Annnnddddd I'm back in the room!!!

Wow! Such a long time between posts. Been a busy time around here. Let's see if I can catch up in one post. We started a totally new business in January 2014. We are Sussex Bread Company. We hand make gluten free bread, pastries, cakes, pizzas & food. 
We are open 7 days a week. 
I still run Lush Mobile Cafe.
Life is indeed busy.
These are some of the first loafs we made & sold. They look a little different to the breads we make today but not as how you would not recognise them.

 This was the takings of our first days sales. We were over the moon with excitement!

 Our range expanded. These are still 3 of our most popular products. Cheese Straws, Custard Tarts & Chocolate Brioche.

This was our first delivery to a direct customer. We deliver UK wide via overnight courier.

 Home life was interesting. Chaotic and interesting.

 When the inbuilt fridge stopped working, we just turned it into a cupboard. Needs must.

 Then we went large portion!! We have our first shop. We love it & thankfully so do many many others. Hard to believe but this was the end of September. 6pm evening prior to opening, everything outside on street, including the ovens & coffee machine. How we managed to pull off a fully functioning bakery & cafe by the morning still astounds me but we did it & we continue to do it. Just like magic.

Mostly with laughter. Lots of maniacal laughter :)

 We love our counter & our floors. Thanks to the talented Mark for his carpentry skills & even more for his unflinching efforts the night before opening.

 Here is the big picture.

 & the even bigger picture. We love our building, used to be the tax department, built around 1910.

 Then we received this. To say we were chuffed is an understatement. SO proud of my Prince, his vision is fantastic.

One of my business partners, the Goth Chick & I at the awards ceremony in London. On train on the way home we discovered that we had taken out 1 Gold, 2 Silver & 2 Bronze awards. Yes, there was squealing. Much, much squealing!! Our Focaccia won Silver in an Open Category. Open. That is against wheat bread! Amazing!!

 Pride of place in our cafe. So. Damn. Proud. Constantly pinching myself to see if it's all real.

 For the last 8 months this is about the most personal creativity I have managed. Guess what they are.

Don't think it has been all roses, it definitely hasn't. We have had business partner issues, staff issues, building issues, no money for ourselves, no money for the business, relationship issues & not just survived but thrived. Adaptability has been & remains our watch word.

But we LOVE it!! We live, work, eat, play, sleep & breathe our business & we would not have it any other way. Well, maybe a pay check would be good. Still, not going to complain. We are growing & we get to decide our path.

Life is good.

Really loving what we do.

Lush x

PS: A little Sewing stuff soon.

Local history

OK, is it really 3 months since my last blog?? That really is taking this whole "slow blogging" thing to new levels! This is one I have had in drafts for months & would really like to document so here goes.

There are some fabulously interesting buildings in this town & you never know where they are going to pop up. This is the local bookshop (I think WH Smith??). It was once the local Guild hall & as such has this magnificent fireplace & bas relief murals of Queen Elizabeth 1 & her ships. Just fascinating to a history buff like myself.

Beautiful stained glass, really interesting logos on the outside of the building & just cool all round in my books.

Been so busy working lately. Cafe is on a slow burn, bakery going gang busters, about to sign a lease for a shop in town soon & house also keeping me busy. All good, just wish it was all more profitable but hopefully the Summer will sort that issue.

I can report that I have some fabulous staff on board & am ready for the rush when it eventually comes. Have invested heavily (700 quid) in a terrific small freezer for the truck & have been offered the free use of a fridge & freezer in a garage up the road from the pitch. I know, how sweet is that?? All they want is free coffee when they get up to the beach. They also have a generator they are loaning me so I am stoked. So generous, I have met some lovely people here & it is fascinating how much people, strangers really, are genuinely wishing me/us the best of luck.

It is 1am here & I really need to go to sleep. I guess that the first coffee I have had in 20 years should not really have been had at 6pm. Idiot error!! LOL.

Still loving what I do & with whom it is done.

Lush x

Almost ready to dual!

Today was THE day. The day we travelled to the Home Office in Croydon to see if I could get approval to stay in the country.

We first visited the local shopping centre named "Whitgift Centre". We thought of a word that rhymed with Whit of which we were reminded. We stepped into a cafe that we suspect was a time/space portal back to the early 80's of my youth. The "Italian Salad" was priceless. Not sure actual Italians would serve coleslaw & carrot but hey, there were olives. I managed to shoot them across the room by insisting on attempting to spear them with my fork. Such misleading advertising. It took me ages to realise that the plastic yellow stuff was the "mozzarella cheese". Even the plates are 80's throwbacks. I can't recommend the cafe nor the centre let alone the suburb.

