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Dogs, pinnies and Gruffalos…

Evening All.

OK, so tonight’s Rockhoppers blog-writing tipple of choice is a well known brand of alcoholic Ginger Beer. (“You don’t have to have a drink to write a blog, but it helps…”). Scrum.

Anyway – like bin day, the blog is a day late this week due to the Bank Holiday. (Insert your own joke about rubbish here). This Bank Holiday weekend saw the RT team revelling in our gorgeous Westcountry surroundings, including a sponsored walk on Dartmoor to raise money for pooches with epilepsy (who knew eh?), enjoying a rather splendid meal at River Cottage in the Royal William Yard (fabulous food from Mr Hugh F-W) and finally a trek through Cardinham Woods in search of a Gruffalo (No joke. You really can go and hunt a Gruffalo…).

All of this was rather splendid, but also rather outdoorsey, so it was lovely to spend Bank Holiday Monday in the serene surroundings of the Moorland Garden Hotel, manning the RT stall at the Moor Things Vintage and Lovely Summer Fete, organised by the always reliable Miss Ivy Events. As always, the day was well organised with bags of character and atmosphere, and from a personal point of view, we had a stonkingly good day with loads of interest in our products (especially our beautiful range of handmade pinnies from What Jess Did Next – after all you can’t get much more vintage than a frilly pinny…). The only dampener was the fact the hog roast pretty much sold out before I got to it (humph – too busy having such a lovely time with the bloomin’ customers, honestly…). But my empty stomach aside, the day was a big success – it’s great to see the vintage and handmade scene is alive and well in the outskirts of Plymouth.

Therefore it’s with a twinge of sadness that we wave goodbye to the May bank holiday. Oh hang on, another bank holiday on the horizon, you say…?! Why, splendid – don’t mind if we do…

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An Englishman, an Irishman and a Cornishman…

OK, so this week has actually seen quite a momentic (word? Possibly not) change in our rather little but rather marvellous corner of the world. The fair residents of Cornwall (including at least 6 of our lovely suppliers) woke up on 24th April to the news that they have now been granted official minority status, bestowed on it, via several committees and frameworks, by Europe. Hoorah! The Cornish can now officially refer to themselves as Cornish. I’m sure they would have done this without some committee telling them they can, but still, anything which recognises and celebrates Cornwall’s unique position among other UK regions in terms of language, history, culture and character can only be a good thing.

So congratulations Kernow! You truly are unique and minoritnous. (Non-word number 2), and we loves ya for it.

And that’s not all – there’s also exciting news Eastside this month; the South West is now connected to the mainland again! Yep, that’s right, rather unexpectedly, the train line at Dawlish was actually finished ahead of schedule (Rio Olympics committee, take note) so west of Exeter is now not completely inaccessible to everyone without a car and/or private jet. And on a personal note – hoo-bloody-rah! No more replacement coach services, no more standing on the platform at Tiverton waiting to get on a train to take me the last 10 minutes of my 2 hour journey to Taunton and (sadly) no more free drinks vouchers as compensation for the whole ballache.

But seriously, it’s fantastic news for all those local businesses who risked losing oodles of income due to reduced tourist numbers. So well done to Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Bob, Wendy and whoever else was responsible (that’s one for the parents); perhaps now we need to address the bigger problem of making the South West more accessible and not entirely dependent on one solitary rail line in and out of the region for the future. After all – we’ve got a protected minority down ‘ere now. We’ve gotta look after them.

 

 

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Bank holiday babbling

Easter Monday, and this evening’s post is delivered from my sofa, where I’m scoffing the last of the Easter egg haul, finishing off the open bottle(s) of wine from the bank holiday weekend, and waiting to find out who killed Lucy Beale. (Although I suspect they’ll keep us dangling for a few months yet, little scamps…).

