in the air again as I was then petrified - Have I unintentionally infected people last week as I didn’t self isolate when I had the leg/back pains and lost my sense of taste? Or was none of this C19 at all and we have been blowing out of proportion fairly trivial symptoms and sleeping a lot because we haven’t set foot outside for nearly 48 hours…… But then I came back full circle to the PHE website which states if you have a temperature or a cough you must self isolate for 14 days if you are in a house of more than one person. So we have done exactly what the government advise has asked us to do and isolated as soon as we noticed the temperature and cough. Phew.

So writing this blog has taken me about three hours this evening and I have found it the most cathartic thing I have done since my isolation life began. I will be writing a little snippet every evening ( not three hours worth!!) if you want to catch up with our progress or have any questions or if you are going through the same “Is it C19” life then feel free to leave a comment with any other symptoms I may not have experienced.

I think that at nearly midnight in our sleepy town it will be safe for me to run the gauntlet of the High Street and take the dogs for a wee without breathing on anyone so I will say goodnight now and hopefully have some more to share tomorrow.

29th February 2020

Collect 2020 - Somerset House.

There is something quite magical about the leap year day of February 29th which only occurs every four years. I always see it as a bonus day. A day for fun, mischief and mayhem……….

So on this leap year day which serendipitously fell on a Saturday I went to London with my son Elliott. First we went to Collect 2020 which is being held at Somerset House and is organised by The Craft Council to show the very best in contemporary Crafts such as ceramics, jewellery, glass, wood work and metal work.

The first person we saw was the potter Linda Bloomfield whose glazing books I have, well used, on my bookcase. It was so lovely to meet Linda in person and to see her beautiful work inspired by lichen. Linda has a new book coming out in June which looks amazing too. I was so excited and a little star struck to meet Linda ( especially when she said she likes my Instagram and my stories!) that I forgot to take any photos!

Linda very kindly sent me these beautiful images of her and her work this morning, Thank you Linda!

Linda very kindly sent me these beautiful images of her and her work this morning, Thank you Linda!

Beautiful Lichen pots by Linda Bloomfield.

Beautiful Lichen pots by Linda Bloomfield.

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We then went through into a beautiful room of ceramics- for me the stand out pieces here were by Rupert Spira represented by Oxford Ceramics Gallery.











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WORK OF RUPERT SPIRA AT COLLECT 2020 - OXFORD CERAMICS GALLERY.

WORK OF RUPERT SPIRA AT COLLECT 2020 - OXFORD CERAMICS GALLERY.

We enjoyed meandering the many rooms and corridors packed full of beautiful crafts. There are some photos below of some of our favourite pieces. Unfortunately a few I forgot to write down the names of.

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Above - Alice Kettle - Candida Stevens gallery. This was definitely in my top three galleries displaying work at Collect.

We then went to find Jacky Oliver who is an old college friend of my friend Michelle Thompsons. Jackys work is really stunning and she is such a lovely person to chat to. I love her use of shadows and enamelling work.

We then went to find Jacky Oliver who is an old college friend of my friend Michelle Thompsons. Jackys work is really stunning and she is such a lovely person to chat to. I love her use of shadows and enamelling work.

The final gallery that we searched out especially was Alveston Gallery which was showing work by Vicky Lindo who I met once through my friend Donna Flower and whose work is absolutely exquisite even to me who is not a fan of cats!

The final gallery that we searched out especially was Alveston Gallery which was showing work by Vicky Lindo who I met once through my friend Donna Flower and whose work is absolutely exquisite even to me who is not a fan of cats!

Above and below work by Vicky Lindo.

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We then left Collect and beautiful Somerset House and headed to Store Projects in Kings Cross for our main event of the day which was a darning workshop with the lovely Celia Pym. This is the fourth time I have met Celia as I took part in a mending project where she mended mine and 19 other jumpers as part of a collaboration with Toast last year. I have also attended one of her stitching workshops at Loop.

Celia Pyms darning examples.

Celia Pyms darning examples.

There were ten of us around the table including my son Elliott who is studying Fashion and is keen to learn more about textiles and darning. He had bought a sock to repair.

Elliott beginning his darning journey….

Elliott beginning his darning journey….

My friend Niki and her beautiful darning sampler.

My friend Niki and her beautiful darning sampler.

My sock with a massive hole…..

My sock with a massive hole…..

We were all absorbed for two hours solidly darning and occasionally chatting. Celia talked to us about” finding your Flow.” And how this is the moment when everything just comes together perfectly and the stitches and warps and wefts just flow……

We were all absorbed for two hours solidly darning and occasionally chatting. Celia talked to us about” finding your Flow.” And how this is the moment when everything just comes together perfectly and the stitches and warps and wefts just flow……

At the end as is customary in Celias workshops we all laid our work on the table for a “show and tell” and took photos and discussed colours and stitches and thoughts on the work created.

