"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns" - A letter from the writer George Eliot, 1st October, 1841*

Having just returned from a dream sequence fortnight in Italy, visiting our 750 year old paper mill, and teaching on a week long creative retreat in the Umbrian hills - more on that soon - it seems faintly ridiculous to be writing about that moment of the year already, and yet...  

Many of you are so admirably organised that you've have been asking us about this for weeks already, and so (fingers in ears for those who don't even want to think about it yet) I'm happy to tell you that Christmas has officially begun online, and you'll find some lovely new things amongst old favourites - explore our Christmas Shop.

In the spirit of sweeping Autumn leaves, we've also given the website a little tidy up, with the aim of making it easier and more enjoyable to browse - please do let me know what you think!

* Thanks to the ever inspirational Letters of Note for this opening quote