#I wanted to revamp their story but then I realised I would need writing skills for this.

[hinsaa-paramo-dharma]

Do anyone have any OC writing tips?

[chibimyumi]

Yana and Grelle - Owning Up to Mistakes

Dear everyone,

I have made quite a number of posts on the topic of Grelle’s gender identity so far, but only now did I realise I never addressed a very noteworthy and rare thing.

Fame tends to get to people’s heads, and admitting mistakes becomes seemingly more difficult the greater one’s fame is. We could all agree that Yana achieved considerable fame herself, but something I find admirable about her is that she has always remained very humble and honest. This is a trait that not many famous people are known for. Ughum, *points at a certain author with the initials J.K.R.

When Yana realised that she had fallen into the trap of writing a trope character based on a very harmful stereotype of queer people being uncontrolled psychopaths, she never once attempted to back-peddle, ret-con, or excuse her past decisions. Instead, Yana owned up to her mistakes, and took the time to redo Grelle whatever justice she could within the terrible limitations she had trapped herself in.

Is Grelle a character now entirely free of harmful stereotypes and messages? No, she is not. But has she become a character that is a person, rather than just the embodiment of a list of stereotypes? Yes. Grelle has undergone incredible character growth, and this growth was possible because Yana used a very clever storytelling method. Intermission.

Intermission

Grelle was introduced in the Jack the Ripper Arc, and left the storyline in chapter 12. It was not until chapter 55 again in the Campania Arc that she returned to us. Grelle’s absence was in-story justified as she was still in disciplinary confinement. After her return, she was a different person. Grelle was still very sexually provoking and all-over-the-place, but there was no doubt that she had become way more professional. Regardless of how much she wanted to appeal to Sebastian for example, she still prioritised her job as a reaper over winning Sebas’ favours.

This is in stark contrast with her previous behaviour in the Jack the Ripper Arc. She had the upper hand during the fight with Sebastian, but because of her vanity and preoccupation with Sebas’ charms, Sebastian found a window of time to defeat her. Grelle’s response to Sebastian being an obstacle in the Campania Arc is unthinkable for her had it been 48 chapters earlier. Through this contrast, we see that Grelle was capable of self-reflection and demonstrated greater level of self-control. As a cherry on top was the introduction of Ronald, a junior reaper who looks up to his senior. Ronald is not shy to compliment Grelle’s talents during their brawl against the Undertaker, and he shows us that Grelle is in fact a respected individual who has a friend.

After the Campania Arc, Grelle remains entirely absent until chapter 102, and does not have anything to do until chapter 125. In chapter 125, Grell is reintroduced again as an even more skillful reaper. Here, we get an even better glimpse on Grelle’s social status through Othello, who is friendly, positive and respectful towards her. Among the reapers who are more familiar with Grelle, we now see that only William is disrespectful towards her. Herewith, we can conclude that the disrespect from this one reaper is more of a personal antagonism, and that overall, Grelle must be decent enough (in the workplace at least) to have earned the respect from at least one junior (Ronald) and one senior (Othello).

Because of the great time intervals between Grelle’s appearances in the manga, we - the audience - can see the enormous growth in Grelle’s character in but a few panels, without it feeling like a sudden character-180 that was shoe-horned in by the author in an attempt to ret-con Grelle’s past problematic behaviour.

Origins of Grelle

In this interview with Editor K in light of the Lycoris that Blazes the Earth 2015 musical, Editor K reveals that Yana originally intended to write Jack the Ripper as a woman in order to challenge the long-standing image of Jack being a man. G Fantasy however, urged Yana to design a male character instead, as it would make the manga more palatable considering the demographics of the magazine’s readers. They insisted on Yana designing a foil to the titular black butler, and specifically “a silver-haired beautiful man with the voice actor Sakurai Takahiro in mind, as such a character would be more popular (laughs)”. (Yes, this is the design origin of the Undertaker.)

Yana however, insisted on keeping the female Jack the Ripper, but also gave G Fantasy (what Yana thought to be at the time) a middle ground. An okama, to be paired up with the female Jack the Ripper.

