IN CASE YOU CAN RELATE!

Dear Friend,

It’s been a pretty dull week, since a bright and sunny dog walk on Monday morning with one of my sisters it has rained and rained and rained. It makes me feel gloomy and though I am generally an optimist by nature I find myself peering at barren looking trays of soil wondering if I’ve somehow done something ‘wrong’ and worrying my seeds will never germinate. I order more just in case. I am now literally awash with seeds and could stock a small shop.

Having briefly dallied with the idea of booking myself a last minute flight to escape for the weekend and join my best friend in France (no seats available) I then pondered tucking myself up on the sofa for the day to feel miserable in solitude. But, here I am at the keyboard, somehow feeling better word by word and choosing to share the high note of my week.

Since we moved in the kitchen tap has had a drip, gradually worsening to a semi constant dribble and precipitating a banging water pipe every time an upstairs tap was opened. On Tuesday morning I could bear it no longer, I consulted YouTube and dismantled the tap thinking I could easily change a washer. It seems simple washers have given way to sophisticated valves which, in the case of this tap, was impossible to remove. I stomped out to the car and took myself off to the nearest B&Q to buy whatever tap I could find that would do the job. 

It was a day of many lifts here and there for numerous and complicated reasons, but between journeys I am delighted to say that I replaced our kitchen taps and am no longer gritting my teeth every time I was into the kitchen. There’s a pretty good reason plumbers charge as they do, having to factor osteopath bills into their own for the contortions required to access beneath kitchen sinks being one!

So, much as I often try to with a camera in my hand, I managed to find beauty within the mundane this week. I’m genuinely proud of my plumbing feat and perhaps even more of the fact that I took myself seriously and told myself that of course I was capable.

May the skies brighten soon, may your seeds germinate and may you remind yourself that of course you can!

With love,

Vx

WE’RE HOME!

Dear Friend,

Well, I never thought I would be moving back home in my mid 50s, albeit to a house that has changed and is now owned by us not my parents. The last six weeks have felt a mixture of surreal and sort of inevitable as I’ve waded through the packing boxes, I feel so at home while slightly incredulous at really being here. It is just lovely to be rediscovering the house in its latest incarnation and beginning to make it our own, finding the right spot for each of our belongings and editing out some that have outlived their use or beauty (in my eyes).

While the house feels largely familiar and I have a sense of how it might evolve the garden is a different matter. I swing between apprehension (feeling we have bitten off rather more than we can chew) and excitement at all the lovely things I can try to grow here. I have completely overwhelmed myself on several occasions by following every single train of thought about seeds, bulbs, perennial beds, rose gardens, salad varieties, fruit tree pruning, lack of quince blossom and not yet being able to remember exactly where I’ve left my secateurs!

I’m trying to pace myself, to slow down and allow myself to get to know the garden over the months ahead, but that hasn’t stopped me from potting up the dahlia bulbs and beginning some early seed sewing - just the sweet peas - to satisfy that urge. The productive area of the garden has a wonderful bed of rhubarb, blackcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries and four huge vegetable beds which I think will become more flower based since there’s only so much produce 2 or 3 of us can eat. 

There are fewer pictures on my camera of the house than I imagined there would be, but in truth I’ve felt quite exhausted and not as creative as a consequence. My voluntary work with local asylum seekers continues and I enjoy it, but like so many I am saddened, frustrated and furious by the way in which the government is behaving. Those I speak to and am involved with are so grateful to be here and to be safe, but the uncertainty they exist under is horribly stressful. Still, this afternoon I was delighted to be asked to join a family at a school assembly in which their 6 year old son was presented with an award for his endless enthusiasm for learning - can’t ask for more than that!

As I write this and reflect on the last 6 weeks or more I’m not actually surprised I’m tired, we’ve achieved a great deal already on top of which I’ve been caring for Gertie who managed to throw herself at high speed into a barbed wire fence within a hedge and sustain a nasty laceration, four weeks on it is finally more or less healed but there have been many, many visits to the vet and she’s still confined to lead walks.

My studio space now has an insulated roof in order to make it warm enough to work in, the sink is in situ and the waste pipe will be connected next week - but until then there’s a bucket and I can’t wait to get my hands on the clay again. This weekend will see me filling the shelves of our newly installed bookcase (most of our books have been in storage for years so I can’t wait!) and trying to resist ordering yet more seeds, and next week I’ll be editing a client shoot from yesterday. Oh, and I’ve given my website a refresh - phew!

I think the garden, in due course, would make a wonderful photo shoot location for all sorts of people, once the shepherd hut is back in action, the trees are in leaf, the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining it will be positively idyllic! I might even be tempted to host workshops/events here as I did in the barn in the past - what do you think? Any ideas?

Wishing you a sunny start to Spring and hoping all is well with you.

With love, 

Vx

Homeward Bound

Dear Friend,

I hope that 2023 has begun happily for you despite the soggy start, I’m certainly embracing the frosty mornings in place of what felt like an endless downpour for the first couple of weeks. I have been waiting and waiting to write this, I had it drafted in my mind throughout December in the hope I could send you Christmas greetings along with our news, but in the way of these things glitches and delays prevailed.