Super excited to be back on the craft fair scene over the last couple of weekends. (We kick-started in style with the Diverse Events Easter Fair in Saltash, and then had a fab time at the Producer’s Fair at Crocadon Sawmill the following week). I was a little rusty, and had forgotten how tiring it is running a stall all day, but I’ve loved being back in the world of the 3D people. I also forgot how much of a boost it is nattering to other small business owners – it’s easy to think you’re the only one doing this when you’re sat in your little box staring at a screen for 18 hours a day, but then you sit in a hall or a marquee with loads of like minded people and you realise that however hard you’re finding it or however big of a hash you feel you’re making trying to start a business from scratch, you’re not alone – there a lots of kindred spirits crashing their way through the process as well, and in the end we’re all just trying to do our best in an incredibly difficult market. To quote Winnie the Pooh, it’s so much friendlier with two. And therefore it’s infinitely friendlier with 22…

Anyway, the first fairs are done, several gorgeous handmade items have found a new home in exchange for some lovely spondoonies for Rockpool and loads of new crafty pals have been made. Throw in a few Easter eggs, and so far April’s been pretty sweet.

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Raisins at 30000 feet

This entry comes with a big BIG dollop of sorryness. I dearly wanted to be vigilant with my blogging when I started Rockhoppers, and I guess getting 5 months in and writing pretty much every week isn’t bad. But unfortunately life went bonkers 2 weeks ago and blogging went to the back of my head, and here’s why…

(NB – for the record, these aren’t excuses, but explanations…Honest…)

Firstly, we took our 1 year old for a long weekend in Scotland. (Random, but true). Recommendation for any other crazy parents contemplating the insane endeavour of taking a wriggling 1 year old on a plane? Raisins. And enough of ’em to sink a battle ship. Our little one was so busy scoffing, he didn’t have time to worry about the fact he was 30000 up in the air in a very confined space. (However, a word of caution; what goes in , must come out…).

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After the heady heights of the spontaneous weekend away, we were then thrown into dealing with said child getting chicken pox. Or some other nasty, blister forming disease – not quite sure what it is, but whatever it turns out to be, it’s looks angry. A tad unfortunate that we unwittingly took the incubating bug up to Edinburgh, not only potentially infecting our hosts but also all the other passengers on the plane; but hey ho – share and share alike I say. (Hope this little indiscretion doesn’t prove to be some pivotal turning point in the Scottish independence question?!).

And now the final explanation; whilst dealing with a pickled littl’un, we’ve been getting all geared up for the beginning of the craft fair season! (Woohoo! Bring it ON!). It’s time to shake out our tablecloths, brush off our shelving units and get on the road to craft fair giddiness. We already have 6 fairs booked in for the next few months, and frankly, we can’t wait. I love our online business, and it genuinely gives me so much pleasure selling Devon & Cornwall’s finest designs to customers all over the planet, but nothing replaces nattering to people about the items in person. So first up with at Diverse Events Easter Show in Saltash, Cornwall on 12th April.

So come along and see us sometime in 2014 – we love seeing you lot.

(PS – We promise we’re pox free).

 

 

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Mum’s the word

So, I had this whole blog post planned about Mother’s Day (13 days for those who haven’t got their heads round the fact it’s March yet); it was going to be a total Gush Fest about how wonderful Mothers are and how they deserve a big ol’ dollop of loveliness on Mothering Sunday (if not every Sunday). And, naturally as the owner of a small business whose sole purpose it is to provide unique, special gifts, it would have been remiss of me not to mention our gorgeous bags, or pretty earrings or our stylish pinnies. In short, it was open house at the temple of Mummy, and we were a-worshipping.

But then I got distracted by One Born Every Minute.  With the amazing Mum who had cerebral palsy and wanted to be present at the caesarean birth of her child so much that she pushed on through even though the anaesthetic wasn’t really working. And the Mum who had been through 2 rounds of fertility treatment because she was desperate to have a little one. And the Mum who’d had a nightmare pregnancy and just wanted to get her little girl out safe and sound.

Mums are pretty darned awesome.

So whether you buy her flowers, cook her dinner or take her for a spa treatment, it doesn’t really matter; just make sure you spoil your Mum this Mother’s Day. Chances are she’s worked pretty darned hard to bring you into this world – and I dare say she hasn’t stopped working since.

And finally, a big Congratulations to the Exeter Chiefs and our wonderful Westcountry divers Tonia Couch and Tom Daley who all celebrated sporting successes this weekend. Well done guys – your did your Mums proud…

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Here comes the sun…doodle doodle…here comes the sun, and I say – it’s alright…

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Need I say more?

I do? Oh, OK then.

