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Are You Sitting Comfortably CHRISTMAS READS 2023 sponsored by The Beautiful Book Company
As soon as the dark begins creeping in around 4 o’clock here in the Shires, there’s nothing we like more than to settle by the fire with a glass in one hand and a book in the other. Whether you’re in need of an antidote to the Christmas rush, a book or two to provide a little gift inspiration or something to usher in the festive mood – here’s our little list…
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Simple Winter Suppers with Forge and Foundry
Baked Orzo Bolognese Happy December! As the advent countdown begins, the children are high on chocolate and Christmas cheer, the adults are swimmy on Baileys and Christmas bonhomie and the dog is high on anything she can snaffle from under the table and an apparent liking for Michael Bublé Our thoughts begin to turn to Christmas (ok they have been facing that direction for a while but now it is…
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Simple Winter Suppers with Falcon Enamelware
Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff As the nights draw in our minds naturally turn towards food for warmth and comfort. Salads be gone! Grilled food be banished! Warming, hearty, belly satisfying nourishment is required and what better than the second recipe in our new series: Chicken Stroganoff – creamy, smokey, heart warming deliciousness. Fancy enough for friends but cosy enough for a simple winter supper. We have teamed up with our…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably November’s suggested reads
Rebecca and I are still crossing our legs after our brilliant conversation with Nina Stibbe for November’s Are You Sitting Comfortably. Honestly, Nina has such a talent for comic timing and witty observations – one of the best comic voices in the book world. Her diary of her year-long sabbatical from her life, Went to London, Took the Dog should be on everyone’s reading pile. It’s a love letter to female friendship,…
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New Simple Winter Supper Series
With Rose from Mum On Muddy Lane Please welcome my lovely friend Rose who creates the most delicious recipes from her cosy cottage in Cornwall. Over the next few weeks, Rose will be whipping up a variety of delicious simple winter warmer suppers, perfect for easy entertaining over the festive period or just snuggling up by the fire. Rose and I met on Instagram sharing our cottage homes, our love…
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Laura Ashley SS24 collection
I am a homebody, there is no denying this fact, I love my cosy home and it takes a lot to make me leave it..apart from the school run/ dog walk/ yoga sessions and occasional brave venture to the local pub to meet up with friends (they make excellent chips). Yet the call of Laura Ashley was like a siren call from the crashing waves of the big smoke. You…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? November Read
Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe Well, it’s officially that time of year when the call of the armchair with a little glass of something is the only way to spend an evening. What better way to cheer up those rainy dark evenings than a side-splitting diary from one of the most sharp, wise comic voices in the bookish world. It’s twenty years since author Nina…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably October Further Reads with The Beautiful Book Company
Rebecca Fletcher’s Further Reading suggestions: ‘Art and love are all we leave behind’ – a beautiful line from The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy, debut novelist and this month’s guest for Are You Sitting Comfortably. The Porcelain Maker is such a bittersweet story of the enduring legacy and power of art and love to communicate beyond words, to transcend death, that it got me thinking about other books where these…
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Othello at The National Theatre and in your sitting room!
