A very quick note from us
Wishing you a year brimming with vim and vigour
Hey Everyone,
Just a very quick note from us to wish you a Happy New Year and to thank you for being part of this wonderful little community. I can’t quite believe where the last 12 months have gone. Full of ups, downs, challenges and joys. All the things that make life, life!
So thank you for being here. We’re so grateful to be able to share our world with you and we cannot wait to see what the next 12 months bring.
If you’ll allow me to be vulnerable for a second, I’ll be honest and say that 2025 hasn’t been the easiest of years for us. I (Jack) have struggled with some mental health challenges and, truthfully, at times my own mind has felt like a difficult place to live. Depression is hard to explain but when it traps you in its snare, it’s very hard to struggle free. There have been parts of this year where I’ve felt completely lost, overwhelmed with anxiety and a complete lack of confidence.
Gabby has been my anchor through it all and I just want to say thank you to her for being so strong and keeping us steady when I’ve not really been present. Also thank you to you, our community. Your comments are so wonderful and they bring us so much joy each week. This really is such a special place!
Things have been getting better, and reaching the end of the year feels like a nice way to close a chapter and look forward to the start of something new. I’ve just bought a new journal, and I’m sitting here with that familiar first-page stress, wondering what the first thing I write down should be. I always feel it should be something deeply poignant... But it’ll end up being something more like ‘went on a huge hike with Tilly, then slurped down a coffee while she snoozed on my lap.’ Deep.
Isn’t there something hopeful in a blank page, though?
Writing has always been quite cathartic to me, it’s a way to untangle some of the mess in my head and there’s something fitting about that as we head into a new year. A whole diary — ready to be filled with who knows what.
I don’t know about you, but I do always feel like there’s something strange about celebrating renewal in the depths of winter... It’s not yet the time of growth and making big changes - that’s what spring is for. Although maybe that is why we do it in January. It gives us time to rest, reflect, and prepare ourselves for the fresh start as the new season slowly awakens.
The air around our little floating home is crisp and clear at the moment, with a few days of beautiful sunshine and frosty mornings ahead. It feels cleansing and enlivening, the perfect way to welcome 2026. A friend of mine described it as ‘champagne weather’ and with the golden-hued sun of midwinter alongside the frothy frost around you, it couldn’t be a better descriptor.
No matter how your year has been, we hope you have a peaceful and joyous new year. Here’s to new beginnings and to spring being on the not-too-distant horizon.
With all our vim and vigour, Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2026.
Jack, Gabby, Joe + Tilly xx
Happy New year to you all.
Looking forward to seeing you in2026
Take care and stay safe 🥳🎊🎉🙂
Since you’re a creative, I’m going to suggest a great journal of sorts my therapist suggested to me.
It’s called «Wreck This Journal» and it’s available on Amazon. It’s not the typical journal where you write down your thoughts. Nor do you have to do the activities I’m a particular order. It’s pages of things where maybe all you do is scribble. Another, you stick nothing but the stickers on fruits and vegetables. It gives simple, fun activities when maybe life is feeling overwhelming. For me, it takes me back to childhood when all I needed was a piece of paper and a pen/pencil.
Happy holidays to you and your little family.