At the end as is customary in Celias workshops we all laid our work on the table for a “show and tell” and took photos and discussed colours and stitches and thoughts on the work created.

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We finished the workshop feeling very mellow and satisfied with our creations….. Venturing outside into the gale force winds was a bit of a jolt after the cocoon of Store projects and the Buena Vista Social Club sound track which seems to work well …

We finished the workshop feeling very mellow and satisfied with our creations….. Venturing outside into the gale force winds was a bit of a jolt after the cocoon of Store projects and the Buena Vista Social Club sound track which seems to work well with darning.

I am already hooked on darning as I do it on my houses and any clothes that look like they may have potential for holes but it was lovely to see Elliott fall in love with it too. I am finishing writing this blog post on Sunday 1st March now and am thrilled to report Elliott got up this morning and has already darned another sock!! I think he and yarn and holes will be having a good relationship moving forward. Thank you Celia Pym!


Three Workshops at Broadstairs Location House.

If you need a relaxing Saturday with three amazing artists and an incredible lunch look no further……..

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At the end of the road where Broadstairs Location House is located is the sea…….. If that isn’t enough to entice you then read on….

View from the end of Dickens road, Broadstairs.

View from the end of Dickens road, Broadstairs.

I had set off from home at 7.30a.m after a fretful night sleep worrying if I would a) get blown off the Dartford Bridge or b) Forget to pay the toll ( why does everything have to rely on online payments!) . But after a seamless journey I glided into the quirky and endearing town which is Broadstairs……

I arrived at Dickens Road to a warm welcome from Hester and Clare and Virginia ( whose beautiful house this is) We began the day with coffee and sublime home made biscuits, everyone chattering excitedly in the living room. Many of the people had come from Deal, Margate or Broadstairs but several people were making a weekend of it and had wisely booked trains and hotels in Broadstairs to have a proper get away…..

We chose fabric scraps from a beautiful selection which Hester had bought. The aim was to make a little padded square with some added spices in the form of cinammon, cloves and cardamon…. you could add lavender, chamomile or thyme or any herbs or sp…

We chose fabric scraps from a beautiful selection which Hester had bought. The aim was to make a little padded square with some added spices in the form of cinammon, cloves and cardamon…. you could add lavender, chamomile or thyme or any herbs or spices that you find deliciously scented……

First workshop - Sewing with Hester.

First workshop - Sewing with Hester.

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We chatted and sewed and throughly enjoyed the process of just being with our needles and threads and fabrics and new found friends. Our little fabric coasters soon took shape with their delicious spices encased inside and we all felt a feeling of satisfaction and something else……… hungry for lunch, which as luck would have it Virginia had been preparing all the while in her beautiful light filled kitchen.


An area of the beautiful light filled room of Broadstairs Location House Kitchen which is available for photo shoots and filming locations.

An area of the beautiful light filled room of Broadstairs Location House Kitchen which is available for photo shoots and filming locations.


The absolutely delicious lunch we enjoyed from Virginia. all vegetarian.

The absolutely delicious lunch we enjoyed from Virginia. all vegetarian.

Just before lunchtime the lady I had most been anticipating to meet arrived Margot In Margate arrived!!!!…. We have spoken for a long while on Instagram and I had found out about todays event through Margots Instagram post so I was especially excite…

Just before lunchtime the lady I had most been anticipating to meet arrived Margot In Margate arrived!!!!…. We have spoken for a long while on Instagram and I had found out about todays event through Margots Instagram post so I was especially excited to meet her in real life today…….

Margot came armed with a beautful selection of baskets full of “charity shop find plates” and some paper and pens… If you haven’t seen her beautiful “faces” plates on Instagram here is a link Margot generously allowed us to choose three plates each to decorate with a special pen she had bought with her which can be fired in an oven to make the pattern fixed to the plate. We all had tremendous fun first of all flicking through a selection of books Margot had bought to inspire us…..

Many of the finished illustrated plates from Margots workshop.

Many of the finished illustrated plates from Margots workshop.

One of the books many of us found inspiration in was Fine Little Day

The beautiful book by Fine Little Day which I took inspiration for my plates.

The beautiful book by Fine Little Day which I took inspiration for my plates.

My plates on the left and right were inspired by images from Fine Little Day and in the centre I have combined those influences with inspiration from my favourite childhood book One eighth of a muffin and my houses of course…..

My plates on the left and right were inspired by images from Fine Little Day and in the centre I have combined those influences with inspiration from my favourite childhood book One eighth of a muffin and my houses of course…..

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One of Margots illustrations on the wall here.

One of Margots illustrations on the wall here.

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Following tea and a choice of three delicious cakes courtesy of Virginia we were eager to participate in the collage workshop run by Virginias sister , well known collage artist Clare Youngs . Clare works by making sheets upon sheets of markmaking with a variety of tools, paper and colours which she was generous sharing with us today.

