When I was growing up, my imagination was forever overflowing and often found its way into special moments shared with family and friends. I’m so grateful to have lived in a world without social media or the demands of work, where I could allow this gift to grow and in plethora from the natural world around me.  

I would often find myself covered in mud, building flower crowns, chasing toads that would become princes, searching for the most beautiful stones, creating plays with my friends, dressing up for photoshoots (that you’d have to wait a week to receive back from the print lab), creating unicorn horns for my white pony, planning out fun games for a sleepover, or designing special tables for Easter or afternoon tea.  The movie, “Little Women” was very much my childhood and I cried for hours after seeing the most recent version as I felt so many old feelings returning! 

Now that my business is largely fuelled from imagination, I often find that I don’t have a lot left over when it comes to creating special moments for family and friends and since Covid I’ve become far more aware of how much I really need/cherish those moments.  

Luckily when I visit my family in Salmon Arm, I’m completely away from my work and I feel the waters of my imagination replenishing.  “Tea time” has always been something that I love to make special and in proper English tradition, I’ve started to master the art of scones and Queen Victoria Sponge Cake for the menu!

I wanted to show you how we often create special tea times together when I’m at the farm. I tried my hardest not to take it too over the top from what we normally do but when a camera is involved, it’s hard for me not to think of absolutely everything I’ve done for tea times over the years! 

Creating moments like these with my parents becomes even more priceless as we all get older. I love watching how proper they become as soon as the special cutlery comes out from the cupboard and Grandma Whiley’s tea set gets dusted off.  How many of us are guilty of having special pieces in the cupboard that never get to see the light of day?

When was the last time you put energy into something special for your family and friends vs giving that energy to your business? I wish it didn’t take the events of 2020 to make me realize how much of my imagination I give to my business/clients vs saving some for the most important people in my life – but I’m also glad of the awakening.  It’s easy to fall into a realm of experiencing life through our business – especially when we get our business idea and model right!  But truly the most precious moments we share, items we create, experiences that we deliver – the ones we can never get back, and the ones that will become more and more priceless TO US –  are the ones where we share our greatest gifts with our closest loved ones.