It began with the school run.
Along a Cornish lane, outside a green door, stood buckets of the most beautiful flowers in shades of russet, blush and deep burgundy. Dahlias, cosmos and amaranths, gathered in all their late-summer glory, with a simple honesty box beside them.
These were Ellie's flowers. And I couldn't resist.
Bunch after bunch made its way home with me, filling our cottage with the last of summer's colour and bringing a little of the Cornish countryside indoors.
Eventually, Ellie took me to see where it all began: her wonderful plot, tucked away not far from our village. After years working on boats, she had been searching for a slower pace of life and a closer connection to the land. She bought a small, wild patch of ground, cleared it, planted every little seed and nurtured it into a garden bursting with colour.
On the morning we visited, the flowers seemed to sing in the autumn sunshine. With autumn beginning to settle in and the weather on the turn, it felt like one last chance to gather the season's finest blooms. Ellie, with her second baby due any day, led the way through the garden as we filled our buckets with the very last of summer.
It was one of those mornings you wish you could bottle. Warm sunshine, flowers gathered by hand and the quiet joy of meeting someone who has created something beautiful from the ground up.
The flowers came with us to the Cornish coast, where we photographed our latest Sitar collection against the rugged rocks and ever-changing sea. The rich colours and organic shapes felt perfectly at home beside the handmade ceramics, each bringing out something different in the other.
Romanian craftsmanship, Cornish flowers and the wild beauty of the coastline. A meeting of places, seasons and stories.
A little reminder that the loveliest things often grow from simple encounters, a shared love of making and the willingness to follow what catches your eye.
And sometimes, all it takes is a school run.
Explore the Sitar collection and find a piece to make your own.
