Come and pursue a dream with Pumpjack & Piddlewick

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.

This latter one is my favourite. 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 the dream started with moving to France and making wine. Tick that box. My dream then became my Pumpjack & Piddlewick Shop. 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 I lived at the time, meant chocolate was out. And also there were all sorts of rules and regulations in France. Too many to contemplate, particularly in French.

Next was to hand craft something to sell. 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.

I have a passion for antiques and vintage. You know, old stuff. The craftsmanship that went into old items is still to this day amazing. And, I simply adore finding the sheer quirkiness that old items can offer. That something truly different. And thus my 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 I believe in pursuing dreams, I am taking this year to consider future plans for myself and my shops. I have realised I wish to do more handmade again. But with a twist. I want to add an element of eco, and recycle as much as possible. This stems from my scarf interest.

I buy a lot of scarves for my French Silk Scarf shop. But not all turn out to be silk (especially when purchased in lots). And some are not in good enough condition to sell simply as scarves, but are still interesting enough I wish to do something with them. I can tell you the pile of these scarves is growing. So what to do with them? My dreams abound, and I am busy designing and crafting.

And crafting will also mean having to adapt this website to sell these new old items. And so I am studying how make my blog into a shop as well. Yes, a lot of work sometimes has to go into making dreams a reality.

And of course there is enjoyment of writing. This site started out as a blog 8 years ago, at first a bit up and down until it found its niche, and now it has become a regular weekly feature. My readership is growing (2,000 readers a month!). And I have plans on where I would like to take my writings next. So another, watch this space.

And then sometimes life throws you a curve ball and dreams have to change. Or adapt. Or simply be added to. I have always wanted to either build my own or renovate an old house. I am currently on the search for just such a project. If this dream comes true, it will be a very long term project, but then some dreams are. And this blog will have another potential focus. Anticipate changes here and in my shops, as I continue to pursue my dreams.