What a difference a week makes!

Wow, what a difference a week really does make!  Last week I was a tad miffed at the lack of co-operation we were on the receiving end and this week it's like dealing with a different company - in a really good way :)

It would appear that me raising quite valid grumps was listened to, and actions are already becoming quite visible on site.  Hurrah!! So, now we are back to a bouncy happy Hippo which is probably a relief to some.  And then the most awesome people turned up with some new work for the shop so it was a double whammy of a good week.

This is a piece by Andy O'Boyle who creates the most fabulous pieces out of cast bronze, and according to his daughter Daddy is amazing (which he is) and that he uses earwax to create his work.  Not entirely sure that bit is true, but the end results are simply stunning and the tactility is such a lovely thing to have in the shop.  What was lovely about meeting Andy was that his daughter is right, Daddy is amazing, and because he was very much in agreement with us that art should be accessible.  He was uncomfortable with folk not being able to touch his work, after all if you see something of this scale your first reaction is always going to be to touch it so he seemed quite relieved that you cannot find a 'do not touch' sign anywhere in our shop.  Art should be accessible, it's not always something that should be locked away and merely admired by those in white gloves nodding and muttering 'yes I can see what he is trying to express here'.  Andy creates fun in these bronzes, there is a subtle whimsy coming out of the fact that he is extremely good at what he does and therefore is comfortable in his own work.  Next time you visit, come give the ducklings a pat on the head!

 

 

And then Katherine arrived!  We've known Katherine for just over a year now, from doing a craft fair many moons ago where I had always admired her skill in both design and the quality of her products.  And we're not the only ones to notice, since we last met she's racked up several major clients so we were extremely touched that she was happy leaving her work with us.  Katherine uses her own designs to create the most gorgeous silk scarves, ties, glasses cases and basically anything else she can think of  - and each with amazing levels of detail and quality of finish.  Again, she was of the opinion that her work needs to be touched and felt so again she was relieved not to see 'do not touch' signs around the shop.  Her attitude is very much one of it's silk, you need to be able to see it and touch it to appreciate it so please don't just fold them up in a cabinet.  And already, in true Hippo style we've put her in touch with people that might like their own designs on some of her work.  Almost forgot, she also runs courses and has offered to run some for us later in the year.  With her skills and attitude I can see folk walking away with some amazing designs they didn't realise they were capable of.

 

 

So, a week really does make a big difference to a tired and slightly frazzled brain! We started the week feeling ignored and on the hunt for new sellers and ended the week on an even fuller shop of amazing work and inclusion on site posters.  And the best bit is, it's only February so what else can we achieve in 2013?  Apologies as there are loads more new sellers that I will be showcasing over the coming weeks, so please don't feel left out if I can't get to your favourite for a while! Hippo xx

The Crafters' Dilemma

We have reached a bit of a mid point dilemma with the Hippos and it's all to do with buyer's perceptions, crafter's capacity and pricing structures.  We set out with the noble intentions of only stocking hand crafted items from local makers and in the beginning it was great.  People were keen to get involved, stock was arriving constantly and folk were eager to see what new things we had in stock.

But then capacity problems hit us.  Hand crafters by their very nature take time to make, and many of them have to have jobs to support their lives.  All quite understandable, after all the gas board don't care how beautiful your work is they just want their payment.  And then we hit another aspect.  As we came to learn about our customer base it became clearer what would and would not sell.  This is no reflection on the care and skill of our makers, just the harsh reality of some things sell in some places and not others.

So, we took the decision to buy in some things such as books, magazines, and other items that have been bought in that our makers cannot make such as jossticks and soapstone carvings from around the world.  We are heading towards a 3 way split between those crafters that are professional and can work to lead times, hand crafters who are essentially hobbyists and a third from items bought in.  The bought in items allow us to have constant stock so the shop doesn't look empty and takes the pressure off us chasing already frazzled hand crafters.  We took the decision to not buy in items that someone makes, so for instance we would never re-sell bags as we have several textiles crafters that supply us.  However, we potentially hit the dilemma of if customers want the bags (for example) but our crafters cannot supply them due to personal capacity issues what do we do?  Do we stick rigidly to our ideals but not pay our rent or do we buy in to cover the shortage till our makers bring new stock.  And then, what if customers prefer the bought in items?  And worse still, if we start hard chasing crafters we remove the fun and very essence of why they started in the first place. Eek is the word rattling round my head most days.

