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My English Country Cottage
  • Blog Posts
    • Our Home
    • Interior Design projects
    • How To Create A Cutting Garden
    • Pantry Recipes
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    • Home County Candle Company
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    • Country Cottage Creatives Interviews
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  • November Notes

    I can’t quite believe we’re in November already but I’m so glad the month has started with some dry and bright weather! My last few weeks of October were a bit of a wash out so it’s been nice to get back out in the garden and start giving everything a much-needed tidy. I always think of the last few months of the year as a time to reflect, tidy and…

    November 5, 2020
    How To Create A Cutting Garden

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It really made me laugh to see the yard brush covered in Autumn leaves. It is the physical representation of how I feel about leaves at this time of year!!! They simply swamp the garden, the yard isn’t too bad, the occasional rotten apple that I slip on in less than hilarious banana split scenarios and boozy wasps that stagger out of the fuglies after a serious night on the apples. The back of the cottage however is a whole different leaf experience: gingerly one takes the leaves, hoping not to spike a soggy fox poo or badger deposit and unleash the scent of hell. My husband was indoctrinated into the composting fever of lockdown 2020 which means that he is rubbing his hands in glee with great anticipation for all the freshly discarded leaves to join his horse manure and rotten cucumber collection (why do we never remember to eat the poor cucumbers?). This unfortunately means actually collecting the leaves rather than my preferred method of raking into a lovely pile and then hoping the wind blows it across the fields. I might busy myself here and explain this js my patch and he can have the juicy lawn which is bound to have better leaf mulch for his beloved triple composter (“Yes! Three! Would you like to see a photo?” - I have genuinely overheard him saying this to friends!). Happy sweep up Saturday xxx #appletree #autumntrees #slowliving #simplepleasures #octoberlove #ofwhimsicalmoments #cottageliving #mygardenthismonth #cottage #autumncolour #englishcountrygarden #gardenliving #englishcottage #thatch #simplelifestyle #autumnleaves #gardenlife #octobermood #countrylife #countryliving #countrycottagestyle #countrycottages 🍂


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Thank you beautiful October sunshine for lighting up our home. Thank you for highlighting the truly wondrous spiders webs woven so intricately on seemingly every wall, window and beam. And possibly me. I haven’t moved much recently, I may well be Havishamed. Thank you for shining your rays onto all the spots of food that my forlorn figure has missed whilst attempting to keep house when very poorly (I have managed the surfaces once and that was quite enough although I clearly missed quite a few spots - mainly the charred chocolate disaster from my daughters chocolate bowl with a birthday balloon experiment and my son’s challenge to spill at least 20% of his every meal since he was weaned - he is 12 and on course for a massive win). Thank you for revealing the dust under every item of furniture and the extraordinary splatter of spider poo on the toy tray that had been wedged under the toy kitchen for far, far too long. I wonder what the fly had eaten that caused the spider so much trouble? Who knew the sunshine could fill our hearts with joy and eyes with grime? Happy filthy Friday!!! X PS: for a less filthy and more floral Friday, head to my website to read @flowersandlifestylebymargot fantastic new blog on how to create the prettiest flower filled pumpkins - the most tasteful pumpkin display ever. Fact. (Linkinbio and stories) Xxx #rusticstyle #simplehome #kitchen #modernrustic #kitchentable #farmhousekitchen #seekthesimplicity #rustichome #countrykitchen #oldhouselove #oldhousecharm #cottagestyle #cottagedecor #cottage #cottagecharm #kitchentable #countrycottages #interiordetails #countryfeatures #kitchenlove #fridayvibe #mycountryhome #kitcheninspo #kitchendesign #cottagestyle


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I write this to you from my pit of despair…my prison for the next few days…I find myself a martyr to my bed & must avail myself of the kindness of stra…well..my family. Admittedly I was out of bed when I took this photo but it was all I could manage from my sick chamber. A cover flick here & a kick of the dirty socks out of view there and I crawled back to my bed wondering if my family would even remember that I was upstairs, languishing? Perhaps I would only be discovered months later, a lonely form, curled up on her bed of ills, book dropped from malnutritioned hand…then I remembered a tub of chocolate cornflake cakes left over from my daughter’s birthday so managed to tremble my way downstairs & stave off my lonely hunger. Yes, Covid has hit our household. It actually hit last week and I have nursed (well I did at least remember to bring him the occasional tea) my husband and both children (ok they were both completely fine) through this virulent virus but I have now been forced to my bed (except for life saving trips for chocolate) to recouperate. Thank the lord for the most wonderful @clover.stroud who sent me her extraordinary book “My Wild and Sleepless Nights (a story of Motherhood)”. This accompanied by my chocolate fix kept me reading all day yesterday. My goodness I had forgotten how all encompassing & joyous & awful the first few years of motherhood was. Lying in bed with a temperature yesterday seemed like a breeze compared to her visceral, truthful & hard won account of early motherhood. My friend & I used to wish for a book like this when our first babies were born. She is a Sunday Times Best Selling Author so I don’t need to review it as a gazillion amazing writers have already done this. But thank you Clover, you are unbelievably brave & the most incredible writer, your love for your children is palpable. You have the most extraordinary voice and I feel very privileged to have received your book. Thank you. She lays her head gently back down on her slightly chocolatey pillow and hopes for just one cup of tea. Happy woeful Wednesday x #cottagebedroom #interiordesign #decoration #vintagehome #mycountryhome #shabbydecor #bedroominspo


