People ask me what my businesses and I hesitate for a second. It's hard to describe it in a few words when there is so much that we do. So I usually say a craft and gift shop with a little tea room which I often think doesn't really do it justice.
I guess the ethos of the business is about the value that goes into something that is handmade over something that's massmade in a country far far away where the workers probably get very underpaid in very poor conditions.
As life becomes a faster pace and IT becomes more and more involved in it I think it's a really important to take time to appreciate the value of what is around us. It's crazy that so many kids in the world today don't know the milk comes from cows and eggs come from chickens.
They think it all just appears in the supermarket.
I often wonder if I would be able to survive on produce that was only made in Mayo. Could we go back to the olden times where we didn't use imported goods and things that we got we knew where they came from.
We try and put people back in touch with things that are handmade. It's always great to see the satisfaction when people realise that they've just picked up a gift that was made in the county or the town or that they have just painted or sewn something and made it themselves.
And I take great pleasure when I serve someone and I can tell them that everything they are eating is made in Mayo. The scones are made in the shop with butter milk from Balla, the jam is made in Westport, the butter is made in also from Balla.
And so for Mayo Day this weekend I just want to celebrate some of the fantastic things that are made around the county that we sell in the shop.
