So for some reason when I published this the first time it published as a private post and this has only recently been brought to my attention. Note to self, pay more attention in the future!

I absolutely love adventure, and within reason I quite enjoy trying something new. So what about when the two combine and you have the chance to try someWHERE new? Hell yes I was there.

Last month I had the opportunity to try wreath making in a brand new place called Chapelton, and it was ADORABLE.  The event was held in one of the show homes, and I took a wee minute at the end (because typical Kirsty arrived late *eyeroll*) to have a look around – more on the houses later!

What exactly do I mean by “a brand new place”? I mean exactly that – prior to building starting Chapelton didn’t exist, it’s a whole new hamlet/town/place.  At the moment it is still a hive of building activity and I’m sure will be for a while to come, but there are also people now living there and fostering this exciting new community just south of Aberdeen. It’s like those who emigrated to found colonies in the now USA, only a little bit less major. They’re not starting a whole new country, but they are starting a new community and will always be able to claim their fame as the founding residents of Chapelton, a testimony which can be handed down through generations (because let’s face it, Chapelton might become a place of great cultural and historical significance in the future and we just don’t realise it yet!).

So the people behind Chapelton (well, the marketing team) decided to put on various events to not only encourage people from surrounding communities to check out their brand new place, but to encourage the people who were moving in to get to know each other and become a community.  One of these events was a wreath making class with esteemed Aberdeen florist Kim Dalglish, which is what I went to.

As somebody who has never made a wreath before (because the salt dough ones we made at Guides every year don’t count, apparently) the class in itself was an exciting experience. I managed, with quite a bit of guidance and an awful lot of stressy face pulling and looking at what other people were doing, to put together which vaguely resembled a Christmas wreath. It was smaller and simpler than everybody else’s, but life is not comparing yourself to other people (also I had to take it on two busses to get it home, so the more portable it was the better). I also had the issue where I couldn’t envisage where we were going to display this wreath, as my Mum had already been to a wreath making workshop and made a massive thing to hang on the door (which is still there, to be quite honest).

So where did we make these wreaths? In the kitchen. there was maybe a dozen of us in this lovely dining kitchen area all making wreaths together, which I think stands as evidence itself that the kitchen is a fairly good size. After the workshop I went and sat in the living room, which was cosy and homely really quite nice.

For those of you wondering, my wreath ended up in the cemetery where it put up a good fight against the wicked winter!

As somebody who has been thinking increasingly about finding a place to call her very own, the experience of visiting the show home of a new place was very interesting.  While it is not the right place for me (and is probably definitely out of my teeny tiny budget) Chapelton is not just lovely houses and a lovely community, but it is also in a really great location – in the countryside next to the sea close the the city. There are very few ‘dream location’ boxes that it doesn’t tick!

So what do you think, can you imagine pioneering a new community? What would you look for in your perfect home? Tell me in the comments below!

FIND CHAPELTON:

http://chapeltonnewtown.co.uk/

http://www.instagram.com/ChapeltonLife

http://www.facebook.com/ChapeltonOfElsick

 

FIND KIM:

http://www.facebook.com/kimdalglishflorist

http://www.kimdalglish.com

 

For those of you wondering, my wreath ended up in the cemetery where it put up a good fight against the wicked winter and looked pretty good against the white snow!