Day 78 - taking flight & bee kingdoms

Tuesday 19^th March

 My first full day in my new studio.  An interesting experience.  Firstly I got my designs for my first set of new silks completed in a morning and this would normally take me most of a week to complete.  Secondly, and more interesting, I nearly took off.  Very gusty gusts battered my little wooden haven and I really thought I was going air born.  I was quite excited by this prospect but content to keep my little place intact.  Despite it not being fully completed I wanted to use the whole day just to see how much work would be possible.  I don’t think I am always fully aware of how many interruptions there are in the house.  I am not a natural artist or writer.  Things come quite slowly to me but I found that the studio has helped me to focus and in doing so allowed for more creativity.  Needless to say I am pleased. 

Half way through the day I had my first visitor and a friend and fellow craft worker came to my studio for a cup of tea.  Some places have magic woven into their very fibres and this little studio is one of those spaces.  It was a lovely visit and I am looking forward to welcoming more people in the next few weeks. 

Pete emerged from home school just after lunch and as I write the brambles are almost gone and a view to the sea is emerging.  We have unearthed a huge pile of soil that can be used for our raised beds in the cutting garden and there are some trees to prune.  I have always loved Hazelbank and to see it moving on every year is always a joy.  Harry has been out tackling the overgrown shrubs in the front garden and we shall need to decide what to do with that space.  I can see pathways in my head to I think that is where I will start.  Instead of starting with the beds I am going to pick up the natural flow of the space and reflect it in a series of pathways that meet at different places.  These almost accidental meetings will create pauses in the whole structure and so a garden will evolve.  That is the plan anyway.  We shall see.   

Let us talk Borage.  We all need to grow Borage because it is an absolute favourite in bee land.  They adore the flowers and they will even share them with you if you ask them nicely.  You just harvest the flower head and place in ice cubes filled with water and freeze.  You then just need to add your Pimms to it and you are away.  You can sow Borage direct and it will pretty much grow everywhere.  I do that in my cutting garden but I also grow it in pots to sell.  The flower head of Borage always make me think how important it is to be humble.  It drops its little head but when you lift it you can instantly see how beautiful the flower is.  It is a real asset to any garden and an absolute’ must have’ for the bees.  I have written before about how important bees are and I currently have my fingers crossed for a new bee hive on Hazelbank.  Pete is off to a meeting in a few days to find out all about what is involved.  We have been hoping to plant a small orchard for some years and the introduction of bees will be just the nudge we need.  They will also be excellent for my cut flowers and wild flower meadow.  Bees are such fantastic workers and we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude.  Many of you will know that we are currently in the middle of a bee crisis and so anything we can do on Hazelbank will be very worthwhile.   

I am not a big honey eater but the rest of the family are and it will be so lovely to have our own.  The by-product of bees wax will be very useful in our candle making.  It is not an easy wax to work with but I spent a long winter a few years back perfecting the technique.  I only use wax made from natural sources in my candle making and I sell a lot to therapists.  This group of practitioners are beginning to wise up to the fact that most candles are made using paraffin wax and so when they are burning their candles in a therapeutic session they are actually burning paraffin into the atmosphere.  The artificial fragrances and colours are not much better and we avoid those as well.  We only use essential oils and we never add colour to our wax.  The soy wax that we use has a much lower boiling point than paraffin so it a safer candle to make.  Importantly, soy wax burns much slower than paraffin wax so your candle lasts for longer.  We make a lot of container candles and because our ingredients are all natural it is perfectly safe to wash the container with hot soapy water once the candle has finished.  That way, you can reuse the container. 

Beeswax candles smell of honey when you burn them and they too last much longer than paraffin candles.  We also use soy wax to make candle melts which can be used in place of water and oil in your oil burner.  I use these on my courses to fragrance the room before my guests arrive and people always comment about how lovely the smell is.  By using essential oils to fragrance I am also drawing on aromatherapy to create just the right atmosphere.  In spring I use lemon verbena candle melts as they smell so fresh and clean.  In the summer I am often found burning lavender or rose geranium melts and in the winter it is our own very secret recipe for Christmas melts.  The mood is thus easily created before the course even gets underway.  After a few burns the candle melt will lose its fragrance but the wax will become solid when it cools.  You can then recycle thee wax to make new melts.  This sort of completes the circle.   

Despite the howling freezing wind I have had the most wonderful of days.  My little studio is my new best friend and my ipad will have to get in line behind it now.  My little kitten goes to the vets next week to be neutered.  After which she will be allowed outside.  I already have a little bed made up for her in my studio so perhaps she remains my best friend after all.  She has a way of grabbing all the attention going and I wouldn’t want her any other way.   

Until tomorrow. xx