Finished collages on the wall.

Finished collages on the wall.

Clare provided us with a huge selection of mark making tools, paints and papers and we spent a happy hour making our own collage papers to then cut up an layer into illustrations. We all commented how we felt we were so grateful to have the time to “play” and feel free. We were all so loosened up after a morning of craft and a delicious lunch and afternoon tea we were all chatting and laughing freely which really let the creative process flow and I am sure I wasn’t alone in feeling I was in the middle of a “jolly night out with few glasses of wine.” But obviously without the wine……


We spent ages making these beautiful papers, some we didn’t want to chop up!! But the majority were then hacked to pieces to then become collage pieces in their own right.


It was such a wonderful, playful day.


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I enjoyed every minute of my day at the Three Artists Workshop at Broadstairs Location House in Kent today. I have not been paid in any way to endorse this visit - I am sharing from one maker to another to go and join in the next round of fun to inspire and excite you and have a jolly delicious lunch!


Champneys.

My Mum has always been a devotee of “well being” when we were small in the 1970’s she was constantly dashing off to aerobics in draughty village halls dressed in a turquoise shiny cat suit and leg warmers. Any small children in tow would be put in a wooden pen at one end of the room and left to ‘play’ whilst the exercises went on energetically at the other end. In the 1980’s Mum was Obsessed with The Green Goddess Diana Moran on Good Morning Britain and would be prancing about in front of the tv whilst we were burning toast in the kitchen..... And in 1990 my Mother discovered Champneys.


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If you haven’t heard of Champneys’s of Tring it is a health spa in Hertfordshire. I would argue it is the leading health spa in the UK. When my Mum first came to Champneys it was a “proper” health farm. When you arrived you saw a doctor and a nutritionist and they took your blood pressure and weighed you and measured you. They then informed you if you were to be eating the Light Diet menu or the regular menu at mealtimes. At the end of your stay you would be weighed etc again and you were sent off with a suggested meal plan to take you forward. I was coming up to my 21st birthday when my Mother first suggested she would take me to Champneys. I was living a most unhealthy lifestyle in London. Although I was vegetarian at the time I couldn’t see much beyond cheese or beans on toast. I was driving a van a lot and was snacking on countless chocolate bars throughout the day. And my evenings were spent drinking Guinness. The result was I was very overweight with terrible skin. It was most at odds with My Mothers view of how her daughter should behave or look. I was put on the Light Diet menu and in the week we were here I think I lost about 8Ib. I was thrown into a whirlwind of activity and it was also where I fell in love with yoga. 

In those days at Champneys you had a massage included on every day of your stay. It wasn’t quite the aromatic delights we experience today and it went something like this: Exfoliation, wearing paper knickers one of the team of ladies who worked in the spa would rub a salt solution vigorously all over you. Following a shower you would then be put in a steam cabinet which was a little pod that you sat in with your head sticking out of the top. After that one of the spa ladies would collect you and take you to the relaxation room which was full of rows of beds with freshly laid sheets and heated pads and blankets. It was pitch black and you could only detect other beings by their breathing. Once tucked in you would lie waiting for the massage therapist to come and collect you and take you for a twenty minute massage. It was here we met Pauline who was an excellent masseuse and who became a life long friend at Champneys. She worked here for 40 years before retiring last year.

Another place that doesn’t exist now at Champneys, sadly, is The Art Room. I loved spending time in the art room drawing and painting and playing with clay. It was a relaxing and restorative place where you could try new mediums and I felt it completed the holistic circle of the idea of well being.

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Following my initial “life changing” visit I have been back to Champneys with Mum virtually every year since. There have been many changes over the 26 years I have been coming. When we first came Champneys was run by a wonderful couple called Tanya and Allan Wheway. Their philosophy was that one should see immediate results from their stay at Champneys that they could build on once they returned home.

They used to sit on The Champneys table ( A wonderful table you can sit at if you are staying alone and would prefer to eat in company or if you are in a couple but would just like to talk to other guests. ) at lunch and dinner times and chat to guests. They always looked incredibly healthy and glamorous and were excellent representatives of all that Champneys can offer. Sadly The Wheways were unceremoniously dispensed with when The Guinness family took over for a short while in 2002. But great news Tanya Wheway has been reinstalled by the current owners, The Purdew family, running her own brand well being retreats. And as for The Champneys Table, that is still there too……These days the wonderful nutritionist Rachael Robinson sits there and dispenses advice with kindness and humour.

