This wooden coffee scoop heading to Canada, a pressed forget-me-not flower frame heading to France, some local honey heading to Holymead primary school down the road. A visit from my favourite dog that insists on dragging his owner in to the shop every time he walks past. A kid walking past saying out loud to her Dad “I love that shop so much!”. The oxalis plants I grew being bought by a mum for herself and her daughter. A Wild Baking book for a best friend who loves cooking and campfires. Elderflower Gin Liqueur for a granny who loves drinking elderflower cordial, gin and prosecco (which this liqueur tastes great with!). Seashell earrings for a teacher who is moving to live by a beach in Thailand. An illustrated enamel mug for a colleague who is retiring and is going to live in her campervan. I love that people tell me who they are buying their gifts for. It feels special and connected. People ask me for present advice by telling me the story of who it’s for. They even sometimes let me know what the person thought of their gift afterwards. It’s lots of different parts of an overall story. It’s part of their stories and my story.
I was thinking last night about how I could have my lifetime again still to come. I’m 45 and if I make it to 90 that means the same amount of time again. When you think of it that way, 4 years of doing These Two Hands and finally doing something I love seems like nothing at all. This feels like what I was meant to do, but I am still drawn to other things too. There is still plenty of time for this to work or for there to be other different parts paths and sides to my story. Patience is not really something I have much of, but the past few years have forced me to plan less and adapt more. To enjoy the individual days rather than worrying too much about the future. To notice all these special moments in every day and feel very grateful for them! I love being part of this bigger story of connection between people and I love telling the stories behind every design in my collection to everyone who comes to my shop here online and in person.