And then we turn to our customers.  This was a startling discover on Sunday. A very pleasant lady and her daughter came into the shop, we had a lovely chat about how the majority of the work is handmade locally and she was impressed with that.  She then went on to say that it's a shame that the High Street is full of items brought in from China and how lovely to see different things sourced locally.  But here's the rub, what she actually bought were items that I had bought in from China - didn't have the heart to remind her that these pieces were not made locally but it got me wondering.  Are customers so used to what a craft shop should look like that they are unable to distinguish between the items and worse are we wasting our time by having this ethos?

There are 3 key issues facing the Hippos and sadly they all settle ultimately with the sordid topic of coin or money. 
1.  Hand crafters take time to produce, they cannot mass market otherwise they would be a factory and not handmade but that may leave us with an empty shop if we stick rigidly to our ethos.
2.  Customers whether we like it or not do seem taken in by items brought in from abroad, as shown by my Sunday customer and there is a sense of safety in having seen something before - new scares some people.
3.  If we bypass the hobbyist crafter just to stay in business they may never get the chance to be seen and that would be disastrous for all the up and coming crafters we come across and completely defeat what we wanted to achieve.

Time is an issue too, what was supposed to be a shared venture is actually me running round like a headless chicken trying to stay afloat.  We would love to become a social enterprise but so far the social seems to be missing somewhat, and the longer it continues the more likely it is that the Hippos become a business like any other because we will have invested so much time and money that why on earth would we hand it over?  It's like if you own a house and someone lives there rent free while you're doing it up, and once all the hard work is done they say oh great I live here so that means I can have half doesn't it?  Err no, we didn't see you with the paintbrush at 3am or not eating one night because the cupboards were empty and no money to buy food.  The flip side is no-one forced us to do this, but it is a little sad when the inital promises of support and shared ideals haven't materialised, but again real life takes over and don't think any of us envisaged just how hard a slog it is to get momentum for a new start up. 

We're doing quite well for a start up business in a recession and all things considered we should be around for quite some time to come.  Hard lessons are being learnt and they are not necessarily the ones I expected.  However, the dreamer and idealist in me will just keep popping up ideas so that somehow we will achieve the crafting village that was first envisaged but it may be a new project and the shop remain as our business separate to it.  The momentum is definitely building, more and more are getting really interested in what we're up to but the hand crafters' dilemma will still remain and it's up to us to balance it so that they get a chance, we stay in business and the customer's enjoy shopping with us. 

Humble Hippo saying thank you lots to fab folk!

Today was mainly spent button thumping - or web site building to give it it's proper name.  We now have a new shiny website to showcase the amazing and talented folk that make up the Hippo Family.  And then it dawned on the small brain that we have so many people to say thank you to that this post would rumble on for pages and be like a Gwyneth Paltrow acceptance speech if I did that.  So, I will try to narrow it down to the core bits.

Firstly, we trundled along to Apley Farm Shop with a few humble possessions, a fingers crossed attitude of 'hope this works' and a few Hippo-ettes trundling along with us.  So, firstly thank you to Clare's Prints for allowing us to fill our walls with her fab pictures in those early days.

Then the fun really started! Err, this is a big space folks and we don't actually have a lot of stock.  And then, from nowhere this voice popped round the corner saying 'hello, I do paintings, do you want to have a look?' Being blissfully ignorant of who this person was, or what they did we just said 'ooh yes please'.  And then this amazing array of pictures turned up from Simon along with various helpful things like browsers for prints.  Then there was Maureen who giggled her way into the shop with the most amazing quilts ever, and again then turned up with helpful things so we could show them off better.  We cannot thank them, and others that joined in the early days enough.

Here we were, two strangers just arrived to take on a lease who they didn't know and all these amazing artists trusted us with their stock that had taken them hours to produce.  In some cases the work they use to raise funds for their charities which means so much to them and now to us, thank you John and Kath. 