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Food is an intergral part of Champneys. Everything down to the plates is geared towards healthy eating although this doesn’t mean measly portions. The food is laid out at breakfast and lunch so you can help yourself and dinner is chosen from a menu and you can order wine. Everything has clear guidelines about nutritional content and allergens and I have learned some unlikely pairings from my latest trip….. A little Hoummus goes with virtuallly anything including eggs. Rocket, Spinach and Kale ( dark green leaves basically) is a wonderful food for those of us peri-menopausal ladies. Cashew nut butter is highly addictive although a teaspoon goes a long way when sparingly added to slices of banana…….. Kedgeree is a delicious and perfect breakfast for those of us who don’t like porridge and museli….. just add rocket!

During my stay at Champneys this week I made an appointment to see the nutritionist Rachael as, although I know my diet isn’t appalling due to Matts magic food ( appropriate for fast swimming), I do eat at the ‘wrong times’ resulting in exhaustion, bad moods and poor nights sleep plus I wanted some dietary advice on preparing for the menopause…. oh and I am also growing up and kicking the Quavers addiction……..

I am also determined to cut down on sugar which comes into my diet and life via too much wine, random 3pm chocolate bars and strangely ( to me anyway) bread. I won’t bore you all with my optimistic new regime suffice to say if I make it through it’s trial month I shall let you know how I am faring and any vitamins and supplements I have started to swear by.

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Over the years in the evenings we have taken part in all kinds of workshops in the evenings. We have learned to juggle, diabolo and spin a plate on a stick ( My mothers favourite party trick.) We have had talks about CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy), finding the right colours for you and your wardrobe and everything from nutrition to make-up. The thing I love about these events is there are people from all around the world, all shapes and sizes getting together and laughing and trying out new things in an extremely friendly and supportive environment. It is really life enhancing.

Champneys does have its fair share of celebrities stay there, although I haven't seen any with plates on sticks……. We have often stayed there during one of Frank Brunos visits and I once had an in depth conversation with footballer Ian Wright and his wife about still versus sparkling water!! The most famous visitor has to be Diana, Princess of Wales.

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The treatments at Champneys are second to none. Over the years my Mum and sister and I have tried everything from being wrapped in mud/seaweed/”clouds” which must have been a cream of sorts and I am sure hay(?) to sublime aromatherapy massages and facials leaving you feeling ten years younger but that …… I have also had hot stone reflexology twice over the years which is a very moving experience and today I had a shiatsu massage for the first time which was incredible and something I would love to repeat regularly.

Exercise is also a huge part and it is often the first place you will find many of the new crazes that hit our gyms and leisure centres. For me the pool is my favourite place. I swim up and down monotonously for hours. I also enjoy water aerobics with my Mum and her friends and often several rather large camel dealers from Saudi Arabia who book themselves in for months on end to lose several stones. I also do yoga on a daily basis which is wonderful and always makes me spurred on to go back ( only next door for heavens sake!!) to yoga in Saffron Walden as soon as I return.

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I am under no illusions about how fortunate we have been to have this relationship with Champneys and how lucky I am that I continue to go with my Mum to this day. “The Champneys Way” has become very much part of our daily vocabulary though and we are always trying to remember all the tips and tricks we have learned after each visit. This post was going to be written in my usual flippant humour and whilst there is a little of that here I am actually surprised at how much of an effect coming here for all these years has had on my life. I think it is definitely a place I use to guide myself back to how I ought to live rather than all the bad habits I am prone to slipping into and for that I am grateful.

All the views in this blog post are my own and all the references are my own memories. I have not been paid in anyway to promote Champneys and have written this blog piece purely out of my love for the place and to record my thoughts.




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The January Day Retreat

Day retreat in Faversham with Hannah Bullivant and Ray Dodd.

“To set some gentle achievable intentions for the year. Lets start the new year as we mean to go on, and by that I mean in community, with delicious, nourishing food, You’re invited to show up as you are right now, look back and plan forward.” - Hannah Bullivant.

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Photo credit - Hannah Bullivant.

On January 5th 2019 under a grey sky I drove to Faversham in Kent to the home of stylist Hannah Bullivant. who, together with her sister-in-law Ray Dodd were hosting a Day Retreat to help us start the year as we mean to go on, reviewing the past year and setting some intentions for the coming days.

To be perfectly honest as soon as I stepped through the front door of Hannah’s beautiful home I knew one of my intentions was going to be to rush home and paint everything white…..

But first I was going to meet one of my long time Instagram friends whom I had only found out was also attending the previous day - Makiko Hastings. I speak to Maki virtually every day online and so I was very excited to be able to have a conversation face to face. We helped ourselves to a cup of tea in the kitchen and then went through to the living room talking constantly as if we saw each other every day….. The sounds of women chatting filled the air, some people knew each other and some people knew nobody at all. I had met Hannah before and had spoken to Ray online but other than the hosts I only knew Makiko.