Spiraling Out of Control

As I said previously, except for the one time that Yana described Grelle as ‘a man with a maiden’s heart’, she never once referred to her as a male character. The misconception of Grelle being male is purely and solely the result of mistranslation, which was then reinforced ten-fold by the anime by casting Fukuyama Jun as Grelle, with the instructions to play up ‘the flamboyant gay stereotype’. When the anime was produced however, Yana hardly had any say in the matter. We all know how much the anime differs from the original manga. And along with the greater popularity of the anime, Yana’s say over Grelle spiraled out of control. As diplomatic as Yana is however, she of course never conveyed any explicit dismay. But as this post shows, her silence does not equate to her approval.

Yana Admitting Her Limits

Though Yana tried her best to redo Grelle some justice and undo some insult towards any identities represented by Grelle’s character, the harm of writing a queer character as a psychopathic molester and serial killer had already been done. Yana realised that there was nothing she could do within her own power to undo this harm despite being the goddess of her manga universe.

When the musical ‘Tango on the Campania’ was planned, Yana saw a chance to get a few mistakes rectified.

“Ah, but this time after the completion of the script, I had a request to Grell’s actor Mr. Uehara. “Could you please [play her] as a strong woman”, I said (laughs) In the original comics, Grell does not make an appearance between the Red Butler Arc and the Luxury Liner Arc, and therefore people often think she is useless at her job. So I asked [Mr. Uehara] to please portray her as a career woman in front of her kouhai (younger colleague, aka Ronald)” 【Toboso】

This is but a simple tweet, but it tells us that Yana is aware:

of what people think of Grelle - an incompetent reaper,

that her manga did not manage to adequately portray Grelle as a strong woman,

and that redoing Grelle full justice is beyond her own power.

I personally think it is very admirable how Yana publicly admitted that she made a mistake, and needed a new chance and a new actor to help her in this. And the result is spectacular.

Just by comparing the 2014 and the 2015, 2018 runs of the musical, we can clearly see the difference in Uehara’s portrayal of Grelle. While Uehara portrayed Grelle as the psychopathic gay man and the butt of the joke in 2014, in 2015 and 2018, Uehara!Grelle was largely revamped, and became a troubled woman who went through a lot of psychological pain.

In Conclusion

One does not need to like Grelle as either character or person. One does not need to agree with her as representation, let alone feel comfortable being represented by her. But I think it is important to acknowledge that Grelle’s character reflects Yana’s humble attitude and honesty, as well as her personal growth as a person. Grelle‘s journey mirrors Yana’s journey as a mangaka, after all.

For more on Grelle and the misconception that surrounds her, please click 1.here, 2.here, 3.here, 4.here, 5.here and 6.here. I am pretty sure I missed some posts, but if you are interested in more, please use the ‘#Grelle Sutcliffe’ tag on my blog.

[jahaliel]

wips

writing out some of the wips i have going on in the hopes i’ll be able to cross some them off by the end of the year/ early 2019  (also if you want to ask nosy questions about any of these go ahead)

Fanfics (Nemo, my OC features in all of these)

We Go... Together - Subnautica fanfic, currently just beginning chapter 11 of a potential 13-14, we’re reaching end game territory and it’s going mostly okay.  Still working on the balance of relationship to main quest throughout but am making relatively consistent progress. Currently up to Chapter 6 available on tumblr and Ao3

As Yet Untitled Nemo goes to Wallachia -  Nemo rocks up just after the end of season 2 of castelvania, immediately bonds with Alucard and they fix up the estate and when Trevor and Sypha return with word of Carmilla’s movements Nemo steps in to help them.  Started out as a plot bunny that in outlining got to about 2k words XD  Unpublished, no release date

The Protector Arc - Nemo in Star Wars as Obi-Wan’s master now complicated by a) a relationship with Mace that went from cordial to friendly to friendly and b) a time-travelling Ben whose spirit did a switcheroo with Nemo’s Obi-Wan.  Got stuck after the big reveal but want to try and get back to it and plot Palpy’s demise.  Including the asides/intermission chapters this is up to Chapter 8 on tumblr only - I’ll upload it to Ao3 on completion) Nemo makes An Immortal Friend - An idea that i mostly have in my head at the moment wherein Nemo rocks up in Solheim (FFXV early history)  and combines her healing skills with Ardyns to combat the Scourge.  Things go pear shaped but basically Nemo and Ardyn go around being snarky sarcastic bros and change the course of the prophecy.  inspired a lot by the FFXV writers i follow on here whose rabid plot bunnies and great OCs give me many thoughts Not even outlined in a word document yet

