14th March 2023
"From Seed to Sale..."
I have recently started a very exciting project with a local farm shop. I use the term 'farm shop' lightly, as I feel that calling it such doesn't really capture exactly what this hidden gem actually is.
But first I'll give a bit of background as to why I have started this venture...
Several years ago, an illness, made me change the way I ate. It changed the way I viewed my body and what I was expecting it do on the nutrition I was putting into it. Now I've never really been someone who has been particularly unhealthy, but then what is it to be 'unhealthy'? Is it someone who eats bowls of pasta, or has a takeaway once a week? Is it someone who eats takeaways regularly and snacks on crisps and chocolate? That's for each individual to decide. What one person sees as being unhealthy, another may see as not being that bad. But for me, the illness that I encountered, made me question everything I was putting into my body.
I then had my son, who was diagnosed with allergies very early on. This forced me into having to look at the ingredients on various packages. I was then shocked to find ingredients I had never heard of in simple things like bread. There was even things like milk in ham, and chicken. At the time, it was easier to simply make a lot of things myself. After this my daughter came along, who also had allergies, and a few intolerances which my son didn't have. So I continued to cook everything from scratch.
Several years of nitpicking ingredients within food, has made me realise how detached we are from our food. We live in this 'grab and go' society, a fast paced world, where everything is needed 'now' , and I'm not sure how much longer humans can sustain this for. It isn't healthy for our body or our mental wellbeing. We seem to have become so dis-engaged to where our food comes from, and the amount of work and skill required behind growing a potato, an apple, a tomato. When I look back, I feel as though when my Grandparents were growing up, and even Great-Grandparents, that this was probably the last time a good chunk of 'health', food wise, was felt in society, due to the way they ate.
So I have decided to start a project which will hopefully capture this food journey. The project will be called 'From Seed to Sale' and aims to really highlight the enormous amount of time and love spent growing the food that we can so easily grab in supermarkets. It also aims to highlight the need for more people to shop in local and small businesses.
The way I see it, is the supermarkets are the middle man. They hold the stock, and don't pay the farmers anywhere near their worth for their produce. So why not skip the middle man and go direct to the grower, direct to the farmer, (obviously where possible).
I am a foodie, I love my food, and hopefully this will not only enlighten and educate myself and others , through a variety of images, and the story that will be told, about a local farm shop, striving to produce the best they can for the local community.
Watch this space...
1st March 2023
Social media stress...
Social Media... Does anyone else find its becoming a bit of a chore?
When I first started using social media for business purposes in 2017, it really was worthwhile. People engaged in posts more freely then they do today, and it was much easier to be 'seen'. However, with algorithms constantly changing, it seems using the likes of Facebook and Instagram successfully, has become more and more of a challenge.
Initially it was simple posts, comments, and likes. Then the algorithm changed, and moved into Stories. Now it's Reels. And if you're not doing a Reel, you pretty much don't get seen. I look at other business, some who I know personally. They update every day, sometimes twice a day, and yet they get maybe 3 likes, maybe 15. But for hundreds or thousands of followers, they just aren't getting seen.
I've spoken to so many businesses, including friends who own businesses over the last year or so, and generally they seem to be totally put off by the ever changing goal posts.
I remember saying to a few of my clients around a year ago, that I wanted to ideally get rid of my social media and just have my website; one single platform to update, rather than three. And I think I am probably one of the 'lucky' ones with only three to update. I don't have Tik Tok, or Twitter, or Flickr or any of the other platforms requiring constant attention.
I also really don't want to be updating my social media platforms at 9pm at night. I would much rather be editing, or replying to clients, rather than stressing about an update and how much attention it's going to get.
That being said, I am going to trial not updating my social media accounts with posts. I will share the Blog links, and update my stories but that's it. This will give me more time to focus on the things I need to focus on and more peace of mind knowing that I don't have to update with posts followed by however many hashtags :)
Wish me luck! xx
26th February 2023
Our Holiday...
This week we landed back after a lovely and warm, family holiday in Florida. The skies were so blue over there, not like the grey we experience here in the UK. We did have one or two cloudy days but for a fourteen night stay, one or two days isn't bad.
I was speaking to a lady from Minnesota over there who started chatting to me, and she was saying how, even though it's cold at home, the skies are blue so she doesn't mind. She was surprised when I explained that we can go a few days here without seeing proper sun.
We did a few parks this time round with the kids. Usually when we go it's later on in the year and the heat is just too much some days. This time round it averaged around 28/30 degrees, so it was a nice time of year and we were able to walk round. We did Disneys magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, had a quick wander round Epcot, and then headed to the coast for a day.
The kiddies were made up and unlike round by the pool wanting one of us (mainly Daddy in), they played happily by themselves in the sea and the sand.
We also had some really good food. Good food is hard to find in Orlando as everything comes ready made from a packet, which they then heat it up. We found this out early on having two kids with allergies. So we have now learnt where to go for the fresh stuff!
Here are just a few mobile snaps from our holiday...
24th February 2023
A lovely family photoshoot in the woods...
I was asked by this lovely family, to capture some new images of themselves and their two girls which in turn would make some fantastic presents for family members. So went to a gorgeous wooded area to take some photos. It was so nice watching the eldest play in the leaves, climb, and have fun outdoors. We got some really gorgeous natural shots to make the day.
These are just a couple of the images the family chose and are happy for me to share with you.