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In spite of gloomy credit-crunch news all around I had an extraordinarily busy run into Christmas, which I gladly offer as a defence to the allegation I have been remiss in my new blogging venture.
Part of the good news I think is the bad news about the pound – as sterling went from to strength to strength in the recent past I did lose some overseas customers, particlularly from the USA who are now returning, together with new collectors. Additionally I had worked my woolly socks (see below) off to get my (hard-copy) traditional book catalogues out! I send out several catalogues each year under each of five titles: Angling; Big Game; Gamebird and Wildfowl Shooting; Hunting, Horses, Dogs, Racing etc; and Natural History and Ornithology. I have an image in my head of the catalogues being perused by an open fire, with eyes lighting up when a book long since forgotten leaps from the pages to a keen collector – or just a happy reader! I do know that others are happy to peruse a computer screen… but can it be the same?!
I was lucky enough to have a book “Solway Sunrise” by “Ferryman” (Willie Hughs) reviewed by John Humphreys in the “Shooting Times” just before Christmas, and the article obviously caught the imagination of many readers who ordered copies from me. Ferryman was a popular writer of wildfowling articles for Shooting Times in the 1960s, many of which are contained in the book.
It wouldn’t be right to close without mentioning the weather! Shap has made the national news being the coldest place in the UK at -11 C just before Christmas and two days ago it was -10. It does make the Cumbrian scenery beautiful – we have had stunning sunsets and sunsrises and hoarfrost where the ice builds on the hawthorn branches and crystals settle on tiny bark hairs before climbing a full inch through the freezing air. A morning walk through Swindale rewarded me with a herd of red deer against the backdrop of frosty fells, a wondrous sight. Unfortunately I am having trouble keeping my feet warm, both in the office and out spotting the wildlife… my angora socks seem no better than the ordinairy woolly ones (I worked off – see above). Thank goodness for sheepskin boots, even if they do look silly when sitting at my desk!
I do hope Christmas was a good time for anyone reading this and that 2009 builds on the good bits of 2008 and learns from the bad bits!