Greetings!
My Grandpa was a vegetarian pacifist who spent The War To End All Wars in Wormwood Scrubs as a Conscientious Objector, then taught at a series of what were, in their day, rather free-thinking experimental (private) schools - Bembridge, Dartington and Bryanston (at the latter he taught Terence Conran how to make furniture - how's that?).
Anyway, one April day at Bryanston a fellow teacher bounced up to him in the corridor and declared "Spring in the air, Mr Muirhead!", to which his reply was "I don't see why I should".
By contrast, the season is causing us to feel bouyant - frisky, even! It's partly the weather. But in addition we would cite a cheese-related trip to the River Dart; some Titchmarsh-related mirth; a bout of collage-related creativity, and ... Recognition From On High (well, The Observer anyway).
As ever, Read On, Gentle Reader ...
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They make Cheese. They make Wine. They are Sharpham.
 After last months trek up to the foothills of Exmoor, this time I've gone for the local option, with a trip to the Sharpham Cheese Dairy, only 15 miles or so away. The setting is stunning: on a huge bend in the River Dart. Look upstream and you see Totnes Castle and Church between a gap in the hills; just above the dairy is classical Sharpham House (1770) and all around are fields and ... vineyards (see photo)! Because Sharpham, uniquely in this country, makes not just cheese but its own highly-rated wine.
The background to to Sharpham is interesting, with connections to the Elmhirst family and their visionary / philanthropic project at Dartington Hall. But that's another story. Cheesemaking started with a brie or coulommiers style cheese, naturally named 'Sharpham' - and this is still very much in evidence. Nowadays a number of dairies make this type of cheese, so it's a shock to realise that when Sharpham was first made - in the 1970s - it was out there on its own.
Elmhirst (I always describe it as luxurious, and see no need to revise that description) was a natural development. It's still a soft cheese, with the same downy white rind, but now rich Jersey cream (like the milk, from their own organically-farmed herd) is added. If you haven't tried it, just imagine how good that's going to be, and you'll probably be right!
And added to that are two orphan cheeses, originally made by neighbouring maker Robin 'Beenleigh Blue' Congdon, but passed onto Sharpham when he decided to focus purely on blues. Sharpham Rustic - available plain or with herbs - is a special one for me as it's one of the cheeses that originally made me sit up and take notice of local cheeses. And you know where that led. Discussing it with Mark and chief cheesemaker Debbie Mumford, we agreed that it really is a very special thing. If a customer asked not for Rustic but 'something like it' I'd be at a loss! Finally there's Ticklemore, made much the same way as Rustic but with goats' milk.
See below for our half price offer on all of these - running throughout April!
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Sharpham Cheeses: Half Price this month!
 In keeping with this month's focus on all things Sharpham-esque, there's a Special Offer which will entitle you to 50% off any of their cheeses, in orders received before the end of April.
Take your pick from plain (now that's a misnomer) Sharpham Rustic - still one of my favourites - or the version with herbs. Perhaps you'll get one of the ones maturing here? Plus there's Sharpham (brie) itself, of course, and dreamy, creamy Elmhirst. Last but not least, the lovely goats' cheese Mark and co. inherited from Robin Congdon: Ticklemore.
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Observer Food Monthly Awards
 We are so, so, so pleased about this! The Cheese Shed has been recognised in the Observer Food Monthly's annual Awards: we were a runner-up in the 'Best Independent Food Shop' category. These are serious awards with a fair bit of prestige attached, so to get this is just fantastic.
I remember inviting you all to nominate us back before Christmas but had then forgotten all about it ... so seeing our name in the list a couple of Sundays ago was a delightful surprise. Big thanks to all of you who were kind enough to nominate us - it's a lovely validation of what we're trying to do. And they've sent us a sticker!
Of course, next year we'd like to win.
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Titchmarsh Quip Revealed
 We had some great entries to our 'What Did Alan Titchmarsh say to the Cheese Wedding Cake?' competition.
Without further ado, let me cue the drum roll and announce the winner as ... Mark Townsend. According to Mark, Alan is saying ...
"I thought you said our guest was John Cleese".
We like it, Mark, we do! A free Cheese Shed Selection is duly heading Mark's way. Honourable mentions - and £5 off their next purchase - to Nicholas Richardson, Susannah Mereweather, David Campbell and Sarah Higgins.
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Spring is Here, New Cheese Shed Card Confirms
 Our shed-in-a-snowstorm Christmas card turned into a 'winter' card, whose period of use was rather longer than winter itself. Finally, the gap between our card and the actual weather I could see through the shed window was a bit embarassing.
Clearly another boys make-and-do session was called for, so our top collagers (erm - collagistas? collagists?) have once again been called upon to deploy scissors and paper.
Here's the result, which will be used until the requisite number of swallows (how many is it, exactly?) have been spotted.
And before anyone says it, those are spring flowers, not lumps of cheese!
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