Summer arrives: here at Botelet wind ripples through fields of long grasses which this year are already tinged with yellow following the warmth of spring; a full compliment of leaves adorn the trees, now deep green and heavy-set; sweet notes of elderflower and wild rose from the hedgerows stop you in your tracks to breathe deeply as you walk.
Such a sweet season, June being a month so full of hope for the summer that will unfold, revelling in the light evenings and long days. Yet this year also carries such a different tone and hue, with all of our lives still affected by COVID-19 in some way - and an acute awareness that for some this is still with huge challenges carrying grief, extreme workloads or anxiety from the weeks and months that have passed. As nature settles into summer, there is also a sense of deeper appreciation: that first trip to the beach, wild swim or meander through woodlands that we might perhaps have taken for granted in years gone by, but now notice, value, lean into more. What an opportunity this summer presents - to experience the season with a sense of joy that we are finally able to access it, touch it, play in and explore it.
As the continuation of lockdown means that we are sadly not yet able to welcome guests to Botelet Breakfast Club, we relish the opportunity to connect with the community through this monthly space sharing conversations on lockdown life and seasonal living with three lovely Breakfast Clubbers. This month we hear from Becca Stuart of The Garden Gate Flower Co who so kindly shares techniques for creating a stunning floral arrangement as well as her musings on lockdown life; Dom Bond who is fully embracing the principles of simple, seasonal living that many of us have been drawn to connect with more deeply during lockdown; and Julia Bird for who the quiet coves of Cornwall provide solace for the soul, but also inspiration for the beautiful art she creates, see Molesworth & Bird. The greatest thanks to Becca, Dom and Julia for taking the time to share their thoughts with us.
Just before we share the words and insights from our friends, this month’s Breakfast Club recipe is for a simple, seasonal drink - elderflower and rhubarb cordial - a gentle, sugar-free version that can be enjoyed with a splash of sparkling water on a warm summer evening, but also as a morning cleanser topped with warm water a spring of mint to energise. I hope you enjoy this recipe, along with the conversations with Becca, Dom and Julia, and Becca’s beautiful floral demonstration which I absolutely cannot to have a go at myself!
Sending much love for a joyful June from us all here at Botelet x
Introducing Botelet Breakfast Clubber Becca Stuart …
Becca Stuart, image credit Holes in the World Studio
We first met Becca at a summer garden party; Becca is the kind of person who you remember meeting, bubbling with creative ideas, fizzing with a warmth and energy that soaks you up and leaves you tingling with inspiration, yet utterly grounded in her work and family life.
Right from that first conversation I’m sure we had planned numerous creative collaborations, and it has been a joy to get to know Becca and a privilege to work with her over the past few years. Becca doesn’t do things by half, her floral design company The Garden Gate Flower Co is top of its game offering arrangements that echo the seasons using British flowers including those grown in her garden at the Duchy Nursery in Lostwithiel, and Becca is always in high demand to to teach floral design and business skills.
We were due to be hosting a floral retreat with Becca here at Botelet in September, this has been cancelled due to COVID as guests were due to attend from across the globe. Lockdown has been tough for Becca’s business, with the wedding industry coming to a complete standstill and by then her garden was already bursting with flowers and foliage that had been invested in and needed to continue being nurtured. However as ever Becca is full of innovation and in these challenging times has created a new venture, Friday Flower Club, for which she has set up an online shop and sells seasonal bouquets locally. Becca’s Friday Flower Club is sold out each week ahead of time, and she has recently partnered with Relish in Wadebridge and Appletons in Fowey in addition to Watt’s Trading in Lostwithiel, to expand pick-up points for her beautiful bouquets. Such a lovely way of keeping the business ticking over, sharing the extraordinary flowers she is growing, and spreading sentiments of love during lockdown.
As well as sharing her thoughts on seasonal living during lockdown (see below) we are thrilled that Becca has also created a video demonstrating how to put together a stunning summer floral arrangement using garden flowers and foliage such as roses, foxgloves, snapdragons and pea leaves. Watching the way Becca gradually evolves the arrangement is like visual therapy as the feast of colours and textures takes shape. Such a fascinating insight into floral design techniques - so much thanks to Becca for sharing the beauty of her summer garden with us all in this way.
Our conversation with Becca …
Where do you call home?
