Before we start, I just want to let you know that I’m talking about my own business Dimpsey here, and that I am also a Blackdown shareholder/Board member. This isn’t an advert, I’m sharing a competition and some of my story with you, but as some of you might not know what I do when I’m not here at CWG, I thought it pertinent to mention.

So let’s begin.

I absolutely love all my businesses, but Dimpsey is my soul business. It’s a hospitality business that I run with my family, that was born out of a dream when we finally moved to a farmhouse with some land back in 2010.

The name is a Somerset word for the half-light at the end of the day, you know that time when it’s not quite light but not yet dark – that short moment of time when the night meets the day.

My Dimpsey logo incorporates antlers as the very first time we viewed the property and walked the land, we came across a deer standing in a copse, just looking at us.

Unstartled by our arrival, we held each other’s gaze for a long time and then the deer gently turned and walked away. It truly was quite a magical moment and in my heart I felt that it was a sign that this place was meant for us, even though it was out of our reach, and we had decided not to move – we were just there by chance really.

Fate moves in mysterious ways and it turned out that the deer knew more than we did and, against all the odds, we ended up here.

In another serendipitous moment, whilst we were in the process of buying, we took a holiday at The Yurt Farm in Wales and we fell in love with glamping.

Whilst there I picked up a Cool Places guide book, with a whole range of glamping locations in it. The place, the book and the wish to share the peace and contentment of the Blackdown Hills inspired me to think about starting a Glamping business of our very own, and 5 years after we moved in, that’s exactly what we did,

I wanted it to be 5* accommodation in a field, luxuriously styled on the inside and closely connected to nature outside. We ended up choosing a Shepherd Hut from Blackdown Shepherd Huts, who are 10 minutes up the road from us and in May 2015, we officially launched Dimpsey.

As part of running the business I wanted to celebrate UK makers and creatives or use vintage pieces as much as possible and through doing that, I’ve met many lovely makers over the years.

So, when I started thinking about doing a December competition, I wanted to do something a little different to really pay tribute to their work, as it’s so easy for us to overlook the hours of work that go into something when we buy it.

I felt I needed to challenge myself to get creative too.

I decided that I would pen a story, a piece of creative writing that features the 3 prizes that are on offer as a kind of homage to them. In doing so, I also hope to provide 5 minutes respite for you with a mug of your favourite brew as you read or listen to my submission below.

To enter the competition, you can head over to Dimpsey instagram here and like the photo and follow the 4 brands and tag a friend in the comments on the post, and I’d love it if you did do that please.

But for now, make a brew, get comfortable and I’ll share my story with you.

Come, let’s walk a while…

It’s early…

You sit at the kitchen table, one hand cradling your reviver morning tea mug, the other writing away, journalling your thoughts.

A lit Chapter candle sits on the table beside you, pooling light around your notebook and filling the room with its beautiful scent.

Once your thoughts are captured and your mind reset is complete for the day, you close your notebook and drain the last dreg of tea.

You blow out the candle and we walk to the door, grabbing a coat and the ready rucksack as we go, slipping through the door into the waking world…

The mist hangs in the air around us, weaving its tendrils amongst the hedges and hiding the distance from view.

We walk up the hill, for we know we might find treasure there to gladden our morning.

Stepping out, our breath hangs in the air as we go, a vaporising trail that belies our presence but soon disappears.

We talk as we walk, the easy chatter of relaxed people taking the chance to reconnect, every now and again silenced by the incline…

We gradually leave the mist behind us, it vainly tries to cling to us, but the warm sun deters it and our way ahead is clear.

Still we climb, but we can see our destination ahead of us, a majestic copse of trees, standing tall and proud on the hill.

We get there, puffing slightly from the walk and swing the rucksack off our back.

It’s still damp underfoot, but we have Fold & Hide Supply explorer mats swinging from our rucksack, so we place them down.

Their waxed surface protects us from the ground, the woolly topper provides softness.

We settle down, our backs against the tree and then we take in the view.

Below us, the bottom of the valley stretches away carpeted in a low hanging mist, but above it is clear blue sky.

Only the tallest of trees and the tippiest top of houses can be seen – we have found the gift of inverted fog…

We sit above it, basking in glorious sunshine; flask cups in hand, tree trunk at our back…

You slowly close your eyes, day dozing with contentment.

I smile and reach into the rucksack and pullout my part-read book, I bring it to my tucked-up knees.

Resting it against them, I turn to my page and smile…

The book is called “Chasing Fog” and we’ve most certainly done that, it’s stretching out below us, carpeting the valley but we’ve risen above it.

Adjusting my position against the tree, I settle back to read the author, 

Laura Pashby’s beautiful words for a while, with the warming sun gradually revealing the scene below me…

You wake, I pull the fly leaf of the book round to keep my page and tuck it away safely in the rucksack.

We rise, we walk.

Time to start the day…

Thank you for reading and thank you for listening. Please don’t forget to go and enter the competition here if you wish to, the terms and conditions can be found on the instagram post. The competition closes on Sunday 15th December at 11.59pm.

Also, if it’s not the right time for you to buy something to support makers and creatives like those featured in this story, please remember that a like, a share or a comment is also really appreciated by them as it recognises their hard work and may introduce them to a new customer.