Oct 205 min read

Karen's Corner 20.10.24

Updated: Oct 23

Welcome back to this week’s Karen’s Corner! Join me here each week to catch up with what I’ve been up to both in and out of work and what I’ve been loving and connect with me on Instagram www.instagram.com/karen.anderson.fossoway

Karen xx

WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

I really must get better at writing Karen’s Corner more regularly but, I guess, the benefit of leaving a little larger gap between updates is that I have lots to reflect on.

The last 4 weeks have been BUSY and the opening of The Potting Shed has been such a learning curve.

Meeting people, many of whom have been my (so far un-met) neighbours for the last 13 years, has been the absolute highlight of this new venture. Predicting and managing the quantity of stock to bring in has been challenging and the weather, though predictably changeable here in bonnie Scotland, has meant one day has been busy and the next quiet. Getting indoor seating as well as promoting our take-away options have become our next big priority.

One of the issues that caused me to delay opening the Potting Shed for as long as I did was balancing my desire to be the face of the Potting Shed, meeting all our first visitors and learning what they’re looking for from us, with all my other jobs in and around Fossoway Stables. It’s meant we’ve opened with limited hours, Monday - Friday, 9am - 1pm and I’m hearing from a lot of our visitors that longer hours, a lunch service and weekend opening would be welcome. In my head, I’d like to get to a place where we’d be open maybe 10am-4pm and include the weekends too but that will require hiring staff which is always a little scary.

One of the ways I could bridge the gap between where we are now and where we want to get to is to develop an honesty system for the Farm Shop aspect of the Potting Shed, where people could come and buy their vegetables, pastries, sourdoughs and eggs around the clock. I’m keen to find a workable way to do this as soon as possible.

Away from Potting Shed developments, the yard team are being kept busy with the animals as always, the kitchen garden comtinues to feed us, a new block of Kids' Clubs start (check out www.fossowaystables.com/ourkidsclubs for more info), FossoPLAY continues to be busy and the Lodge has been full since April which is great! We have some spaces coming up in the lodge in November and December though so I’ve reduced the nightly price if you, or someone you know could do with a cozy autumn/winter break. A night away also makes for a really thoughtful Christmas Gift and we will again this year, be selling beautifully presented gift vouchers. If you’re interested in gifting someone you love with a night or two’s stay at Fossoway Stables, please just drop me an email and I can arrange that for you.

On the subject of Christmas … I’m working on producing a gift hamper from The Potting Shed and re-launching our Fossoway at Home products in time for the festive period.

Last week, the kids and I joined our friends at Centre Parcs for a week of activity and adventure. You’ll notice I haven’t used the word ‘holiday’ to describe it. As anyone who’s done the Centre Parcs thing will attest, it’s certainly not a restful break! The kids had an absolute blast though and seeing them have fun more than makes up for the busy schedule. We came back and straight into hosting the first ‘Fossoway Stables presents’ event. Our very own John McCusker, along with singer-songwriter (and Britain’s Got Talent finalist) Sam Kelly and multi-instrumentalist Toby Shear performed to a sell out crowd at the Crook of Devon Village Hall. It was a bit of a frenzy to set up in time and we laughed that the musicians don’t normally have to help set out tables and chairs for their audiences in the concert halls! It was a truly lovely night though, the boys played so well, the audience loved it and I was blown away by the kindness of those who stayed behind to help us tidy up at the end. I said at the start of the evening that this was hopefully the first of many and hearing the comments as people were leaving and reading the emails and texts I received after the concert, it seems this little experiment may well pave the way to bringing more big music to our little village.

One event closes and the next begins and so the very next day, we set up our little Pumpkin Patch beside the cafe. I’m not a fan of Halloween and all the spooky stuff but I’m 100% here for crisp autumnal days, the landscape turning orange and gold, cozy sweaters, cuddling up under a blanket and making warming chillies and hotpots. The pumpkin patch, although just small this year, represents all the good bits of autumn and I’m loving seeing families come to choose their pumpkin for the season.

As if all the work stuff isn’t enough, John and I have had workmen in doing the groundworks for our new shed arriving next week. What started as a simple request to put in a concrete base, has become a garden re-model with paths and a seating area … currently, the back garden is a mud bath, but this time next week, we should have a really lovely space and somewhere to store loads of our belongings. We’ve really been loving going through all of our possessions, keeping only what we need and what we love and, as boring as it may sound, we’re so excited to have everything in order really soon. I think the shed has become a symbol of what’s been needed in both of our lives and I think many people probably feel the same way. We accumulate so many things as we go though life don’t we, and the things that were once deemed necessary or desirable can become a burden to carry and store. This ‘stuff’ edit has been more than just throwing away things we no longer need, but it’s been about questioning what we want our lives to look and feel like and what’s important to us.

This morning, as I’m sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen writing this, sipping my first mug of tea of the day and watching the rain from Storm Ashley batter down outside the window, I’m thinking a cozy indoor day is in order. I’ve got LOADS of admin to do, some more cupboards and drawers to sort through and another busy week ahead to prepare for.

I do hope you’re all really well.

Until next week …

Karen xx