IF YOU EVER WANT a challenge, try explaining to a 93-year-old grandmother by telephone how to use an iPhone. P's grandmother had everything set up just so before there was a global pandemic. She's not very mobile anymore and so doesn't get out of the house very often these days ...
EVERY YEAR, AROUND this time, we always like to celebrate springtime with a bright moodboard of the all the beautiful things there are to look forward to: blossoming pink magnolias and bicycle rides, spectacular sunsets by the sea, light spring jackets and bouquets of white tulips―and while things feel like they may never been the same again, we created this moodboard for happier days to come...
THIS WEEKEND WE did not go to our favourite pub across the river for Sunday roast as we do every week, for we’ve begun social distancing, spending most of our time staying at home, with the exception of a countryside walk on Sunday, which happened to be sunny and beautiful.
ATE LAST WEEK we were back in Edinburgh to pick up the last of our things from the storage unit we’ve had there since our move from the city over four and a half years ago. After carting off bamboo chairs (once painstakingly hand-painted in eggshell Farrow & Ball and reupholstered in Sanderson chintz) ...
DEEP, MOODY BLUES always seem to go well with winter days, especially after the holidays are over and things begin to settle back into normal routines again. The winter blues can sometimes get you down, but not when they're used for perfect table setting inspiration ...
IT'S OFFICIALLY WINTER and after the solstice, the days are happily beginning to get longer again. Of course, that doesn't mean there won't be dark mornings and chilly nights for the next few months, and after the holidays are over...
THIS WEEKEND WE watched two films: Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019) and Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, 2019) and both were really good. Knives Out was fast-paced and funny and great fun to try to figure out, while Marriage Story was deeply moving and heartbreaking and made me cry several times.
Today was one of those quintessentially gloomy English autumn days that remind you that winter is on its way. Being forever in love with summertime, it can be difficult with the cold and dark, and so, to look on the bright side, we're drawing inspiration from the palette of overcast days.
HAPPY DECEMBER! It is scarily already the very last month of the year and it's rather shocking how quickly it all has gone. Of course, we made a major move half-way through the year, which may have made things seem to fly by more quickly, and have been spending the rest of the time caught up in a flurry of things―major projects and undertakings, new site and product launches and big plans for the new year ...
Recently, had told you about our trip from Spain to the south of France, Scotland and the English countryside in late May, early June. It was during this trip that we fell in love (again) with the countryside and thought it might be time to do something completely different than we've done before.
OUR FONDEST FAREWELL to summer is always one of our most popular series, not because everyone is happy to see the most beautiful season go, but because our readers love it so and want to give the proper send-off that it deserves...
THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND WAS filled with all of the very best things: perfect late-summer weather and champagne at a Sunday garden party; white horses and hilly trails and drinks on flower-laden terraces; late brunches, coffee and sunshine and wishing that summer would never end…