The lovely cow shed

20/09/2026

From the hedgerow to the jar 🍂🌹❤️

Well this is a first for me… homemade rosehip syrup!

My lovely new friend Charlie went out foraging and arrived with a haul of rosehips and haws for me. So obviously instead of doing any of the approximately 972 other things I should have been doing, I decided I was making rosehip syrup 🤣

Washed, blitzed, boiled, strained… strained AGAIN because apparently those innocent-looking little things are full of tiny irritating hairs 😬🤣… then sugar added and finally bottled.

And look at that colour! ❤️ I am ridiculously pleased with it.

Apparently I can have it with hot water, drizzle it over yoghurt and puddings, add it to sparkling water or — far more likely in this house — put a splash in a gin or Prosecco 🤣🥂

Thank you Charlie for doing the actual foraging ❤️ there is absolutely a bottle with your name on it. Although now I’ve used every last rosehip, I couldn’t even save three bloody ones for the finished photo 🤣🤣

There is something really lovely about taking something growing wild in the hedgerows and turning it into something you can enjoy through autumn and winter. 🍂

Next up… damson gin stirring and fire cider tonic stirring it’s all going on up here, and no I’m not a witch 🤣🤣🤣🤣

16/09/2026

16/09/2026

Sometimes book club becomes about so much more than the book…

Well, after all my worrying about having our author join us for book club, what a lovely evening we had! ❤️

We were joined by Christina Schofield, who writes as Emily Fairfax, author of Things Bad Begun, and hearing Christina talk about the real life behind the book completely changed the evening.

She spoke incredibly openly about what she had lived through and about finally putting her story onto paper. One thing that really stayed with me was Christina telling us that she couldn’t write the book until her parents were no longer here, because she simply never wanted them to know what she had been through. 🥲

That honesty opened up such a poignant conversation around our table. Some of our own ladies shared experiences from their lives too, and suddenly it wasn’t simply a group discussing whether we liked a book — it was women talking, listening and understanding one another. ❤️

And yes… I DID confess to Christina that I’d had a bit of a mad rush to finish it! 🤣 We talked about the writing too, and she told us she is now working on a sequel and will approach writing this one quite differently. After meeting the woman behind the story, I’m genuinely intrigued to read what comes next.

Of course, this being a Lovely Cow Shed book club, nobody was going home hungry 🤣 — homemade fish pie and crusty bread followed by lemon, blueberry & mascarpone gateaux. 🍋🫐

And then this morning I received the loveliest message from Christina. She said she could have talked all night, described our ladies as “really enthusiastic, super friendly and very insightful” and said how much she loved seeing our book clubs growing and “banging the drum for reading.” 📚❤️

She also sent me these wonderful photographs — including the moment she first saw her own book on the shelf in Waterstones, her copy sitting proudly at home between Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and an incredible letter she received from Buckingham Palace after writing about her book and her story. What special memories to have.

So a huge thank you to Christina for trusting us with your story and answering every question we threw at you, and an equally huge thank you to our wonderful book club gang for making the evening what it was. ❤️

I started these book clubs because I love bringing people together, but evenings like this remind me just how special they have become.

Sometimes it really isn’t just about the book. ❤️📚

And now… onto our next one!
🪶 The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse 🪶

Let’s see where this one takes us… although judging by the cover, I’m slightly concerned. 🤣🤣🤣

14/09/2026

13/09/2026

Slightly different post from me today❤️

Sometimes I think social media makes running a little business look like it’s all pretty grazing tables, bookclub nights, workshops, flowers and lovely people having a fabulous time.

And thankfully, there is a LOT of that. ❤️

But what you don’t see is the person behind it doing the shopping, ordering, cooking, washing up, paperwork, answering messages, advertising, cleaning, setting up, clearing away and lying in bed at midnight with their brain still whizzing around thinking about the next thing. 😂

Nearly five years ago, during one of the saddest times in my life, I threw myself into building The Lovely Cow Shed.

I wanted to create somewhere that brought people together.

A place where women in business could meet, collaborate and share what they know rather than compete.

A place for people to learn something new, come to a workshop on their own and leave having chatted to somebody they’d never met before.

And our bookclubs, have become one of my absolute favourite things. 📚❤️

Over the years I’ve changed things. I’ve stopped doing some things when the market became saturated, concentrated on what works for me and tried very hard to support other small local businesses rather than tread on their toes. There’s room for all of us — but I still think supporting each other’s little corner matters.

And lately I’ve realised something else.

I can’t do everything.

I’m a business owner, caterer, hut cleaner, advertiser, washer-upper, paperwork avoider 😂, Mum and Nannie — and somewhere amongst all of that I’m supposed to have a life too.

Little Reg is growing up while I’m busy, and those are days I don’t get back. ❤️

So I’m going to become a little more protective of my time, a little more selective about what I take on and concentrate on the things that make The Lovely Cow Shed The Lovely Cow Shed.

Five years of building something from nothing has taught me that ideas will come and go and things will be copied — but you can’t copy the person, the heart or the reason behind it.

And I think perhaps I needed to remind myself of that today.❤️

Anyway… emotional business-owner moment over. 😂
Back to feeding the dogs, emptying the dishwasher and wondering what on earth we’re having for tea. 🤣❤️

Ps thank you to for the lovely photos taken on Tuesday, supporting other women in business is a wonderful thing, never forget that!

12/09/2026

Today’s beautiful baby shower ❤️ everyone needs two very wonderful friends! ❤️❤️❤️

12/09/2026

WOW WOW WOW… what a fantastic first night of our Passport to Wine Club! 🍷❤️

What a wonderful crowd! You asked questions, got involved and properly engaged with Ben — which made him VERY happy 🤣 — and, thank God, everyone enjoyed the food too!

And Olly, you are an absolute saint ❤️ because I can safely say I would NOT want to produce tapas every night of the week! 🤣🤣

I can’t wait for the next one, although it seems ages away… 29/1, get yourself here quicker! 🍷

Sometimes life gives you a few downers, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on — and tonight reminded me exactly why I do what I do. ❤️

This is one night I won’t forget in a hurry.

Thank you to each and every one of you for making our very first Passport to Wine night such a bloody brilliant one. ❤️🍷

Roll on Passport No.2! 🥂 When I think we are going to Africa ❤️

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08/09/2026