I look at the button thumping done today and realise that we are incredibly fortunate to be trusted with some fabulous work, have and continue to meet some lovely people who are just so talented it's jaw dropping on times.  From about 3 Hippo-ettes we have grown to almost 30 in a matter of four months and most have been like Simon, Maureen and John just popping their head round the door to say hello.
Apologies if you now feel like calling me Gwyneth, but this is a truly Humbled Hippo at how much we've gained in terms of new friends just from putting up that sign that says 'Hello, we are open so please pop in and say hello'.  Hippo xx

New Chapter for the Hippos

We found ourselves outgrowing our previous home at the Purple Shed, but wow did we learn so much from it!  Boring things like branding, advertising and marketing - you can have the best product in the world but if no-one knows you have it then you may as well give it to the cat.

So, where are we now?  Well, we now find ourselves in a rather lovely and shiny converted barn on an existing farm shop site at Apley, near Bridgnorth.  With my usual, yeah it'll be fine attitude we packed up our things and trundled down the road with our pitiful bunch of belongings.  It was a slight shock to realise just how much extra space we had gained when what used to cram the Purple Shed didn't even make a dent in this space!  You know when you move from that first one bedroom flat to a real house and think oh maybe that sofa isn't so big after all?! It was that kind of moment. 

Also, we only had a few sellers with us to begin with - 3 in fact, and 8 weeks on and there are now 21 Hippo-ettes with us and they keep coming.  Because it's a real shop, in terms of look, feel and layout we're managing to do rather well.  Not out of the woods yet because essentially we started the Hippos with a £400 loan from my parents and been chugging along on pennies ever since.  But we always knew it would work, always knew that good handcrafted items would sell and knew that there were awesome makers out there.  We just had to put the open sign up and sit patiently and wait.  Yes yes to the heckling from the back from those that really know me. Ok, so it wasn't that patient but given that not everyone who reads this knows me personally allow me the indulgence of pretending I was patient and horribly professional (cakes as bribery for all those that nod at this point!).

The other thing that seems to be happening is we're getting a rather lovely reputation for helping - not doing anything special, just reminding folk that they are good at what they do and offering a few suggestions along the way.  Quite sure that most go home and go flip she's barking, why on earth would that be a good idea?! But can't be doing that bad as gets loads of hugs and thank yous off folk - hmm more bribery perhaps??

So, in an effort to try and be more organised I intend to update this more regularly, get the books a little straighter (any accountants reading this you really can have cake if you help).  Oh, and for those of you that follow the chunterings on Twitter the BT complaint letter is coming next post - and it's a doozie!

see you all soon, and as always many many thanks for allowing the Hippos to flourish even if we do now need to get our own tractor.  Hippo xx

ooh tents at basecamp - hello all!

Ahh, someone turned the light on at the end of the tunnel - thank you xxx

Well, not quite true - several people all put their lights on and made a lovely chain of lights to make a path for me to follow, but best of all it feels like we're holding hands along the path.  The easiest way to describe it you know when it goes dusk and you're not sure whether to put the garden lights on or not?  It's that half light where you can still see, but the details have all gone a little fuzzy round the edges but because you know where things are you don't actually see them anymore? That kind of describes where I am right now.  And because these people are such a diverse bunch all the lights are different shapes and colours and some twinkle. 

There is still a huge mountain to climb, but suddenly it feels like there are loads of little tents appearing at base camp.  And this time I need to explain the route a little better which I fully intend to.  These past couple of weeks have been a wake up call to me too in terms of needing to be much more open about shouting for help, and also being much more assertive in saying 'this is what needs to be done'.  Not in a horrible way, but I have such a clear long term vision for the Hippos and where we will be in five years that it would probably be helpful if I actually told a few people! The cat, whilst a very clever cat, is not in a position to tell you because lets face it you don't offer him tuna on a regular basis :)

Sadly for reasons of top secrecy I can't actually reveal the next stage of the cunning plan - itching to, but can't due to boring legal stuff that has to be sorted out first.  However, if all the phone calls necessary next week are helpful I should be able to tell you something rather fab, if not err umm ... quickly thinks of something that sounds interesting ...... will come back to you on that one!

Think I'm runnning out of puff

Apologies if this is a negative blog, it probably is but I feel slightly like I'm drowning a little.  The Hippo name is becoming quite well known in our little circle which is great, but we didn't really think through the business model in terms of a community business and I'm starting to struggle to hold all the strands together.  As a start up there are 500 things going on at once and all happening in my head alone which is confusing me let alone those around me!