60 years of The National Theatre! I have never known the South Bank without that crazy fabulous Brutalist building that inspired so much of my youth and childhood dreams of becoming an actor. When I was at university, we formed a theatre company called “The Smashing Theatre Company” (terrible youthfully exuberant name but we can’t have been that terrible because Dame Judy Dench agreed to be our patron – this…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably with The Beautiful Book Company
They had me at “smell”: Whilst many people choose e-books these days, we’re sure you’ll agree that there is nothing better than the look, feel and smell of a physical book, whether you’re opening it for the first time, or pulling it off the bookshelf to devour for the twentieth time. The Beautiful Book Company These bookish beauties made me whoop for joy with this sentence, yes it is about…
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Sarah Raven’s garden – The Return
I was lucky enough to be invited back to visit Perchill by my best friend in the whole wide world Sarah Raven. We hadn’t seen in each other in such a long time (the press event last year but she is a very busy lady) and I know we were both looking forward to the catch up. Sadly Sarah was rushed off her feet with cooking, flowering and chatting biodiversity…
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Summer suggested reads with The Braided Rug Company
Summer reads are all about escaping into another world, whether you’re sitting on a sun lounger or snuggled up in an armchair. Here are our Are You Sitting Comfortably top reads – we’ve had our heads in a book to bring you the best of what’s on the shelves right now from a little magic to historical heists, summer get togethers, a troupe of dotty dachshunds and much more. …
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Are You Sitting Comfortably Santa Montefiore? With The Braided Rug Company
Yes! Another exclusive massive best selling super famous extraordinary writer whose books I have devoured with extreme joy for many years…THE Santa Montefiore. Rebecca F and I will be interviewing her about her new book “Wait for Me” actually, in real life…well..real Instagram Live life! Our sponsors this month are the perfect pairing having just released their new summer collection of Beni Tote bags with which to pop in Santa’s…
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Rural life is not quiet
Don’t make me the mad woman in a too tiny “this still fits me and I wore this on my honeymoon” struggling bikini smashing noisy cricket bats together …who is…about to be…arrested by the police”… I faltered in my magpie abuse as a police car and van arrived outside my gate. In ten years I have seen one police car here, this was unprecedented. I knew that my bikini was…
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Decorating for spring summer encouragement
Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out It’s raining, it’s 11 degrees and I regretted my clout casting on my dog walk this morning…but the burgeoning hedgerows, the slightly flattened cow parsley and the appearance of a peony bud after 8 years of trying to grow peonies has inspired me to take fingers to keyboard. The Hawthorne is out (the ‘May be out’ is possibly an allusion to the…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? April further reads with The Woolroom and Lyma
I’ve been thinking about time slip novels ever since April’s AYSC exclusive with the lovely Kate Morton. It was wonderful to explore Kate’s fascination with having one foot in the past and one in the present as she weaves her intricate stories which we know you all love as we’ve been inundated with messages. I can’t tell which one of Kate’s seven novels I’ve liked the most but what I…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably April Exclusive with The Woolroom and LYMA – KATE MORTON CHAT
Much excitement at Are You Sitting Comfortably HQ this month as we interrupt our normal transmission to bring you an Easter exclusive from an incredible Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author. In fact, it’s so special that we’ll be crossing live on Instagram to Australia to chat to none other than Kate Morton, award-winning and bestselling author of six novels including The Forgotten Garden and The Clockmaker’s Daughter.…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? March Further crime investigations (well…suggested reads…)
Delicious Death indeed. Well, Are You Sitting Comfortably sleuths, what a wonderful evening was had chatting to modern day Queen of Crime, Janice Hallett. So much insight into Janice’s writing process, the true crime stories that have inspired her and how the real work begins once she’s completed her first draft. It’s no wonder she’s been coined the Agatha Christie of the 21st century, her bestselling novels are beautifully crafted,…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? March Crime reads
It has been a whole entire year of Are You Sitting Comfortably? so to celebrate Rebecca and I have returned to our natural home – crime…ok, we don’t quite fit the profile for gangsta criminals but we do love a ruddy good mystery and wanted to return to where AYSC began: with a good old Agatha Christie. We picked three popular Agatha Christie novels (also included in her own top…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? February’s suggested further reading sponsored by Smith and Munson
Smith and Munson Mother’s Day collections It was wonderful to chat to our guest author, Georgina Moore, about her debut novel, The Garnett Girls. Four women all on a quest to explore what love really means to them and make peace with their past and present – I loved how this novel explored each of their journeys and shifting senses of identity. Huge congratulations to Georgina who became a…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? February reads with Smith and Munson
