We moved into our workshop a year ago this month. It previously housed only giant vats of cider vinegar, and before that cart horses - never humans. With no level floors, heating, or running water, it was quite a challenge to begin with - but the joy of working on a farm, surrounded by rolling hills where the mist pools on clear mornings, is worth every wonky floor.
Initially just in the ground floor, we soon expanded upstairs (as soon as the rotting floor was replaced), built shelves and brought in kilns and trestle tables galore - and - ultimately - wonderful new team members to help us make, paint and pack everything to send it off all around the world. We discovered the golden sunsets over the valley, the strange noises a flock of sheep can make and the perfect spot up in the orchard behind the barn for summertime lunches under the apple trees. And, most importantly, the wonderful generosity of the farmers who live here, whose family has been working this land for 15 generations - their willingness to help ferry a delivery that can’t quite make it down the lane in their tractor, or to rescue a colleague stuck down a ravine on the way back from the post office, always with a smile and sometimes even with a glass of mulled cider at the end of it.
We can’t think of anywhere we’d rather be. Although we could do without the incessant rain…