For instance, if you sell with us why on earth should you then give your time and money to essentially help us have a living?  No-one in their right mind would do that, especially if ultimately it's what you want to be doing yourself.  You're stuck in a 9-5 while I appear to be swanning around meeting lovely new people and having cups of tea and biccies with groups that I find, and then I have the audacity to say please help me? Not on your nelly is the gut reaction - and think it would be mine too!!!
So, we are going to have to have a re-think about the structure of Little Hippo.  Because as a community worker at heart I think what's happened is I assume that everyone understands what a social enterprise is, but the reality of it is that most don't.  Why should they?  Again, it's like expecting me to understand quantum physics just cause you've mentioned it once - err nope, not happening.  Also, it's not clear what the sellers get out of it for themselves because at heart whether we like it or not we are selfish creatures.  That isn't a criticism - after all I'm selfish in that I want to work for myself, want to poodle around and meet lovely new people and play with glass.  However, the other thing that has come to light is the level of risk that each deem acceptable.  I didn't realise how much of a risk taker I actually am until seeing others more cautious approach and thinking come on, get on with it, make a decision!

So, Little Hippo is going to hole up for a while and do the usual divving around to try and explain the logic and actually put it down on paper for people to read, understand and then decided if they want to play or not.  It has been pointed out on more than one occasion that I can be a bugger for not giving you the whole picture but assuming you get it and then being confused that you don't!

The shop's growing up - and so are we

Eek this suddenly turned into a proper business!  Was I asleep when this happened, or just painting things purple?!?  Probably painting knowing me.

Well, what's been happening in the land of the Hippo - yet again I moved the shop around, keep getting told off that things never stay in the same place.  However, it now feels like a proper shop and I feel like it's a proper business.  It actually feels more like yes, we are doing this for real rather than err would you like to see some bits we made? Also, I've got over the initial crafters dread of apologising for pricing stuff - you know that horrible thing where you know that your stuff is worth money because you've seen it in catalogues or shops elsewhere but because you made it there's that stumbling moment of err yes please, if you don't mind it's £xx? To all those crafters out there struggling with that bit, believe me it's quite liberating when you actually cross that threshold.  You suddenly wake up to the fact that actually what you made is good, it is worth money and you don't have to apologise.  Just because you grew up making things that maybe your friends didn't understand or in my case Dad saying 'what on earth you doing this time Ange?' doesn't mean that your creativity and ideas are worthless. 

The other thing I've discovered is that there will always be those that in order for them to succeed they have to push others down.  It's hilarious when customers actually pop in and tell me this about other sellers - slightly awkward but still very funny.  However, we don't need to do that because we know where our shortcomings are and working hard to get around them.  A friend always described that as moving from the unconscious incompetent to the conscious incompetent then to unconscious competent and finally to the conscious competent.  I like that phrase as it sums it up quite nicely. You move from the ooh we have a shop to the eek we have a shop and then to the oh we're selling at the shop to the ahh now I know why we're selling at the shop.  Apologies if you are now all oohing and ahhing as if at a fireworks display!

I love this journey, and can't wait to see where it takes us next - and thank you to all those that have joined the rollercoaster that is the Hippo brain, and apologies if your seatbelt is a little loose :)

Don't fib - don't get squished, simple!

Been a weird couple of months this self employed lark!  At first it was really exciting because it was new, then I started to panic because we were struggling to sell and now we seem to have reached a secondary stage of exciting where sales are picking up and the network building is truly amazing.

To begin with, it was all new and shiny and loads to keep me occupied and out of mischief.  You see, that is the curse of the Hippo - boredom! Never leave a Hippo unattended for too long, goodness knows what might happen.  And never fib to a Hippo either - that's been a weird one too.  I trust that when people say I'll do that, then they will.  However, in business there is always a plan b, c, d required and have been a little taken aback at some of the not so well disguised attempts to take advantage of this.  But ... did you know more people are killed by Hippos than lions, that's because when they get annoyed they charge and squish you! So if you don't want to get squished, don't fib - simple.  Usually placid and full of ideas, but not so happy when they smell a rat and keep digging and digging until they find where the smell is coming from, yep bullshit is usually the main cause!

That said, am truly loving this self employed lark and have met some people along the way that hopefully wil become lifelong friends and the learning curve, wow! Years of business school could not have prepared me for what I've already learnt - both about the business itself and myself in a business environment or more accurately how to add a little colour and  cunning plans into it.