We all sat in a circle and shared our names and what we do and why we had come to the day. Most people had children, many very small children. It struck me how once we are “Mothers” we define ourselves first by our children “Hello, I am …… and I have …. children ages ….. and I work as……” some people had babies they had never left before and spoke of leaving husbands lists upon lists and then had a little nervous glance at their phones….. We all so desperately wanted to be present and attentive and needed this time to be “ourselves” but I remember very well that time in the early stages of Motherhood when your baby is just an extension of your being and suddenly leaving the house without them can feel like you have left a leg or a vital organ at home!…… I was more worried about the potential chaos my dogs were causing but try and adopt an “Out of sight out of mInd policy” to anything not in arms reach…..

Many people spoke of needing more sleep and I did wonder whether we might find a couple curled up having a nap after lunch! To my horror I nearly cried whilst introducing myself and it was only then I really realised how much I needed a day to myself with no work, children, dogs or just life… just to press “reset” on yourself. It also made me realise how much time I spend on my own in my studio. Yes, I talk to people online all day long and over the Christmas holiday I have had many many wonderful face to face interactions. But even though I imagine myself as extremely sociable I realised there and then how much I prefer being able to see peoples faces and having human contact than the sometimes-hard-to-read-and-often-isolating-online-world. It sounds utterly bonkers to even have to write this but everything is so much more Real in Real Life!!

Hannah talked to us first about The January Book and journalling and how she uses these processes to help herself with everything from financial planning to mental health. I am doing Hannahs January Book e course I am such a practical and pragmatic person I am looking forward to taking the time to actually stop, plan, analyse and have tasks set for me whilst also creating a book to look back over to learn from.

Ray talked us through some exercises to process the past year. I have watched Ray’s online “Instagram Lives” many many times and absolutely love her style and honesty. I love her open nature and her enthusiasm. As I think many of us were so used to watching Ray “live” online we patiently sat and listened as if she were on our screens at first absorbed by her wildly gesticulating hands and listening to her experiences. Gradually we all began to share our experiences in life, of going back to work after children, money, Mothers ( sorry Mum you did feature quite a bit here!!) and Mother- in laws ( some of whom sounded terrifying) ……. We were set some exercises to work through in pairs and another where we looked at why “resolutions” often don’t happen and looked around breaking cycles and habits.

It occurred to me several times how hard it is for younger women these days with social media ever present in their lives. For some reason I haven’t applied this ever to myself. I think it because I had all of my babies before Instagram was invented and so I haven’t had to have them grow up with the picture perfect life. A couple of the women at the day retreat spoke of the pressures not only to raise “Instagram ready” children but also feel they are expected to have an amazing career/ home/ side schtick in photography/cooking the perfect cakes/ styling a beautiful home…… It must be exhausting if you are in your thirties these days with all of those added expectations. I simply don’t think I would have coped with all of those pressures when my children were small …(Although I do remember my friend and I discussing starting up a comic for Tractor Mad toddlers when our boys were very very small and it just seemed completely fanciful so we didn’t do it. Maybe if social media had been around we would have been able to take it further….. )

Photo Credit - Hannah Bullivant.

Photo Credit - Hannah Bullivant.

We then went through to Hannah’s kitchen where the lunch table had been beautifully styled by Hannah and the delicious smell of Vegan Perks Butternut squash and peanut stew filled the room. We sat together around the table and discussed our “word” for our felt banners we were to make later that afternoon. There was also talk of cake……

It was also at this point that I noticed that, on possibly one of the most Instagrammble days of my life ( Hannah isn’t a wonderful stylist for nothing you know) I had been having so much fun and been so absorbed I hadn’t taken my phone out of my bag once so had to ask Hannah of I could use some of her photos on the blog!!



After lunch had been cleared away and the kitchen transformed into the Craft Room we began in earnest to make our felt banners. Hannah demonstrated one first and chatted about her word for last year, Brave, and how it had come in handy in areas she hadn’t imagined when she had chosen it. I had been looking forward and dreading this part in equal measures. Looking forward to it because it was crafting which I love, in felt which I am very keen on and even though I make things all day every day it was lovely to make something “just because” and not for a commercial end. Dreading because …… “ the word” …… I have an absolute hatred of anything with words of affirmations on it. I can’t stand it on Instagram when people fill their squares with positive words in cursive writing. I am not sure why I feel this way, after all I am more than happy to string a load of words together for storytelling and I talk enough so I use more than my fair share of words there too…….

A friend asked me last night by text if I had enjoyed the day and she had wondered how I had handled the ‘Life affirming’ parts as she said my approach to life ( which she admires) is more “straightforward and pragmatic’ than some…. maybe thats just it….. Maybe I just want to “get on with it” than have a word to hang my hopes off…….

Anyway after a lot of procrastination and laughing with Ray I narrowed my words down from my list of “Magic, First Aid, Bonkers and Fuck Off” to just First Aid. Everybody else made lovely banners with lovely words that meant some thing to them - Breathe, Calm, Kindness and Ease were all popular choices. I think my First Aid banner suits me just fine though and is just on the “me” side of life affirmations.