Rebecca F sent me the most exquisite tulips last year and I have never forgotten them. With tulip fever dreams already blooming around us I knew that this fifth generation British company were the perfect sponsors for this month’s subject of Family. Smith and Munson were founded in 1949 in South Lincolnshire and are now fifth generation flower growers. It all began with George Smith, whose daughter Hilda married Jack…
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Christmas Reads
A Book Bundle of Joy for Christmas and beyond by Rebecca Fletcher Some years ago, I was writing a magazine feature about Christmas when I came across an Icelandic tradition which struck me as the perfect festive pastime. Deciding there and then that the closest I might get to visiting Iceland any time soon was prizing open the heavily frosted door of the freezer, I became an adoptee of this particularly lovely Christmas Eve…
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Further Suggested reads “Reputation” sponsored by Julia Brendel
I don’t know about you but I found that there was definitely food for thought this month with our theme of Reputation. From the devilish deliciousness of Becky Sharpe from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair and Sarah Vaughan’s brilliant female characters in her latest thriller, Reputation, to a wonderful cast of women of many talents, skills and much courage in Kate Mosse’s Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries, their voices whether in fiction or in real life,…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably- November reads “Reputations” sponsored by Julia Brendel
What an absolute corker of a month! Three extraordinary books dealing with super strong female characters. We will be interviewing the super famous Sarah Vaughan about her latest novel (also about to be made into a tv series like her previous book “Anatomy of A Scandal”) as well as looking at Kate Mosse’s latest book “Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries”. The amazing textile designer Julia Brendel is kindly sponsoring this…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably Suggested further reads for October “New Beginnings”
What a live this week. What more could you ask for when the rain is lashing down than an evening of books and wine? Plenty of rooms with a view too with SJ Axelby’s beautiful ode to room portraiture in her collection of illustrations and vignettes into designers’ living spaces, Interior Portraits: An Artist’s View of Designers’ Living Spaces. Definitely the perfect accompaniment to any new beginning and an…
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September’s Suggested Further Reading with Betsy Benn
By Rebecca Fletcher What a bookish September we’ve had to open a new series of Are You Sitting Comfortably. I’ve found myself pouring over blurbs on the back of books thanks to our lovely guest Louise Willder and her witty exploration of the dark arts of persuasion and blurb writing in Blurb Your Enthusiasm. It’s a writer’s gem if you’re looking for tips and tricks of how to really hone…
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A magical happy day at Perchill Farm with Sarah Raven
Earlier this year I was contacted by the Sarah Raven team: would I like to work with them? I pulled on my wellies, added a smudge of soil to my cheek and asked what time I should arrive. They sweetly explained that they were more hoping for my expertise with regards to styling and writing rather than actual flower propagation, I slowly removed my over the elbow leather gardening gloves…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably with Betsy Benn
Hello! Welcome back! Obviously it is still very much SUMMER but it is time for our back to school September book recommendations. Who better to sponsor this than the beautiful Betsy Benn? The prettiest stationary for a new September start that can be personalised for an extra special thrill of joyous fresh pages and new beginnings. Oh the bliss of brand new stationary!!! That first page of neatest writing…stroking the…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably August Suggested Summer reads
Rebecca and I are thrilled that so many of you have been able to join us for Are You Sitting Comfortably over the past few months and for all the wonderful messages we’ve had on the Lives as well as posts on our book choices for each month. We love hearing from you about what you’re reading and what you think about the books we’ve chosen. A massive thank you…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably Sisterhood suggested further reading with
What a treat to have the lovely AJ Pearce as our guest author for July’s edition of Are You Sitting Comfortably. Yours Cheerfully is just the tonic for a heart-warming read and I love dear Mr Collins as much as Emmy and Bunty. AJ has a wonderful way of creating joyous characters as well as shining a spotlight on the ordinary in extraordinary circumstances. I can’t wait to hear what she has…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? Summer reads (Sisterhood) with Fable England
Summer is a time to slow down, to enjoy simple pleasures, Rebecca Fletcher and I have put together a list of wonderfully languorous, sink into the summer sunshine reads. A huge thank you to our perfect sponsors Fable England for sponsoring our July reads. This couldn’t have been a better partnership with our first book “Yours Cheerfully” by A J Pearce. This wonderful novel is set during the Second World…
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If you liked this….Family Sagas further suggested reads
