The Comfort of Making Together

Our creative Norfolk workshops continue to offer something quietly restorative, and this past week reminded me again just how powerful it is when people gather to make together. After two full days of workshops at the Wiveton Parish Rooms, I found myself reflecting on the calm, the company and the gentle rhythm that filled the space from morning until late afternoon.

The Parish Rooms are a wonderfully old fashioned hall with vintage crockery on the shelves, a very helpful serving hatch and an open fire that we did not need in this mild weather. It is a space that seems to hold people gently, and even those arriving for the first time relax almost instantly.

Our block printing workshop with the always brilliant Sue Welfare brought colour, pattern and plenty of laughter. Sue arrived with enough kit to teach one hundred people, and guests spent the morning testing inks, trying designs and building confidence. By the afternoon the tables were covered in joyful, personal prints. There was a lovely balance of quiet concentration and easy conversation that often appears when people are learning something new.

The next day we filled the hall with willow as Karen Bek guided everyone through making framed baskets. The room settled into a calm, reassuring rhythm as people bent, wove and adjusted their work with growing confidence. There were delighted smiles as baskets took shape, and each person left with something they were genuinely proud of.

Two days in that little hall reminded me that these workshops are about far more than the craft itself. They create a few hours in which the pace slows and people gently encourage one another. A simple cup of tea in a vintage cup tastes somehow better because of the company around the table.

That feeling sits at the heart of Reef Make and Do.

If you would like to join us for a pocket of calm before Christmas, there are still some lovely workshops available. With the sale now finished, everything that is left will run as planned, with one exception. Our two half day origami workshops with our new maker, Est Thorpe, on 5 December need a few more guests to make the day possible. Est is warm, encouraging and wonderful at guiding complete beginners. If you are already booked onto one of the sessions, you might like to invite a friend to join you.

You can explore all remaining workshops and courses at www.reefmakeanddo.com. New makers and new workshops for 2026 have also started to appear on the website. These sit on a separate page because I have moved to a new booking system which is clearer for you (and much better for search engines for me!)

For those who enjoy seasonally inspired cooking as much as hands on making, the recipe below is a simple and delicious way to bring a little warmth into your kitchen. I made it for a the calligraphy workshops with Jenn Roffe and it went down a treat! Let me know how you got on if you give it a go.

Plum and Clementine Galette

Ingredients

500 g plums, stoned and cut into one centimetre wedges

1 tablespoon cornflour

Half teaspoon ground cinnamon

50 g golden caster sugar

Zest of one clementine

Icing sugar for dusting

100 g golden marzipan

One sheet shortcrust pastry, defrosted in the fridge if frozen

1 tablespoon ground almonds

1 medium egg yolk, beaten

2 tablespoons flaked almonds

Vanilla ice cream to serve if you wish

Method

1. Put the plums in a large mixing bowl with the cornflour, cinnamon, sugar and clementine zest. Toss gently until the plums are evenly coated and then set aside.

2. Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar. Roll seventy five grams of the marzipan into a circle measuring about twenty two centimetres, turning it as you go.

3. Chop the remaining marzipan into one centimetre cubes. On a sheet of baking paper, roll out the pastry sheet to a circle measuring about twenty five centimetres. Place the marzipan circle in the centre and sprinkle it with the ground almonds. Arrange the plums on top, leaving a border of about three centimetres. Scatter over the chopped marzipan.

4. Fold the pastry border so that it overlaps the plums, pinching to seal any cracks as you go. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and scatter over the flaked almonds. Slide the galette onto a baking tray. (Cover, label and freeze for up to four weeks if you wish to make it ahead.)

5. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to two hundred degrees Celsius. Place a large baking tray in the centre of the oven for ten minutes to heat up. Slide the frozen galette onto the hot tray, still on its baking paper, and bake for thirty five to forty minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp.

6. Allow the galette to cool for five to ten minutes before serving. Leftovers will keep for up to two days in the fridge.