Hello! … and a warm welcome to the very first Karen’s Corner.
For those of you who are new to Fossoway Stables, I’ll take this opportunity to introduce myself a little bit.
Well, I’m Karen… Hi! I’m part of the founding family and management team here at Fossoway Stables and I’m hugely passionate about looking after and sensitively developing this gorgeous corner of Perthshire countryside that I’m lucky enough to call home.
I’m mum to Cora (12) and Callan (10) and friend and protector of the various animals who share the estate with us.
Between family commitments and the demands of the estate, there’s a lot going on to say the least and I’m forever caught between getting wildly excited about the potential Fossoway Stables offers us as a family and the desire to create a calm, sustainable and balanced life that I love. I think I’ve become much better at finding balance recently but it’s still very much a work in progress! Perhaps you can relate?
Anyway, my hope for this weekly feature on the Fossoway Stables blog is to share the journey - both the highs and the lows, the lessons I learn along the way, what I’ve been up to both in and out of work and a few of the things I find along the way that I love and think you might too.
I’d love to hear from you and find out whether this is something you enjoy reading about!
Karen xx
Connect with me at instagram.com/karen.anderson.fossoway
WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK ...
This last week has been an unusually busy one with my daughter Cora’s 12th birthday celebrations on top of all the usual tasks and comings and goings. A family dinner on Friday was followed by a Saturday shopping trip, an all you can eat buffet and a (not much) sleep-over for her and 7 friends. A good time was had by all, the sleep has been caught up on but oh my, my house hasn’t quite recovered yet. The other day I heard myself say “never again” …again!
I’m having a productive work week though and seem to have unlocked a bit of a block I’ve had around having ideas. There was a period of my life when I felt like the ideas wouldn’t stop and the hard part was deciding which ones to action. It’s been hard for me to tap into that this last few years while my personal life has been going through some changes so it’s felt good to have a wee feeling that that might be returning. This blog feature has been one of those ideas.
More specifically, alongside the day to day tasks of running the estate, I’ve been working on the launch of The Potting Shed Farm Shop & Cafe which will hopefully be in March, and 2 big events we’re hosting in March and April. I’ll be able to tell you more about them really soon.
I had a few days in Glasgow with my partner John who's a musician and performing at Celtic Connections - an annual month-long festival celebrating traditional music which was a lovely mix of work and pleasure. I set up an "office" in the hotel room, went out for walks, met my parents for lunch, managed to not charge my new hybrid car and pay £75 for the privilege(!), got to watch world-class musicians do their thing, ate some yummy food and did a little spot of shopping.
Like much of the country, we've been battered by storms every few days and it certainly makes the outdoor part of my job more challenging. Our incredible staff team in the stables and at the nursery really do deserve a medal, or, at least a cake! It's not long now until Spring and between the rainy, windy spells we've had very welcome reminders of what that can look like - I even saw some snowdrops this morning! We're all very much keeping the thought of sunnier, warmer days and the hope that they bring in the front of our thoughts.
Right now though, I’m sat in my car outside the building where my children are playing badminton with my little dog snoring beside me. The rest of my evening looks like a warm bath with some gorgeous Fortnum and Mason bath bombs a client gave me for Christmas, cozy pyjamas and if I’m lucky a wee cuddle from Callan as he falls asleep. Life is good.
This next week is full to the brim of work stuff which I'm excited to get my teeth into but first, I get to head to back to Celtic Connections this weekend for some more musical inspiration and fun. I'll tell you all about that next week!
A FEW THINGS I'M LOVING RIGHT NOW (and I think you might too) ...
WINTER WARMER - A Spiced Apple Tonic. This used to be a bit of a staple here at Fossoway Stables in the winter months and I’d kind if forgotten about it until this week. I’ve been loving starting my mornings with it. It’s a warm apple juice with honey, ginger and rosemary and it’s gorgeous! I shared the recipe on the Fossoway Stables instagram feed a few years ago - here’s the link if you fancy trying it for yourself! https://instagram.com/p/CGUWBbkMQv8/
KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY & MUSEUM - I was in Glasgow the other day and had a few hours to kill so I put on my trainers, stepped outside the hotel and started walking. I found myself 5km away at one of my favourite museums, Kelvingrove. It’s a beautiful building (interestingly, built back-to-front by accident!) And full of interesting art and artefacts of course, but it’s the smell that does it for me.
MASTERCLASS - Last year, I was checking my bank statements and noticed £200 had been taken out for the Masterclass app … I’d bought it a couple of years before, forgotten about it and hadn't realised it was being auto renewed. Anyway, I thought I should use it since I’ve paid for it and it’s great! It’s full of beautifully-filmed videos of world-leading thinkers and players in a whole host of topics and industries. I’ve been focussing on the business-related content over the last wee while but there’s everything on there from how to be an effective leader to how to create your own personal style. It’s great and I’d totally recommend it as a gift to yourself and your self-development.
And that's it for our first Karen's Corner - thanks for reading this far!
I'd love to hear from you - what you'd like to hear more about, or less about!
I thought I'd leave you each week with a little journaling prompt or, if that's not your thing, just a little question to ponder in a quiet moment.
Until next week,
Karen xx
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