 When we first went into the Home Office we were impressed by the seeming efficiency of the system. Then we entered it. Well we didn't in fact. We sat waiting for our number to appear on the screen and waited and waited and waited. Well you get the idea. 

We were helped by a very friendly & determined "Greeter/Traffic mover". She was terrific & followed up for us until we were seen by someone & then made sure our number was kept moving. Apparently we were a "manual entry" which basically means that the guy on the registration counter, who kept insisting all was well, did not push the correct button & all was very far from well if we were expecting to get out of there anytime before Monday!!

It did make us laugh, we were remembering so many of the folks with whom we had worked & supervised in Australia in our 30 odd year careers in the public service. Fascinating how they are the same the world over. Fascinating & scary!! It could be a whole Mattel line, "office workers", collect the whole set!

Actually these new gardens were very nice & they will be even more lovely when they get released. They were on the way to & from the station. Very nice, no idea what the flowers are but lovely.

After sitting a long time & even managing to have a nap at the table I wandered back to the counter & can ecstatically report that I CAN STAY!!!

This is such a relief I can hardly say. Our lawyer had really made us start to panic. Not really what we had paid him for but anyhoo all done now. Once I have lived here the required 5 years I will be able to apply for dual citizenship.

I could not get back to the coast fast enough. Celebratory steak dinner & a relatively early night. Up early for weekend shifts on the seafront. Bliss!

Loving what I do, especially with whom & where it is done!

Lush x

Birthday celebrations

So I can't let the month go without mentioning the birthday celebrations for my darling Prince. It was a quiet night of the Princes favourites. That is gluten free stuffed roast chicken! Salad & chocolate coated strawberries for afters.

Declared nom worthy!

Loving what I do. Can't imagine doing it without my Prince.

Lush x

Sussex Bread Company

So not one to do things sparingly, my partner & I have decided to go into business with 2 friends & open a gluten & wheat free bakery.

This is currently running out of our home kitchen but we have every intention of having premises soon. Well we were planning on it at around 12 to 18 months into the business.

We may be looking much much sooner than that. Like in week 10. We are in week 7. 

We have become very popular very quickly. It is like trying to ride an eel. (not that any of us would do that eeeww!!)

We are intending to offer a box scheme but in the mean time we have been selling at my cafe & did the town markets last weekend. We can barely keep up with demand.

We're gonna need a bigger oven!!! LOL It is a great "problem" to have.

Here is our first bread order heading out to Wales.

As you can tell from photos, we are a bit excited & proud. If you or anyone you know needs gluten free bread, pasta, cakes or biscuits, get in touch. SussexBreadCo 

We can sort you out :)

Loving what we do

Lush x

Off to Londinium!!

It's that time again, time to submit more paper so I can stay in this adopted country of mine. So that means more trips to the Big Smoke. More opportunities to have burgers for lunch.

If you ever get a chance to eat at Byron, I can heartily recommend them. This is this months special the "B Rex, Byronosaurus". Declared nom worthy by me.

I had the conversation with the cab driver that I have with sooooo many people here. It always goes the same way. Them: "Are you Australian?" Me: "Yes I am." Them: "Why are you living HERE?" Me: "I love the weather". Them: "You are crazy!"

While its true, I do love the weather & yes, I am a little crazy, it is a million other little things that I love about here. Small things can thrill me. In the train today, too warm to leave my gillet on, (and who doesn't love a gillet in this weather??) no problem, I will just hang it on the conveniently placed hook next to my seat with the conveniently included little hanging loop inside said gillet. Bliss!

Loving all the little things

Lush x

It's a quilting miracle!

Another finish, the second for the year. This is the quilt that I made for the nephew of The Prince. I started ages ago some months back & it is finally winging it's way to London today so the kid has it before he turns 5.

Scrappy back with the HST leftover from the Churn Dash blocks. Crowns on the label as a nod that "other birth" that happened last year. I fell in love with this backing fabric & bought it with no particular thought in mind. Perfect for the backing I think :)

Baby is English born, Swedish Mum, Australian Dad and I really tried to find fabrics that reflected his multi national heritage. The large red heart fabric in the border is Swedish, there are pears on the bottom left block (for the time of his birth), sail boats for Oz, snowflakes for Sweden & England, London buses, teapots & all things British in the border. The yellow border represents the sunshine of Australia. I am really pleased with the end result. 

Not the best shots in the world but all that was possible before The Prince had to dash off on the train. I really like the 2 coloured binding on this quilt. 

MUST. USE. ALL. THE. FABRICS! Still ended up with gingham scraps LOL.

This quilt took so long because it insisted on being 54 inches square. In the end I am glad though as it will see him through for many years to come. I hope he gets years of warmth & feels the love with which it was made.

Loving what I do

Lush x