Nemo Canon  - I’ve not actually written much of the canon Nemo, but I was thinking I probably should, maybe not heavy on the DA:I plot but hitting some of the high points and then focusing on the founding of Vidas and such. Some small pieces available on my Nemo masterpost and a couple in my drafts

Nemo Goes Back/She Who Does Not Sleep AU - these are two of my perma-wips on Ao3 which I would love to get back to at some point.  It’s more likely that the second one will update before the first but considering the impact that NGB has on Nemo and that chronologically it is the first story directly after the Canon it’d be cool to at least try and get some more or tie it up somehow. NGB is up to Chapter 7 on Ao3 and tumblr, SWDNS is on Chapter 10 - both sites

(also  Nemo is at very different ages throughout these fics - the good thing about having a time and dimension travelling OC is that well she got made immortal and counts her life span by how long has passed in Vidas (her mental age reached the first 10,000 and then she resolutely does not think about that)

Original Fiction

Through Clouds Soaring - original poetry collection the third.   mostly together but i’ve just realised i missed out a lot of good stuff when i was putting it together so i’m going to have to have a go through and change up as well as a serious edit (it’s basically tracing my personal story from about 18 til now and my struggles with depression among other things and some of those early pieces are well.  they’re in need of an edit XD)  I wanted to have this one done and available for my birthday but I don’t think that’s happening.

Black Opal  - my original novel.  found my draft and want to get back to work on revising it.  The problem is i’d just revamped an entire section relatively early on that was plot-crucial which I no longer want in the story.  Thus not only do I have to rework that entire section I need to come up with an alternative motivation for things to get moving.

Guardians of B’vain - a poetry novel that was supposed to be my Nano work but then I got super sick at the start of November and it fell by the by.  I’m still keen on writing for it - it’s a story about the 7 Guardians, how they come together, how they fall apart and how they find each other again.  I feel like for this one I want to write it out by hand, get all the parts i have for it together and cover the bed in them.

Shadow’s Prince/Light’s Queen - short story duology that was born out of a couple of epic length poems I wrote a few years back.  Unlike Guardians I’m converting this into prose.  Paranormal Romance, a bit stereotypical and probably the most indulgent of my OF works.  But i’m writing it anyway even if this one’s most likely to never see the light of day.

anyway that’s all the WIPs I have at the moment (and those last three are not on the cards for the early 2019 more like maybe by my 40th XD) - I’m not including the poetry I write on here because that’s mostly spur of the moment and/or fanpoetry-of-others-fic/works

i also need to update my writing masterpost so that’s something for the weekend - which is nearly here YAY!

[vacationsoup]

New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/the-story-behind-mill-farm-eco-barn__trashed-2/

The story behind Mill Farm Eco Barn

People often ask how we have ended up running Mill Farm. Here I describe my decision to give up a career in Bristol to set up Mill Farm Eco Barn with my husband Neil. Find out what running a holiday business involves and how finding work that works has been the secret to her success.

How did you set up Mill Farm?

Mill Farm began in 2012, Neil had a crazy plan to set up a holiday business in Norfolk. I was pregnant with our second child and on a good salary working as a Director at the environmental charity, the Soil Association in Bristol. Like many changes in my life, it started as an off the cuff remark “if we ever want to do anything different, we need to do it soon” I remember saying to Neil. “At the moment we can get a mortgage, but we won’t if we go down to one income” this conversation set something in motion. After that Neil kept disappearing, spending evenings on Rightmove and I hadn’t quite realised what I’d done!

A year later, we’d purchased Mill Farm, which back then was a ramshackle house where we live now, the shell of an old barn (with planning permission for residential conversion) and a collection of old sheds and outbuildings. Whilst on maternity leave, I’d also managed to get some Rural Development Funding from the European Union to develop the barn as a high end self-catering holiday home and a centre of excellence for sustainable tourism. The grant had to be spent quickly so we sold up in Bristol, I took redundancy and we moved to Norfolk. Or at least the kids and I did - Neil commuted to work in Bristol for the first 3 months!

