JANUARY 2012

Yes - I am still here! I know I have neglected my blog for a very very long time and apologise to anyone who likes to read it. I fully expect to have lost all followers by now.

Its been a funny time with many distractions. These have mostly been nice ones and there are two new books to prove it. The Little Hastings & Rye Cook Book 2 was published on the final day of November and the whole process was a bit of a whirlwind. It was second only to Jamie Oliver in the pre-Christmas sales at our local Waterstones and I promise we will sort out the typos in print edition 2.
HOME SEWN HOME comes out later this year. Its a starter book on sewing for your home (it's all in the title really)with a vintage twist. I used to write 'how to' books before I started CARRY-A-BAG and like to keep my hand in. This year I plan to refresh the bag business and will begin with the website, so keep an eye on it and let me know what you think via email. I shall be introducing a newsletter and urging everyone to join up for regular updates and special offers.

I love the New Year and all the plans that come with it. I wish you all a HAPPY ONE - there is so much to look forward to.

love & peace

xx

Sally

ELDERFLOWERS ARE EVERYWHERE

It has been an odd Spring this year with heatwaves in April and such cold nights in late May
that weve taken to lighting the fire in the evening. Everyone's noticed how early the flowers and fruit are and we'll have a monster crop of figs in a month or two. And there seem to be more Elderflowers than I've ever seen before. I made cordial on Monday and bottled it up yesterday but actually cannot bear to look at the trees covered with flowers without planning to make another batch. I should like it to last till next year but will be lucky if it makes July the way we're guzzling it. Free seasonal food should never be ignored.
Workwise Aveda keep me busy with lovely collaborative bag projects and the latest ones will be in Liberty's this month to celebrate the new Beauty Rooms. I'm also making another big batch of Union Jack cosmetic bags with pretty floral linings for them, so sign-up with Aveda online http://www.aveda.co.uk for newsletters and their special offers ....which may be one of my bags.
Living beside the sea, when summer looms I find Beach Bags are on my mind and this year I've been trying my hand at silk screen printing, putting big red arrows on vintage striped canvas. I love the results and by the look of it my favourite customers do too - thanks xxxx you know who you are!

Enjoy the summer & Make Elderflower Cordial & Be Happy

LOVE & PEACE

Sally
x

GENEROSITY

A very long time ago somebody who lived in Hastings left land and specified that it

was never to be built on. Instead certain rare trees were to be planted for the enjoyment of future generations. One of these is the Magnolia Grandiflora, now a familar garden feature

but when it was chosen it must have been extremely exotic and unusual.

The wonderful thing is that this tree has now grown so huge it towers over all other trees and the surrounding meadows. It stands tall, a bizarre mass of sugary pink set against bare branches, so wonderfully out of place that it makes you gasp with delight.

By next week all the buds will be open and the earliest ones will drop creating a carpet of pink beneath the tree.
Its extraordinary and wonderfully generous.
So thank you.

love & peace

this time of year

I have been in Dorset, in the heart of the countryside where I was
thrilled by the views of rolling hills, newly ploughed fields and
trees just starting to green up. The lanes were lined with snowdrops and every tree seemed to boast at least one singing bird. The green of the grass was vibrant and the sky a brilliant blue. It was pure joy.
As we drove back to Sussex today something else caught my eye.
Dirty shredded plastic bags stuck in hedges, flapping on barbed wire and woven through branches. In a week or two the new leaves will hide this evidence of people's indifference. Till Autumn.
Grrrrr! There was a car in front of me with an English Flag sticker on the back windscreen and the driver threw his chocolate bar wrapper out of the window. There he was surrounded by fields of green and I wondered what it was he loved so much about England - not the countryside I'm guessing. He's probably never noticed that.
Lately I have realised that the only way for me to deal with this is to pick up the litter that the careless ones leave behind - being angry spoils my day and their messy behavior spoils my neighbourhood and our countryside. That's my plan.

Enjoy that view..........
I took the photograph this morning
with love & peace

Sally
x

ITS FEBRUARY ALREADY

I seemed to have spent an entire month sorting through fabrics and trying to tidy up my workroom. This means business has been quiet, as it always is in the depths of winter. People turn to weatherproof bags
and let's face it without a plastic content nothing is waterproof - well, I suppose there is rubber and oiled cotton but those are not on my 'pretty vintage' radar. So, January is the time to fold and stack. Until an order comes in for something that I know I've seen somewhere....
then I start messing things up again and frankly, that's where I'm at right now. It looks as if nothing has changed but, on the bright side, I have done a mental audit of my fabulous bag potential - and there is plenty of it! Snowdrops have come up, tulips are pushing through and I've seen a couple of blue tits checking out my birdbox.
It's a way off yet but I'm definitely feeling more energetic and so looking forward to the Spring.

LOVE & PEACE & HAPPINESS

X

S A L L Y

ON THE LAST DAY OF 2010

WHAT A GREAT PIECE OF NEWS TO END THE YEAR
THE ITALIANS HAVE BANNED SINGLE-USE CARRIER BAGS!

From now on only biodegradable bags will be allowed.
It is such an admirably bold move,
no messing about the 'deterrent' of charging for the polluting plastic
or making it optional or advisable - an outright ban.
It will be interesting to see how this works and whether
other European countries follow suit.
If it is possible in Italy..... fingers crossed.

I wish you all the happiest of years in 2011
with much love & peace

Sally
xxx

FIRST SNOW TODAY

I love the seasons and this year each one has been very clearly defined - although thinking back I'm not quite so sure about summer. Still, moving on, autumn colour seemed more glorious than ever and now we have proper snow before December. I love snow.
Next week we have a stand at the Midwinter Fair http://www.wealdentimes.co.uk/events/MidwinterFair2010/index.asp
It is being held in huge heated marquees at Bedgebury Pinetum which is just off the A21. We were at this event last year and can thoroughly recommend it for getting into the Christmas Groove. I am sharing the stand with my husband Stewart and the recycling project PLEASE watch their new film about their Christmas Trees on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHBWoodRecyclingCo#p/a/u/0/xWQXTFRPR2A
I shall be selling purses, tiny bags for the tree, spec-cases and The Little Hastings Fish Cook Book which is now in its 3rd print edition.

Life gets pretty hectic from now on
but you know, there should always be time
for a cup of tea with a friend
Love & Peace
Sally
x