I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year. Like many of you ours was a quiet one with just our household. No noisy family parties or more civilised meals out this year which will make them all the more enjoyable when we are able to meet again. But there was laughter, family games nights, too much food and drink and heated debates over what films to watch just like there is every year.

It is the time of year when we tend to look back on what we did in the past year and think about what we would like to achieve in the coming year. 2020 was a horrible year, tragic for too many people, and it is tempting to write it off. But I think it is worth remembering the positives. Here are mine.

• My family are well. Our son Joe has been a star, doing most of the ‘outside’ stuff like shopping so us oldies could stay safe.

• My students have been so understanding and supportive. It has been horrible having to reschedule or cancel workshops as we have moved through different levels of restrictions. I am grateful for their stoicism and their kind words. And I am grateful for the company of the few students that did make it into the studio this year. Those few teaching days in the summer and early autumn were wonderful and I could have hugged you all if I had been allowed!

• My customers. To counter the loss of income from teaching I increased the range of products on my webshop in April to include hand printed fabrics, thermofax screens, dyes etc and my customers responded with amazing generosity. I am pretty sure that some of you didn’t really need that extra pack of fabric but thank you!

• Raising money for The Trussell Trust. Through the sale of limited edition bookmarks, £1 donation from each pre-order sale of my new book and sales of second hand textile books in the studio we have raised £692.50 since the start of the pandemic. This money will help support food banks across the UK. I don’t know if you have felt the same but there have been times this year when I have felt so useless. Sat at home whilst medics, carers and other key workers have done so much. The money we have raised together is a drop in the ocean but it is something.

• Writing a book. I wasn’t planning to write my second book, Colour Your Palette, this year but I needed something positive to focus on, to fill my days and, frankly, to bolster my bank account. It was incredibly hard to begin with as I was so worried and anxious about the spread of Covid-19 but I kept at it. And I am rather proud of myself and the book. Thank you to everyone that has brought it!

• And on a lighter note …. I had my annual health check a few weeks ago and was congratulated by the nurse for only putting on 3kg during lockdown. Apparently that shows remarkable restraint. She was a little less happy about the increase in alcohol intake but we can’t all be perfect!

It looks like we are in for a very difficult few months in the UK but 2021 will be better than 2020. We have vaccines which, hopefully, means that we will be able to meet again soon. And we will be able to hug!

Leah x