Nigel Williams...

It is always nice to be spoilt, or given unique and thoughtful gifts. For my birthday this year Peter commissioned a choral work for me, based on Psalm 89. This is one of my favourite psalms for obvious reasons...

... Thou spakest in visions unto Thy saints, and saidst:

"I have laid help upon one that is mighty, 

I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

I have found David my servant, 

with my holy oil have I anointed him.

My hand shall hold him fast, 

and my arm shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall not be able to do him violence, 

the son of wickedness shall not hurt him.

I will smite down his foes before his face, 

and plague them that hate him.

My truth also, and my mercy, shall be with him,

and in My name shall his horn be exalted.

I will set his dominion also in the sea,

and his right hand in the floods.

He shall call me, Thou art my father, 

my God and my strong salvation.

And I will make him my first born, 

higher than the kings of the earth.

My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, 

and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

His seed also will I make endure forever, 

and his throne as the days of heaven...

Above: King David playing the Lyre.

The composer is Nigel Williams, a New Zealander specialising in choral church music and organ music. He has worked extensively in the UK, and was at one time Director of Music at St. Peter's Cathedral where Peter and I worship. He is now based in Tauranga. 

His forte is choral music of a traditional flavour. He has a fair catalogue, accepting commissions from around the world. The piece Peter has commissioned will be composed around traditional English plain chant, but more than that we will not know until it is finished. We hope that it will have its debut at the consecration service for the chapel.

The Store...

We will be opening a country store, selling organic gourmet products made from produce grown on the estate, and also specialist gifts, such as gardening tools, flowers and plants, and luxury toiletries. It is something which we had considered, after visiting many such stores at houses such as Chatsworth, Blenheim, Waddeston, and Highgrove in the UK, which all sell their own ranges of gifts and comestibles. Highgrove is by far the most impressive, and provides much inspiration...

The store in Tetbury (above) was opened by
HRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall last year (below).

Everything is either grown on the Highgrove estate (below) of sourced from local farms.

We hope our range of produce will become as iconic as these other successful ventures, albeit on a smaller scale. We hope to have the shop open in time for Christmas sales 2010.

Above and below: Further examples of similar shops.

Something which I adore are all the small, hand made garden tools made and sold by Highgrove, such as below.

Above: Paper pot maker (A clean and green way to recycle newspapers into small seedling pots)

Below: Planting tags (I am often confusing newly growing plants with weeds without the aide of labels to remind me where I planted what!

Above: A dibber for making seed planting holes a varying depths, used in conjunction with a seed planting line (below).

We will also sell small tools. We will package them all up in gift sets in seedling boxes (such as the Highgrove one below), and sell them as hampers, along with gardeners hand balm and other yummy goods!

They do know how to present their products well!

As well as selling directly from the store, we will have stalls at local Farmers' markets, and have already been in touch with a specialist hamper company to stock our products in their hampers.