Squinting out into the (occasional) sunshine, we can now see the rather mixed results of our Pure Azure vegetable patch.

Much like life (sounds trite but bear with us), there are patches of vibrant green, with garlic shoots and salad leaves-a-plenty, ready to provide us with an abundance of tasty produce. But in amongst this, our new courgette plants are showing pathetic wilted leaves and sad looking stems which we fear will mean ultimate burial on our compost heap (ever with an eye to recycling). So why do some thrive and others give up the ghost?

At the risk of being painfully obvious, it is true that ups and downs in business (and life) happen. And not just in terms of money; ever wake up with a spring in your step, focused and energetic, then to spend the day productively working and getting results? (You must sometimes feel like this?!) For every good day like this in business, there are down days, when nothing goes right, the paper jams in the printer, you’re fighting off emails and yet again the sandwich trolley is out of tuna and cucumber (yes, it’s cheese and tomato again).

Well, ever obliging, we want to help you on those down days. Get your enthusiasm and business reinvigorated by some tactical promotions - think about refreshing your company logo, sending out enews to your clients or telling the local press about a new company initiative. In all of these enterprises we want to help, whether it’s design or editorial skills you need assistance with.

So talk to us. Just make sure you call on one of our good days (joke - we’re always happy to hear from you).

Okay, so life’s tough at times. But does success in your business mean that you have to overcome tremendous difficulties and go thoroughly ‘through the mill’ before you can make a name for yourself and be able to pay the bills?

Surely there are plenty of entrepreneurs who have set out with focused objectives and achieved what they want just quietly, in an ‘ordinary’, no-fuss way? These are the people who don’t make the headlines but work hard and get results. Why not champion the ordinary folk who make a success of themselves without drama but with good honest graft. It might not be as interesting to hear about but it’s by no means less valid.

Mind you there’s truth in the phrase ‘no pain no gain’, and let’s face it, the harder it is to achieve something the more satisfying it is once you have achieved it. If you have to really work at writing copy or creating the design which conveys the right message for a client, the ‘eureka’ moment when you get it right is that bit sweeter. And if the gym was easy we’d all be as lithe as Claudia Schiffer (though it’d still be dull, as let’s face it, who wants to run and not actually see anything interesting along the way except fellow-sweaty sufferers? Give us the birds, the trees and other people laughing at us wheezing).

But at the risk of getting a bit ‘Miss World’, we still mustn’t forget that worthy causes and people encountering difficulties do still need our support. Pure Azure’s very own designer is tackling the 5K Race for Life in Bridlington in June. It’s in aid of Cancer Research’s life-saving work and we’d love you to sponsor Tara, if you can spare some change. Or why not try it yourself, it’s only 5K and apparently you can walk it if you like (though driving the course might be pushing it a bit).

Pure Azure garden
We’ve cracked open the gardening tools now that May’s Bank Holidays are here (we hope you’ve voted in our poll), and now have a patch ready to spring into life with courgettes, tomatoes, beetroot and herbs, which will be spot-on now that the weather has become rather nice. The next few weeks will be Pure Azure vs slugs and weeds but it’ll be a battle well fought as we open ‘The Slug’s Retreat’ (that’s beer traps for the little pests) and yank up any suspect shoots. Any good recipes for what to do with this lovely fare welcome (not slug soup recipes though please, we mean for courgettes).