Dear March...

of seedlings, analog inspiration and writing

Happy April!

I hope this letter finds you well, with welcoming signs of spring and longer warmer days.

Today I am finally writing to you again, it’s been a while. Without much apologising or explanation let’s just jump right in!

I am currently sitting all cosied up and with candle light, finally taking the time to write.

The want to write sometimes comes out of the blue and ideas start forming like little seedlings coming up, emerging leaf by leaf.
That’s when time comes in, or should I say the lack there of?
But today is the day, I have made sure the evening is free of other things and I have time to write. Both this post and this story idea that is slowly taking shape…

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Just in case you are new here: welcome, I am very happy that you are here. This is my newsletter. Once a month I share a letter, filled with things that have inspired me this past month, things that I loved and some of my favourites.

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Time has been a big thing over the last year and a half (that's about how long it’s been since I last wrote to you!). Settling into a new home, a new job, a new environment can take me a while. It is usually my creativity that takes the longest to settle and then reemerge. This wish to write has started poking its head up, like the snowdrops through the still frozen ground, readying themselves for the warmer days to break through.
Now that Spring is finally arriving here, in northeast Scotland someting in me has shifted and my urge to write is reappearing.

I feel a bit apprehensive about announcing that this is my great comeback, as my life is still super busy and when I do manage to carve some time then there are many different things I want to do in this time, and writing is not always the first on the list.
But let’s just get into this and see what happens…..

Food

If you’ve been here for a while you might remember that I just love food! As part of my job it is my task to cook a warm vegetarian meal for 9 to 11 people twice a week and honestly it is one of my main creative outlets these days. I am very fortunate to have a lot of seasonal produce readily available to me and in general really good quality ingredients, I have a whole new appreciation for good quality food.

My most recent obsession has been noodle bowls. Just some vegetables, anything that I have on hand (some favourites being broccoli, parsnip, sweet potato and cauliflower) and then my go to is a soy sauce-peanutbutter sauce. Add in some salted peanuts for crunch and I’m good to go!

For pancake day I was away from home but ended up getting unexpected buckwheat pancakes. They were really nice, especially paired with some soy vanilla yoghurt!

A couple weeks ago I had this amazing carrot salad. I missed the chance to ask for the recipe but I really want to recreate it! It was just grated carrot, with curry powder and ginger and then roasted cashwes nuts and pumpkin seeds on top. So good!

This week I made a lasagne. A go to meal when I don’t have any other ideas and have vegetables that need using up. In this case it was carrots, spinach and broccoli. I have also discovered this fake mince meat made from pea protein. It is so delicious and goes really well with lasagne (or a cottage pie).

As I rarely follow recipies I don’t have any of them to share with you, I’m afraid.

Music

I’m still not listenign to much music. My everyday is always filled with so much noise that at the end of it I rarely want any music or other noise around me.

I do want to share a Spring playlist I made a few years ago and still really like (I’m actually listening to it while writing). Full of spring feels and calm tunes.

Spring is in the Air - playlist

Creative

March has been a good month creativity wise. I felt very inspired, thanks to sunshine and flowers popping up everywhere.

I did this really amazing online workshop with

Lucia Leyfield

and

Alice Melvin

(they both have Substacks too!) collaging a lovely little bluetit.

I’ve been more inspired by birds and wildflowers lately and thus have started a collection of reference books, some lovely Readers Digest Field Guides have recently joined the collection.

In general I really like the idea of building up a source of analog inspiration. I often will resort to Instagram or Pinterest if I am looking for something to make but that usually only leads to doom scrolling until I am no longer inspired but bogged down by all the other amazing art that I will never be able to match because my art could never be that good. I know this isn’t true but these thoughts seem to often be the result of looking for inspiration in digital spaces. That’s where the idea of an analog inspiration source came from. I might write more in depth about this another time, a very interesting topic.

I’m sure I’m not alone with this struggle, and I’m curiuos:

How do you find inspiration outside of social media/pinterest?

Since writing to you last I have discovered a new interest/passion:
Growing flowers and vegetables.

I am fortunate enough to also call this my job and have the opportunity to also train in this field.

Because of gardening now being such a big part of my life I would like to add a section to this newsletter where I share snippets of what has been going on in the garden.

Garden

March marked the month of the first sowing!

The first seeds that went into the soil (not yet outside) were cabbages, four varieties, three white and one red, tomatoes, three varieties and lettuce (Little Gems).

It feels like the garden is starting to come alive again after a winter of resting and preparing for the next season. There is still lots to do on all the beds, shaping, composting and mucking, but things are happening!

I have also sown the first flowers. So far that was Sweet Peas, Nigella and a first for me Orlaya, White Lace.

Inspiration/Favourites

• Flavoured Lentil and Pea crakcers are my new favourite snack (I only know the onces from Kallo, I’m sure there are other brands out there) beetroot and balsamic are my favourite so far.

• The Observers Book of Wildflowers and The Observers Book of Birds.
  Two little vintage pocket books with lovely illustrations and information on different species. They came with me on a recent trip and I would randomly open a page and sketch a bird and a flower (a great way of finding something to sketch without having to think too much)

• Helen C Stark
  , I really enjoy both her Substack and Instagram. I’m really tempted to give visual journaling a go!

• On Instagram @folk_hattie living in a cottage in Wales, it looks so dreamy.

• This Post:

  Twelve Little Acts of Self-Care That Got Me Through February

• and this one:

  Engage your inner magpie

With that I wish you well, go out and enjoy Spring, the sun (if available) and the blossom.

I’m off onholiday now for a week, more on that maybe in next months letter.

Take care,

Pippa xxx