Home is right where I am now - I'm a Cornish girl and whilst I wandered for a while I always knew I wanted to return home to bring my family up by the sea!
What’s your occupation?
I never really have come up with the right 'snappy' term for what I do - I'm not a conventional florist and I'm not a farmer. I find the title of what I do hard when I fill in important paperwork and do normally just say florist! However, I grow flowers for my floral design work. My business (pre COVID) has been predominately weddings and events in Cornwall and teaching floral design but now with a quick pivot I have set up an online Flower Shop and created a 'Friday Flower Club'.
What do you love to eat for breakfast?
Well since the lockdown the family made the decision to invest in a waffle maker - we are a huge fans of weekend breakfasts in our family and would normally have French crepes. However with the arrival of the waffle maker this has quickly become the 'special' weekend breakfast. Whilst the children opt for chocolate and strawberries I've chosen to have mine with roasted peaches and a generous pour of maple syrup!
What have you found most challenging about the COVID-19 lockdown?
For me COVID really brought my entire business model to a standstill as weddings were no longer allowed - it has been quite a shock and there has been a lot of anger and tears. However, I like to think, I've got an entrepreneurial head on my shoulders so I quickly set about planning an alternative client for my flowers. It also goes without saying if you have children at home and a business, generally trying to do anything suddenly becomes a challenge - the house is permanently a tip and I regularly fail at homeschooling....oh and I'm now wondering why I spent so much money on what I thought was a 'pretty / on trend' paper diary.....!
Do you feel as though there are positive takeaways for you as a consequence of lockdown living?
Ok, so I really would give different answers based on what day I'm having in lockdown - I feel my mood, on many of the days gone by is like 'four seasons in one day'!! There have been days where I suddenly realise my 14yr old and I have spent way more time together and this wouldn't have happened with the temptation of friends always ringing to 'go out'! So family times for the most part have been really nice. However, I think living in the super community of Lostwithiel I realise how sociable we all are and how used to seeing our friends we have been. It's been hard to adjust to this. I would say though one of the biggest things I have found as a positive takeaway is the kindness of the community and other local businesses to support one another. Emma from Bellamama helped me to set up Friday Flower Club initially from Bellamama Deli, I am now working alongside Denise and Tom at Watt’s Trading in Lostwithiel along with Hugo from Relish in Wadebridge and Andy and Lyndsey from Appletons in Fowey doing this same. It's these acts of kindness from local businesses to support each other that I find reassuring in what has been a really tough time.
Do you have any top seasonal tips to share with the Botelet community?
Yes! Now is the time to get your bi-annual seeds ready for mid to late June sowing. Bi-annuals are a huge boost to a cottage garden and whilst it feels like a long term investment, i.e. sow now for flowering next spring, they are a really good at filling in gaps in the flowering season. My advice is to go with things like foxgloves to add height to your garden, Hesperis (sweet rocket) for scent and Daucus Carota which gives you buckets of flowers from only a couple of plants.
Introducing Botelet Breakfast Clubber Dominic Bond …
Dominic Bond
Dom and wife Sophie moved to Cornwall seven years ago, and we are extremely lucky that they chose our local town Lostwithiel to land in as their family base, so that our children have grown up together. Dom and Sophie’s life stories are remarkable and even after many years I’m still always struck by new stories and insights that are gleaned from humbling conversations with them.
Dom helped establish Sabre Education in 2004 and has since been at the helm of this early years education charity, supporting the Ghanaian government in building sustainable kindergarten schools and developing innovative child-centred teacher training programmes.
Back at home, Dom and Sophie’s family life has taken them on a journey that has involved paring back, simplifying and becoming immersed in seasonal living. Last August Sophie and Dom’s dream of settling in their own wild piece of land was realised and they spent a pretty gruelling (in my mind!) wet and chilly winter living as a family of five in a yurt, as they finalised plans and waited for clement weather to arrive to begin renovating their stone barn. Winter saw meals huddled together round a small table by candlelight, showers underneath the outside tap, and the first autumn storms brought rainwater rushing down the inside of the newly erected yurt roof. Yet always a smile, a sense of excitement around the latest modification (“We have a woodburner!” half way through winter) and a baffling ability to make small spaces utterly charming, uncluttered and truly welcoming.