Looking back, knowing what it is like to have a 6 month old and a 2 year old and managing a self-build project,  I probably would have said no way but I went along with it and I’m pretty glad I did. I cruised play groups trying to make friends and in doing so radically improved my driving skills – I’d only ever travelled by bike before. Once the kids were finally in bed we spent the evenings, filling in grant claim forms, researching building materials and with the help of a good friend we developed the marketing plan for the business.

It was a crazy time. Neil moved up permanently in March 2013, the build was complete in September. The trips around the play groups became very useful as I shamelessly called the Mum’s up and asked if they or their handy partners could construct and move furniture in the hours before we opened and they came, thank goodness. Since then we have hosted over 600 groups, couples, families and friends in our barns. We have made friends, at least 3 couples have moved to the area since staying with us and we are going to a guests wedding in December. We feel we have contributed to the local village by spearheading a campaign to improve the children’s play area (we raised over £35,000), we have put a path on our land so guests and locals can walk the route more easily and planted over 2000 hedge plants and trees. I even joined the parish council. I have to admit though, I don’t really remember my youngest’s first two years!

What’s it like running Mill Farm now?

It surprises me, still, how much effort it takes. Firstly, there is the constant development of the site and what we offer. Neil has a very clear vision for the site and he won’t stop until it is complete. Last September he added a wildlife pond and is managing the paddocks for wildlife . This year we are revamping our games barns as well as bringing back chickens.

It has also been a real family affair. Neil’s parents are local, anyone who has stayed with us will have met Terry who looks after the grounds and the guest allotment and Shona who does all the linen for the barns. My folks, albeit further away, have been a huge help to – editing websites, making furniture and much more.

I’m the main point of contact for bookings and enquiries. At Mill Farm we're passionate about providing great service and a beautiful destination for group get-togethers.  We've focused on every detail to make the barns feel like home rather than formulaic holiday lets, so we're well-equipped from the kitchen to baby equipment to books, games and DVDs. Our aim is to ensure guests have a memorable holiday - we want them to fall in love with the barns and the area as much as we have.

Part of my job is going the extra mile for guests. If they're coming for a family celebration, I can help them organise a cake, caterers and even a photographer. We also provide a huge amount of advice to guests in the lead up to and during their stay. I've also started writing blog posts to give guests more insider details that might be helpful for their stay.

Fridays are my craziest day. This is the day we say goodbye to guests and welcome new ones. I usually bake a loaf of sourdough bread for our Eco Barn guests which goes in their welcome basket, together with other homemade goodies such as fresh eggs, organic produce from our allotment, locally-made jam and a freshly baked cake by our baker friend Andrew. My day revolves around supporting our team of cleaners and responding to any maintenance issues.

Sometimes I work in the Eco Barn

By far most of my time though is taken up by marketing. I’m not a marketing person by background so this hasn’t come easily to me. Things have changed so much, just in the five years we have been operating that it feels that this is becoming a bigger job, not a smaller job.  The main issue is visibility. I know we have a great product but getting the message out and sustaining our on-line presence is really hard. Whilst Google and Facebook are constantly changing, making it hard to keep up as a sole operator,  online travel agents are having a bigger and bigger impact on the market making it harder for small businesses to be found.  I try hard to get direct bookings as it benefits both the guests (you have a more personal experience and it's cheaper) and us as a smaller business.

Managing Kids and work

Hands downs this has been the hardest issue for me. I still think I’d like to return back to work someday, I spend a lot of time ruminating over this. Do I actually have the time? What would I even do? Do I really want to give up the flexibility?  In so many ways I am so very lucky, yes my work is very fluid (so I do feel like I am constantly at work) but I have 100% flexibility. I pick my kids up from school most days and can cover their holidays. That stress of who is picking them up today, isn’t generally part of our lives.