You see, ours is not a truly corporate world.  Yes, we have our branding or as someone said 'those Hippos get everywhere' and yes we have to play with numbers and pay bills because we are a proper business in that sense.  But it doesn't mean we have to lose our identity or purpose just because we have to play with a calculator once in a while.  If anything it's made me feel even stronger about what we are doing - especially when I hear horror stories of other crafters being fleeced.  And the idea of supporting others to set up is gently building and taking shape and can't wait to get out there and start sharing.  But as ever the impatience is growing - see, you should never leave a Hippo unattended with ideas, it's dangerous.

Trust - are you in or out of the sandpit?

Trust is one of those words that we use constantly, and usually from a negative perspective 'I don't trust them, do you remember when ....'

It's tricky isn't it?  Do you really want to be the one that assumes everyone is out to get you, or using you for their own ends or do you want to be the one that is secure enough in themselves that others letting you down is their loss not yours?

This is written because since we have taken the Hippos to a new level of working, ie actually running it as a business, we have come across some lovely and some err not so lovely people! There are those crafters who embody the spirit of crafting - like our Hippo-ettes who were chosen on a highly scientific basis of 'ooh, we like working with them' no fancy CVs no artists' statements twaddle just a gut instinct of them being lovely.  Then there are those that I call the fast buck crafters - the ones that think they can make a load of money quickly by taking ideas off everyone else and never crediting other crafters or artists. 

Time will show the real crafters but sadly the casualities along the way are building from what we can see.  Also the fast buck crew are usually the ones doing nothing but complaining that everyone else has stolen their ideas. They bore me, and they also annoy me because the genuinely creative are the least likely to shout 'look what I made' which is partly why we opened the shop so that we can do it for them.  I am not perfect, made many mistakes along the way but would never deliberately create gain off the back of someone else.  As Pooh Bear says 'it's much nicer with two' or three, or four or in fact loads of you.  The Hippos welcome all that want to play but closes the door to those not wanting to play nicely.  We banish you from our sandpit so nyah! And on that highly adult response, I am off to the making shed :)

Ignore this post if you recycle

Apologies in advance, this is a slight rant from the small brain .... about recycling ....

as most of you probably realise we use loads of recycled materials to create our stock, but we always have re-used things around the home or created something out of nothing ... just because we can!

However, and again some of you will have been subjected to this rant in person so apologies if you are now being subjected to reading it too.  Why are we, the end user constantly being battered over recycling???  We have very little control over where all our food comes from (unless you are lucky enough to have your own piggies and allotment that supplies you).  We have very little control over how we get to work - most of are reliant on the small tin box with wheels which requires feeding with fuel.  We have very little control over the fact that nearly everything in our homes requires that weird thing called a plug which in turn requires electricity - again, unless you are lucky enough to be able to generate your own power. 

So ..... how come we keep getting bashed??? And this is the theory from the small brain - because it's easier than tackling the supermarkets, the fuel producers or the electric companies.  In reality each of our own countries in turn has little control over the companies operating in their countries so it is far easier to bash the end user, which is us the consumer, than get together and risk annoying a really big supermarket.  So, we get hassled about putting cardboard into one bin when we didn't even want the cardboard in the first place, it just came with the food that we did want! And so on, and so on.

Hmm, making any sense yet? So - next time you're shopping for your foodstuffs why not take all the packing off the shrink wrap stuff and just leave it in on the 'happy to help desk' and when challenged, just say 'but you ask us to recycle so figured it was quicker to do it here than take it home and you did say you were happy to help'

Just a thought!  And I wonder how much difference we could make if we all make the managers at Sainsbury, Tesco, Morrison etc grumpy!!!

Hippo HQ and other stuff!

It has come to the attention of the small brain that the shop is not doing what was intended!  No ... it clearly has other ideas, and while I was busy painting things purple and other important things it changed into something rather special :)

It has, in fact, become Hippo HQ!

We knew that the site being where it was, and the state of the economy and other sensible things that it was never going to turn us into retail millionaires.  However, what we absolutely did not allow for was the people we would find along the way and how much better that made it.

We asked some friends to sell with us in the shop initially out of a sensible business decision but had not realised what lovely friends they would all become.  We set up craft fairs and had not anticipated people popping by to show us what they were planning to sell on the day and also teaching us some of their craft too.  And such a mix too - we've met people from all crafts and walks of life and can't wait to see who turns up next!

