Dreams are wondrous things. Yes, even those that we have during sleep, should we remember, for often they inspire. But more, I’m thinking on the opportunity to pursue a dream. A dream to do ~ something.
As the famous Martin Luther King inspired, ‘I have a dream’. We should all have dreams. Whether lofty dreams of ideal to dreams that embolden, from practical dreams to a making it happen dream.
And my favourite is that last one. Life, to my mind, should be spent trying to make dreams happen. Don’t you think?
One could argue that dreams are a luxury. And I agree in that they fall outside our normal get through life chores. But no matter the income, everyone also has the freedom to dream, if not the freedom to necessarily pursue it. That is where the luxury lies.
If you follow Pumpjack & Piddlewick, you know our dream started with moving to France and making wine. (Tick that box). Both of us have always wanted to either build our own or renovate an old house. Renovation won for various reasons, and we moved to a village and our new old home to pursue this dream. (Tick). It’s a very long term project, but then some dreams are.
Our Shop was and is a dream. Most of my life I have had jobs that I was paid for what I thought (or how fast I could type). Always in the background, I wanted a job that paid for actual tangible items. Initially, the idea was for an artisan chocolate shop, because, well, I like to make chocolates.
The realities of where we lived at the time, meant chocolate was out. And also there were all sorts of rules and regulations. Too many to contemplate, particularly in French. So, and many of you may not know this, but Pumpjack & Piddlewick opened on the basis of offering hand crafted cards and stationery. The stationery sold well, the cards not so much. At least not enough to make a living. (It’s a cost versus quantity resulting in ultimate profit thing.) So the dream morphed, as dreams should be able to do.
Both Pumpjack and I have a passion for antiques and vintage. You know, old stuff. Pumpjack, who has a wonderful hobby in wood working (yeah!) loves the sheer craftsmanship that went into old items. Whilst I simply adore finding the sheer quirkiness, that something truly different. And thus our shop morphed from cards and stationery to vintage and antiques.
Yes, dreams can fail. But sometimes, maybe, it isn’t about failure, but changing perspective. It wasn’t necessarily about giving up on making cards, rather it was about determining where that dream lies in my life. I still make cards. Simply now they are sent to friends and family.
And because we both believe in pursuing dreams, we have both decided to really pursue our dream of being writers. We have both always written. Some magazine articles. Mostly blogs. And, of course in the case of Ms P, lots of letters. But Mr P was inspired first to take it a step further and last year he gave up his day job, making wine, well mostly pruning vines so easier to give up, to write a book.
What’s it about? That’s tricky to explain without giving too much away, but for you UK based fans, think ‘Yes Minister’ meets today’s politics. It’s a non-fiction quest. He has been writing diligently every day since inception. It is now in the final editing stage and we hope to be telling you it has published in the next few months. (And that you will buy it, if nothing else, because you can say you ‘know’ the author, should it not be your genre.)
As for my writing. Well, of course there is this here blog. It started 6 years ago, at first a bit up and down until it found its niche, and now it has become a regular twice a week feature. But ultimately, there is a planned book, too. Can you guess what the topic will be? Many of you have asked for it, or suggested the topic. Yup, ducks.
It won’t be a ‘how to’ book, as honestly, how many people out there have pet ducks? Not really a best seller, me thinks. But the focus is jelling. And that is all I am going to say on that, for now, other than I would prefer the book be of interest to all, or at least animal lovers in general, and not specifically those who have a passion for ducks.
And after? We, of course, continue to dream. And pursue those dreams, with more writing planned, as well as other new and existing projects. Probably involving wine and renovations. Not necessarily in that order.
Would you like to help Pumpjack & Piddlewick pursue a dream?
If you have ever dreamed of being a Patron of the Arts, we present you with an opportunity. We have joined Patreon (a sort of ‘go fund me / kickstarter’ but for people who wish to be patrons). We hope you will at least check it out. And, if you are not inspired by us, maybe have a look at others looking out for patrons on there.
www.patreon.com/PumpjackPiddlewick
Or if being a regular patron is not your thing, but you like the idea of being involved with or nourishing Pumpjack & Piddlewick, we have set up a Go Fund Me page. This is focused a little closer on our renovation dreams. Support will mean being able to undertake work a little quicker. And may give you first dibs on staying in our eventual B&B accommodation so that you finally have an opportunity to play with ducks.
www.gofundme.com/restore-french-village-house-and-garden
We hope we inspire you to dream, and if possible to act on those dreams.