This weekend’s brief cemeo appearance from that big ball of burning fire in the sky has left the RT team, like many others I suspect, positievly hungry for summer. As ol’ George Harrison quite rightly croons – Little Darling, it’s been a long, wet, lonely winter… (or something to that effect) – and, Little Darling, it does most certainly feel like years since it’s been here. But here it was this weekend and, like most of the rest of the population lucky enough to see temperatures over 12 degrees – we were packing up the car and heading to the beach before you could say “unseasonably mild”.

And it’s times like this that I realise how incredibly lucky we are to live in such a stunning part of the world. Like other Westcountry kids, I grew up with the luxury of only ever being 15 minutes away from a beach, and some of my strongest memories are from family holidays by the sea – whether it was basking in the sunshine or shivering under a blanket, the beach was a constant fixture in our lives. And on Sunday I got to take my little man for his second trip to the beach, where we enjoyed a glorious walk at Bigbury with the hound, and then a brief sit down on the rocks for him to have his afternoon snack (the little’un, not the pooch). It was a beautifully warm afternoon, not a cloud in the sky, and everyone on the beach was smiling. Memories are, indeed, made of this, and I sincerely hope come rain or shine, growing up by the sea will be something mini-RT comes to treasure as much as I do.

So lets hear it for the summer 2014 – sandcastles, ice creams, surfing, rockpooling (naturally), jam packed coolboxes and sandy sandwiches, much needed windbreaks, paddling, snorkelling, falling asleep with our sunglasses on and washing sand out our hair for days… It’s going to be awesome.

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Rockpool on the road…

Evening Rockhoppers!

Tonight’s blog will be short, sweet, and a little bit all over the place, but hell – lets see if we can pull it together by the end…

So I’ve spent most of the last week back on the craft fair trail for 2014. We maxed out on fairs in the run up to Christmas, and had a splendid time, but now we need to get over the winter blues and get back out there for the spring. I’ve already booked in fairs for April, May and (randomly) November, but our aim is to do at least one per month, across the length and breadth of this fair region of ours. Now – here in lies part of the problem; when you’re new to the scene as we are, booking a craft fair is a bit like walking up to a prospective partner in a bar; they may look good on the outside (snappy dresser, nice hair, not wearing white socks), but delve a little deeper and before you know it, you’re sitting in a freezing church hall next to some ol’ dear who crochets her own toilet paper.

(OK, so my metaphor may be a little muddled, but hopefully you get the gist).

And don’t think it doesn’t happen! Luckily the RT team have so far managed to side step most land mines when it comes to disastrous fairs, but even we experienced one occasion when we travelled over 60 miles only to sit in a venue for 8 hours with just a handful of customers. And this was a fair that, on the outside, seemed like the George Clooney of fairs – nothing to suggest the Baldrick of an event which lurked underneath…

Anyway – punts have been taken, caution has (to some degree) been thrown to the wind, and we’ve booked some more dates and venues in the calendar. Keep an eye on our home page for more details, but needless to say we’re hitting the road big style in 2014. And hey – it’s a numbers game: you kiss enough craft fairs, you’re bound to find your prince… (or something like that).

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Back of the net…

Woo0hoooooo! The accompaniment to writing this week’s blog is the dulcet tones of Drew Savage on Radio Devon – yep, I’m listening to the Argyle commentary on the radio and we’re currently 4-0 up, away to Fleetwood. (Come on you Greens – play offs here we come!! LET’S BE ‘AVING YA!!!!!).

Ah-hem. Apologies for that brief Delia moment. It’s just that Argyle winning by that margin isn’t a common occurrence – one has to celebrate smugly when one can when one follows the Greens.

Anyway – back to the world of Rockpool Trading. It’s been a busy week! (When is it not?!). Following on from welcoming the fabulous Home Threads into the RT fold with their gorgeous range of shoulder bags (made exclusively for us, doncha know), I’m jolly excited about our latest product, due to hit the shelves this week. Hold on to your hats – Rockpool is dipping it’s toe into the vast world of art work! And what better way than by welcoming our newest crafter, Kirsty M from Lanivet in Cornwall, to the gang? This lovely laydee is a very talented soul, not to mention incredibly patient; each of her beautiful paper-cut designs is painstakingly drawn and cut by hand. I’m in constant awe of the talent and commitment of our crafters, and when I see all the hard work that goes into making their products it spurs me on even more to build a business that supports and promotes their wares. It’s a topsy turvy world where some crummy, poorly made products get lots of publicity because they’re sold in large, high street chains, whereas crafters have to jump up and down and wave their arms just to get their beautiful, original and well made products seen. Still – if we can provide another outlet for these talented types, whilst bigging up the fabulous South West at the same time, we’ll have achieved our goal.

