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My English Country Cottage
  • Blog Posts
    • Our Home
    • Interior Design projects
    • How To Create A Cutting Garden
    • Pantry Recipes
    • What Makes an English Country Cottage?
    • Home County Candle Company
    • Their English Country Cottages
    • Country Cottage Creatives Interviews
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  • Essential tools for a Cutting Garden

    I’m hoping to start planting up the cut flower beds this weekend. In a pre- COVID world I would have started a week ago as the weather is warming up, but perhaps unsurprisingly I’m still waiting to finish off the edging of the cut flower patch. The delivery of the edging has been promised for this weekend so I’m hoping to be able to get the edging in so I can top up my raised beds…

    April 24, 2020
    How To Create A Cutting Garden

  • Know Your Plants

    My last blog covered the things to consider when selecting your cut flowers so hopefully you’ve started to think about what you want to plant up and how you are going to plant them.  For me, the first thought was to just put them all in together and hope for the best but following some further reading, there is a little more to it! This is what I’ve learnt so far.  Know your plants  Annual and Biennial – An…

    April 17, 2020
    How To Create A Cutting Garden

  • CUTTING GARDEN PICKS – Flowers By Margot suggests what to consider when selecting your flowers

    For me, flowers are my number one home accessory and I definitely have my ‘go-to’ flowers and foliage. Therefore, when it came to selecting what cut flowers to grow in my new beds I went with what I truly loved – the flowers I would want to cut and bring into my home.   While I would always encourage people to do the same and grow what they love, there are some other factors to consider when selecting your own plants for a cut flower garden.…

    April 9, 2020
    How To Create A Cutting Garden

  • Oil Delivery

    The lane has been ABUZZ with our oil saga, there has been high drama and much enjoyment..Gorgeous Charlie bless him came through for us and on Thursday we received the heavenly phone call: “this is your oil delivery driver, I can’t get to you because there is a Hyundai parked in the middle of the road, I have driven past the thatch but can’t get any further”….”ARGH!!!! Hang on….driven past the thatch?…

    April 6, 2020
    Our Home

  • The First Rule of Cutting Gardens by Flowers and Lifestyle Margot

    I have to admit that when I first decided to grow cut flowers, I got rather carried away with the ‘deciding what to grow’ and ‘buying seeds and bulbs’ parts of the process. It took me until January to realise that I hadn’t actually decided where I should plant them! I knew roughly where I wanted it all to happen, but as I started to read up on it, I realised how many additional factors I needed to take into account.  My original plan of sowing some…

    April 3, 2020
    How To Create A Cutting Garden
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Welcome

Hi, welcome to My English Country Cottage, a blog inspired by my successful Instagram page.

I have been writing about our family life in our 400 year old thatched cottage in the middle of nowhere (delivery drivers words) for just over a year and am now braving the world of 'blog'.

I have spent the past seven years making our house a home and have put my experiences into writing about cosy country interiors filled with florals, old books, roaring fires, oak beams and squashy sofas.

Latest Posts

  • Oak Cottage
  • A spotlight on Pampas
  • Little Church Cottage
  • Getting out in the garden
  • Vintage White Cottage

Daily Instagram Blog

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Yes!!!!!! Cottage goals!!!! We have our own moat and light machine! Ha! We also still have heating and now logs! My goodness this cottage is rocking. We have all the mod cons AND the stuff of myths and legends and romance...just..don’t try to swim in the moat...it’s probably full of poo. This is not necessarily strictly accurate but we are surrounded on all sides by a ditch...MOAT...and the Klargester (swanky septic tank that cleans the ‘organic matter’ to drinkable levels) spits...delivers all freshly cleaned water into the ditches so I can’t but help imagine all sorts of terrors lurking in this glorious moat of dreams (along with dead mice/ rats/ enemies of badgers/ foxes/ owl cast offs and maybe Hermes Darren who still hasn’t been sighted in over a year and a half). Ahh, living the dream. Happy moat full Friday! X Ps: we only seem capable of murdering growing things (my trees! My trees! My poor...ooh it is a lot lighter without...) but if you are in the mood for garden growing then head over to my website (link in bio) to read @flowersandlifestylebymargot genius new blog on growing, caring and hair spraying pampas grass!!! #countrysideliving #periodproperty #happyhome #cottagelifestyle #cottagegarden #cottagelife #cottageliving #capturingbritain #cottagesofinstagram #englishcottage #charmingcottage #thatchedroof #thatchedhouse #magicalcottage #dreamcottage #magicalplaces #cottage #oldcottage #folkscenery #visitbritain #gloriousbritain #britain24x7