My reasons for choosing it aren’t only personal to me so it’s not fair to share them here but I know I will be needed as a supportive friend to several of my dear friends whose year may not have got off to the easiest of starts and I want them to know I am here….. Also I need to improve my own health as I am now on cold number 3 since November and not feeling at all my best so some personal First Aid is definitely in order. Plus I think our home could do with a little First Aid this year as we have a small hole in the roof and seem to have mislaid a bathroom a couple of years ago that I feel it’s high time we reclaimed. Life affirmations must also be transferable to DIY I’m sure!

Photo credit Amanda Banham - Arm Model Anna Banham.

Photo credit Amanda Banham - Arm Model Anna Banham.

We then finished the day with tea and cake and I am sure none of us really wanted to leave the warmth of the kitchen and new friends we had made. All the way home I felt energised and positive having spent a happy few hours with lovely women. Finally meeting Makiko and just spending time in Hannah’s beautiful home with her would have been enough of a lift to start the year…… but combined with Ray and her enthusiasm and wisdom, delicious food, new friends and The January Book I feel I shall be floating on my own cloud of positivity until about March ( when I hope there may be a Spring day retreat around the corner to have a tingly top up of joy…..)


2018 A Bit of a Blur....

Whilst updating photos on my website it occurred to me that most of 2017 and ALL of 2018 had passed by without me writing a single blog post. For someone who loves telling stories so much this was not a good sign……

This post was going to be a quick round up of 2018 - partly as I am aiming to be much more regular with this blog in 2019 and didnt want a whole years gap in the chronology plus, aside from some sad moments personally 2018 has been a great year for my ceramics and I wanted to remember the fun parts.

In January I optimistically began my “Pour” project in which I made a teapot. The plan was to make a pouring vessel ever month but I am not sure I got much past January….. best laid plans……

My teapot when it was first made.

My teapot when it was first made.

Fired and amongst some other vessels

Fired and amongst some other vessels

I was fortunate enough to go to Fforest to teach at Glow in March 2018. I taught house building and took part in activities such as printmaking with Kathy Hutton , paper clay ceramic spoons with Katie Robbins , axe throwing with Leah Parkyn, yoga with Lynsey, Words to Live By and singing with Lizzie Everard ,foraging with Jade, floral art with Alice Calcosa and lots more besides. I cannot wait for this Spring when I return.

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Workshops in Printmaking with Kathy Hutton and Ceramic Spoons with Katie Robbins.

Workshops in Printmaking with Kathy Hutton and Ceramic Spoons with Katie Robbins.

Axe throwing.

Axe throwing.

Houses made in my workshop.

Houses made in my workshop.

Foraging with Jade.

Foraging with Jade.

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The next exciting thing to happen was when we went on holiday to Suffolk where I have been holidaying since I was born and we visited Snape Maltings gallery . This gallery is somewhere I have been many many times throughout my life and was one of my Dads favourite places to buy paintings or my Mum jewellery. We went there for a visit and tea and cake and for me to see the gallery as it was on my list of “ambition galleries” to exhibit in. When we went in I knew immediately my work would fit in there as I loved most of what was on display. We had a good look round and then I said quietly to Matt that I was going to speak to the lady on the desk to see who I needed to approach about possibly selling work there. I have been working with galleries for four years now but until this point I had never approached a gallery myself, everyone I worked with had contacted me having seen my work on Instagram so I had no idea really what to say. Lucky for me I hadn’t long started talking when my daughter came and sat in the chair next to me. I was stuttering through showing photos on my Instagram and rambling on about stories to the lovely gallery manager when Anna suddenly pipes up “ My Mum is very fussy about where she sells her ceramics you know!” ………… I went bright red and Matt swooped in to usher her out of the way but luckily the lady who I now know as Michelle thought it was hilarious and soon we were swapping email addresses and selling through Snape Maltings has been one of the best things that happened to me last year. Exciting news for 2019 with Snape is that I am to be “Artist of the month for March.” where I have my own area in the gallery where I will be showcasing some new pieces.

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May bought the Royal Wedding which was significant for me as I had been asked to make a piece of pottery for Meghan and Harry to celebrate their happy day. This commission was from a lady who was from my town and who had been invited to the wedding with her husband who is a friend of Prince Harry.

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In June I had a lovely weekend at The Ceramics Festival in Barnstaple selling my work and staying with my dear friend Donna.

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June was also the first time I exhibited with Twenty Twenty gallery who were another of my “ambition galleries” I was so in awe and excited when Mary contacted me through Instagram. I went on to exhibit in the Christmas exhibition and am delighted to share that I will have work in the gallery in Much Wenlock once more in March for their Spring Greens exhibition.