Recently I have become much stricter about how I work too – I am not sure why it took me so long to figure this out but the following measures have really made a massive difference (but I am only 2 weeks in).

a)I have dedicated hours in the week, which I plan a week in advance

b)I sit down to complete tasks – rather than just ‘be’ at my desk

c)I sort the tasks out around weekly themes – to avoid fliting from one thing to another

d)I have joined Facebook groups and such as the Boostly Academy and Vacation Soup – these international groups are made up of people in the same business as me, we exchange ideas, take part in group activity and learning and this has 100% reduced the feeling of isolation and helps give me focus and a sense of how my marketing needs to change.

e)I turn off my phone syncs when I am with the kids at the weekend - so distractions are at a minimum. I have muted most of my notifications permanently but guests can still call.

f)I have said no to any further building project until we have had a really ‘big’ family holiday!

g) And yes I need to produce a bi-weekly menu – I hate planning family meals.

On a deeper level I worry that I should still do more. My life is very domestic because we are in hospitality. I work from home, bake bread for guests and sometimes make jam, chutney or home grown apple juice. I do wonder what kind of role model I am for my two girls but I’m hopeful that I’ll find the balance and find a way to contribute more. I guess the next challenge is going to be to find the right part time role, or voluntary post where I can put my background in Environmental campaigning to more use.

Travel Tip created by Emma in association with Vacation Soup

[chullivan-blog]

Old and new Brief

OLD Statement of Intent/ Brief

1/ Aims/Content/Theme

Many old animated Disney movies are now being revamped and made into new generation million-pound block buster films. For my project I want to take the story of Pocahontas and restyle the branding into something modern but still keeping with the original story. I will look into the native American theme in my research and explore each of the different renditions of the story. 

2/ Form/Format

For the outcome of my project I will have produced a new revamped book cover along with an animated credit role, both in the same style as each other. The credit role will have animated imagery and moving typography, however the book cover will be stationary imagery and text.

3/ Process/ Medium

For the book cover I will use a mixture of mediums, but the overall look will be digital. I will use scan in’s and then manipulate them on photoshop and illustrator, and most likely use a computer made font. For the credit role I will be using elements from my book cover but animating them on after affects and adding fake names which have made the new revamped film of Pocahontas.

4/ Professional Context

One of my main influences is Saul Bass and his title sequences like ‘Catch me if you can’ and ‘Autonomy of a Murder’.

5/ Technical Considerations

To create the credit role, I will need to learn more skills on the software like camera tracking, downloading new plug ins for the text movement and importing photoshop files straight into the animation.    

 NEW Written brief

Many of Disney’s twentieth century animated films are now being re-made into realistic adaptations. For example, the revamped ‘Beauty and the Beast’, realised in 2017, is now a million-pound block buster movie made for a new generation of kids. For my project I have taken the real story of Pocahontas, one of the only Disney movies that hasn’t been re-made yet, and restyled it into something more contemporary but still keeping the original story. I have looked at the non romanticised version of events that took place during the time of Pocahontas which in fact is not her real name. According to ancient writings her name was Matoaka and she belonged to a group of about thirty Algonquian-speaking tribes located in Tidewater, Virginia.

I have produced a title sequence and a set of film posters for the hypothetical film of Matoaka. The title sequence would be presented at the beginning of the film and the film posters are to compliment and advertise the film. One of my main influences is Saul Bass and his title sequences like ‘Catch me if you can’ and ‘Autonomy of a Murder’. For the film posters I have used a mixture of mediums, but the overall look is digital. I have used scan in’s and manipulated them on photoshop and illustrator, and used a computer generated font. For the title sequence I have used traditional symbols from native America but animated them on after affects and added fake names which have made the new revamped film of Pocahontas.

[vacationsoup]

New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/the-story-behind-mill-farm-eco-barn/

The story behind Mill Farm Eco Barn

People often ask how we have ended up running Mill Farm. Here I describe my decision to give up a career in Bristol to set up Mill Farm Eco Barn with my husband Neil. Find out what running a holiday business involves and how finding work that works has been the secret to her success.

How did you set up Mill Farm?

Mill Farm began in 2012, Neil had a crazy plan to set up a holiday business in Norfolk. I was pregnant with our second child and on a good salary working as a Director at the environmental charity, the Soil Association in Bristol. Like many changes in my life, it started as an off the cuff remark “if we ever want to do anything different, we need to do it soon” I remember saying to Neil. “At the moment we can get a mortgage, but we won’t if we go down to one income” this conversation set something in motion. After that Neil kept disappearing, spending evenings on Rightmove and I hadn’t quite realised what I’d done!