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A fringe of horse chestnut leaves. Yes, I was hiding in the undergrowth again. It was peaceful. It was quiet. I was alone….except for my husband pacing and muttering darkly about not being able to mow the now knee length and soaking grass, my son pretending to help with the logs by carrying three very heavy logs then sitting wearily on the bench, a broken 12 year old spent force “Can’t…manage…another..log..” and my daughter with brand new make up hairband swathing her ten year old hair, glitter adorning her cheeks as she clutched her birthday blue haired doll, attempting to sing from the birthday score of Matilda that she was given (I am pretty certain she can’t yet sight read) whilst holding up her new concealer stick to show her friend on FaceTime and uttering the words “and I finally got a concealer so thank goodness for that”!!! I was a little terrified that I had perhaps passed out in the undergrowth and woken up five years later but as we sat down to birthday rainbow unicorn cake my daughter asked “are we ready for our poo to turn green?” to which my son rejoindered “is anyone ever ready?” to which we all giggled furiously and I was relieved to find that my children are still young and laughing at poo jokes. Who knew that would come as a relief to me?! Happy Tuesday xxx #cottage #cottagife #ruralliving #rurallife #appletree #meadowcore #naturecore #oldfashioned #cottagestyle #cottageliving #mycountryliving #thecountryjournal #cottages #listedbuilding #cottagehome #exteriordesign #countrycottage #cottagecoreaesthetic #countryliving #characterproperty #thatchedcottage #chocolateboxcottage #thatchedroof #autumn #explorebritain


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My daughter & my husband dug out the little medicine bottle from our garden when we first moved in. Her first real treasure aged 2. Today she is 10. We have hit double digits. Finally! She has spent a year kindly breaking it to me that she will be ten soon & now, here we are, the birthday with the longest lead time ever..where does she get it from?? Thankfully we are really making the most of today, our terribly grown up double digiter allowed us to really wring all the joy from this special occasion by awakening us at 3.30 am with the chorus to kill all birds temeritous enough to try the dawn chorus with “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY”!!!!!! Naturally it came as a shock to her family who have been quaking with fear that they will have forgotten one of the vital birthday ingredients in all her detailed but extremely neatly written birthday tomes….I have forgotten the birthday badge- I only hope to make it through the morning before this missing object is highlighted in one of her very angry highlighter pens. I did however remember the cinnamon swirls (“yours are lovely Mummy but maybe just to be sure we can eat them we should buy the bake at home ones?”) so I am hoping this might allow me one pardon. I shall continue to seek refuge in my flowers as the day progresses through playing with her birthday doll with glow in the dark hair, crafting sequin unicorns to donning her birthday dungarees & applying her new sparkly eyeshadow- I fear she is breaking me in gently to a new dawn. But she does everything with the sunniest smile & biggest hugs that I am accepting of my fate as a very old mother (“there’s even a Granny at school who is the same age as you”) of a truly amazing possibly too truthful 10 year old. Happy don’t mention the badge Monday x #dahlia #dahlias #dahliasofinstagram #dahlia #dahlias #dahliaflower #glassbottle #glassbottles #brassmirror #mirrors #exposedbrick #medicinebottle #exposedbrickwall #bathroommirror #oldhousecharm #cottagedecor #rusticdecor #rusticcharm #rusticdecor #hyggehome #floralarrangement #flowerstagram #prettyflowers #freshflowersmakemehappy #mondaymotivations #colourfulhome #popsofcolor #postpretty


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The fuglies are finally in their element. They don’t just gently thud to the ground, they dominate the ground, they smash the ground, they pulveris…ahh ok, some of them get pulped when they hit the ground . They have finally learned that reddening will at least improve their chances of being picked and even when their lumpen misshapen forms are revealed in all their glory, the fear of being crumble-less is so real that they are hastily shoved into the basket and hurried into the kitchen. I am a slave to the fuglies…and my terrifying crumble and custard obsessed family (the cream was on the turn last night- pray for me!). Happy scary Sunday x #gardenlovers #instagardenlovers #countrygardens #cottagegarden #englishgardens #aquietstyle #instabritain #thisjoyfulmoment #simplenaturefinds #ofsimplethings #simplethingsinlife #countrysideliving #autumndays #cottagelove #cottagesunday #appletree #redapples #cottageexterior #theirenglishcountrycottages #thatchedcottage #gardenlife #apfelbaum #hyggegarden #countrycottage #appletrees #applepicking #autumnfeeling #autumnvibes


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Oh hello! You find this very important press person sat at her kitchen table being very important with a cup of tea and a PRESS PACK from @shopivyjoan !!! I sat staring at it for a while- mainly to cherish this warm glow of surely this makes me a ground breaking journalist now but also because it was so beautifully packaged. I am now wrestling with the beautiful brochure - I need it all!! I especially need every single confit pot and earthenware vessel that graces these pages. I’ll buy the lot!! Oh and your gorgeous new winter (Hayley calls it Hiver - I KNEW it sounded fancy!!) candle scent. Oh, but I am just a lowly award winning ground breaking journalist, I barely earn a penny, I do it for the truth. Hmm, actually I am not sure I want to be a roving reporter any more. I might just be a nice hip PR person who pops into London Town looking really natty and drinking cool coffees. Actually, that sounds a bit hard too, I think I’ll just sit here and enjoy this beautiful world from the safety of my kitchen table. Happy stay safe, stay seated Saturday x #modernrustic #kitchendresser #farmhousekitchen #shabbysofa #rustichome #countrykitchen #kitchendiner #oldhousecharm #cosycottage #cottagedecor #cottage #cottagecharm #kitchentable #countrycottages #interiordetails #dahlialove #beams #countryfeatures #kitchenlove #autumnstyle #cosykitchen #mycountryhome #kitcheninspo #kitchensofinstagram #welshdresser #kitchenstories #cosykitchen #countrykitchen #flowersfrommygarden #saturdaymorning



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