I often hear people asking ‘Are you home for Christmas?‘ and this got me wondering.

What does ‘home‘ mean?

For me Pulborough is my home. It’s not where I grew up, but it’s where I’ve settled, where I’ve made friends and where I have immersed myself in the community.

Some of our customers commute into London for work, so they are only here at the weekends and even then there is little to entice them into the village for more than a few minutes. Obviously, The Flower Shop is a huge draw and Hennings the Wine merchant is as necessary as the Corner Shop and there’s the pub, but getting to know local people and business owners is hard if you rarely spend time in the village.

Even if your life evolves around Pulborough, the village is quite spread out, the school, the medical centre, the village hall, the dentist, hairdressers, the station…are all in walking distance of each other, but it would take most of the day to walk between them.

As the population grows, it’s hard to know who everyone is, for some Pulborough is like a small city, where you don’t know your neighbours, where you can walk past people in the street and not even look at them, somewhere where no one asks how you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve been doing? Where few people share in your joys and sadness, your up and downs.

That’s why I feel so lucky.

Since opening The Flower Shop,  I have not only made so many friends, but I have got to know so many people too, I have been privileged enough to share in birthdays, weddings, family celebrations, good news, condolences and funerals.

It’s why I feel at ‘home‘ in Pulborough and for that I thank you all, everyone who has popped in, ordered flowers and made me feel part of the community.

Merry Christmas!!