A year later, we’d purchased Mill Farm, which back then was a ramshackle house where we live now, the shell of an old barn (with planning permission for residential conversion) and a collection of old sheds and outbuildings. Whilst on maternity leave, I’d also managed to get some Rural Development Funding from the European Union to develop the barn as a high end self-catering holiday home and a centre of excellence for sustainable tourism. The grant had to be spent quickly so we sold up in Bristol, I took redundancy and we moved to Norfolk. Or at least the kids and I did - Neil commuted to work in Bristol for the first 3 months!

The Eco Barn before conversion

Looking back, knowing what it is like to have a 6 month old and a 2 year old and managing a self-build project,  I probably would have said no way but I went along with it and I’m pretty glad I did. I cruised play groups trying to make friends and in doing so radically improved my driving skills – I’d only ever travelled by bike before. Once the kids were finally in bed we spent the evenings, filling in grant claim forms, researching building materials and with the help of a good friend we developed the marketing plan for the business.

It was a crazy time. Neil moved up permanently in March 2013, the build was complete in September. The trips around the play groups became very useful as I shamelessly called the Mum’s up and asked if they or their handy partners could construct and move furniture in the hours before we opened and they came, thank goodness. Since then we have hosted over 600 groups, couples, families and friends in our barns. We have made friends, at least 3 couples have moved to the area since staying with us and we are going to a guests wedding in December. We feel we have contributed to the local village by spearheading a campaign to improve the children’s play area (we raised over £35,000), we have put a path on our land so guests and locals can walk the route more easily and planted over 2000 hedge plants and trees. I even joined the parish council. I have to admit though, I don’t really remember my youngest’s first two years!

What’s it like running Mill Farm now?

It surprises me, still, how much effort it takes. Firstly, there is the constant development of the site and what we offer. Neil has a very clear vision for the site and he won’t stop until it is complete. Last September he added a wildlife pond and is managing the paddocks for wildlife . This year we are revamping our games barns as well as bringing back chickens.

It has also been a real family affair. Neil’s parents are local, anyone who has stayed with us will have met Terry who looks after the grounds and the guest allotment and Shona who does all the linen for the barns. My folks, albeit further away, have been a huge help to – editing websites, making furniture and much more.

I’m the main point of contact for bookings and enquiries. At Mill Farm we're passionate about providing great service and a beautiful destination for group get-togethers.  We've focused on every detail to make the barns feel like home rather than formulaic holiday lets, so we're well-equipped from the kitchen to baby equipment to books, games and DVDs. Our aim is to ensure guests have a memorable holiday - we want them to fall in love with the barns and the area as much as we have.

Part of my job is going the extra mile for guests. If they're coming for a family celebration, I can help them organise a cake, caterers and even a photographer. We also provide a huge amount of advice to guests in the lead up to and during their stay. I've also started writing blog posts to give guests more insider details that might be helpful for their stay.

Fridays are my craziest day. This is the day we say goodbye to guests and welcome new ones. I usually bake a loaf of sourdough bread for our Eco Barn guests which goes in their welcome basket, together with other homemade goodies such as fresh eggs, organic produce from our allotment, locally-made jam and a freshly baked cake by our baker friend Andrew. My day revolves around supporting our team of cleaners and responding to any maintenance issues.

Sometimes I work in the Eco Barn

By far most of my time though is taken up by marketing. I’m not a marketing person by background so this hasn’t come easily to me. Things have changed so much, just in the five years we have been operating that it feels that this is becoming a bigger job, not a smaller job.  The main issue is visibility. I know we have a great product but getting the message out and sustaining our on-line presence is really hard. Whilst Google and Facebook are constantly changing, making it hard to keep up as a sole operator,  online travel agents are having a bigger and bigger impact on the market making it harder for small businesses to be found.  I try hard to get direct bookings as it benefits both the guests (you have a more personal experience and it's cheaper) and us as a smaller business.