And speaking of goals, the final whistle has been blown and that’s 3 points to the Mighty Greens. Altogether now! Westcountry…la-la-la…Westcountry…la-la-la…

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Open for Business… and Gin.

So what’s the expression…? Oh yes –  “if life gives you lemons… make a (Plymouth) G & T”. Or something to that effect…

So after another week of rain, high winds, flooding, more rain, power failures and general, all round weather grimness, the Westcountry is fighting back with the hashtag #OpenforBusiness. (Check out the wise words of Cornwall’s adopted son, Rick Stein, on the subject here) . The message is ringing out across Twitter, You Tube, Facebook and even sneaking its way into Prime Minister’s Questions – it’ll take a bit more than some heavy rain to make us shut up shop! Devon & Cornwall has some of the best attractions in the country, so this week on Twitter we’re sending out some of our favourite recommendations for things to keep the noisy sprogs entertained over Half Term – come Hell or (lets face it, it’s possible) high water. Check it out if you are, like us, a Twitter nut.

And speaking of all things Twitter…

I’m keeping it short and sweet this week, but thought I’d finish with a photo I took of a mass produced top in a large, high street department store (who shall remain nameless). Are they being ironic, I wondered…? Answers on a tweet…

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Message from the Westcountry to the Mainland…

Can you read me…Over…?

Message reads:

FOR GOODNESS SAKE INVEST IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE (stop) – IT’S AWFULLY QUIET DOWN HERE (stop).

On this cold, rainy miserable evening, this rather chilly Plymothian is sat listening to the Proclaimers and drinking a glass of wine, wondering if I could indeed walk 500 miles (and then 500 more) to reach the heady heights of “up north” (aka Bristol and beyond…).

You would have had to have lived in a cave with earmuffs on this last week to not know what I’m talking about – the devastating storms that have hit the UK have been all over the media, particularly the pictures of the beautiful coastal train line running through Dawlish, or at least where the beautiful train line used to be – half of it is now hanging precariously a few feet above the water. Whilst it’s a blessing that no one (as far as I know) has been seriously injured (or worse) by the damage, the focus has now shifted and the devastating effect the complete lack of transport infrastructure into the Westcountry is going to have on local businesses is becoming apparent. Plymouth and Cornwall have, quite literally, been cut off from the rest of the UK in terms of rail links, which leaves us 2 options: road (the lack of a motorway west of Exeter leaves us at the mercy of the rather optimistically named “Devon Expressway”) and air (which has been significantly affected by the closure of Plymouth airport – now we rely on the reduced service at Newquay, or, the extremely expensive flights from Exeter – and in any event, that’s now only any good if you have a car…).

And devastating really isn’t too strong a word – tourism really is the life blood of the Westcountry. The head bod at the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce has estimated a loss of over £500 million to the South West’s economy as a result of the newly amphibious train line. Which begs the question: why has no one ever considered the implications of this before, or if they have, why weren’t they taken seriously? As anyone who has tried to catch a train heading for Penzance on the Friday before a Bank Holiday weekend and ended up sitting in the loo in order to get a seat can attest – they come in their tens of thousands to the region. Business, pleasure, relaxation, stimulation, culture, kicking back or zoning out – they come and they spend. I shudder to think what will happen if the train line is not up and running by the Easter weekend.

And getting out of Devon & Cornwall is proving almost as difficult. I was due to attend a meeting in Reading in March, and it has now become apparent that my best option is to drive from Plymouth to Newquay, fly from Newquay to Gatwick and get the train from Gatwick to Reading. (Quite literally, Trains, Planes and Automobiles).

So – to sum up. I dare say that one of the reasons so many of us love the South West is it’s remoteness, it’s quiet, laid back pace of life. But whilst we may occasionally tut at the tourists when we can’t get a seat in our Local on a Saturday night, we need them like a cream tea needs jam, like a pasty needs a pint and 2 indigestion tablets. Lets hope the Grockles don’t stay away too long – we miss them when they’re gone.