Do you hear that? That is the sound of an (almost) empty house. Here in Scotland, kids are making their way back to school this week. The little two went in this morning and Ellis heads to High School tomorrow.

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I felt unexpectedly emotional this morning after I waved them off. We had a flour delivery as we were leaving and we had to drop it and run to the bus. We came back to unload and I was struck with how far we'd come since March. Those hectic days of 4 tonne deliveries, all 5 of us trying to get it loaded in and shipped off as fast as we could - trying to keep everyone and every thing fed and watered and somehow sleeping when we could. Though things had calmed down in the last few weeks, it was still so much juggling, so many snacks required and a lot of peacemaking between siblings who hadn't seen many other kids in months...all whilest running two businesses from home.

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And now...quiet. I did the dishes this morning and miraculously, none appeared between breakfast and lunch. No one has told me they are hungry (except the cats) and the internet is running faster than I knew it could. "We made it!" Kevin and I exclaimed as we drove down the road from the bus this morning.

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But the question remains, where exactly did we make it to. What is this new normal? And how long will it last? Our business is a very different one than it was in March, now an online, homesteady, retail, farm shop and school as opposed to an event venue that also sold products online. Its a busy business, but a quiet one. Just me and occasionally Kevin or Cameron packing orders and answering emails. So different from last summer's busyness of peope and laughter and food and events.

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We have made the decision not to keep working in this quieter way for the rest of this year, with our events not reopening until next March. We put a lot of thought (and a few tears) into the decision, but ultimately Kevin, Emily and I decided that even if we *could* open with social distancing and infection control measures in place, it didn't feel right for us. Smaller, distanced events would struggle to be practically and financially viable, all whilest operating under the potential of future lockdowns and a lot of unknowns.

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Mixed with the sadness of this decision, there is a lot of excitement here as well. We are working hard on a new platform for all of our online courses with new courses launching this autumn. Goat's milk soap is filling our shelves and we have some really incredible collaborations coming your way this autumn. You won't be able to come to Gartur this autumn and winter, but we will get Gartur to you.

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Ok, I am off to celebrate the next hour of quiet before the school run by uploading a video and streaming a movie at the same time with all my extra child-free internet bandwidth!!

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Take care

Kat