I have been in communication lately with a lovely lady called Brenda about our spurtles. It seems that there is a very active chat forum on Nigella Lawson's website (www.nigella.com) and one of the topics of conversation is ownership of spurtles. Happily, Brenda found the lovely spurtles at Twice and put in an order. Frantic emailing ensued because although spurtles are small and light, our mailing cost was nearly as expensive as the spurtle. This is a constant problem for mail order companies, because you really need to have one-size-fits-all mailing charges and this means that you lose hugely on heavier orders but small orders are expensive for the customer. Anyway, Brenda and I chatted and I came up with the idea of 'Spurtle Post' - a lower charge for people buying spurtles! All went well, until customers ordering things other than spurtles started opting for Spurtle Post too! I might well have done if I was them - much cheaper! - but a nightmare for Twice. So, sadly, Spurtle Post bit the dust but we've made up for it by dropping the postage cost on all small orders to £2.00. So, hopefully, that keeps everyone happy. I'm thrilled though that the Nigella forum has found us - it's really fun to be involved in your swapping. And I would hope that the spurtle measures up too. I spent ages finding the right one to go with and was really pleased to find Hugh Leishman, master wood turner, to produce them for us. Some of the Nigella forum have also seen these spurtles at David Mellor, who Hugh also produces for - and that should tell you something about the quality.
It's getting very very busy here now - children all back to school at last (not that I don't love having them home, but you know ..... ) and I am putting my mind to the gargantuan task of making sure the stock is all ready for Christmas. Fairs start for us on 31st October and run right through to 5th December - my feet won't touch the ground but it will be great to be out there taking all our gorgeous things around the country.
It is beautiful today, and was yesterday - where was this weather when I had three stir-crazy children under my feet? It's not fair ;-) !!
Caroline
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3 comments:
Hi, I'm one of Hugh's daughters, glad to hear the spurtles are so popular, of course I have one in my kitchen too!
Hi Katherine! Great to hear from you. I don't need to tell you how wonderful your father's work is - it's a real shame to me that it is impossible on the website to show people how great they FEEL. The spurtles are fab - and the breadboards (have you seen one?) are really special. I've looked at your blog - God, I've got a lot to learn!
Caroline x
The postage thing is a great problem for me too!
At the moment I end up refunding people's postage if they order something small and flinching if they order something big - I never believed it could cost so much to post amaryllis bulbs.
well done on expanding into new areas,
J
x
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