I can’t think of anyone else for whom the arrival of summer must have been felt so significantly: warming the bones, witnessing nature wake up in their wild orchard for the first time, and the relative ease of living with three children when you can all spill outside, leave doors open wide open, climb trees and run through the fields, dig the soil and tend to your first crop of vegetables - as well as finally begin roofing the barn that will become their family home.
Thank you Dom for your thoughtful words below, and to you and Sophie for the ongoing inspiration on simple, sustainable living.
Our conversation with Dom …
Where do you call home?
Home is a mature apple orchard in south east Cornwall just a few fields away from beautiful Botelet. We recently began converting the 200 year old stone barn we bought with the orchard, and in the meantime home is a yurt and an old tractor shed we have made into our kitchen, bathroom, living space. It’s not the most conventional temporary accommodation and means we can really enjoy the journey of our barn conversion project.
What’s your occupation?
For the last twelve years I have worked for Sabre Education, an early years education charity working in Ghana. We work in close partnership with the government education service to train teachers in an active and play-based approach with child-friendly classroom management skills that remove fear and physical punishment from their classrooms and provide four and five year old children with the best possible start to their education. As well as working on the quality of teaching we also help to improve school facilities, from classroom renovations and playgrounds right through to full kindergarten school construction.
In July I will hand on to Sabre’s new CEO and plan to focus on matters closer to home, hopefully working with a principle called The Children’s Fire, which is a pledge to work to the benefit of the children of all living things, placing their wellbeing ahead of profit and growth. It is early days, and I am feeling very excited about where this new path might take me…
What do you love to eat for breakfast?
I lived in Spain as a student and discovered a breakfast that has become a bit of a morning ritual for me these days. It’s called ‘tostada con tomate’ – literally tomato on toast, and is incredibly simple to make and so delicious. My perfect version would involve homemade sourdough and homegrown tomatoes … the tomatoes are blended with olive oil, salt and pepper then generously spread on a piece of toast that’s been drizzled with yet more olive oil, and perhaps rubbed with garlic for a bit of a kick. Pair it with a strong black coffee straight from the espresso pot and I’m in heaven!
What have you found most challenging about the COVID-19 lockdown?
To be honest lockdown itself hasn’t been such a challenge in the physical and literal sense – we feel very blessed to be in this beautiful Cornish valley, we had previous experience of home education, and the weather has been sensational so we have spent a lot of time outdoors doing projects with the kids.
What has been most challenging for me has been trying to navigate the various claims and counterclaims about COVID-19 and sift fact from fiction. Clearly the virus wreaks a terrible toll on the most vulnerable, but I can’t help feeling that lockdown itself is causing an equivalent or even greater economic, emotional and social hardship for so many people, that will continue to be felt for years and years to come. It feels like a set of scales where everyone loses no matter how you balance them.
Do you feel as though there are positive takeaways for you as a consequence of lockdown living?
Definitely! I have really appreciated the stillness that has settled around us, and which seems to have allowed nature a period of respite and perhaps even recovery.
The concept you recently shared about reframing self-isolation as a period of ‘cocooning’ really emphasised the positives we can take from this time, and in that vein I’ve been mulling over the word ‘community’ and its implications for ‘co-immunity’. I have been inspired by the many acts of local kindness and community spirit that have emerged over the last two and a bit months and I feel optimistic that one of the positive takeaways might be a greater sense of community and a more local focus, which will in turn improve our resilience to future shocks and crises. For someone who has spent the last twenty years with a very global outlook, this more localised worldview has been quite a radical shift in perspective!
Your work connects you with Ghana in West Africa. What is your experience of how COVID-19 is impacting upon communities in Ghana?
In general terms, Ghana seems to be coping remarkably well with the pandemic, with strong containment measures swiftly introduced by the Government, and lessons from the recent Ebola pandemic in West Africa very fresh in the region’s mind. Our Ghana team at Sabre has had to make a rapid adjustment to remote working, which was completely unchartered territory for most of them, and we have pivoted our education work to support families through the ongoing schools closure with radio broadcast sessions for children and guidance for parents.
Community structures are much stronger in Ghana than the UK, and I am sure there is much we could learn from the importance of these in providing a localised network for co-support and response. For now, it seems that Ghana’s outbreak has been contained and after a brief period of lockdown in the major cities, life is gradually opening up again.
Do you have any top seasonal living tips to share with the Botelet community?