Managing Kids and work

Hands downs this has been the hardest issue for me. I still think I’d like to return back to work someday, I spend a lot of time ruminating over this. Do I actually have the time? What would I even do? Do I really want to give up the flexibility?  In so many ways I am so very lucky, yes my work is very fluid (so I do feel like I am constantly at work) but I have 100% flexibility. I pick my kids up from school most days and can cover their holidays. That stress of who is picking them up today, isn’t generally part of our lives.

Recently I have become much stricter about how I work too – I am not sure why it took me so long to figure this out but the following measures have really made a massive difference (but I am only 2 weeks in).

a)I have dedicated hours in the week, which I plan a week in advance

b)I sit down to complete tasks – rather than just ‘be’ at my desk

c)I sort the tasks out around weekly themes – to avoid fliting from one thing to another

d)I have joined Facebook groups and such as the Boostly Academy and Vacation Soup – these international groups are made up of people in the same business as me, we exchange ideas, take part in group activity and learning and this has 100% reduced the feeling of isolation and helps give me focus and a sense of how my marketing needs to change.

e)I turn off my phone syncs when I am with the kids at the weekend - so distractions are at a minimum. I have muted most of my notifications permanently but guests can still call.

f)I have said no to any further building project until we have had a really ‘big’ family holiday!

g) And yes I need to produce a bi-weekly menu – I hate planning family meals.

On a deeper level I worry that I should still do more. My life is very domestic because we are in hospitality. I work from home, bake bread for guests and sometimes make jam, chutney or home grown apple juice. I do wonder what kind of role model I am for my two girls but I’m hopeful that I’ll find the balance and find a way to contribute more. I guess the next challenge is going to be to find the right part time role, or voluntary post where I can put my background in Environmental campaigning to more use.

[vacationsoup]

New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/the-story-behind-mill-farm-eco-barn/

The story behind Mill Farm Eco Barn

People often ask how we have ended up running Mill Farm. Here I describe my decision to give up a career in Bristol to set up Mill Farm Eco Barn with my husband Neil. Find out what running a holiday business involves and how finding work that works has been the secret to her success.

How did you set up Mill Farm?

Mill Farm began in 2012, Neil had a crazy plan to set up a holiday business in Norfolk. I was pregnant with our second child and on a good salary working as a Director at the environmental charity, the Soil Association in Bristol. Like many changes in my life, it started as an off the cuff remark “if we ever want to do anything different, we need to do it soon” I remember saying to Neil. “At the moment we can get a mortgage, but we won’t if we go down to one income” this conversation set something in motion. After that Neil kept disappearing, spending evenings on Rightmove and I hadn’t quite realised what I’d done!

A year later, we’d purchased Mill Farm, which back then was a ramshackle house where we live now, the shell of an old barn (with planning permission for residential conversion) and a collection of old sheds and outbuildings. Whilst on maternity leave, I’d also managed to get some Rural Development Funding from the European Union to develop the barn as a high end self-catering holiday home and a centre of excellence for sustainable tourism. The grant had to be spent quickly so we sold up in Bristol, I took redundancy and we moved to Norfolk. Or at least the kids and I did - Neil commuted to work in Bristol for the first 3 months!

The Eco Barn before conversion

Looking back, knowing what it is like to have a 6 month old and a 2 year old and managing a self-build project,  I probably would have said no way but I went along with it and I’m pretty glad I did. I cruised play groups trying to make friends and in doing so radically improved my driving skills – I’d only ever travelled by bike before. Once the kids were finally in bed we spent the evenings, filling in grant claim forms, researching building materials and with the help of a good friend we developed the marketing plan for the business.

It was a crazy time. Neil moved up permanently in March 2013, the build was complete in September. The trips around the play groups became very useful as I shamelessly called the Mum’s up and asked if they or their handy partners could construct and move furniture in the hours before we opened and they came, thank goodness. Since then we have hosted over 600 groups, couples, families and friends in our barns. We have made friends, at least 3 couples have moved to the area since staying with us and we are going to a guests wedding in December. We feel we have contributed to the local village by spearheading a campaign to improve the children’s play area (we raised over £35,000), we have put a path on our land so guests and locals can walk the route more easily and planted over 2000 hedge plants and trees. I even joined the parish council. I have to admit though, I don’t really remember my youngest’s first two years!