Parents - although my mother (the little tinker as my friend calls her now) decided to run away with the float one night also helps out in the shop so I can off and do sensible things.  Ok, not always sensible but does give me some time to do errands (ok, ok, divvying around on facebook!).  Friends that offer to ring round to help get advertising for our next event - admittedly we are going to sit through the Jubilee stuff on telly while drinking bubbly and wearing deeli bopper headgear, err isn't everyone??

But basicially what the small brain has noticed is that Hippo HQ is becoming a rather interesting thing to be involved in, and I love the fact that it evolved organically from the people that support the Hippos.  And now, having read back through what feels like some sort of gushy acceptance speech I will end with the fact that Hippo will probably be careering onto the site tomorrow with yet another 20 bags of stuff for the shop that clearly needed three trips back to the car but was too idle to do that - that leaves you with a more normal image of my daily routine!!

Hippo don't do rules!

Oh well, a few weeks in and I now realise that inadvertently some feathers may have been ruffled at the garden centre ... oops!

When we first arrived to sign our contract there were a few things we needed to be sure on, normal business specific stuff.

Firstly:  the cabin was a dull pale blue so before signing I asked 'can I paint it any colour?' and was told basically to do what I wanted as long as it didn't damage the shed.

Secondly:  can we only have our contract saying we are open 5 days not 6 please because we have to make our own stock and need time to do this - contract changed.

So having sorted these two things which were important to us I merrily got the purple paint out and generally pottered around making it all look pretty and colourful.

Ahh, it would now appear that I am one of the few people that asked to change things because others are sighing and saying 'I love the colour of your cabin, we couldn't change ours'.  Also, because I have always been the type of person that spots a potential problem and tries to do something about it rather than waiting and groaning, it would appear that this is not the done thing either! I have now roped pretty much everyone in to helping create a welcome sign for our part of the site - and now find out (again with sighing) that this was tried years ago and never happened; another oops for just getting on with it!

So, the moral of the story as far as I am concerned - if it's your business, take ownership of it and make sure you are able to do the things that are important to you.  It is business, and it is your business - no-one is going to do it for you and all the groaning in the world doesn't sell more stock.

We openly said that if we couldn't change the contract then there was no point us being there - not from a 'oh be like that' attitude but because if the site rules didn't allow us flexibility to trade then it wasn't the right place for us and we would have looked elsewhere.  But as for expecting me to not paint things purple .... come on, that is not the Hippo way!

All excited now!

Ok, so it's not something that Alan Sugar would be jumping up and down about - but it's a biggie for us! We are venturing into the world of retail. Very, very small to begin with - but hopefully in time we can do ok with it. The parental support has been fantastic, if tempered with the realism of 'have you worked out your costs?' but equally playing shop is one thing as a little girl, making a shop work to bring in an income is something completely different.

 A wise friend of mine said 'if you can make something work when the economy is this depressed, just think what you can do when it picks up' and she is so right. Her words were said years ago to me, but they've always stayed in my head. Before I get carried away with dressing the place, without thinking ooh eck I need to pay for that I would like to say thank you to all those lovely people that have supported us to getting this far. New businesses start and fall by the wayside all the time, we've tried to keep true to our ethos and not just respond to faddy trends.

At the end of the day what we make is hand crafted, it does all start life as a doodle at the dining table and then you have to fight the cat off the kiln to make it. We are an old fashioned cottage industry and hope to keep it that way. Friends make the journey fun, friends pitch in with the paintbrush and if you have continually chased the bottom line of profit then you will quickly lose these friends. So a huge, huge thank you to all of you who have helped us along the way - and if we forget this then please feel free to shout up! xx

Reason, Season and Lifetime

Given the comments left by HerSpiritWithin on my previous post, I had to go looking for this poem as I had never read it before and it makes total sense why she referred me to it, thank you xx

Reason, Season and Lifetime

People always come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,

it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.

They have come to assist you through a difficulty,

or to provide you with guidance and support,

to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.

They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are.

They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time,

this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

...

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they just walk away.

Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand,

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.

The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

...

When people come into your life for a SEASON,

it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.

They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.

They may teach you something you have never done.

They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,

the season eventually ends.

...

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;

those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway);

and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being part of my life.

