It’s nuts

“Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it time runs out.”
― Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
I like a bit of of a quote and this is one that frequently runs through my mind. Those moments when it’s easier to say no to something outside my comfort zone only to kick myself later for not trying. Sometimes you can think and analyse ’til the cows come home but when alls said and done what you actually need to do is just do it, roll the dice, throw the balls in the air and go for it.

When we were preparing to make the move to France a lot of people asked, what if it all goes wrong? The only way I could answer was to say, it’s scary but what’s scarier is the thought of letting the opportunity pass and always regretting we didn’t give it a go.
Life takes some interesting twists and turns and in the few months 23littletrees has been running we’ve already seen a few. We started out dreaming of growing and making herbal teas and seeing if we could successfully grow saffron whilst keeping 2 families in organic veg.
Now we’re making films! This time last year I would never have believed it and I definitely would not have believed how much I love it – being in front of a camera?! The saffron bulbs are still in the bag, the tea is way down on the wish list but the families are being well fed!
We’re cooking, we’re gardening and we want to share this through the art of film.

Now Mandy is used to this kind of thing, she acts, sings, plays guitar – maybe seeing her so confident reassures and encourages me. Maybe I just can’t bare the thought of not trying and regretting it.
Anyway, we had a go at making a film in the summer. We made rhubarb and ginger jam. It was delicious – the jam that is. We spent hours filming. We then had a go at editing the footage to realise (several hours in) that we hadn’t actually filmed the final scene. If I remember rightly Mandy stuck her headphones in and had a protest snooze whilst I sat glaring at the footage hoping that last scene would magically appear – we put so much effort in. Blame it on wine consumption, it was a long days filming or just plain lack of experience. What we had learnt was that we liked making films and decided not to give up.
Mandy knows about film, she’s studied it – I know is there anything she can’t do, hasn’t done???
The equipment is somewhat lacking – a camera and tripod – that’s it and the hours are often hard to find but the desire is there.
Bottling beetroot was made. Now, we gave this one a bit more thought. We storyboarded it and planned cutaways – look at me with all the jargon!!! We also realised we say ‘ so’ a lot – note to self, don’t start every scene with the word so.
We didn’t rehearse, write a script or run though the recipe before we started. But, we had such a fun day and we did film the final scene. We made a film. It left us wanting more…..

Our latest effort will soon be ready and this one’s nuts, Chestnuts actually.
A rushed storyboard, no script, no rehearsal and a very cold, windy day. A day literally to get it all filmed – start after the kids have been dropped off at school and finish in time for pick up.
Now, we have all the footage and this time an editor. Oh yes, an editor. The real deal. A friend of Mandy’s has very kindly tolerated our amateur footage and is currently putting this film together for us. Very exciting for us but I do feel for the man. Wishing you could take back your offer Mark?!

We’ve had a few passes at this stage (note the pro jargon again!) and we’re really looking forward to seeing it finished. So now we’ve got an editor maybe it’s time to start thinking it through a bit more. I dunno, practising the recipe first might be an idea and I’m sure he’d appreciate a decent story board. We don’t say ‘so’ quite so much though. Uuuum, by the end we’re not smiling so much, we were bloody knackered and my nose is ridiculously red, did I mention it was freezing. Make-up, more make-up but that won’t help my double chin, how had I not noticed….ooooh.

So folks, when our nutty film is finished give it a go eh? Make yourself a hot chocolate or perhaps pour a whiskey and curl up for 20ish minutes (yer, we might need to work on the length too) of us doing our thing. You may learn something, you may be inspired or you may just use the time to appreciate friendship, giving life a go and asking why not.
Hal
xxx