By Rebecca Fletcher What a book trio we had this month! Diving back into my favourite series of books (and other Rebecca’s too), I was very tempted to stay ensconced in the world of the Cazalets a little while longer with a large Gin and It. I urge you to read all five if you haven’t already – if a more absorbing series of books exists, I’ll eat my hat!…
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If you liked this….Rebecca Fletcher’s picks for further Rural Landscape novels
Landscapes can be so much more than backdrops to novels – they can become protagonist or plot driver. As Costa Award Novel Winner Claire Fuller, our special guest for this month’s Are You Sitting Comfortably? shared, the story of Jeanie and Julius in Unsettled Ground emerged from a photograph of an abandoned caravan her son had found in the woods. Who had lived there? What was it like to be on the…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? With Gone to Seed – Rural Landscapes
Who better to sponsor our rural landscapes book blog than Gone to Seed – online specialists in dried and gift flowers. Founded by Luke and Elly Collings, whose wedding like so many recently, was rearranged three times. Finally able to hold a small winter wedding, the couple foraged for flowers and mixed them with dried stems and out of an exasperating situation arose a beautiful wedding and a fantastic new…
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If you liked this….Rebecca Fletcher’s picks for further Crime Novel exploration
Sponsored by Ibbi Marple or Poirot? Morse or Holmes? We’re obsessed with solving a good mystery. With crime being such a hugely popular and varied genre, it’s hard to pick favourites. Who knew there was such a thing as ‘cosy crime’? Murdered by macaroon perhaps? I wonder if that’s what our dear Agatha would be filed under nowadays. Whether it’s a candlestick in the library or a drop of arsenic…
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Are You Sitting Comfortably? With Ibbi – Crime Time!
Three gorgeous women who 10 years ago travelled as friends and returned as business partners, fostering relationships with traditional artists in West Bengal and South Africa to promote their traditional skills responsibly and fairly to a wider audience. As soon as Rebecca Fletcher (my reader in crime – so sorry) mentioned “The Christie Affair” my tiny Marple senses began tingling. “What?” I screeched “As in AGATHA CHRISTIE!???? WE HAVE TO…
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If you liked this….Rebecca Fletcher’s picks for further Gothic Novel exploration
Sponsored by The Natural Blanket Company Further suggested reads If you enjoyed The Key in the Lock then do seek out Beth’s first book, The Witchfinder’s Sister for another beautifully crafted novel based on a true story. Bearing all the hallmarks of Beth’s atmospheric writing, The Witchfinder’s Sister tells the story of Alice Hopkins who returns to life in a small village in Essex alongside her brother, Witchfinder General Matthew. Home is much changed and Alice…
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Styling an Instagram photo – building a picture
Creating a vignette and building up a ‘story’
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Are you sitting comfortably? With The Natural Blanket Company
Thank you so much to the beautiful Natural Blanket Company for being brave enough to be our first ever sponsors for this new series. With their ridiculously soft British blankets this company seemed the perfect fit. They share my deep love for the British countryside and “the wild places found on our coastline”. Couple that with pure wool designed, sourced and made in the British Isles this makes us very…
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Country Cottage Creatives
Interview with celebrated local potter Gabby Smith “shopatseed” Gabby Smith took up pottery only a few years ago but her creations have rather outgrown her tiny home pottery studio and can now be found in numerous independent shops and restaurants with big names approaching her to create pieces for their exclusive venues. Not bad for a girl who was warned off taking GCSE art! With an entire page in the…
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The third and final instalment of Christmas Magazineing
Kate moved into this stunning building in Hertfordshire two and a half years ago. When she first viewed the property it had been empty for a long time and the previous tenants had left this beautiful old converted pub in a hideous mess. When I viewed the property It smelled so appalling that I kept having to pop outside to take in clean air! Kate – @myoldpub Kitchen doors were…
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Christmas Magazineing Part Deux
We were lucky enough to be invited into the stunning home of VV Raven . Not only a truly beautiful cottage but also practically on my doorstep so no terrifyingly long night driving for me – although I did manage to get lost on the way home thereby doubling the journey time!!! Jo and her husband Peter run VV Raven – an eclectic mix of amazing floristry and vintage clothing…
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Country Cottage Christmas Canapés
By Lucy Hoyle I couldn’t contain my excitement when the fabulous Rebecca of My English Country Cottage fame, (who until now had been my Pilates friend, exchanging grimaces as we were encouraged to stretch our bodies into bizarre positions) asked me to make some Christmas canapés for an actual real life photo shoot at her magical home. I immediately got to work looking at my canapé menu and working out…
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Sitting Spiritually Blog and Live with….me!!! Hurray!!!
