Even the elephant is now redundant!

As Mike has previously mentioned since I started my gardening leave in late June I've been helping him with the B&B and the holiday cottage. Just before I left I made a huge, A3 size mind-map of all the different ways I could earn an income in the future, with three columns; one headed full-time employment, another as part-time employment and self-employed and the other as self-employed.

The employed options were to look at jobs as an HR manager / consultant / business partner.or working in Learning and Development or Talent Management on either a full or part time basis.

The self-employed options included establishing a business offering my services as a trainer or HR adviser. Another option was to become a coach. And then I looked at developing my hobby of patchwork and quilting and running workshops or quilt retreats.

So 4 months later (where has that time gone?) what's happened?

After quarter of a century I've started studying again to gain a Diploma in Coach/Mentoring which will take about 9 months to complete. I hope to be offering my services as a coach not just to people in Norfolk but over the phone and via Skype to people anywhere in the world! I'm setting up a business offering coaching but also training and HR advice and support for small businesses. More of that soon when Gladstone Coaching and Development is ready to launch.

A couple of weeks ago I ran a workshop combining cooking and sewing called Home-made Christmas and I'm doing another this weekend. We made fabric baskets and then chutney, mincemeat and coco-nut ice and each person went away with a folder of recipes, a fabric basket and jars of home-made preserves. And we offered the usual Old Bakery food with a home-made lunch and lemon drizzle cake.

The one job that wasn't on my mind-map was a maker of jams and chutneys. Starting gardening leave coincided with the start of the soft fruit season and I've made over 150 jars of jams, marmalades, jellies and chutneys including Rhubarb and Vanilla, Blueberry, Strawberry and Gooseberry to name but a few. I happened to mention that I was busy making these to our local butchers (they are the chattiest shop-keepers I've ever met) and they started putting in orders. At our local auction (James Beck Auctions, Fakenham) we picked up two separate pieces of old kitchen furniture which I rubbed down, repainted and decorated and we now display our produce in the porch. Sales to guests have been good and will hopefully increase as Christmas approaches. We don't get much passing trade but this week the postman bought a jar when he brought us our letters!

So here's some pictures of our produce - sadly we've had to replace the green 'Midland Bank' elephant.
£1 coins hadn't been invented when he was made and his slot is not wide enough to take these coins. There's an irony that even the elephant money box is now redundant!

Decorating and labelling the jams - and enjoying the garden at the same time.