WE ARE CURRENTLY having a slice of summer cherry pie with custard and talking about all of the things that have been happening in the world these past few days. And it’s a lot to take in. It’s difficult to remain hopeful and inspired, and to keep on creating and absorbing beautiful things when at times, the world seems so chaotic. But it’s important (especially) at times like these, to focus on the good things that happened as well, the lovely moments, and the connections we have with those in our lives, those who know us well and who will always be there for us. These are things that matter most...
THIS WEEKEND WE watched the Wimbledon finals, and Sunday’s match, between Federer and Djokovic, was especially exhilarating and ultimately heartbreaking (Federer forever). The weather has finally turned summery and I’m all billowy white dresses and espadrilles these days. The roses in all the English gardens have begun to fade, but everything is lush and green as it always is at this time of year, the height of summertime, when the days are hazy and you can almost hear the clouds float by. We still have so much to tell about these past few months of change and renewal, but for now, it’s nice to step back a little from everything, safe in the cosiness of the cottage and breathe. Also began a new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, which has provided much to think about…
PARIS IS HAVING A HEATWAVE and it’s only 13°C here in the English countryside. We call it a British Summer, but London is fine and is nearly as warm as Paris (but not quite). The locals here seem content to wear light jackets even in late June, for everything is lush and green and everywhere there is a fury of roses (our Instagram Stories is filled with them)...
WE HAVE BEEN waiting for plans to finally progress and have been staying at our hotel for so long now, the staff have been referring to us as “residents”. And all of this waiting has me thinking about the concept of time, especially since beginning the book Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, an Italian physicist known for his work on loop quantum gravity theory and the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Anaximander.
THIS WEEKEND WE SAW Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, whose ninth and latest film visits 1969 Los Angeles. Still not completely certain how I feel about it, but remember that it felt meanderingly and ploddingly slow, and very long. Of course, it was three hours and forty-five minutes, so it was actually long, but have always thought that really good films never seem to feel that way.
THE NEW ROUTER ARRIVED at the end of last week, and it was in the form of an AI Cube (despite being cylindrical) with Alexa installed. We have since been both mildly amused at the antics of new thing in our midst, and a little suspicious that it may be listening in all of our conversations. Also somehow picked up an horrendous summer cold somewhere at the beginning of last week that has progressively gotten worse...
WE PAINTED THE LIVING this weekend, Farrow & Ball’s Middleton Pink, and it turned out to be rather disastrous. We ended up having to pick up new paint the next day and repaint everything, despite all my research pointing to the colour being pale powdery perfection, the prettiest and most delicate pink. We’re not certain what went wrong, but perhaps a combination of the wall texture and room lighting were to blame in making the colour appear a vivid candy floss pink that somehow even managed to clash with the fireplace mantle, which is cream. Décor misadventures aside, everything else was rather perfect, with sunset walks and Spanish wine in the last golden light of day; old stone houses and English roses and roaring fires and the feeling of being really very happy.
WE HAVE RECEIVED a million notes and emails from you about the TIG newsletter, which has been on an unintentional hiatus due to technical difficulties for the past little while now. Far from forgetting about it when you no longer recieved it, you told us that you loved receiving article updates and missed it so and could we please fix it now?
IN THE MIDDLE of an actual hardcover book (after a long series already this year), but on a whim, decided to pick up the new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite this weekend, despite being an analog sort who still loves the feel of actual pages to turn and still uses notebooks and a pen everyday for to-do lists.
THE THING ABOUT MOVING in to a new place is that if you get it just right, it far too cosy to leave. This weekend, we ordered in a perfectly spicy curry from the best Indian restaurant in the area and stayed in, enveloped in the cosy-ness of the cottage.
IT’S FUNNY HOW one can see the humour in a debacle after it is over. On Monday, after a comedy of errors, managed to lock us out of the cottage after having only been there for three days. Neither of us had our keys, wallets and phones, but at least had the the rental car, so all was not completely lost…
WE HAVE BEEN spending much time in the English countryside, exploring all the utterly charming and quintessentially British villages along the way–ones with grand castle ruins and lively local pubs and ones with picturesque abbeys and lovely little stone cottages covered in ivy and surrounded by magnolias. We’re in the midst of sweeping changes and it’s all very exciting. Just a few more things need to fall in place before we know for certain and the waiting is the hardest part. Spring feels like the perfect time for grand changes.
THIS WEEK’S LINKS come very late, for on Sunday night, we found ourselves spontaneously off to the south of France and decided to take (a very rare) few days off. The city was dripping with late spring sunshine and the skies were a blue that are only characteristic of the Mediterranean. We wandered the city streets, had long and leisurely lunches over wine, slept in late and rarely looked at our myriad social media accounts or any work at all, really, which was pure bliss. It was the closest we’ve come in a long time to unplugging it was magnificent. Now we’re back at the office (remotely), refreshed and excited to get back to work…