heritage

To most people 'heritage' means The National Trust, castles, museums, and perhaps morris dancing or other local tradition. However the newly formed Heritage Crafts Association highlights the unique contribution of makers and craftworkers to our cultural legacy. Do follow the link on the right to register as a supporter (it's absolutely free). Makers of traditional products as diverse as trugs, besoms, hurdles, baskets and scissors need our support. Most of the items these talented craftworkers produce are sustainable in the best sense; using local timber and materials they manufacture on a small, personal scale, and the things they make have an inherent beauty and practicality that can last for generations rather than being discarded and replaced at a whim.

I use the bowl and spoon above every day at breakfastime. The bowl is wonderful to hold, cradled in the hand with the thumb supporting it securely. It's a replica of an Elizabethan porringer that was found at a dig near the Globe in Southwark, and the spoon is inspired by German medieval illustrations. Both items were made by Robin and Nicola Wood of Edale, just a few miles away from where we live. These are truly sustainable pieces; made by a 'Robin-power' pole-lathe from local wood they should last far longer than comparable ceramic bowls.

Both Mike and I have our own individual bowls and spoons - you tend to become very propietorial! They are just as practical, if not more so, than ceramic and metal versions. They wash easily in hot soapy water, and the wooden bowl is naturally insulating when you eat hot meals. They don't tend to break if you drop them either. I think I may follow an ancient tradition and ask to be buried with my bowl and spoon.

It seems a shame that some of our makers, such a Sheffield scissors company, are going through hard times trying to compete with cheap imports. If only more of us would take a little longer to think about purchases and choose to buy products made in the UK that use local skills rather than rush off to B&Q or department stores to buy the cheap, inferior versions from abroad.

We need to broaden our concept of heritage to include traditional skills or we will lose them.

sneak preview

Here's an exclusive preview of our wonderful new wrapping paper. This is the first product that Eco Eco has commissioned and it won't be the last.

This stunning paper features a pattern by the extraordinarily talented and versatile designer Lucie Summers who is currently swanning around on a beach somewhere in Portugal (are you blushing yet, Lu?). It won't be printed in black and white as in the printer's proof above, well not yet anyway; I think it looks rather tasty as a monochrome design.

The paper we're getting printed will be double sided in two different colour combinations: pink/red and apple green/turquoise so customers will have more than one option when wrapping gifts. It's being printed on a recycled/FSC paper in a really good weight so it's not like some of those nasty, cheap papers that rip the moment you start wrapping. It's being printed with vegetable based inks at a factory powered by renewable energy. I'm in two minds whether to tell the printers not to trim the sheets but leave on the extraneous marks around the edge which would eliminate waste. What do you think? Would you like to have the extra margin which might help with wrapping or even be used for other things? Perhaps we'll do that next time.

As a further teaser I'm willing to reveal that we are looking into printing this design and possibly others onto fairtrade organic cotton, and even wallpaper. Watch this space!

* c o l o u r s *

Quick drive-by posting. Just found a stunning section on the National Geographic website. The pages feature extraordinary nature photography themed around different colours. The shot above is from the Life in Color: Green page. From there you can follow the links to groups of images celebrating other colours. You can even download the photos to use as wallpaper for free. I shall be enjoying the view of the green snail for a few days before selecting a different shot that speaks to me on that day.

Recycle and Grow

I'm very taken by these raised beds created by The Ranelegh School for The Chelsea Flower Show.

Made out of recycled pallets, the beds contain a variety of fruit trees, vegetables and a few flowers. Just goes to show that you can create an abundant and prolific garden in a small space and from recycled materials. Not only that, but it looks great too.

We have a few pallets lying around that arrived at the shop with deliveries so I'm now thinking we'll have a go at making some of these too.

There is a growing trend (sorry!) at The Chelsea Flower Show for recycling and sustainable plantings. Read a brief overview at Treehugger.

dawn chorus

Image from the Dawn Chorus animation by Suky Best

We're lucky here in the Peak District.  When we wake at dawn the birdsong outside the window is overwhelming.  It wasn't always the case; when we moved to Derbyshire we saw hardly any garden birds at all.  Since we've started putting out food regularly the variety of birdlife has grown so that we now have greenfinches, goldfinches, sparrows, tits, blackbirds and wrens (not to mention the crows and magpies that lurk in the field behind us and swoop in for an extra snack).  We now see it as a duty to feed all those mouths as we've been the direct cause of the increase in the local bird population.  If we stopped feeding now the local birds would suffer, and that doesn't bear thinking about.  That's one of the reasons it's important to feed regularly and all year round.  The RSPB has some useful guidelines.

The dawn chorus is a special event, even though it happens daily.  I just stumbled across a lovely animation by Suky Best that captures what is important to those of us who love the sound of birdsong.  Do go and have a look - it's a little oasis of calm in a busy day.

Fabulous Places

Deb at Fabulous Places has kindly chosen us as her fabulous place for May.

It's a great idea: Deb chooses shops, cafes and restaurants in Derbyshire that she loves and features them on her website. It's purely her choice as to whether or not a business is featured and you cannot buy your way onto her list. Visitors to the site can leave comments on the businesses featured - our pages are here and here (thanks to those of you who have said such nice things about us).

There are regular competitions and goodies up for grabs if you join the FP club. And it looks like Deb will soon be searching out lovely places in Nottinghamshire. Fingers crossed for further expansion.

If you live in Derbyshire put Sunday 26th July 2009 into your diaries. The Fabulous Places Summer Fete should be an event not to be missed. We'll be there along with many other FP businesses. Do come along and say hello.