Not on the High Street, Bon Voyage to Chris and an update on the Brochure

At last, we now have a presence on Not on the High Street - an online shopping marketplace, jam packed full of lovely things. I have had about 3 months of technological challenges condensed into two weeks trying to understand the ins and outs of posting up information, but, finally we have succeeded and lo and behold a White Cloud shop now features. Worryingly I carefully put all my notes to one side, but now, naturally I can't find them so fingers are tightly crossed that no major changes are needed.

Yesterday we said farewell and bon voyage to our middle son- off on 4 months of travelling to New Zealand and Fiji. For all the heartache and pain of prodding and poking him to get ready there was a very real lump in my throat seeing him set off through Passport Control with a cheery, "I'm okay" sort of wave. The worst bit is knowing that he is somewhere still up in the air and still hours away from his final destination. How different travelling is now, no lovely printed ticket with tear out stubs, no reliance on letters for communication and reverse charge calls. Maybe it is a little too easy now to keep in touch? A little bit of self reliance is not a bad thing.
Anyway, he's off on his adventure and we are madly envious that he is going to lovely warm sunny weather (at least strictly speaking they are now heading for winter, whereas we have spring beckoning!).

Work continues apace to our new brochure, furious amounts of backwards and forwards with photos and texts, oh the wonders of the modern age! We hope to have this printed and ready by mid February and it will be exciting to see our new brand image become part of the brochure. Magniwool is also undergoing a revamp with the intention that each will be a stand alone brochure but able to be sent with the other.

We have decided to refine our range of Lambskins and Sheepskins and will not be reordering the large white sheepskins next time around. Part of the reason is that we never seemed to get the same thing twice, but more importantly we feel we want to concentrate on the others. We have 3 white sheepskins left, and that will then be the end of them- if you think you would like one, please get in touch as soon as possible!

Redefining the White Cloud range, Eco-Chic Competition Winner, New White Cloud Brochure, RSPB National Survey

We have been using this month to reconsider a small number of our products. One casualty is going to be the larger white/cream sheepskins. With a small stock of only four left, if you think you might like one, please let us know! We feel we want to concentrate on the Lambskins for Babies and the larger Yoga Sheepskins, both of which sell well and are beginning to gain a good reputation. We will also be rationalising the Skincare Range- the Face Creams are not being re-ordered (don't worry Natasha or Mrs Pennefather, I have put a special stock to one side for you) and the Gift Boxes will now have a lovely sheep soap instead. The soaps seem to sell well and are very appealing, so we are now also offering these as a pack of 3, wrapped and nestled in wool. Lip Balms have become more and more expensive, so these will not be available as single items any more, but we will continue to include them in the Gift Boxes. Take a look at the Skincare Range to see the latest selection ...

Eco-Chic Organic Double Blanket Competition

Last week the winner of an on-line competition with Eco-Chic was chosen, so Simon Sims of Stourbridge now has a lovely soft organic blanket on its way to him. We had a lot of interest and are likely to run something similar again. http://www.ecochiccollection.co.uk/magazine/

Enormous amounts of work has been going on behind the scenes to replace and update some photography both for the website and for our next brochure. Brochures represent quite a challenge, as the more you have printed, the cheaper they become but, conversely, you need to avoid having them on the shelf for too long. It takes weeks if not months to redesign a brochure, so we have been working on a much reduced brochure, quite a lot less text and more photos. We still attach great importance to being able to supply a brochure, and although lots of businesses see them as a relic from the past, we find that they serve an important purpose and help give credibility to our products. From late February, we hope to have our new version printed and ready to send.

Next weekend is the RSPB National Bird Survey, a chance to take some time and observe what birds might be visiting our gardens. The desperately cold temperatures over Christmas went on for so long that it is feared huge numbers of little birds, in particular, will have perished. That said, we have had lots of Long Tailed Tits feeding in family groups, which we have never noticed before. My favourite of all is the Nuthatch, but whether we see one individual or we have two, I really don't know! To be honest, I buy the suet pellets mostly for him, he is so beautiful. I was delighted last week when one of our boys spotted a Green Woodpecker and could tell me what it was; all those years of subtle effort in trying to interest them seems to have paid off! Just as well as next weekend, our youngest son will have to take on the task of the Survey for me, as the middle one leaves to go on his travels to New Zealand- so Rupert, it's over to you to take on the task! www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

Reasons to be cheerful, completed White Cloud packaging and working on a January/February Winter email

There's nothing like a walk to lift your spirits and today I came back from a favourite walk in the woods clutching a lovely little collection of twigs of early catkins- I can't believe it, we are beginning to see signs of new life everywhere, even the snowdrops are starting to appear. So, now I have a beautiful glass vase full of catkins sitting on my desk... even better, the days are lengthening by 2 minutes each day, yes, a whole 2 minutes, which in an entire week is almost a quarter of an hour!

At last, we have the finished labels for our Cashmere Duvets- this means that they, along with Wool Duvets and Underblankets can now be sent out in our brand new White Cloud carton. This is the culmination of months of hard work and planning, and it is an absolute joy to see something that has been a project for so long emerge into a fully fledged item that is a piece of art in its own right. We have deliberately stayed true to the wonderful Merino ram set against a backdrop of genuine South Island scenery as we feel he epitomises the quality and heritage of all our products. So, from now on we have a range of products that can be displayed side by side on shop shelves- the next thing demanding attention is the Wool Pillows, for which a box is also planned, but that is still on the drawing board as the saying goes.

The focus this week has been preparing for a January/February email newsletter which is in incubation as I write. With a focus on Winter warmth and Valentine's Day we are hoping it will be the first of our bi-monthly emails sent out with links to the facebook page and offers to our existing customers. When it arrives, we hope you really enjoy it and consider passing it on to an interested friend.

