An absolutely dreamy school bus conversion. A (somewhat) scientific investigation behind a huge pet peeve of mine. A gorgeous 900-square-foot Cotswold cottage. Yippee! A new Sharon Horgan series. Can’t wait. Just one shocking story after another. Not surprising in the slightest. Watching: The second glorious season of fabulous bonkbuster Rivals just landed. So. Much. Fun. Just Read: The Guardian And The Thief In the near-future, Kolkata, India is buckling under climate collapse—famine, brutal heat, and vanishing resources—and survival is a daily gamble. Ma, her father, and her young daughter, Mishti, are on the brink of escape, just days away from…
Category: <span>BITS AND BOBS</span>
Born into poverty around 1650 — possibly in a brothel — Nell Gwyn began selling oranges at London’s Drury Lane Theatre as a young teenager: the seventeenth-century equivalent of hawking popcorn at the movies. In doing so, she became immersed in the theatrical world by default, absorbing the rhythms of the stage, its language, and the larger-than-life personalities who inhabited it. She also happened to find herself in the right place at the right time. This was The Restoration — not just the restoration of the monarchy, but the restoration of all things fun after the dour austerity of Oliver…
I adore ugly green. A gorgeously colourful Welsh home. Iceland has their Christmas book flood, apparently Norway has an Easter version specifically with crime novels. Wild. The fifty most underappreciated movies of the 21st Century. The story behind needlepoint’s modern day renaissance. Just (re)watched: The English Patient. This 1997 Best Picture winner remains an utterly breathtaking piece of cinema, less watched than drifted through like a dream. It begins in the vast emptiness of the Sahara Desert with a plane gliding silently over the dunes before being shot down by German forces. And this too, is where it ends. In…
Lovely wedding dresses that are not white. Infertility and a psychic. A food writers idyllic English cottage. St. Rita’s traveling bookstore. 19 things you didn’t know your iPhone could do. Just Watched:The Thursday Murder Club Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley is the dream cast for the film rendition of the popular book series (although I must confess that I thought Fiona Shaw would have been an excellent Elizabeth). If, like me, you have enjoyed reading the books about a group of old age pensioners who solve cold cases for fun and then become embroiled in a…
A lovely and hearty Nigella recipe perfect for counteracting holiday indulgence. Embracing hygge for the colder months. Ten things to give up in exchange for happiness. Small, cosy cottage bedrooms. Arranging charcuterie. A perfect skill for the holidays. The perfect Christmas present to oneself! For some delightfully fizzy, holiday TV watching try: The Pursuit Of Love This TV show takes the frothy, flippant tone of the book and ramps it up about 358 notches. It follows the story line of the book remarkably closely but in a highly- stylized, over-the-top way (my favorite style of all). It does stretch credulity to…
The loveliest blush pink paint colours. A deliciously colourful house in Chelsea A new Pride and Prejudice starring Olivia Coleman and directed by Dolly Alderton. Yes, please! Traveling the world without getting on a plane. 14 little things people stopped worrying about. The mental health benefits of a social media detox. Particularly beneficial for the holiday season. Just watched: Stonehouse The outlandishly true story of rising Labour MP, John Stonehouse, who in 1974, found himself in a spot of financial and espionage bother. He is blackmailed—via a honeytrap—into spying for the Czechs, but also paid handsomely with large sums of…
Step inside Sienna Miller’s Charming Cottage. Some really fun Halloween costume ideas based on your zodiac sign. In a veritable sea of banned books in the US it would seem that Stephen King novels are the most banned of all. Ten of the best bookshops in Paris. When the icebergs came to town. Fun Charcuterie for kids. An entertaining video about Britain’s major regional accents. For weekend watching ~ Anatomy Of A Scandal A political scandal involving an affair, an accusation of rape, an Oxford days dark secret involving the current Prime Minister and lots of courtroom drama. The plot…
The bucolic town of Eyam is nestled in the gently rolling hills of the Derbyshire dales. With its rambling roses and stone cottages, there isn’t much to differentiate its quaintness from other small towns in the area—except that Eyam has a tragic tale to tell. In 1664 the deadly plague known as the Black Death, or Bubonic Plague, had returned once again to bedevil. It was to be the last major outbreak of the disease in England, but as it went on its way, it took 100,000 Londoners with it: one quarter of the city’s population at the time. For the…
Years ago, for kids everywhere in England, the turning of leaves from green to brown meant only one thing: conker season. School playgrounds would be filled with the swinging of chestnut brown conkers as children vied to attain superior conker status. I can’t say I played it much myself, but my younger brother was a huge fan. In an attempt to garner a champion conker he was forever soaking them in vinegar, or baking them in the oven where they would generally catch fire. The game of conkers is played by threading a string through the conker and holding it…
Jasper Conran’s stunning Dorset garden. The worst celebrity TV cameos ever! For some lovely, summery Wimbledon fashion see here and here. If you’re in the mood for a nostalgic look at the Royals at Wimbledon, see here While The Gilded Age doesn’t make my top 10 favourite period pieces, I enjoyed it nonetheless and will certainly be tuning in to the soon- to-be released second season. When all you want is spinach and you end up with a frog. A pleasant and engaging summer read with fairytale vibes. Bringing the wonderful world of Barbie to life. Apparently Americans are very,…