Last Santa Dash - 22 December

The end of the tunnel is in sight.

Funny how the big day is the same date every year, but somehow we still find ourselves caught short, so to speak.

The final few days become a frantic dash, armed with lists on scraps of paper, either along the high street or behind your screens online.

Add to that another weather warning with chilly artic winds approaching and folk start to get worried. But never fear, our little team of merry helpers are here still hard at work to send out your last minute orders.

Just to help you out a little, here's our bestseller list for this Christmas season:

Harry the Gladstone bag (£200) - with a free Ian Wallet (£65), but hurry as there are only 5 wallets left:


Mark the Field Bag (£85) - the best selling bag of 2010:

Dave The Rucksack (£140) - keeps featuring in the press:

Stephen Waist Pack (£70)- the most versatile travel companion in our collection, a waist pack and shoulder bag in one:

Joe the iPad cover (£48) - the newest kid on the block, padded with Herwick wool from Joe's farm:

Place you orders up to Wednesday 22 December for pre-Xmas delivery.

Though we can't guarantee the UK will be free from the icy fingers of an artic wind before the 25th, we will despatch your order within 1-2 days of receipt. UK orders are automatically sent for next day delivery with Parcelforce 24.

Happy shopping ... Warm fires, mince pies and a glass of your favourite tipple aren't far away.

Hold that thought.

Millican HQ - The Shed

We'd been planning it for months - the grand opening of The Shed, the new Millican HQ.

Our friends had been invited, the mulled wine was simmering and mince pies warming. What we hadn't prepared for though was the total White Out. The Arctics in Cumbria.


Sandra, our Office Manager and saviour, however was prepared on her first day in The Shed - armed with puffa coat, hat and slippers ...

George, our new lab pup, thought his first snowy outings were great fun, sliding along the frozen pond in hot pursuit of one of our cats.


There's something magical about sitting in a wooden hut, gazing out at a stunning snowscape with the flakes gently floating down. Things change when the snow arrives, sounds become muffled, the sunlight softens, as if everyone's pace goes down a notch, people breath out - time goes more slowly.

On the flip-side, travel needs postponing as roads turn to ice-rinks, and orders are delayed as the delivery company struggles to reach us. Carl, our Parcelforce hero, even succumbed to wearing trousers (shorts being the usual dress most of the year) and a woolly hat, so things must be bad.

We'd never profess to being even half as hard as our namesake Millican Dalton - he must have braved a fair share of harsh weather conditions in his Borrowdale cave and Epping Forest hut over the years. But there's something special about being one step closer to "out there" every time we walk through the garden to work. Watching the geese fly past in the valley, breathing in the woodsmoke on the breeze.

We may be in the the build-up to the festive season, thinking of what to buy for our loved ones, but just for today we're taking a breath, settling in and enjoying the view.

Hope you are enjoying yours.