‘Dreams become reality when thoughts become Actions’
Firstly, a message for our French Friends… Toutes nos excuses à nos lecteurs français - nous mettons à jour notre site Web avec une nouvelle fonction «Choisissez votre langue» en attendant, vous devriez pouvoir traduire dans votre navigateur de messagerie.
Clearing out a box of old admin papers today, I came across this receipt pictured above.
At the time, I was living in our Victorian terraced house in a suburb of North London.
“What are you up to this weekend mum?” Enquired my eldest.
“I’m just flying to France to pay 10000€ in cash to a man in exchange for his tractor. I’ll be back Sunday evening with a bit of paper that says I own his tractor.”
“Right, fine. Not sure that’s normal, mum, but you know best - I’m off out. See you Sunday night with your bit of paper then!”
That was 7 years ago. The tractor belonged to the then-owner of The Mill. He was getting agitated (understandably) as the process of me buying his Mill was taking way longer than either of us had anticipated, as we had shaken hands and agreed the price some 16 months prior.
I wanted to signify to him that, despite the delays and complications - thanks mostly to Brexit and the French Bank that said ‘Oui, Oui, Oui absolument!’ to my French Mortgage, and then 8 months later changed to a hard ‘Non! ‘.
I wanted to show the owner that I was still 100% committed to buying the Mill from him. So I bought his tractor and hoped.
As I stood looking at the receipt, my phone pinged and pulled my attention. It was Instagram. As I scrolled to see my message, this inspirational quote appeared.
‘Dreams become reality when thoughts become actions’
credit @art.ofselfcontrol
It was as if, in that moment, the universe was reminding me that my then dream was now an actual reality!
I stood holding my phone in one hand and the paper receipt in the other, my brain the bridging connector in the middle, made the very profound realisation - to quote Glennon Doyle from her book Untamed, that:
‘We can do Hard Things’
This year, we have held pottery, writers’, artists’, divine feminine and yoga retreats. With guests arriving from Germany, France, the USA, Belgium, and the UK. Locally, we have hosted music events and partnered with ‘Echo - Metro’ - the English-speaking for French citizens initiative. Gathering for guided tours of The Mill and evening soirees, practising their conversational skills over dinner. Next year’s dates will be announced in the new year.
In addition, we launched and successfully ran the first four months of our Co-Living for Creatives Residency Programme.
And I have had the best time being a writer amongst writers and an artist amongst artists, a potter amongst potters and a friend amongst friends. Despite the broken ankle back in May (now a distant memory and fully healed thanks to the love and care of friends, family and guests).
This year has been absolutely awesome, and has flown by so fast (that’s not a typo, it does feel like flow) so many gorgeous memories made.
I am beyond excited to share with you our lineup of Retreats, Courses and Residencies for 2025!
As a subscriber to this email, dear friends, you are eligible for a whopping 15% off any of our Writers Retreats, as are our friends from the London Writers Salon Community and The Dialect Community!
Check out our 2025 Writers Retreat dates here.
We have some seriously talented course leaders returning in 2025 to run their specialist retreats:
Dr Robin A. Wilson & Lisa Sjukur from Oxford University Kilns will be leading a Wood Fired Kiln Building course, Helen Ashton from The Clay Studio is back for a third year running her ever-popular Alternative Raku Firings courseand Claire Adams is back for two weeks from the States to run her incredible yoga and writing-based, ‘Make Her Wellness’ Retreats.
We are sooo excited to announce that our Co-Living for Creatives Programme in 2025 has some extra special magic going on! At this point, I have to give a big shout-out to Hayley @inhousescreenprinting for planting a seed in September, which, in just three months, has blossomed into a fully formed ‘Thing’ that’s going to make 2025 even awesomer than this year!
Each residency will have a Guest Artist in attendance who will be leading a couple of workshops/ talks/ demonstrations and insights into their specific ways of working.
In April, we welcome back our friend, the Graphics and Geometric Shapes Illustrator, Supermundane
In June, we have our Graphic Artist and Mural Painter friends Rupert and Abi, aka Rude. Studio
In August, we have the talented wild and reclaimed clay enthusiast Victor Pedrosa, Co Founder Rescued Clay
In September, we have the delightful paper-cut artist Rob Ryan
In October, we have Gary, founder of the Brighton-based Screen Printing Studio Private Press - details TBC soon! Our November residency will be announced in the New Year!
Left to Right: Supermundane, Rob Ryan, ABi, Rupert of RUDE Studio and Victor Pedrosa (Rescued Clay)
This is the dream… So much gratitude to all these folks for being up for collaborating with us here at The Mill, and big up to Hayley for planting the seed, “Why don’t you just ask them and see what they say?”
I did, and they bloody well said YES!! And I am so excited for all that’s to unfold!
To see our full calendar of events for 2025.
Writing this has brought so much joy and excitement for next year and beyond. Please keep hold of the belief in your dreams, people - we have the power to make them come true, all we need to do is trust in ourselves! The pep-talk you didn’t know you needed - done!
As always, please do share this update with friends and family – spreading the word and increasing our mailing list is the most powerful way to help us to flourish and allow me to spend less time on socials!
My online shop will be up and running soon! I have a limited stock of my Goddesses at the moment as I’m concentrating on completing the collection of 444 for an exhibition in 2025. When I know where, you will be among the first to hear about it!
Do get in touch if you’d like one before Christmas. If you would like to purchase a retreat or a residency place as a gift for someone else, we offer Gift Vouchers.
As always, we love it when you drop us a line back :-) x Bonne Week End folks!
