Photo taken by Edward McMaihin
Some exciting news from me is that my work is now being stocked at the Summerhall Arts Centre in Edinburgh. Summerhall used to be the old Edinburgh University veterinary college. I researched my sheep book in the library there! This year it re-opened as an arts venue. It’s a wonderful place and so much more than an arts centre really. I love their open-hearted, can-do attitude to the space. They’ve got all sorts of things going on, from theatre and gallery spaces to studios and workshops to a brewery! The cafe in particular is divine and well worth a visit on its own.
Tomorrow the weather is supposed to turn wet and thundery here so Little Owl and I have been busy harvesting all we can before we are forced indoors. We collected elderflowers from the lane up the hill for elderflower syrup. Little Owl had been concentrating so hard on snipping off some low-hanging florets that when a sheep baa-ed loudly from the field on the other side of the bush she sat down hard in surprise. She glared meaningfully in its direction as she dusted herself off.
We picked black currants from the bushes in the garden for jam. Picking for jam from these bushes feels momentous because we planted them when we moved here (not much more than sticks with a few leaves really) and this year has been the first crop big enough to make anything from. Then we picked peas from the tubs outside the house and they all went in Little Owl’s tummy! It’s been such a golden few weeks. It’s lovely to think of spreading that jam on toast in the darkest depths of winter as a reminder of these mellow days.