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July was another first with my studio being open for Cambridge Open Studio. This is an event that goes on all over the country but each region does it a bit differently. Some places hold Art trails, others ask artists to be open at Weekends. We were open for two weekends out of four and we did have a steady stream of visitors. We did raku firing demonstrations and Anna did some throwing on the wheel with children. It was busy and fun but we have decided not to repeat it this year as I will be at Craft festival in June in Devon. Also as my studio is in my home my family found it quite intrusive to their comings and goings. Personally I think the opening hours are too long (10-6) which means you cant leave your studio at all for the whole weekend. It would be ok if you could choose to open on Saturday or Sunday for that length of time or open 11-5 or something that leaves a little more leeway for dog walking and meal times……….

In August we took our Raku kiln to Fforest Gather. We also joined in with many other workshops including Indigo dyeing……

In August we took our Raku kiln to Fforest Gather. We also joined in with many other workshops including Indigo dyeing……

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Raku firing at Gather. photo by Emma Donnelly

Raku firing at Gather. photo by Emma Donnelly

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In August we went to Fforest Gather In Wales for a week of family time and Crafts. We were doing raku firing workshops but were also excited to take part in all the other wonderful things Fforest has to offer such as woodland wood craft, spoon carving, smock making, tree climbing, bread making, cheese making, indigo dyeing, drawing, letter press printmaking, Plastacine model making with Jim Parkyn of Aardman animation and much more……

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Amy of Bug Clothing, Seabass and Anna at Fforest Gather.

Amy of Bug Clothing, Seabass and Anna at Fforest Gather.

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Raku at Fforest Gather photo by Emma Donnelly.

Raku at Fforest Gather photo by Emma Donnelly.

James Greenwood and I at The Good Life Experience. September 2018.

James Greenwood and I at The Good Life Experience. September 2018.

In September Matt and I took my ceramics to The Good Life Experience for the third year running. We love this annual event of good food, great music and wonderful sellers. I was next to Ewe and Ply who are total babes with their wonderful Lucy and Yak dungarees and checked shirt “uniforms” not to mention their delicious wool and acerbic wit.

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All the while amongst all the monthly excitements of 2018 I have been working with some wonderful galleries and I feel proud and privileged every day to have them sell my work. For a full list of the people who stock my work please look at the stock…

All the while amongst all the monthly excitements of 2018 I have been working with some wonderful galleries and I feel proud and privileged every day to have them sell my work. For a full list of the people who stock my work please look at the stockist page on this website.

I also teach children and always feel so lucky to be able to do so. I love their creativity and enthusiasm and above all their imaginations.

I also teach children and always feel so lucky to be able to do so. I love their creativity and enthusiasm and above all their imaginations.

More beautiful work by Children at Clay Club.

More beautiful work by Children at Clay Club.

Raku Firing Houses….. the orangey glow of the kiln.

Raku Firing Houses….. the orangey glow of the kiln.

Raku firing on the beach at Dunwich in August.

Raku firing on the beach at Dunwich in August.

Clock making Childrens Class Summer 2018.

Clock making Childrens Class Summer 2018.

In the Autumn I was also asked to do a very exciting project with a school in Ashdon, near Saffron Walden. This was to make ceramic poppies to celebrate 100 years of the end of the first word war. The headmaster of the school contacted me to ask if this could be possible as a whole school art day and I imagine he had got the idea from the ceramic poppies at The Tower of London which to my shame I didn’t see. We decided that in order to have every child make a poppy from reception to year 6 we would make them so they laid flat on the floor rather than on stalks. The total was 83 poppies which was an enormously fun day and then took a couple of weeks to dry and fire them all.

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Photo credit Julia Perry from the Facebook page of Ashdon Parish Council.

Photo credit Julia Perry from the Facebook page of Ashdon Parish Council.

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During December I had a couple of online sales and attended a few fairs which were great fun. One was at Hill View farm in Buckinghamshire with the lovely Natasha who I look forward to working with next summer for her retreat.

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If you have actually read this far then thank you and I look forward to sharing my adventures with you next year. It all begins in earnest with a window display take over at Cambridge Contemporary Crafts in February followed by an exhibition at Twenty Twenty Galllery in March and Artist of the Month at Snape Maltings. Along the way I have had an influx of orders for people who wish to have their own houses recreated in clay….This is a recent commission I did for some one of their house. I am now taking commissions for 2019 of real life houses. They start from £150. If you are interested in having a raku fired replica of your house please email me: hello@clay-club.com

Silver Pebble Workshop...... In a beautiful village with home made biscuits too... what more do you want?

I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I treated myself to a place on one of Emma Mitchells workshops to celebrate finishing my degree...... I had been invited to spend the weekend at Grayson Perrys " A House for Essex" but had turned it down in favour of this workshop so I had high hopes indeed...... and as you will hear Emma didn't disappoint....