It was amusing to read in the newspaper recently of a couple who have invented "Cosy Cool" which is a duvet with the option of adding layers- I have to admit, a small part of me thought "hang on a minute, we offer something like this already" but their story is a good one ...

Happy Four Legged Customers, A Good Read and Why Everyone Should Insure With NFU

Two happy little customers, probably the smallest we ever had, enjoying their Christmas present! Minnie and Maisie live in Scotland with the Ferrell family who have written and said "the lambswool mat has been a big hit with them this winter" ...

I have just finished reading a most fantastic book, we first saw it as a film which was beautifully directed by Peter Jackson and, having now read the book, I think it is the most successful translation from book to film I have seen. Called "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold it is the story of Susie Salmon. From the very first opening line where we learn that she was murdered at 14 by someone she knew, it is captivating. At times it is difficult to follow the thread, but persistence pays off. The insight it offers into the suffering of a family following such a dreadful incident is so beautifully written that you can't help but turn the pages as you long to know the outcome. It was so good that I'm now feeling slightly lost that I have finished it.

Well good family news all round, our youngest son did well in his mock GCSEs, our middle son has booked his flight to New Zealand and is starting to pick up the pace and get excited and our eldest son has found a replacement bike! His own bike got stolen in Newcastle by some toe-rags on the last day of term who had the cheek to cut the chain and snatch it from the car bike rack. It was a really depressing experience for him and meant he had no bike at all over the Christmas holidays. Fortunately the NFU, as usual, came to the rescue and have agreed to pay a cheque to replace it. For anyone casting around for help with insurance, I can't recommend the NFU enough- helpful, friendly, normal offices, no call centres, staff that know you by name and able to help with everything from car insurance to holidays- they even organise our business insurance for us.

Wool Pillows to France, Store Room Spring Clean, Booking for Burghley Horse Trials and Magniwool Activity

Today's photo shows 450 pillows packed and ready to make their onward journey to a customer of ours in France; this was the culmination of a manic day's work last week when our container arrived. If only we had such a huge space ourselves, but the pillows got wrapped and packed at Box Clever who are one of our packaging suppliers in the Forest of Dean.

Well, most things seem to be settling back down after the Christmas period- in some ways it is a relief to be back in a more normal routine, although driving to meet a school bus at 7.25 most mornings is definitely not one of the more pleasing aspects!

January has allowed for a spectacular tidy-up and clear up in our two store rooms. Although it entailed braving subzero and Arctic temperatures, the end result is very pleasing and we now have store spaces that look pristine and beautifully tidy; most rewarding. A most productive early Spring clean! The process unearthed all sorts of oddments and we have put them on http://www.whitecloud.co.uk/acatalog/special_offers.html . A case of first come first served ...

January is also the month when we sit and plan our activity for the forthcoming year. Burghley Horse Trials is now booked for early September- this is a good thing as we had several customers comment that they had missed us being there in 2010 and only today we had an email from a customer in Holland who bought from us at Burghley 2009 and wants to purchase more lanolin creams ... sadly for her and us we don't yet have an outlet in Holland!

Now that we have some designated help for Magniwool sales, we are working on a new brochure specifically for Magniwool and are looking at publications where it might best fit in. A recent article in The Lady discussing the benefits of magnet therapy for pets has been a good thing and one of my New Year intentions is to write with some experiences that customers of ours have related to us.

New stock, new ideas for the White Cloud range and yet another visit to the vets

A positive start to 2011- the container that got snowed in and stuck at Southampton over Christmas finally got delivered on Tuesday! A mad frenzy of unpacking and repacking went on within a short space of time which meant all our back orders could get sent out and it seems, fingers crossed, that most of the parcels have now found their owners. The majority of the container was filled with 450 pillows destined for the South of France, so not only did we have to unpack our own products in record time, but we also had to prepare and palletise an awful lot of pillows ready for shipping today. Now that we have an English friend living in the South of France able and willing to translate on our behalf it will make business transactions with the French much, much easier.

This week has entailed the inevitable January stock take and, as a result, there are a selection of really good bargains now posted on the website:- special_offers all are either ex-show, photography or discontinued items and are one-off specials. All are competitively priced, so if there is something in particular that you have had your eye on, check out the Special Offers page...

We have spent the Christmas holidays mulling over some new possibilities for the White Cloud range; by a strange but wonderful coincidence we have come across a wool co-operative in Banks Peninsula. This is a very special and historic part of New Zealand that was badly affected by the Christchurch earthquake but for us it holds a particular significance as one of my cousins lives there and, being both a New Zealander and a farmer herself, she knows most of the folks involved in the co-operative. The wool quality is gorgeous and we have seen some of the finished results, so 2011 may well see us bringing and adding some new lines to our range. Watch this space as they say ...

The festive period was not without its moments; one of our Jack Russells (or "Jack Rascals" as a friend calls them) found some lovely chocolates on the kitchen table made, lovingly, by one of my brothers and sent with great pride from Cornwall. Bella decided to help herself without anyone noticing and at about 11.30pm we got a frantic phone call from home. The long and short of it is that Bella had to be whizzed to the local vet at midnight by the boys and she was one ill little dog. It was a nasty introduction to the responsibilities of having pets for our sons, but to give them credit, they had found symptoms on the internet and acted very promptly. Thank you to our nice kind vet, who knows this particular little dog very well, having wired up her jaw 18 months ago (almost his first task on arrival at the practise), has extricated another tooth after another badger incident and has now cared for her overnight and saved her life. She is one lucky little dog- all we have to do is wait for the forthcoming vets bill!