I thought it was time to update the picture!

Welcome to Fairford, England

The Old Mill, Fairford

Bill and I moved to Fairford when our son James was under a year old and he is now thirty!  We are almost locals after all this time. Bill was moved by Lloyds Bank and we found our little cottage just before my birthday - I thought we had won a million! To move from Reading to what was then a sleepy village was a dream come true.

If you look at the far end of the bridge you can see a light coloured mound. This is one of our village swans who nests next to the road every year.

St Mary's Church

This is our world famous 15th century church- famous because of the remarkable set of stained glass windows. The west window recently restored has been featured on the television - this is the only complete set in the country and are very beautiful.

Just two of the wonderful windows

My first cuppa of the day

We have lived in Pinks Barn for 17 years  and have almost finished the work on the house. I do like a project! When I started my cross stitch business, we lived in a cottage called Inglestone which is how we came up with the original name for our wholesale company, The Inglestone Collection. This is now all part of the same thing - The Cross Stitch Guild

When we planned the move to the Studio at Pinks Barn, I was warned that I would end up working all the time and turn in to a workaholic but who is kidding who? I was doing that already and often late at night in a cold and creepy warehouse! As I am scared of the dark, this is a much nicer place to work and if I want I can and do go to work in my PJs!

Pinks Barn in Fairford, Gloucestershire

The window at the front was new last year and you cannot imagine the improvement this has made. When it the hole was knocked through the stone walls (which are three feet thick) we had three steel props holding up the front wall! The dust was beyond belief! Now I can sit and stitch and look out on to the garden - Just bliss!

The Studio

This is was built as a double garage, but was converted in to the Studio when we made the final decision to move all parts of the business under the one roof. It opens on the the courtyard garden one side and the conservatory classroom on the other - now it could not be better.

Our move back to Pinks was prompted by my Administrator deciding to emigrate and Bill, my husband, needing five hours surgery for cancer! Some things just concentrate the mind, don't they?

My Stork Scissors Weathervane
A gift from Bill, my husband when I celebrated my 50th Birthday - this year, he took me to India to celebrate my 6oth!

You can see Bumble keeping an eye just behind me

My Office

This is the lovely open space where I design and think and Daphne and Sarah beaver away making up kits and sorting mail order parcels. We have high tables for fabric cutting and loads of Ikea shelving. The light is very good as we have daylight strips throughout.

You can see we use old tomato boxes for storage

This lovely room is next to the Studio and is where we hold our linen classes throughout the year. In the winter months we are very glad of the large wood burner in one corner! Do keep an eye out for class dates and Stitching Days here at Pinks Barn. We do have a lovely time!  See Events and Classes

Visitors to the Studio

We live in Fairford which is at the lower end of the Cotswolds and is an area of outstanding natural beauty which we never take for granted. There are some disadvantages of living in the country, but as I write this I cannot think of them! We have lots of visitors to the area and I thought you would like to see a picture of some of them.

This blue tit is now frantically feeding the family just outside the Studio door - even when the door is wide open and we are chattering and the phone is ringing and there is constant noise. Last spring,  I watched the baby blue tits taking their first flight from this bird box and the young blackbirds robbing my pretty vine - I think they stripped the grapes completely!

This is Spike who wanders past the Studio door about 6pm and then wanders back again

I found this little vixen in Bill's study checking out his box files!

No really! I went back the office one morning and a fox was sitting under his desk! I have no idea where she had come from but after some coaxing she went in to the garden where she played with our dogs! It took my half an hour to persuade her to go out in to the lane outside the gate - she was so tame and eventually left to tackle our neighbours black bags.

What happens on Mailing Day

This is what actually happens when we do a mailing here at HQ! I go in to town to collect dozens of mail bags and bring back the best chocolate brownies in the history of the world! I defy anyone to find any better! Go to 7A Coffee Shop  On this occasion, Daphne and Sarah were eating brownies with Crunchie or with Smarties baked in to the mixture! What can I say!