Day one of the new me! I always mean to use the car less and shop locally more and all the other things that are good not only for the planet, but also for me and so this week I have started to try and practice what I preach. Yesterday I cycled to an appointment in our local village - which isn't much, but usually I would have been running late and so I would have hopped in the car. And today I cycled to Errol which is the nearest place with a butcher, Post Office and chemist. It's about an 8 mile round trip and as I cycled along I realised that it really is a no-brainer in so many ways to do this - it's 25 minutes there and 25 back, so that's nearly an hour of aerobic exercise - completely free! No gym membership, expensive kit or clothing - plus I got my shopping done and supported local small businesses. And I seemed to have more time to chat to people.



On the way back a buzzard flew right by my side for about 50 feet with a mouse in his claws - nature in the raw! I noticed rabbits and squirrels, trees, autumn colours and the thing I noticed most was the smells - which you never notice zooming along in your car.

The next schedule visit to Errol is this Friday morning - and now I've gone public I will be even more determined to keep it up. Three trips a week should keep me fit, keep more money in my pocket and, maybe, I'm doing a little bit to help the environment.

Very exciting - I've just been watching the new catalogue coming of the production line at the printers in Perth and I now have the first 300 copies in my grubby little mits! At last! Wow. It's like giving birth (well, not quite, obviously) every time I do this and it is always such a good feeling to actually hold a copy in my hands having worked so hard to get it to this stage.


The first copies will go out tonight to try and avoid the post strike and then the bulk will be sent out to everyone early next week. I so hope that you like what you see ....

Quick post just to say that I have just managed to buy some more vintage crocks and so they are now back in stock. They are becoming increasingly difficult to find which is why they aren't always in stock - so if you've been waiting for one, grab it quickly!

So, off to Glasgow to visit the Barrhead tannery, who make our beautiful leather bags. I love going out and about to visit our manufacturers around the country - and nowhere more so than Barrhead, where you are immediately transported back in time. Things are done here much as they have been for hundreds of years - the stone staircase tells you that with each step hollowed out by years of feet walking up and down. The smell of the leather is just wonderful and I love seeing the different leather and suede finishes that are possible - not to mention the colours. Deerskin makes really great leather and suede in varying weights and one of things I love most about it is it's durability - I've been using my suede Lily slouch bag for well over a year now and life with me is quite tough on any bag - from being thrown in the bottom of the car every day or having to double as a cat bed - and it still looks fantastic.


This photo shows some blue suede ready to go off to another client of the tannery. We spent some time working on a couple of new bag options - I'm taking the Eleanor bag off in a slightly different direction and working on a bowling style bag using deerskin and maybe some beautiful Scottish tweed. Watch this space!