Hello there!
Welcome! I'm so happy you're here!
If you’re reading this then thank you for signing up to my new newsletter. I will keep this up monthly, and include some fun things as well as exclusive discounts and secret news that I don’t put on instagram.
If you’re wondering why you’re getting this Substack and haven’t specifically signed up to receive my this - I’ve imported all my subscribers from my website too, so that’s why! I’ve moved over to here as it seems a lot easier to use, I also like the fact you can make payed subscriptions which I might do in the future, but for now I like the idea of just popping into your inbox regularly.
My first bit of secret news just for subscribers is that I am currently writing (but mainly illustrating) a children’s book! Here’s the first drawing I’ve made which you might have seen on instagram but didn’t have the context to - it’s about small moments of everyday kindness.
I’ll keep you posted as I work on this - and as a subscriber you’ll be the first to know when it’s available! I went to town today to drop off a delivery and saw that the Frome Festival of Kindness is on at the moment. It gave me a bit of an idea to have it ready for next year’s festival! (Hopefully sooner than that though.)
It’s funny when I start work on a big personal project which I have sort of fully formed in my head - it’s a funny mix of excitement about getting it done, a little anxiety about finding the time to get it done and what to sacrifice in my normal working day to work on it (probably boring admin time) and then a bit of over thinking about how to actually get the idea down and onto paper and out of my brain. The best solution is to actually just get cracking rather than think about it as much as I tend to.
5 Things I’ve enjoyed lately:
Going to see Hollie McNish live. Have you read her poetry? I love it so much. She is amazing and there is something so special about hearing the poet who wrote the poem read it as they intended. She writes about lots of quite serious subjects in a relatable and humorous way. You should definitely read her books or listen to her recite her poems on her instagram. Here she is reading one of my favourite poems from Sunday night: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CruQqIiqPNH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I love to eat and go nice new places! You will know this if you follow me on instagram. But I’ve been to a few nice places recently and really enjoyed.
First was Pythouse near Tisbury for mother’s day where we had an absolutely cracking roast! Here’s a picture of the interior, it’s in a lovely walled garden where they grow their own produce. They also have local and sustainable meats and game which is important to me in a restaurant. The drinks list was also very impressive! Since I went last they have started a drinks business - Sprigs and co.
New in Frome also is Little Walcott where I went with Tim for dinner. I was impressed with the delicious dinner! Again they had sustainable options with local Trout as a starter and Venison for the main. We were the first to arrive which was quite fun, but it soon got quite busy. I was impressed with what they have done acoustics wise too, you could hear everything at the table but it wasn’t ever too noisy.
I got around to repairing a nice top of mine, which wore out way too quickly for the amount of time I had it for/wore it for. I repaired it using Sashiko method which is a Japanese way of visibly mending something. You use lots of little stitches to reinforce the weak area in the fabric. It turned out well, and I remembered how much I love to repair! Looking for a hole in a sock or cardigan to darn at the moment. I’ve been repairing for friends and family too - and would love to keep up with the repair, if you have anything that needs to be patched up please get in touch, this is something I am hoping to expand to along side my drawing work this year! Picture of the armpit repair:
I was speaking to a friend at the weekend and she mentioned how this winter has felt long, but I’ve really enjoyed my winter! I’ve liked having some quiet time to think and plan out my year and work on some new things. I loved doing the pop up in Ground in January. I’ve not even minded the rain, though feel for anyone who has been significantly impacted by flooding. I’ve been doing lots of fun things at the weekends, and it feels like house renovations are going well. I am of course still very pleased by the first signs of spring. Seeing the daffodils and the blossom is very cheery. I am also excited for what warmer weather and longer days will bring too. This was from a walk around Holt with the Blue sky (to be fair about 20 mins before this photo it was apocalyptic rain!)
Lastly moving forward with the house renovations. Here’s a little picture of a corner of the bathroom which is coming together very nicely! At some point I’ll share a bit more of this and post some more on the instagram - if you’re interested it’s @fromfarmhouse on IG! Cute corner cabinet from a friend, enamel lampshade from a car boot, deep green ceiling, oak door from ebay, iron fittings attached ourselves, cork floor, mylands paint on the paneling, and whole wall chipped and re-pointed ourselves! And that’s just one corner of the room!
Thanks for reading!
As a special thank you for having you here I’m giving 20% off with this code on EVERYTHING in my shop for the next month! Remember this includes personalised portraits - so if you’ve been thinking about getting one for a lovely one this would make it a really good time to do so.
Code: SUBSTACK
See you next month!
Donna x