As a child holidaying in north Norfolk, I dreamt of living in a traditional brick-and-flint cottage, a stone’s throw from the sea”
I’ve always said I could never do a job I didn’t love. After all, you spend upwards of eight hours a day at work and that’s a big chunk of your life. Until now, I’ve been lucky enough to run two interesting but demanding careers in tandem. However, a recent health diagnosis, made after years of tests and feeling incredibly poorly, has forced me to scale back, so now Charlie’s Aunt is my main job.
Time to embrace change
I loved being a newspaper editor but being diagnosed with ME/CFS – a crippling condition that completely wipes me out for days – means I have to find something to do that gives me flexibility. I am so thankful that all the years of working on Charlie’s Aunt has now given me that purpose and focus. I’m still doing something I absolutely love, but can do it at my own pace without the 10-hour days and gruelling deadlines my health would no longer permit me to do.
Equally important to what you do is where you do it. I’m a country girl through and through, who also loves the seaside. As a child holidaying in north Norfolk, I dreamt of owning a traditional brick-and-flint cottage here, with a pretty little garden, just a stone’s throw from the sea.
Until recently, we lived in a tall modern townhouse, built in a traditional style. Now mainly due to a big change in income due to my health – plus an impending cost of living crisis – we decided to downsize to radically cut our outgoings. I never dreamt we would get such a perfect swap, which seems more like an upgrade than a compromise to me.
It’s the polar opposite to where we came from, being over 200 years old but sympathetically renovated throughout. It’s jam packed with character and we even have on old brick-and-flint ‘forge’ building in the small but perfectly formed garden. The bonus is to discover such a wonderful dedicated space for the Charlie’s Aunt studio. The history, which always inspires me, is coupled with a sense of being closer to nature. The garden will I’m sure become a favourite backdrop for photographing my creations.
Settling into my new work space
When we arrived, the whole of one of the quaintly irregular original walls in my studio room had been fitted with custom built shelving. It looked like it had been made for me and my stacks of tweedy fabrics, boxes of buttons and beads, and rolls of vintage ribbons and trims. Although I’m not a big fan of the bright pink the previous owner used to paint the shelves with, I decided to leave it for the time being. The cheery colour pops against the traditional white-washed cottage walls.
The room is otherwise perfect in every way. There’s ample space for my cutting table – complete with my original Singer Sonata sewing machine, purchased in 1986 and still going strong. There’s also room for my desk, vintage chest of drawers, my trusty dummy ‘Rhoda’ plus a comfy chair facing the double doors looking out onto a pretty, well-stocked garden surrounded by original brick and flint walls.
I like to think that the many generations of people who lived and worked here over the decades were pretty industrious folk – the building has a really good feeling.
A relaxing space to inspire creativity
As I sew, draw, write or design, on many days I can hear the distant crash of waves breaking on the beach. I am regularly visited by garden birds ranging from my very favourite sparrows, which absolutely love our untidy hedge, to bluetits and doves.
The summer has been made more joyous this year by the cries of swifts overhead. As if that were not wonderful enough, we also had swallows nesting nearby who have just brought off their third brood of the season. It is a privilege to see them circle overhead of an evening, deftly catching flies for their young. They will soon all be heading off on their long and arduous migration back to South Africa for the winter months.
In the mornings, I hear the jackdaws chatter as they flock together and rendezvous on the distant telegraph wires across the field. If I’m lucky, I can see the odd buzzard riding the thermals over the ancient woodland which is about a mile from the studio. The skies are often filled with gulls – both the common variety and the big herring gulls – with their distinctive cries.
I’ve already mentioned the joy – and inspiration – I’ve gained from seeing various different plants and flowers emerge throughout the changing seasons. The hollyhocks must now be 12ft high and the rampant rosebushes are on their second flowering.
In short, what initially started as a move for my health and financial security has turned out to be a total joy and a massive benefit to me in every way.
If I feel too shattered to sew or design, I can pop out to the garden for a break and listen to the birds or simply gaze up at the big Norfolk skies and look forward with hope to a day when my health might improve.
What I’ve been working on
We moved here at the very end of spring and my health has limited what I’ve been able to throw myself into workwise. But with my favourite season – autumn – now officially upon us, I’ve been inspired to work on a new felt flower tutorial along with new bag and cap patterns – more to be revealed on those very soon. In the meantime I’ve listed some great Charlie’s Aunt basic British fabrics, all fabulous quality and classy colours in the Etsy shop. I’ve also listed a kit for the Beckhythe Hat (shown in claret at the top of this page) in a choice of four colours of English corduroy.
If you have any questions or would like more information about anything in the blog, please email me at emma@charliesaunt.com