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Hello!!! You find me here reclining in positively balmy conditions! The unbelievably scrumptious and generous @ibbi_interiors have sent me the most actually beautiful in real life stunning Kantha throw in peony gorgeousness. But look how it is carelessly draped! This is not going to keep you warm! Sure it looks exotically, rapturously blissfully beautiful but why aren’t you snuggled up in this glamorous rumple of joy? Because WE HAVE HEATING AGAIN!!!!!!!! The sparkly eyed saviour of our shivers Chris arrived A DAY EARLY to save us trembling wretches from from the heatless pit of despair. Valiantly the my goodness your eyes look so blue above your mask Chris drove through the flooded plains to reach our frozen dwelling. Fighting back the tearing wind and lashing rain this demi god of heating miracles fought the onslaught of hurricaneous icy storms to lay waste to our years old pump and restore what modern people call ‘central heating’. I intend to spend today wearing diaphanous nighties and cloaking myself with this utterly beautiful Kantha throw...I might get the school zoom meetings out of the way first...but then! Then I shall waft from room to room inhaling the sweet, sweet smell of radiator heaven whilst parading my Kantha throw of deep beauty and no longer warmth necessity for all to see (two dog walkers and a rider, if yesterday is anything to go on). “Look at me!” I shall yell, “I am WARM”!!!! Thank you twinkly young Christopher for rescuing us early and thank you gorgeous Ibbi Interiors for gifting me your utterly glorious Kantha throw. I adore it! Happy joyous beautiful Kantha throw Thursday! X #shabbydecor #kantha #bedroomstyling #bedspread #countryinteriors #howihome #colourmyhome #charminghomes #mycountryhome #bedroominspo #cosybedroom #colourfulhomevibe #cosystyle #colourlover #shabbylove #countrydecor #woodenfloor #hyggedecor #hyggehome #shabbychicfurniture #shabbyhome #bedroominterior


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The wheelbarrow has emptied it’s final load of logs. The sky is grey with storm but today is Heating minus 1 day and there are already blooms on the Japonica. This makes me very happy. For every empty wheelbarrow there is a twig of blossoms - it’s a very ancient proverb that shows how very clever I am and means...erm ... there is always something good around the corner....or in front of you in the case of this photo. Not that I can burn the Japonica, if I had to choose I would definitely plump for the heat giving wheelbarrow full of seasoned logs. I have a romantic soul but my body has been frozen for weeks now, I’m pretty much ready to trade in anything for our boiler to start working again. Just one more day of cold and all our trembles will be over. I shall waft through the house in summer linens (I imagine it will feel a little like when one steps off the plane into warmer climes and the heat kisses you on both cheeks in welcome). I will no longer need 9 layers or 3 blankets during the day. I may even break out my Kaftan and pour a breakfast mojito with loads of ice - if it’s hot it must be holiday. Law. One more day! One more day. I might fake tan in readiness. Happy prepare for warmth Wednesday x #lifeinthecountry #countrylife #littlepiecesofbritain #charmingcottage #thatchedcottage #englishcottage #countrycottage #cottagesofinstagram #countryhome #englishcountryside #cottage #thatch #japonica #signsofspring #pathways #brickpath #simplebeauty #slowliving #cottaglife #floweringquince #chaenomeles #mygardentoday #wintercolour #januarygarden


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Nobody move! We have this room up to bearable temperature! Do not open the curtain, do not create draughts by moving. We shall remain here until Thursday. I have resorted to draught excluder- 7 years we have lived here, 7 years we have accepted that this is an old house and wind gets through the timbers and shivers us. “No! No! Absolutely no point sealing windows and doors. POINTLESS! It gets through beams and we can’t draught excluder those (we have seriously considered adopting 17th century solutions and hanging large tapestries during the winter months), nope! We just have to accept it’s a little fresh in the winter”! Curiously when faced with a very cold spell and no discernible heating (the poor boiler has fallen in a total declining demise, it switches on, phutters and then fades away like a genteely coughing Victorian heroine ) I have been forced to take drastic action. I bought clever clear sticky roll stuff and went crazy, it’s a miracle that the children weren’t draught excludered. Erm, it actually works, you can’t see daylight through the front door anymore and candles remain lit next to windows and there was no 1980’s pop video look to my hair during my Pilates zoom yesterday. This was the only downside to my spirited draught attack (and the fact that I bought it for the kitchen doors but used it all up before I left the sitting room). Ha! Take that draughts. I win...slightly...as long as we remain in this room and the wind doesn’t change direction. Happy triumphant Tuesday! X #shabbystyle #myhometoinspire #snuggly #myvintageabode #cosy #cornerofmyhome #interiorescapism #livingroomdesign #livingroominspiration  #sittingroom #sofa #myhyggehome  #interiorlovers #styleithappy #softfurnishings #curtainsdesign #cosycottage #cosylivingroom #oilpaintings #colorlovedecor #passionforinterior #cosyroom #livingroominterior