Last year I worked with the fabulous Sitting Spiritually team who make the most beautiful swings and swingseats from their family run business in gorgeous Lyme Regis. They got back in touch to see if I would be interested in taking part in their “Have a Seat with…” series. Given the extraordinary gardeners that they have interviewed, I felt impelled to gently explain that my gardening prowess extends to lobbing…
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November Norfolk Magazine shoot Part Deux – Reclamation and Roses
Tucked beautifully away on a bustling Georgian High Street in Hingham, Norfolk this stunning 14th Century home looks out over the village green, is rammed with medieval beams and wonky floors whilst also hiding a treasure trove of reclamation pieces in the shop below. Hingham received a Georgian make over in 1800 which has given this house the joy of characterful dark medieval beams but coupled with huge Georgian windows.…
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Get The English Country Cottage look for Christmas
High on the success of my English Home magazine coup (I still have no idea how we made it into this interiors magazine maven) I thought that I would go through each room with a little more detail as to how we created our cosy cottage Christmas. I spend days decorating our home every year and I genuinely believe that it makes the festivities feel far more special (that and…
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The wonderful world of wreaths
I find there’s something so rewarding about creating a wreath and also find them therapeutic to make. Christmas is a perfect time to get creative and have a go at making your own but I do warn you, once you’ve had a go at making your first, you’ll be making them throughout the year! Wreaths are not just for doorsWreaths make wonderful gifts and while there is the tendency to…
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My English Country Cottage at Christmas
Well it’s mainly about the magazine shoot but lots of Christmas photos – ok? I wrote this blog last year when the glamorous magazine people came to shoot my house for a Christmas magazine feature. The English Home magazine Christmas edition FINALLY came out this week (I had to wait an ENTIRE year!!) so I thought I would add the professional photos from the shoot that the genius who is…
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A quick 5 minutes on what you should be doing with your dahlias
By Karen Atwood @flowersandlifestylebymargot The darling dahlia, such a wonderful summer flower for borders and cut flower gardens. They provide so much colour and interest and with so many different varieties, I challenge anyone not to find one that they love. My favourite is cafe au lait but as my collection continues to grow, there are quite a few coming a close second. To lift or not to lift –…
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Simple Rustic Wreath
I appreciate that this is a little late to the party but so were my hydrangeas this year so it’s definitely not my fault! This is a super simple wreath that just relies upon glorious hydrangeas and a spot of foraging. You will need: Moss A copper wreath ring Florists wire Secateurs ( I bought some to copy @flowersandlifestylebymargot with my name on them!! – Copper Secateurs) Purple leaves –…
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Quick and Easy Apple Crumble
This is entirely based on my fruit hating (yes – actual hate) son and Dame La Aga’s dramatical tendencies (don’t cook won’t cook…or just burn). Ingredients: 4 large cooking apples, 5 eaters peeled, cored and chunked (app 3cm not too big to be “real” (my son) and will cook quickly) 2 tbsp golden caster sugar then throw on Demerara sugar and Muscavado sugar – douse the apples! Ground cinnamon – to…
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Pumpkin power!