I woke early one morning to the most beautiful light as the sun rose and pulled my coat on over my pjs!

When I last wrote we had just had an offer accepted on a house on the Somerset levels and had accepted an offer on the barn, so far so good, until I popped next door (to the house I grew up in) to let them know we were moving. As my words landed the couple looked at each other with a wry smile and asked me if perhaps I’d like to move home as they were also planning to move! They bought the house from my parents who downsized and left 11 years ago and I hadn’t imagined for one moment that the house would become available again in my lifetime, but family needs have dictated a move for them so it seems that fate has intervened.

We hummed and hawed a bit as to what we should do and were undecided in truth until our neighbours asked if we’d like to go and have a proper look around the house which has changed a bit over the last decade. Of course we wanted to (for who can resist a peek into others’ homes in any case) and as we walked home via our adjoining land I think we all felt that there was no decision to make. So, a couple of phone calls with estate agents were made and the deal was done.

One of the gates between our old and new homes

It would all be so simple were it not for the conveyancing wouldn’t it?! However, we finally exchanged contracts throughout the chain a couple of days ago and my relief is gently becoming excitement. We move on 2nd February which means life will be busy for a few weeks, having squeezed ourselves into the barn for the past three years or more, with many of our belongings in storage, it will be lovely to have a little more space - I will even have room for a desk inside instead of in the garage!

I am gently removing things such as plant supports from the garden to take next door with us

I will of course share lots of pictures in due course, I actually love the process of making a home in a new place and to do so in an old/new place feels really fun. We’ll have a very generous garden and a wonderful cider apple orchard whose trees I remember planting many years ago. We’ll have apples aplenty for making juice, growing space for oodles of pretty flowers and even a greenhouse. Our shepherd hut, Bramble, will come with us and we hope to welcome paying guests there in the future when she’s properly plumbed in and settled in the right spot.

This barn incorporates the stables where our horses were once kept and Bramble will reside here

December was very busy photography wise and I am still catching up on some editing from my travels in November. I had a lovely brand shoot with a new interior designer with a wonderfully sustainable ethos who I’ll share more about in the future, a shoot of charity tree planting for Flamingo Chicks at Childrens’ Hospice SW and sadly several calls from Remember My Baby. My involvement with local asylum seekers continues and I’m still throwing the odd pot too. The combination of ways in which my days are filled is very satisfying, and I’ve enjoyed sitting down to write this too.

With love to you for the year ahead,

Vx

A Postcard from Jordan

I had planned to be super organised at the end of last month, to write this before I went away for a week and cleverly schedule it to be sent in my absence. But the afternoon I had planned to spend writing was instead spent making photographs in my role as volunteer photographer for Remember My Baby; I can’t think of a more important and valuable reason to alter my plans, and I never take for granted what a great privilege it is to be part of the saddest and most challenging moments of a family’s life.

So it was on a sober note that I left home to meet my older sister and travel to Jordan together, but what a week it was. We joined a group of twelve others with a tour company called G Adventures without whom our combined lack of Arabic would have made travelling rather more difficult. Jordan is a fascinating country, nestled between Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudia Arabia it has somehow managed, in recent times, to remain a peaceful spot amongst the region’s chaos and troubles.

Part of the North Theatre at Jerash

I do seem to have a disproportionate number of donkeys and camels amongst my photos (apologies to my sister who perhaps should have featured more!)

One of several ‘best view in the world’ locations that we enjoyed at Petra

We began the week in Amman, travelling north then south to take in the Roman Ruins at Jerash, a Crusader Castle at Kerak, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and of course Petra. I love learning, and piecing together a little of the ancient history that has shaped these places has been fascinating and energising. I didn’t study history at school (and frankly can remember very little of anything else I studied anyway) but Jordan has piqued my interest and I’ve found myself googling ‘ancient history timelines’ etc. In fact I came across this video, with accompanying chart, and have enjoyed learning a little more context.

Donkeys making the descent at Petra unaccompanied!

Petra was as awesome, in the true sense of the word, as one imagines from photos and I found myself wishing I could time travel so as to really understand what the place was like in its heyday - how wonderful it would be to watch the caravans arriving to rest up and trade on this part of the Silk Route! We found ourselves somewhat incredulous as we discovered the ways in which those early civilisations harvested water, and how we seem to have lost our way in many regards. Climbing right up to look out over the Monastery was a highlight, and we returned again in the evening to see the Ciq and Treasury lit up, we walked over 23km that day and I’m not sure my feet will ever be the same shape again!

Pause to notice the scale of the Monastery at Petra in relation to the people in front of it!

It wasn’t all historical monuments though, we floated in the Dead Sea where we also slathered ourselves in the much acclaimed mud of its shore, we ate delicious local food, watched sunrise from a camel’s back and snorkelled in the Red Sea. It truly was a trip of a lifetime and left me hungry for more travelling.

