Wednesday 15 April 2009

Plowright Theatre

Dance festival on at The Plowright Theatre this week, I went with Miss Katie to watch some of her pupils tonight. It was really good with some very talented singers and dancers performing. Always good to support local venues and talent.

Sunday 12 April 2009

Coffee Time


My sewing

My Bedroom chair
Bedroom Chair


Wig Wam I made for:

My Lovely grandchildren Eliza, James and Henry

Saturday 11 April 2009

Art




My Garden













































Easter Time






Easter weekend, time to take off the working hat and now time to relax. It was the open day for English Country Homes at Doddington Hall today. We were very keen to see the new venue as previous visits to Leadenham were very enjoyable.

Slightly disappointing as the Brew House is much smaller with less products on show but the ambience is still the same, very country casual. Linen sofas and chairs, occasional furniture, storm lamps, mirrors, table lamps and lots of kitchen accessories to name but a few items for sale. The design studio is upstairs where soft furnishing projects are undertaken for customers.
They will not be catering at The Brew House as Doddington Hall has a restaurant and very nice it is too, along with the well stocked farm shop and in house butcher. We bought home reared pork, blue shropshire cheese, almond stuffed olives, plumb loaf and some Green & Blacks chocolate. (it is Easter after all) We would have liked a coffee but today they were only taking lunch bookings, so on the way home we stopped off at Uncle Henry's in Grayingham for our usual fix of their lovely cappuccino and home made scone.

Friday 10 April 2009

Rainy day in Lincolnshire

Easter break! Not fun going out in the rain so we decided to have a spring clean, office and home. Out with all the fabric samples, catologues and out of date designs. I got stuck in a time warp looking at old photographs though, reminising of past times. Where does the time go? Think we deserve a trip to the pub tonight.

On the road again

In Leeds today looking at furniture. New road junction at junction 27 M62 (Ikea) much better. Early dinner at Belini's (Italian) in town.
Watched Willies Chocolate Factory at 8pm not the childrens film but the story of the real life Willie who has spent the last 15 years perfecting his own brand of chocolate made from cocao beans. He now has a factory in Tiverton, Devon and works very hard to pursue his dream.
The moral being, hard work and determination does pay off. I certainly hope so......

On the Radio

Hannah on the radio to launch Serendipity - Jacqui & Hannah's new business

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Product selection

Claire sofa

Emma sofa

Eliza sofa

Rebecca sofa

Today was all about product selection in preparation for the launch of the new site.
In alphabetical order you can see:
Claire - Leather contemporary, Emma - Fabric traditional, Eliza - Fabric modern, Rebecca - Fabric Traditional

Monday 6 April 2009

English Country Living

English Country Living are moving from Leadenham near Newark to Doddington Hall near Lincoln. They open on Thursday 9th April with a launch party over the Easter Weekend at The Brew House in the grounds of Doddington Hall. True to the spirit of English Country Living the Brew House will be for those with a passion for homes and gardens alike. Amanda Meade's collection of vintage and bespoke furniture will be displayed, along with household and decorative accessories. Farrow & Ball paints and carefully selected papers and fabrics can be found in the Interior Design Studio. We often visited Leadenham and as Lincoln is much nearer to home it is highly likely that we will be regulars at The Brew House.
http://www.ecldoddington.com/

Barnolby le Beck

Sunday was a glorious sunny day and a good excuse for getting out into the Lincolnshire countryside in pursuit of a village pub for Sunday lunch. This weeks venue being The Ship at Barnolby le Beck. Traditional roast beef with Yorkshire pudding was my choice followed by Bakewell Tart. The highlight being the Bakewell Tart, homemade by the chef at the pub and never to be forgotton! It was delicious.... apparently the chef was patisserie trained and it certainly shows, will be going back for more.
Afterwards we drove to the coast and sat in the sunshine to read the Sunday newspapers, a very enjoyable and relaxing day after a very busy week. Another one ahead by the looks of it.

Friday 3 April 2009

Learning Curve

The past few weeks has been so busy doing all the research and attending courses. The one we found most useful was Search engine optimisation run by Business Link, held at Forrest Pines Hotel.
Online shopping is most certainly going to be a way forward for lots of consumers who already lead busy and hectic lifestyles. It is now our aim to provide an efficient online service to supply excellent products at affordable prices.
Apart from the business courses, I have also trained to be a walk leader for the Walking the Way to Health scheme run by the North Lincolnshire Council. It was just a one day course held at the Humber Bridge viewing area in Barton upon Humber. I am now more aware of the country side code and the rules and regulations for taking groups of walkers on designated walks throughout the Lincolnshire countryside. Hopefully it will also help to keep me fit.

Latest models

Here are a selection of our latest models that are now in retail outlets in the UK.










Upholsterer at work

Here you can see the developement upholsterer at work on one of the products.


Village Hotel Hull

Last night went to an interesting marketing course at the Village Hotel in Hull organised by Hull local radio station KCFM 99.8.
We were invited by Vicki Kress, sometime in the future it could be useful to us once we go live with the Sofa and Home ecommerce site.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Soft Furnishings - Curtains

Hand made tripple pleat.

Swags and Tails.

3" pleat tape.

Sue's selection


This week I introduce the Soho Collection.
A corner sofa, ideal for lounging after a busy day, kick off your shoes and relax. A co-ordiinating chair to complete the room setting.

Sofa and Home Limited

We are now official, all the hard work Julian and I have done recently has paid off. The new ecommerce site should soon be up and running. We will be selling Sofas, Chairs, Home furnishings and home interior products too.