Swords and Wands of change

This has been muddling round my brain for a while, not the content as such but how to present it so that people would understand my intention behind it. Please also know that I am not writing this to hurt those around me either, you don't always choose the journey you are taken on but you are responsible for how much you learn from that journey.

A while ago a man appeared on my doorstep who belonged to my past. It was a strange, intense period of time for both of us. We were both at a crossroads for different reasons and in hindsight we were there merely as signposts to another journey and nothing more. Sadly, because of the way our connection ended it means that I will never hear if the destination was a success or not for him. I hope so as everyone deserves a happy ending.

What is important is the things learnt. Some of you may know that I use tarot cards, mainly the Mythic and for those of you familiar with these cards he presented as the King of Swords and the King of Wands both in person and in spreads. Both are cards of leadership and change especially relating to new ideas, which he embodied and the sense of being able to achieve anything was so strong it was almost infectious. In terms of the Hippos we are entering a new sphere of change, both professionally and personally. In hindsight he arrived to awaken that sense of change and ideas within me which had lain dormant for too long. It is not unladylike to be ambitious - which I am. It is not unprofessional to want things done properly and well, which I do.

Deep down I am the same giggly person that gets a kick out of being silly or howling at something funny or relying heavily on my girl friends while we support and ground each other. However, I have to accept this person turned up for a reason so that I could take the strenght of the swords and wands and make the Hippos a real success. Even though it was short, but not entirely sweet, I am glad it happened as everything happens for a reason.

Hippo been tagged!!

The lovely Indigo Flea tagged me in a blog challenge!

The rules are you must post 12 facts about yourself, answer the questions set by the tagger, and then create a further 12 questions for the next bloggers you tag - and that you share these rules. So here goes, 12 fun facts about me:

1. My nick name really is Little Hippo - something to do with a geography class aged 12 but the rest is vague!!
2. I am left handed as are all my eldest cousins on my Dad's side, but everyone else is right handed
3. Discovered I am dyslexic
4. I can make my toes bend at right angles
5. Hate wearing shoes but own loads of them
6. Favourite ballet is Hobson's Choice
7. I dream in colour
8. Used to be able to read Welsh
9. I laugh like Woody Woodpecker
10. Get lost fantastically easily
11. Get bored ridiculously quickly
12. Have done a parachute jump

Okey dokey, now the questions that were set for me by Indigo Flea:

1. snow or no snow - eek, love the stuff but only the new crisp stompy stuff especially at dusk
2.middle name - don't have one
3. can you sing - err nope! got drummed out of a Welsh choir at school!!
4. why do you blog - mainly to promote the Hippos, but also as an excuse to share my silliness
5. allergies - weirdly allergic to broken polysterene and privet hedging!
6. funniest joke you know - I don't really know any, still giggle at things like the Beano!
7. feet size - 3, or 2 if they are Dr Martens :)
8. siblings - one brother now living in Southern Ireland
9. favourite destination - tricky, love Paris in the early evening but so many places I'd love to visit too
10. what do you do to relax? huge fan of chick flicks - so bubble bath, plonk, popcorn and a bit of Drew or Reese and I'm sorted! But also giggling with friends is a massive relaxer for me
11. hot or cold - eek, not sure - really don't like being too cold but faint nicely in the heat too!
12. what makes you happy? seeing others happy, or in some way helping them get to their happy place

My 12 questions to those being tagged:

1. What's your favourite smell?
2. Your earliest memory
3. what you wanted to be at aged 6 or thereabouts when you grew up
4. if you could meet anyone, who would it be?
5. if you were a superhero what special quality would you have?
6. your favourite body part - keep it clean folks!!!
7. favourite place to be when it rains
8. worst chat up line ever heard (or given!)
9. best chat up line ever heard (or given!)
10. if you could be an animal, what would you be?
11. your favourite word (made up or real)
12. at which question did you think, eek I've got to think of 12 now?!

Now to find 5 bloggers and tag them:

Kate; LittleMouseLily; PlanetPenny; Musings from the Den; The Other Mousie

The Hand Painted Mini

For those of you of a certain age you will remember that we painted cars! For the younger ones amongst you I will be the strangest thing on the planet - but these are some of the stories connected to the Hand Painted Mini. For some of you, you will remember us tootling round in this and the fact that each person usually added their own little bit as time went on.

