Shop Indie, Shop Early

Pull Up A Chair is a weekly newsletter containing all the things I’d like to be chatting about if we could hang out together in real life. Every week, I start with three things I’ve enjoyed, and then write in more detail about something I’ve been thinking about. 

• ☕️ Shortbread-flavoured tea from M&S. In the last few years, big brands have brought out all sorts of flavoured black teas in the UK - Yorkshire Tea have both a Toast & Jam flavour and a Digestive Biscuits flavour. I was in M&S food a few weeks ago, and saw a box of English Breakfast tea flavoured to taste a bit like shortbread (one of my favourite things). It’s delicious.

• 📕In Memoriam - Alice Winn. I know I’m the ten-thousandth person to say this, but: gang, this book is really bloody good. It follows a pair of teenage boys who are best friends (though one of them is fairly openly in love with the other) at their cosy small boarding school in the English countryside in the summer of 1914. First one, and then the other, joins the war effort - and to give you even a hint of what happens next would be to spoil the emotional rollercoaster. This deserves to join The Go-Between and Atonement as a great novel about the first half of the 20th Century (Bookshop.org | Amazon - affiliate links)

• 🥧 Pie Minister/ THIS Isn’t a Chicken & Bacon Pie.Before I got sick, I had a flying visit from a family member who I know likes good food and drink, so for dinner I chose Pie Minister, a smallish UK chain whose pies are also available in supermarkets. They have a great range of vegan and veggie pies on their menu, and I tried the brand-new not-chicken and not-bacon pie they’ve developed in partnership with THIS. I had it with mashed potato, peas, and gravy: delicious.

A couple of backwards-looking things before I talk about what I’m talking about this week.

First off, I was messaging one of my uni friends after she read the story I posted two weeks ago - my Bad Man story. She put it simply and perfectly: It’s so sad that everyone has a story. Then I was in London for work (pretty sure that’s where I caught the lurgy) for a couple of days, including a big meeting that I dressed really nice for. I left my hotel feeling really good about myself and my outfit - and then by the time I got to work had been ogled by enough men to make me feel distinctly uncomfortable. And yeah, I checked, I didn’t have my skirt tucked into my pants or anything! So it goes, right..?

Then Covid - thanks again for all the get-well wishes you all sent me via various platforms. This time round with it was way less horrible than my first go last September - other than one day with a splitting headache and sore throat, I just felt non-specifically crappy for a few days. There were no coughs at all this time round, and my resting heart rate was back to normal within about 72 hours of testing positive.

And now… I’m on holiday! I’ve had barely any time off work this year, so I’m at the start of a two-week block of annual leave that feels like an extended half-term holiday. I’ve got a couple of short trips planned, and a bunch of day trips. Other than that, plenty of reading and writing time, and I’ll try and finish the jigsaw puzzle, Lego set, and cross-stitch hoop I have in progress.

But, onto talking about what I’m going to talk about!

Through some excellently targeted instagram ads, a couple of months ago I learnt about an organisation called Craft & Flea, who run makers’ markets in cities around the UK almost every weekend. There was one a few weeks back at Paintworks here in Bristol, and I went down, not really knowing what to expect. I came home with a carrier bag of fun prints to frame, and a pocket full of business cards belonging to lovely small businesses, which you best believe I’ll be using to get started on my Christmas shopping. Because, as they say ‘shop indie, shop early’.

Here’s a few of them I especially wanted to tell you about:

Love & Lovelier, run by Quil, is a Llantrisant-based ceramics business making gorgeously quirky messages of love and support in ceramic form (in both English and Welsh). She also runs workshops at Lark Design Make in Cardiff - so I’ll have to head over and have a go!

One of Quil’s gorgeous ceramic postcards

Craftpod is a mother-and-daughter duo producing crafting kits full of goodies and inspired by the seasons; I’m obsessed with botanical designs and theirs are to die for. As it’s only October, you’ve still got time to make one yourself as a gift, or the kits themselves would make wonderful presents. I know I always like to dig into a craft project during the time between Christmas and New Year, to go with the hours of TV and films.

Rebecca Edelmann, another ceramicist, makes gorgeously spooky and gothic goodies, including skull candleholders, octopus mugs, and gorgeous hand-painted ceramic pendants.

contigo studios’ stall was one I knew I couldn’t walk past. They had gorgeous typography posters, botanical designs, and above all, a botanical tarot.

Shunayna Vaghela is an artist and illustrator based in London with a gorgeous range of art prints, accessories, and stickers. I went a bit mad on her sticker display, and brought a few of her prints home to frame and put on my wall.

Bookish Babes print by Shunayna

While I’m as guilty as anyone of doing most of my grocery shopping at the big supermarkets, and going straight to large retailers a lot of the time, when I can, I love to support small businesses for things I need - or want - to buy. I get to go home with something beautiful - or give it to a loved one - and at the same time make someone’s creative dreams come true. How great is that?

Speak soon,

Lily

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