I decided I needed a good, solid hat. Something cosy and warm and still a little stylish. After all, I'm sure I could wrap my head in Styrofoam, but even the sheep might take a second glance. The only problem is there are literally thousands of different hats on the market and dozens of different materials. I needed to find one that worked for me. But what is the best hiking hat for winter?

We all want to see a cleaner, greener, and more eco-friendly world. But if we are genuinely going to make things better, we shouldn't be turning to single-season synthetic and environmentally-damaging fabrics. We should return to traditional, sustainable, and long-lasting materials like wool!

Wool is a well known material, as old as the hills, but there are also lots of things not everyone knows about woolly hats and you have been asking us lots of questions. We thought we would collate some of them and put the answers here.

When visiting the vet earlier today, a visit we really didn’t want to have to make, she said something to us that is so true, yet it is not something many of us ever talk about. “Where there is life, there is death”. The circle of life is of course something we all understand and accept. It’s only when things happen before their natural conclusion, we feel we have been robbed, such is the level of unfairness. Adrian was 18 months old and so very special to us. She was a real light in our lives and brought us joy every single day…

Having trialled a number of different wool care and cleaning routines, in my experience, the cleaning routine that really works is letting my woolly hat air as much as possible in between wears, with a surface spot clean if needed. When washing can’t be avoided, I hand wash the wool hat in cold water with a very gentle organic wool cleaner. After a single cold rinse and a gentle squeeze (the towel method is best), I re-shape my wool hat and lay it flat on a drying rack at room temperature. I found this the best way to care for my woolly hat and a cleaning routine that really works.

Tired of a life chasing corporate stuff, with not a moment to ourselves, we set off to find a new home in a remote part of Scotland. That new home was found on the Isle of Tiree, after a long search throughout Scotland. One day, we found ourselves saying yes to the offer of taking in an orphan lamb. One lamb turned to seven, and seven turned to 13. That is how we ended up on a tiny island with a flock of sheep…

Sometimes it can be tricky to decide on a hat. With it comes a myriad of decisions on colour, size, material and style. We think that the best way to help with these decisions is to take the natural shape of your face into account. The difference in the shapes of all of our faces is an astounding and wonderful reminder of the variety of beauty in the world, but a little bit of consideration of your face shape is helpful when making a beanie purchase. That’s why we’ve created a quick guide to help you find the right hat to suit your face shape.

Our little flock of orphaned lambs and sheep live happy, well cared for lives. Their winter coat is gently removed once a year to stop them overheating in the summer and we use the wool to make sustainable and eco-friendly hats, so that we can continue to look after them without bankrupting ourselves and so that we can rescue more lambs from slaughter in the future. And that is why I believe using wool from our sheep is not cruel.

Mindfulness is a day to day process of being aware of our thoughts, feelings and the surroundings around us. It involves accepting our thoughts and feelings, without judgement, and tuning in to the present rather than allowing the past to direct our choices in life. They don’t have to be big things. Here are 5 easy ways to make Mindfulness part of everyday life.

Since 1980, the clothing industry has grown dramatically. We now buy five times more in a year than we did 40 years ago, which comes out at an average of 68 items per person per annum. According to Mckinsey and Company, people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000 but only kept them for half as long. As an industry, fashion is absolutely huge – and understandably so. It is a product we all need, no matter what our interests, nationality or background.

Knowing a little about wool and having relied on it on many an adventure, I was intrigued by some of the benefits and how they could greater impact our lives - not just as an environmental and sustainable solution to clothing, but also on an individual basis. Wool has a multitude of qualities that make it so useful, but it has only been recently that scientific research has been developed to further our understanding of just how beneficial it can be.

We are in our second winter as I write this and it’s blowing a hoolie. Storm Dennis is raging outside with 70+ mph winds, having followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Ciara, who visited us only a few days earlier. And the week before we were introduced to Brendon. So you may well be asking yourself: how do you survive winter on a tiny remote Scottish island?

 It is easy enough to find a hat that will suit anyone, but that hat could be different for each individual. A spring style should be a way to welcome in a new year, and hats are just as much a part of your wardrobe as any other item of clothing. Making a statement is a must, 2020 is the year of finding the right hat for you.

I acclimatise to my local cold water swimming conditions. This has been my most important learning. The result: I can now wild swim in the cold water conditions for over 45 minutes in the depths of a Scottish winter without a wetsuit.

Jan 1st was the day I headed out on my first wild swimming adventure in the Atlantic Ocean. However, with my first adventure came my first surprise. Ice-cold brain-freeze.

18 months ago we were at that a point in life where we kept thinking “surely we can change our life and find a way to feel more fulfilled, a way to step off the treadmill and a way to kick corporate life out the door ”