Hey readers, subscribers and new visitors. I committed to the interviews and the blog and then this happened... Well you'll find out next weekend, but all I will say for now is if you follow the social media pages you'll have seen some new faces. It's opened out to a new add on to the business and whilst it has dropped in nicely the set up process was not so easy to squeeze in. I'm pretty much set up now, and organised, tests have been run and I've got a lovely chap coming out to quality assure the process very soon so thats been exciting but pretty full on. As with most things the set up is ..read more

It has felt like a long time since last I chatted business with you, of course I've been involved a lot with what's happening here which has drawn much of my attention. Not always ideally but sometimes from about 3am when I wake and my brain starts up. The ideas factory is busy then and I struggle to switch off. One morning I woke at a stupid time, however, wide awake I ended up finishing a new rug so as not to waste the time up. Made purely from my Valais X sheep, Ocean and Bodhi. The bag of fleece could contain both of theirs. Over time I've lost track but it matters not. Both are the same ..read more

End of the month already.... and end of august and as I type this it is still raining. It feels like it's done nothing but rain since June. It's making it very hard to get jobs done like spray the sheep with the fly repellent. It needs enough time to dry and not get rinsed off! It also feels like plague after plague, slugs and snails, we've had sickness through the cats, skin irritations on the dogs. At some point I'm sure everything is going to be at full health but it has been a daily battle recently. Due to the warm and wet the grass across the gardens has grown long, to tackle each area i ..read more

A rural business chat with florist and gardener Sarah who created Sarah's Gardens based on Anglesey, North Wales Well I hate to say it but summer feels like its on it way out already and like many of you we are not ready! There are as always some plans here kicking off...... and of course those of you who regularly read this blog will now notice the format changed where I share other peoples stories about living a rural life and for some running a business as well. It's always a bold move to set up a business for anyone. For those moving to a new home and creating a new life, well it's not ea ..read more

The joy of owning and importantly living on a smallholding is all the animals and the life you create around them but what determines whether you actually get any time to enjoy sitting admiring what you have created is dependant on the small jobs. Those jobs that happen regularly but often go unsaid. They are the ones that add lots of time to your day for which of course you don't get paid for, yet they remain the most important jobs like mucking out, filling water troughs, basic husbandry, milking goats, for us anyway. Most recently I've become obsessed with the layout of this place, new way ..read more

Have you ever wondered actually how to create beautiful interiors like the ones they have on magazine pages? What if you could create that high quality finish within your own home or rural business? Well Brook Cottage Shepherds Huts have done that and below I have the interview that gives you all the answers as to how they've done it. So as promised, The Cottage Notebook has a lot to offer you this month. Interior design secrets and of course some ideas for your own rural business, whether you have a business already or you are thinking about starting one when your dream of rural life comes to ..read more

The end of June is always a busy time, here particularly as the water system suffered some blockages and a general slow down of the flow rate meaning that all fleece washing stopped, washing the pots was a once a day routine and showers.... Well let's just say you wouldn't want to stand too close to me. Water on the smallholding is vital and particularly when running a soap business, with livestock all needing a drink and then there's the hanging baskets and polytunnel! To top that all off the heater for the water also for the last few months has been getting hot, and not the bit in the water ..read more

While I settle into a more regular writing routine this is what is to come. The quarterly publication will focus on an overall celebration of the season. I'll be adding some lovely product promotions and some discount codes for everyone, there will be some garden or interior inspiration and of course for winter some shopping ideas for Christmas time. The in-between publications will be a collection of highlights from the month and updates on the more back stage on goings here, particularly the more animal focused jobs. The Exciting News! To add more content to The Cottage Notebook I'll be inte ..read more

Part of wanting to be where we are and live the life we do is because of the space and animals we have, the views and of course it's also about what we can create here. For me thats been about the gardening, creating spaces from fields, turning areas into places to sit and socialise, hanging baskets, a vegetable garden full of food with each space adorned with beautiful touches of detail from found or reclaimed items. Having the time to take photographs and document the changes has also been a lot of fun, it reminds us how far we have come. The other thing I love to do is write about it all. I ..read more

Well, the title gives it away doesn't it. It's been a while coming, since Christmas in fact. A friendly meet up turned into an all evening chat about branding, business and all things around marketing. When we moved here in 2016 we only knew that we needed to run a business, I suspect like a lot of people buying smallholdings or farms, there is a need or desire to make money from the land that you now have. Not many people can afford to run and manage a holding purely off full time wages as well as a house. Let alone actually having the time left to deal with issues and fencing! Equally people ..read more