We were already striving to eat more seasonally and shop more locally before COVID-19 struck, and as we come into summer the eating seasonably part becomes much more viable. We are very lucky to share a vegetable patch and polytunnel with our neighbours which is now brimming with promise of the bounty to come. We also have a weekly organic fruit and vegetable box from the Keveral Community of Growers, and our local Spar in Pelynt has a really wonderful variety of goods which means we can be much less reliant on the big supermarkets. I’d encourage everyone to try and shop more locally and enjoy the abundance of local seasonal produce over the coming summer months.
Introducing Botelet Breakfast Clubber Julia Bird ….
Julia Bird
Julia was one of the original Breakfast Club crew, taking the plunge to reserve a place at the table of this unknown and pretty quirky pop-up cafe in the backwaters of rural Cornwall! It has been a true delight to welcome her back many times since.
Connecting with the landscape in which she lives is at the heart of Julia’s work, foraging for seaweed and creating stunning hand-pressed designs that are made into art prints and homewares. It’s always fascinating to hear of Julia’s latest explorations and findings and - when we’re really lucky - bumping into her at a quiet Cornish cove and sharing a wild swim, which is a fundamental part of Julia’s seaweed-gathering ritual.
It’s always a treat to spend time with Julia chatting over a cuppa at the breakfast table, the charm and humility that you feel in her company resonate through the words that she shares below - thank you so much Julia and we can’t wait to welcome you back to the breakfast table - and join you for a wild swim - soon.
Our conversation with Julia …
Where do you call home?
I am currently in between homes … so these last few months have been a challenging time. I truly feel my home is where my heart is and at the moment that is on my allotment or anywhere on the nearby stretch of coastline of Lantivet Bay … that is where I am happiest!
What’s your occupation?
I am co-owner (together with my dear friend Melanie Molesworth) of the design company Molesworth & Bird. We collect and press seaweeds from along the Dorset & Cornish coasts, which we then use to create distinctive art works and homeware.
What do you love to eat for breakfast?
A good breakfast sets the tone of the day and I can’t do without it! My favourite thing is to make wholemeal spelt scones with walnuts and finely chopped rosemary. Eaten hot, straight from the oven, smothered in butter and a drizzle of honey together with my favourite French bowl of really good coffee. Simple and delicious!
A really special treat is to go out for breakfast where I will delight in indulging in something completely different … Botelet Breakfast Club springs to mind!!
What have you found most challenging about the COVID-19 lockdown?
Missing friendly hugs and spontaneity … particularly the freedom to go where I please. In the early days I found it hard witnessing my life grind to a halt … I was so used to being really busy all the time. It was my default setting. I decided to volunteer to make Scrubs for NHS workers, which allowed me to maintain some structure and sense of purpose in the early days of lockdown whilst also refreshing my long-dormant sewing skills. It was very satisfying and I loved being part of a team of makers … helping preserve my sanity!
Do you feel as though there are positive takeaways for you as a consequence of lockdown living?
Most certainly ... I am relishing a new slower pace of life – I feel rested and I fully intend to keep it this way! I feel so blessed to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. During my less hurried daily walks with my dog it has been wonderful to witness Spring’s seasonal journey down to the finest details. I have loved extending my knowledge of the wild flowers, trees, ferns and birds around me … finding time to look up new species. Stopping a while, listening - seeing.
My life has become infinitely more wholesome and balanced – I am finding time to read books, make garments, have conversations with old friends afar, listening to music, growing vegetables … slowly finding my creative self, which I had kind of lost these past years. It has in turn led me to make a fundamental change to the way I was planning to run our business in Cornwall, instead adopting a simpler approach hopefully allowing me more time for life and creativity. It feels that through what has been a year of tumultuous change I have found a clear new direction and that feels really exciting.
Opting for a more nurturing, mindful lifestyle feels vital for us all.
Do you have any top seasonal living tips to share with the Botelet community?
I am going to make sure I am ready for a spontaneous wild camping trip - as soon as we are able and the weather is willing! Sharing with someone special, living simply under canvas and immersed in nature ideally beside the sea for wild swims, conversation and cooking over a campfire. That is my recommendation for restoring heart and soul.
… and there is a really special, wise and wonderful book that is beautiful to dip into – it is called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer … indigenous wisdom intertwined with scientific knowledge and the teaching of plants. It was the perfect lockdown read and will remain with me for life.