Gardening, pivoting my business and my 1:1 Crochet Tuition
Can we talk about gardening today? I have loved gardening since we moved in to our first house when we got married 21 years ago in July - I can’t quite believe it’s been that long! We loved that house and the little garden was very special. We had free weekends to spend pottering around and I have lovely memories of summer evenings spent outside watering the plants after work with a glass of wine. We’ve moved twice since then and had the boys so things have changed, but every year at this time our window sills are full of seedlings and Gardeners World becomes my favourite thing to watch. Each year is different. Last year Connie was a puppy who ate everything she came across, trampled in the border and dug up anything in pots. We sectioned off the area around the Nest with small fence and made a little Nest garden which I love (Connie isn’t allowed in unsupervised 🙄). My big successes were carrots grown in an old recycling box, a bumper crop of cucumbers (well enough anyway!) and lots of colourful nasturtiums. This year I don’t want to buy any lettuces, salad leaves, spinach, rocket or pea shoots. I want to grow enough to supply us for the whole summer. I’ll keep you posted…
I love to read gardening books. Probably my favourite is Window-box Allotment by Penelope Bennett. John bought me this as a present years ago, I still love reading it and find it really inspiring. Penelope Bennett cultivated a small roof-top allotment three floors above ground where she grows all sorts of interesting fruit and vegetables in containers. Other favourites include The Thrifty Gardener and The Edible Garden both by Alys Fowler. Her resourceful approach really appeals to me as does her emphasis on the importance of working with nature.
Today the sun is shining, and although we woke up to snow a few days ago, Spring is definitely here. I am getting huge pleasure from watching my seeds germinate on the window sill and pouring over seed catalogues and my beloved gardening books in the bath! I am however struggling to say goodbye to the cosiness of Winter and the safety of living in lockdown. I know this is not something everyone will relate to, and am aware of how incredibly lucky my family have been not to be directly affected by Covid. That being said I am feeling very wobbly about the outside world opening up so I’m going to follow my instincts and take it slowly. Seeing some of my friends and family having such a tough time living in lockdown has reminded me how different we all are, how introverted I am and how much space I need to feel calm and well. In many ways the quieter, slower pace of lockdown life suited me. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my family, meeting my friends for coffee, and a family holiday in Cornwall in the summer but at the moment that’s all I feel comfortable planning.
When it comes to Homebird, I’m really proud of what I have achieved in the last year. I have adapted the way I work and completely pivoted my business. As lockdown has started to ease I have been asking myself, what now? Reverting back to how I worked before doesn’t feel like the right thing to do, besides the Nest has become more of a studio than a classroom. My passion for passing on the craft of crochet is still very much at the heart Homebird. How I do this is changing for the time being, and I’m really excited about it. I have a growing collection of crochet kits and video tutorials which I am really pleased with (read on for an exclusive discount on the NEW Crochet Basket Kit). My latest project is my new 1:1 tuition on Zoom. Funny to think that this time last year we were just learning what Zoom was (well I was anyway)! Now it seems completely normal to jump on a zoom call for a catch up chat or meeting. For me it means the opportunity to connect with a much larger and diverse audience. This along with the opportunity to give my undivided attention and tailor the session to your needs makes it something I really want to pursue. Whether you are a complete beginner and don’t know where to start, or you need help understanding a pattern or choosing your next project I can help you.
Please note this content appeared in my the April issue of ‘Notes from the Nest’ my monthly newsletter. Please feel free to subscribe if you would like to receive the next issue 💛