What’s it like running Mill Farm now?

It surprises me, still, how much effort it takes. Firstly, there is the constant development of the site and what we offer. Neil has a very clear vision for the site and he won’t stop until it is complete. Last September he added a wildlife pond and is managing the paddocks for wildlife . This year we are revamping our games barns as well as bringing back chickens.

It has also been a real family affair. Neil’s parents are local, anyone who has stayed with us will have met Terry who looks after the grounds and the guest allotment and Shona who does all the linen for the barns. My folks, albeit further away, have been a huge help to – editing websites, making furniture and much more.

I’m the main point of contact for bookings and enquiries. At Mill Farm we're passionate about providing great service and a beautiful destination for group get-togethers.  We've focused on every detail to make the barns feel like home rather than formulaic holiday lets, so we're well-equipped from the kitchen to baby equipment to books, games and DVDs. Our aim is to ensure guests have a memorable holiday - we want them to fall in love with the barns and the area as much as we have.

Part of my job is going the extra mile for guests. If they're coming for a family celebration, I can help them organise a cake, caterers and even a photographer. We also provide a huge amount of advice to guests in the lead up to and during their stay. I've also started writing blog posts to give guests more insider details that might be helpful for their stay.

Fridays are my craziest day. This is the day we say goodbye to guests and welcome new ones. I usually bake a loaf of sourdough bread for our Eco Barn guests which goes in their welcome basket, together with other homemade goodies such as fresh eggs, organic produce from our allotment, locally-made jam and a freshly baked cake by our baker friend Andrew. My day revolves around supporting our team of cleaners and responding to any maintenance issues.

Sometimes I work in the Eco Barn

By far most of my time though is taken up by marketing. I’m not a marketing person by background so this hasn’t come easily to me. Things have changed so much, just in the five years we have been operating that it feels that this is becoming a bigger job, not a smaller job.  The main issue is visibility. I know we have a great product but getting the message out and sustaining our on-line presence is really hard. Whilst Google and Facebook are constantly changing, making it hard to keep up as a sole operator,  online travel agents are having a bigger and bigger impact on the market making it harder for small businesses to be found.  I try hard to get direct bookings as it benefits both the guests (you have a more personal experience and it's cheaper) and us as a smaller business.

Managing Kids and work

Hands downs this has been the hardest issue for me. I still think I’d like to return back to work someday, I spend a lot of time ruminating over this. Do I actually have the time? What would I even do? Do I really want to give up the flexibility?  In so many ways I am so very lucky, yes my work is very fluid (so I do feel like I am constantly at work) but I have 100% flexibility. I pick my kids up from school most days and can cover their holidays. That stress of who is picking them up today, isn’t generally part of our lives.

Recently I have become much stricter about how I work too – I am not sure why it took me so long to figure this out but the following measures have really made a massive difference (but I am only 2 weeks in).

a)I have dedicated hours in the week, which I plan a week in advance

b)I sit down to complete tasks – rather than just ‘be’ at my desk

c)I sort the tasks out around weekly themes – to avoid fliting from one thing to another

d)I have joined Facebook groups and such as the Boostly Academy and Vacation Soup – these international groups are made up of people in the same business as me, we exchange ideas, take part in group activity and learning and this has 100% reduced the feeling of isolation and helps give me focus and a sense of how my marketing needs to change.

e)I turn off my phone syncs when I am with the kids at the weekend - so distractions are at a minimum. I have muted most of my notifications permanently but guests can still call.

f)I have said no to any further building project until we have had a really ‘big’ family holiday!

g) And yes I need to produce a bi-weekly menu – I hate planning family meals.

On a deeper level I worry that I should still do more. My life is very domestic because we are in hospitality. I work from home, bake bread for guests and sometimes make jam, chutney or home grown apple juice. I do wonder what kind of role model I am for my two girls but I’m hopeful that I’ll find the balance and find a way to contribute more. I guess the next challenge is going to be to find the right part time role, or voluntary post where I can put my background in Environmental campaigning to more use.

Travel Tip created by Emma in association with Vacation Soup