The working from home or working from the office debate continues and I suspect will be around for a long time yet.  Inevitably it will get caught up in the discussions about four-day working weeks, productivity and family-friendly policies for many months ahead.  Whatever I’m learning, I’ve known for an extraordinarily long time that I learn from doing.  That’s listening, watching and having a go for myself.  I work well from home and by myself although there’s nothing quite like sitting in the office kitchen and unpicking or elaborating on the decisions made in the meeting.

It’s Friday and for many that’s almost the end of their week, although for me it signals the end of a week of fun.  Let’s face it, if Mr. Watt can head off to Portugal and play golf then surely I need a break from routine as well.  Chores and client work up to date, the world was my oyster.  And what a fun week I’ve had pottering in the garden and enjoying the appearance of little green hellebore shoot.  You may remember I brought three plants with me to our new house and separated them into a dozen or so pots.  For most of this summer they’ve looked bedraggled and exhausted but now it seems they’re getting ready for winter flowering.

And even the appearance of these green shoot didn’t beat my enthusiasm for learning how to make a lampshade yesterday!  A fabulous workshop in an East Sussex Oast House (close to the Kent border).

By now you may be wondering whether I actually finished my handknitted jumper and what happened to those cakes.  I’d prefer to leave the jumper story for now although my three celebration cakes in six weeks were a triumph.  I learned to make a Protea (South African national flower) by watching an online tutorial several times and carefully studying the accompanying notes.  The finished product was good although as with all my projects, I could only see the bits that could have been better.

Back to the lampshade.  A friend selected the workshop from an inspirational programme of creative workshops put together by the Oast Studio (Alison and Annabelle).  And we had such fun celebrating my friend’s birthday.  There’s something so special about collaborating with like-minded souls who are delighted to help each other through the day.  Fabulous refreshments and lots of chatter, the day went by so quickly.  We printed fabric using beautifully carved Indian wooden print blocks and learned from our mistakes when mixing paint colours.  Remember those days at primary school?

Seven lampshade enthusiasts and seven completely different designs, yet everyone left proud of their achievements.  I suppose a critical difference between not yet finishing my jumper and bringing home a completed lampshade (apart from the obvious) is the motivation to keep going; even when something doesn’t go according to plan.  And I loved that I sat next to an engineer who worked out some of the measurements for my design and next to a bold creative who printed in neon pink with the cut glass base of a decanter!

What has struck me most of all about yesterday was that on-line learning has it’s place although the originality of fellow learners physically in the room with you takes some beating.  The communal lunch was a joy in itself and covered so many different topics from craft to music (one of our group loved to sing to us as she worked) to how to make gluten-free Pastel de nata.  Sourdough breadmaking got a good airing, too.  I even got chatting about how I’d love to join a baking class or perhaps a writing class … who knows what’s around the creative corner?

The motivation gained from yesterday’s workshop hasn’t quite reached the two thirds knitted jumper tucked away in the bottom of the wardrobe although I hit the Indian Block Print Company website quite hard yesterday evening!  But of course, that’s how it works isn’t it?

And now it’s time to make more scones for my Macmillan Coffee Morning next Friday 27th September and if you’d like to donate or come along please get in touch Let’s chat