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NOT TODAY THANK YOU. No, this was yesterday: blue skies, eye searing sunshine (not quite searing but like little moles we blinked our way outside, unsure of what this glorious light might be and sensing that it is warmer on the outside than inside our still heating free burrow). The children looked around in awe- “Mummy! It’s light! Why does my face feel warm?” “It’s the sunshine my loves, it is a heat source, this feeling is heat”...”Mummy! I can feel my nose! And my toes! And my fingers!”. Thank goodness for the sunshine, having relied heavily upon our log burner for the past few heating free weeks, we have suddenly hit critical low on logs, just one stack remains until Thursday’s delivery (which is also the day ear marked for the heating engineer). Thursday could be a day of great joy and WARMTH, until then we shall shiver like small Dickensian urchins, pressing our bodies as close to the one log per hour in the fireplace. Happy mole like Monday x #stayhome #cottagegarden #englishcottage #countryliving #englishhome #periodhome #oldhouselove #oldhousecharm #listedbuilding #bhghome #cottage #cottagecharm #photosofbritain #countrycottagestyle  #charminghomes #englishcountrygarden #countrycottage #englishcountryside #englishcountryliving #thatchedcottage #mycountryhome #oldhouse #countryhome #countrygarden


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Please look away if you have sensitive eyes!!! This post may make you snowblind, I am so sorry, just so. much. snow. We have just been inundated with the stuff, fields of white and skies of grey, erm...lanes of yellow and roads of brown. Ok, my romantic soul gave out, there was the merest sprinkling and now we are left with...well a bit of mush really. Ha! I’m actually really grateful, really, really desperately grateful, I have decided not to drink red wine any more (it’s my version of dry January just with more of a colour theme...ok, I am fiercely allergic to red wine - yes- possibly in great quantity is problematic- but also even a teensy glass turns me into an angry Bruce Banner and then a maudlin Morrisey so I have sensibly stocked up on emergency white wine which in snowy conditions I imagine could be less enjoyable than sipping a cold glass on a hot summer’s day as the pheasants squawk their twilight good nights and the barn owls take up the evening refrain. I can only thank the snow for staying away and allowing me to enjoy a cold glass of wine without snow pain. If you actually need snow satisfaction then please head over to my website (link in bio) to give the glad eye to a truly beautiful cottage who claims that the star of their Instagram account is their beautiful Dalmatian Dexter but I suspect their gorgeous church cottage is what has attracted so many followers to this stunning @ourlittlechurchcottage . Happy snow free and snuggly Sunday. X #happyplace #kitchenwindow #kitchenwindowview #simplethingsmadebeautiful #countryliving #periodhome #oldhouselove #oldhousecharm #cottage #cottagecharm #cottagefarmhouse #countrydecor #freshflowers #countrycottage #interiordetails #englishcottage #oldhouse #loveofcountryhouses #countryfeatures #windowview #realhomes #instawindow #windowview


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He came. He saw. He left. Noooooooooo!!!!! Timothy!!!!!! Come back!!!!!!! Why do you hate us? Why would you leave us with almost no heating? How will we survive? You can’t do this to ussssssssss..........Timotheeeeeeeeeee. Van door closes gently and we are left alone in the vortex of cold and disappointment. Well at least it barely snowed. Ok, he didn’t quite leave without speaking but he can’t mend it, we need someone else who has the kit to freeze the entire boiler (but Timothy why would we NEED to freeze our boiler??? This is the problem in the first place!!! We want it to be hot!!!!) and then replace the pump and possibly wash out or....actually I don’t know what else..he lost me at “I can’t do this”. In my head I began to consider pleading tears (term 2 Lamda), bribery (brownies works with the children), simple kidnapping (delivery drivers have gone missing from this address and frankly I am a woman without heating, I suspect I have superpowers as yet untapped) but eventually settled upon a relaxed shrug (as relaxed as shoulders that have been ear level with shivering for weeks can be). Que sera sera, manana, wevs. Everything in perspective. I may not feel like this when I recover from my white wine will warm me up and make everything better haze. Happy thank goodness for almost no show snow Saturday x #cottagehome #cottage #cottagelife #cottagelove #englishcottage #englishcountryliving #englishcountrygarden #winterfeels #gardenliving #loveyourhomeandgarden #hearthome #lovewhereyoulive #lovemyhome #cottagedreams #cottagechic #cottagecharm #listedbuilding #oldhome #winterishere❄️ #rosehips



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