 

It all started with a boring Sunday afternoon, the boys were playing paintball and we were bored. So, in a random statement I suggested we paint the car. Ok said my friend, without any hesitation - so we did! Up until now it had been a standard silver mini with no distinguishing features, however these pictures show the finished results. Sadly only 4 pictures exist in the world, 3 are here and 1 is lost to me now.

Personally the funniest bit was returning home after staying at said friend's house, strolling into the kitchen and calmly saying err before you go outside I'd better warn you I've painted the car. Mum just said 'oh red? purple? what colour?', at this point Dad walked back in and just said 'oh yeah, she's painted it all right!' I was a good Hippo though. I dutifully drove to the Police station and asked the duty officer if I needed to inform DVLA of changing a car's colour. While pushing a pen around he asked 'have you changed the colour much?' I pointed to the mini outside and after he choked on his tea, and with as much formality as he could muster said 'err no, I can still tell it's silver underneath, that's fine'.

I miss the fact that we don't paint cars now! It was fun :)
 

Photo A Day - new start Day 1

Thought I'd try and get back into this, but just using random photos.

This is a picture of the 3 Musketeers who should have arrived in eary June but sadly never quite made it. Thank you to Mrs M for all her support xxxxxx

 

Social Media from the Hippo perspective

Given the amount of time I have spent on line recently, whether through twitter, facebook, pinterest and various other forums I thought I would share some of the things discovered so far. Most of you are well versed in social media, and for me this has been a very steep and quick learning curve so apologies if any of this comes across as teaching granny to suck eggs! But some of it might be useful - if not, you can just giggle at my howling errors along the way.

So these are my observations so far!

1. many people have many accounts and you tend to see the same names - lots of people know lots of other people, so play nicely! No-one likes to follow someone who only sells or constantly whines. Personally I like to chat on platforms, tell you stupid things my cat has done and also show you what we've made. My feeling was always that people buy from people and our greatest sales have always come from those I've spoken to and giggled with.

2. Don't just open accounts because you feel you should - for instance if you like facebook, stick to it. Don't feel obliged to use twitter if you hate it - tweeters can tell as can facebookers. Play to your strengths and where you feel comfortable.

3. Please don't automatically link your posts, or if you do please do it selectively - refer to point 1!

4. Interact with people - the clue is in the name 'social' media, sorry if that sounds slightly patronising but there is nothing worse than someone that just says 'look what I made' all the time. Yes we're on there for business but we like to giggle too, and I will much more readily share links and promotions of people I feel connected to and vice versa.

The observations from the Hippo brain, probably more later as I learn more!

Absolutely Fabulous is real - I was Bubbles!

We've been involved in setting up a craft fair recently and it dawned on me where my experience came from. For those of you that remember the first series of AbFab you may remember some of the absurdities of the show. Well I am here to assure you that a lot of it was based in fact! OK, so it was exaggerated but the essence is there, no doubt - and I was a real life Bubbles.

I have fabulous memories of the phone calls from a London cab as my boss randomly asked for a name of a shop she had passed earlier and could I check an order, err which shop please? Oh Darling I don't remember! was the reply. All this from a phone which was attached by a pink ribbon to the handbag to avoid yet another trip to the railway station lost property office. I fondly remember the strange and wonderful presents she would arrange for clients' children; or driving her home in her Jaguar after the wine bottle had been emptied to a large sigh of 'Bother, it's all gone'.

Fast forward a few years and we got The Devil Wears Prada, I love this film as again it brings back so many memories of working in PR. The clients were different, but the basics were the same.

However, what may not come across in either of these two is just how much you learn from a woman like Miranda (or Gina in my case). Yes, it was a bonkers and often surreal experience. Telly Tubby hugs on the lawn while a record player blasted across the garden is a personal favourite. But she was so aware of trends, what would work for a client and people in general that to not learn from her would be a crime. It was only years later - as a colleague predicted - that it really did hit home. They are just so busy that to them details bore them, what do you mean you didn't realise I would want that today? was a standard question, that over time you came to recognise and had ordered in ready. What a training for arranging craft fairs, having worked on trade shows for her.

Sadly, I think many of these characters are lost in today's world of business which is a shame because love her or loathe her she was good at what she did and in hindsight I'm very lucky to have had such a teacher, even if I wasn't grateful at the time. And you do come to be very protective over them, just as Andy does to Miranda because you begin to see the woman behind the work.