It’s pumpkin season, so it felt right to use them in some way in my floral designs. There are so many varieties and colours but I opted for these mini white pumpkins. The beauty about this design is that you can adapt them in whatever way you wish, so making the design completely your own: Ingredients Hypericum Mellow Romance Bloom Carnation Antique Sanguisorba of Red Dream Astrantia Prin Ballerina Eucalyptus…
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Turning to the dark side as we build up for Halloween
As we head towards Halloween, I start to feel a real association with rich and vibrant colours – that only the month of October and the celebration of Halloween can bring. I find I use more accessories, with throws and candles being an absolute must. For this table setting I focused on my ever-growing love of our hedgerows, drawing inspiration from all the ferns that are starting to turn from…
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Creating an Autumn feel in your home
As we head into Autumn, I definitely notice a difference in the colours of flowers I use in my arrangements. I start to step away from the delicate, pastel colours of Summer and move towards the rich, vibrant colours of Autumn. If I had to choose my favourite Autumn flowers, it would be the hydrangea, dahlia, berries and grasses – don’t make me choose though! I love using them to create…
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Pickled Pear Recipe
Ingredients 20 conference pears 1lt white wine vinegar/ delicious cider vinegar ½lt water 500g caster sugar 3 star anise 1 large stick cinnamon, broken into three 1tbsp allspice berries Zest of a lemon cut into curls with a potato peeler. ½tsp cloves 1dsp juniper berries 3 sprigs rosemary (optional – my rosemary died this summer so mine is rosemary free!) You’ll Also Need: 2 x 1½lt Kilner jars or 5/6…
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Just a little bit of multi tasking and upcycling
Around this year I start to dry lots of hydrangeas, as I love using them throughout the Autumn and Winter months for styling and adding to floral arrangements. I recently wrote a blog on what I’ve learnt along the way when it comes to drying hydrangeas https://www.myenglishcountrycottage.co.uk/heavenly-hydrangea/and after a weekend in the garden, I discovered another way of ‘drying hydrangeas’ which is a little more pleasing to the eye. The…
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Heavenly Hydrangea
While I adore fresh flowers, I’m also a huge fan of dried flowers too. My absolute favourite has to be the hydrangea and I have built up quite a collection over the years – in fact I’m drying some as I type. They are so useful as we head into the Autumn and Winter months as are also the perfect accessory to decorate with at Christmas. They definitely are my ‘go to’…
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The power of scent
One of the things I love about arranging flowers is their ability to be used to help set a scene or evoke a memory. For example, I always think of my mother in law whenever I smell geraniums, as she has them scattered throughout her house. Also, a yellow rose with it’s lemony smell will always remind me of my mum. I was recently reminded of the power of scents when…
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Marr House Farm
Their English Country Cottages The very moment the previous owner opened the large oak door, I know it would be ours. Lisa Johnson-Richards The main part of this beautiful cottage is Georgian, dating back to 1710. Originally owned by the Crown it was bought by Sir Henry Vane the Elder, (a Member of Parliament and an advisor to Charles I household) who in 1626 purchased nearby Raby Castle, Barnard Castle…
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The Old Hall Cottage
Their English Country Cottages I loved the symmetry of the property with the large entrance vestibule in the middle. It was just as I had drawn houses as a child. Tanya Muller Tanya – a senior University lecturer in Childhood Studies and Special Educational Needs lives in this beautiful cottage with her husband ( an RHS qualified gardener), their teenage son, dogs Fergus (a cockapoo) Charlie (A King Charles spaniel)…
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Welcome To My English Country Cottage
In May 2020 our little thatched cottage was featured in Period Living Magazine. It was the culmination of 7 years of creating a family home with my “effortless rural style” – I have taken this as a positive comment on my interior design style rather than a reference to the lack of housekeeping, muddy wellies and occasional strange smell and have created a website to write about interiors, gardening, recipes…
