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) ...
THIS WEEKEND, the weather warmed up enough to show us a glimpse of spring. All through the village, winter blossoms are blooming, a surprise to us, for we thought all the bright yellow petals on bushes nexts to garden paths and pink blossoms on the archways of trellises would wait for at least another few weeks.
HERE IN THE UK, TODAY IS considered the first day back to work after the holidays. We were away to visit family in Scotland late last week, and spent the weekend lingering over festive things for the last time, so it's back to work for us today as well. On Sunday the weather was beautiful and we spent most of our time outdoors in the beautiful English countryside ...
THERE ARE ONLY two days left until the General Election and for the past two weeks, flyers have been dropped through our mail slot and canvassers have been ringing the door bell.
THIS MORNING, THE entire countryside was covered in a layer of frost—the rooftops, with their wisps of white chimney smoke, the well-manicured hedges in front gardens and each red and fallen leaf on the sidewalks. And on the hills in the distance, a softly rising mist...
AFTER STORM CIARA moved on, the news was filled with calls to “batten down the hatches” for Storm Dennis, which was to pass through this past weekend.
EVEN THOUGH WINTER comes every year, always forget what an ordeal it actually is. How early the days get dark. How overcast and blustery and how much all of this makes me never want to leave the house until spring. It feels like we're on the 174th day of January and there's still February ...
HERE WE ARE, on the very last day of the year (and the decade!) and there's a feeling of calm and thoughtfulness as there always is at this time of year. Having spent the past three New Year's Eves in Spain, we're back celebrating in the UK and it's a very different time than it was before we left ...
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 ...
AFTER FINISHING Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow last week, was a little stressed about choosing the next book to read as that one and most of the ones before were all so good. (This one is a beautiful read, by the way.)
STORM CIARA was in full force this past weekend with gale force winds, driving rain, and even hail. Needless to say, we spent most of the time indoors, keeping cosy by the fire, watching films and trying out new recipes (P made roasted cauliflower with creamy pesto risotto).
THERE IS A STORM on the way, very high winds, rain, and perhaps even snow tomorrow. At the moment, though, it is still up swirling about up north in Northern Ireland and Scotland and making its way down. Here, it feels as if we've been hibernating since the start of the new year, venturing out over the weekend only for a quick drink in the cosy pub ...
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.
JUST FINISHED reading Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow and it was so, so good. If you're looking for a work of non-fiction that reads like a fast-paced spy thriller, then you will love it.