We bought found objects and natural objects to use for our pendants.

We bought found objects and natural objects to use for our pendants.

We were welcomed into Emma's beautiful home with fresh coffee or tea or even a home made infusion. Lots of science of silver was discussed as well as parental blogging ( Penny Alexander had travelled all the way from The Peak District.) The other ladies were lovely and Emma is so generous with her knowledge ( her botanical wisdom is astounding ) and she was so enthusiastic about all the treasures we had bought with us to use.

Emma also has the best turn of phrase of anyone I have met and I could just listen to her talk for hours ( which after the workshop I did as we found we had lots of common ground so I was lucky enough to have yet more rosehip / goji berry tea....) Everything good is met with " thumbs" and a thumbs up sign, something which I am aiming to carry through to my own workshops.....

 

We made molds of our found objects, possibly one of my favourite things I have ever learnt and am planning to buy at least a ton of blue and white squish to make molds from...... 

We made molds of our found objects, possibly one of my favourite things I have ever learnt and am planning to buy at least a ton of blue and white squish to make molds from...... 

When we had made our molds and oohed and ahhed at each others wonderful intricate designs... ( one lady bought the most amazing antique lace with her which was so much more sophisticated than my creations but I am a simple soul....)  We were then let loose with the silver clay........

Emma showed us how to stipple and get the most from our impressions in the molds.

Emma showed us how to stipple and get the most from our impressions in the molds.

We cautiously rolled out the clay and had been told we had approximately ten minutes to get it pressed into the molds before it would dry out.... Ten minutes suddenly seems like a really short amount of time but we all got out impressions done and out 3 D creations secured. The pieces then went into the oven for 15 minutes whilst we relaxed with home made biscuits an tea infusions and of course endless conversation - only bought to a halt by the delicious anticipation of our makes coming out of the oven in what Emma described to me as "The leather hard stage"

Emma then took the 3D creations off to het little kiln and we all gathered around the hob in her kitchen to fire the flat pieces.

 

Emmas kiln is so sweet.... I wonder if I could sneak one of these in unnoticed.... I would have more kilns than pairs of shoes!

Emmas kiln is so sweet.... I wonder if I could sneak one of these in unnoticed.... I would have more kilns than pairs of shoes!

We all gathered around the hob and watched the alchemist at work......

Emma explaining gauze and how to get it ready for firing.

Emma explaining gauze and how to get it ready for firing.

The moment where the silver clay turns to silver.........

The moment where the silver clay turns to silver.........

We then polished our pendants and ooohed and aaahhhed again at how beautiful and intricate everyones designs were... 

My silver man.... I have yet to create the button but I will......

My silver man.... I have yet to create the button but I will......

My beautiful crab apple, found by chance this morning whilst walking the dogs anticipating the day........ Who would I meet? Would I fit in? What would I make? Had I got the right pieces? Oh look there is a lone crab apple.........

My beautiful crab apple, found by chance this morning whilst walking the dogs anticipating the day........ Who would I meet? Would I fit in? What would I make? Had I got the right pieces? Oh look there is a lone crab apple.........

Thank you Emma for an amazing day. I have learnt so much and best of all feel I have made a life long friend.

Open Access Clay Club

Today was the first Open Access clay club. This class is for those of you who wish to let your imagination run wild and you can create what you wish. I was so impressed with the wonderful creations made today I am sharing a few photos here. I will add finished photos after the glaze firing so you can see what these talented people did next.....

 

Beautiful screenprinted and layered bowl.

Beautiful screenprinted and layered bowl.

This is a Bird Bath made using crank clay. There is a screenprinted beetle inside and a little bird which is going to perch on the edge.....

This is a Bird Bath made using crank clay. There is a screenprinted beetle inside and a little bird which is going to perch on the edge.....

Wonderful planters which are going to have an interesting twist when finished.....

Wonderful planters which are going to have an interesting twist when finished.....

Open access is exactly that - my studio is open for you to have a go at everything - wheel throwing as well as handbuilding.

Open access is exactly that - my studio is open for you to have a go at everything - wheel throwing as well as handbuilding.

The most enormous bowl made on a hump mould with screenprint inside....

The most enormous bowl made on a hump mould with screenprint inside....

Ceramics on the Isle of Eigg

I am on holiday on the picturesque Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Small Islands.  We have seen dolphins and eagles and as I type the sun is shining. Yesterday we walked around the headland from Laig beach where we are staying to The Singing Sands cove. My daughter, aged 7,  was amazing at scrambling over the rocks and identifying which rocks would be slippery and which would be safe. All the while during this, at times treacherous walk, I was taking photographs of my small ceramic boats on the rocks, in rock pools, among seaweed for my Shipping forecast Project which is a book I am creating for my University degrees final major project.