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Happy new year everyone!
After what can only be described as a shockingly bad year in 2020, I am looking forward to 2021 and the changes that this year will hopefully bring.
I know its going to be another strange year during which our freedoms and our idea of ‘normal’ will again be challenged and restricted but as I follow the news we can only hope that everyone buckles down and stays safe and our efforts are rewarded with a fast route out of Lockdown 3.0.
Stuart and I (Natalie) have been renovating my old family home and due to Covid everything has been delayed and as we eagerly wait to be able to move house another lockdown has not helped matters, however the light at the end of the tunnel is finally in sight and I am very hopeful that it won’t be too much longer (fingers crossed for us everyone).
The garden and shop are currently closed due to Lockdown and this will of course be the case until the restrictions begin to lift. The review suggested to be happening towards the end of February should give us an indication as to when we might be able to open, but until we hear, we will of course have to guess at what’s going to happen; which makes it very hard to plan and prepare.
We will definitely continue to operate a Booking system as we did for 2020 due to its success at spreading out visitors and keeping everyone safe and socially distanced.
We have had bad news from some of our suppliers about price increases due to travel costs and Brexit and although some lines may be completely out of stock this year, we hope that we will be able to get many of our favourites; hopefully without prices getting too out of control. We will try to keep our prices as stable as we can but Bonsai costs are sadly set to rise for this year.
The garden requires constant maintaining and we will of course be doing this whether we are allowed to open to the public or not, but the uncertainty is challenging and I suspect I will need a few walks around the garden to ease the anxiety that this uncertainty will cause.
The Zen garden (one of my favourite places to visit in the garden) always helps my state of mind during challenging times and the markings which we rake daily in to the gravel often remind me to practice letting go –
‘As the markings of yesterday are removed; one is reminded that yesterday is gone. As the fresh markings are raked in to the sand; one must focus on the present; today. Once the lines are drawn; one should take a moment to be in the now. Tomorrow will come, but today is to be lived first.’
I have always loved this idea about being present, but the worries of tomorrow and the uncertainty of life has often caused me anxiety. I think now more than ever its important to practice gratitude and focus on the positive things in our lives.
This definitely helped me last year and I will be continuing to do this throughout 2021.
I hope you are all staying safe and well and we cannot wait to see you all later this year when we can open.
Thank you
Natalie & Stuart