I can’t deny that I fell a little bit in love with my camel, or at the very least with her eyelashes!

I hope you’ll enjoy some of these photos, I do love the variety I’m able to experience through photography - from the most intimate, sensitive moments to branding for small business via gardens and travel! As ever, if you or anyone you know is looking for a photographer do keep me in mind.

With my love and very best wishes that October was good to you,

Vanessa

PS. All looking positive on the home front, ‘though until we have progressed just a wee bit further I can’t bring myself to tempt fate and share more. Next time! x

FROM MY CAMERA ROLL!

With thanks to fellow travellers for these shots

Camel kisses 💕

4WD in Wadi Rum

Early Autumn

I fervently hope that this letter does not find you sitting with your head in your hands, or shouting in frustration at the radio, as I have found myself over the last week. I have banned myself from listening to the news for a few days, opting instead for musical theatre playlists which I find myself singing along to! My taste in music is somewhat eclectic, but there really is something for every mood isn’t there? I recently stumbled across the Instagram account of Anna Woodlap, an organist whose joyful enthusiasm in playing makes me smile every time I see it.

Many of you have visited me here at Oak Tree Barn, or read about how it all came to be and our trials and tribulations, so you’ll understand that it is with very mixed emotions that we have put the barn on the market. It has simply proved beyond us to identify a way to create the sort of family home we long for here, planning constraints and the cost of building are such that we have concluded a move will be less stressful and prolonged. As I write this I’m awaiting a call from the estate agent, so hopefully next month will bring a positive update!

Somehow these letters don’t feel complete without a photo of Gertie!

I’ve recently become involved with a group endeavouring to support asylum seekers and refugees being housed in a local hotel; with no transport, no possibility of work and not a lot to do in the vicinity life is pretty challenging for them. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to accompany a group of them to Birmingham to spend a day at Polinations, a celebration of diversity and migration through plants (read more here). It was thoroughly refreshing to be amongst different company, they were enormously appreciative of the trip and it once again made me really count my blessings.

A couple of images from the sunset show at Polinations

I’m still pondering prints and have various paper samples which I’m going to experiment with to identify what feels and looks right to me, and hopefully others, and I think this is the image I’ll have printed on various options.

September has been a month of family birthdays, busy weekends, getting back to yoga classes, a bit of pottery and lots of photography. A friend kindly let me visit her lovely home and garden where I had a lovely day photographing anything that caught my eye - mostly her dog and cats! I also did a brand shoot for my hairdresser who was utterly convinced she is entirely unphotogenic, I hope you’ll agree with me that she looks gorgeous!

For the past couple of years I have been part of a group of small business owners who support one another, sharing ideas, celebrating the triumphs and commiserating the disappointments. They are a wonderful group of women and this month I’d like to share an offer from Astrid Bracke, a small business mentor, who has an uncanny ability to simplify muddled messes and tease out practical solutions. She has a number of 30 minute 1:1 calls available until the end of the month, to provide a listening board and help find some clarity. For anyone struggling in finding the way in their business take a look here.

Finally, when I pondered what to share in my letter this month one of the above group suggested ‘pictures from my camera roll’ which I thought a brilliant suggestion, so below are a couple of my day to day snaps!

With love and very best wishes, 

Vx

Playing with collaging

A day at The Goodwood Revival

Summer’s end

September and ‘la rentrée’ are upon us; the end of summer usually finds me feeling a bit glum but while I’m not ready to embrace autumn by any means I do feel a renewed sense of purpose and a determination to pursue photography in a less haphazard way.

Our eldest daughter has today begun her first teaching job, her sister is happily ensconced in this year’s student digs, and since this month is always an intense one for Mike at work I won’t see much of him at home. The garden has been gently giving up for weeks now (I resisted watering all but the saddest looking plants in a bid to save water) so I’m back in your inbox with plans to write on a more regular basis.

The photos in this letter are some of my favourites from August which I hope you’ll enjoy - a lovely family holiday in Portugal, plenty of time enjoyed in the garden, a visit to a friend in Ramsgate and dog walks on the hills. 

I’m in the process of updating my website, I really should try and do it more regularly so it doesn’t feel so daunting, and I’m investigating the idea of offering some prints, postcards and maybe even bookmarks (I’m frequently tearing up bits of scrap paper to mark a place). What do you think? Do you send postcards on holiday or use them during the year to send a note to a friend? I love receiving real mail and am pretty sure most almost everyone would welcome it too. 

Much as I love a real book in my hands I do often listen to them on Audible while I’m walking or gardening, this summer I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the following two if you’re seeking a new read:-

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonny Garmus (so good I’ve listened twice!) Her debut novel which resulted in a bidding war for the film rights, it’s a highly engaging novel about a chemist and her battles with the patriarchy, intertwined with a love story and a dog who you couldn’t fail to adore.

Miss Bensons Beetle, Rachel Joyce. From the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a moving story of unlikely friendship, adventure and entomology!

I hope this month will be a good one for you, I’ll be out and about with my camera, putting the garden to rights and throwing some clay around no doubt!