The season of sunsets and silhouettes
Monday 29 November
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The bits of the elm joists from the kitchen ceiling that we could not salvage have been stacked by the fire. I have burned everything else I can think of because it seems such a thing to destroy something so old. I think of how long they have been part of the fabric of my cottage and before that, their lives as trees. They have been damaged by woodworm and beetle so much that they crumble almost to dust in my hands. I appreciate and savour the warmth that they give. It seems the least I can do.
Tuesday 3 November
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A run on hampers and the Saipua soaps are almost all sold out. The kitchen table is a mountain of boxes and rolls of packing paper, eco-craft tissue, sweet peas and postcards. I spend at least half the day scrabbling for my fountain pen that writes in gold, sparkly ink.
If you are looking for a printer, I can highly recommend Ripe digital in Wiltshire. The first four times I sent them pictures, they insisted on sending me actual proofs in the post with a message asking was I sure I intended them to be this dark. They know me now, and I just get boxes of under-exposed, matte gorgeousness without question.
The seasonal boxes of sweet pea seeds are accompanied by just a suggestion of Jilly in the gloom.
Thursday 2 December
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Morag develops a limp. It is nothing serious but the vet struggles with diagnosis because Morag is such a stoic darling that she moves her sore leg this way and that with nothing but a resigned expression in her eyes. Only a little whimper when manipulated in a certain direction indicates that the trouble is in the elbow.
A week of box rest and a bottle a magic Metacam (the solution to at least 90% of canine ailments in my experience) is prescribed.
Friday 3 December
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It has been almost a year in the brewing, but I have a new logo. Hilde Mork and I agreed on an organic approach although I don’t think even she expected it to take a year. I rush into many things in life but this is not one of them and Hilde is such a talent I wanted to make the most of every moment.
Once the Christmas orders have all been dispatched, the garland over the fireplace woven and hung, and the honesty seed heads peeled, then I will set to work rebranding the website.
Bliss.
Saturday 4 December
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Now is the time in the year that I find an excuse to wheel out my very favourite picture (above). Taken by Dean Hearne at Forde Abbey for House and Garden.
Having a little mooch around the H&G website, I clicked on a link for people without room for a Christmas tree (because we don’t) and I found another picture that looked very familiar. A few years ago, I dressed a private house to be photographed all decorated for Christmas. H&G printed it and it even made the front cover of their Christmas issue that year but they slightly omitted to put my name anywhere in the article.
So I am telling you here. The picture below, everything except the baubles, was me. Other pictures and examples of how I used natural materials to dress a gorgeous big house here.
Sunday 5 December
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However early we start on the dog walk, it is never early enough. The last bit is always a race against the encroaching darkness. The landscape is more intricate now. Every tree is now a silhouette, stark and linear against the setting sun. As we come up the lane from Heale, we hear the cackle of geese being put to bed.
