In search of some inspiration for our new seaside garden we decide to aim high and take the rare chance to glimpse the 2,200 acres of the local ‘Big House’, Sidbury Manor. The opportunity to snoop amongst the azaleas was thanks to the National Garden Scheme, opening the private residence’s…
Baby-friendly cleaning with Method
A lot of things change when you have a baby: 1/ your beauty regime becomes less a process of perfection and more ‘have I brushed my teeth today?’ 2/ when once you enjoyed leisurely 3-course meals, a sandwich inhaled whilst you balance a colicky baby on your knee becomes the…
Object of desire: Roost Living
I did a shoot and interview with Laura Binns, owner of online interiors boutique Roost Living, at her stunning Dartmouth Park house early last year. Her family home acts as the perfect canvas for her style finds, ergo stock and I found myself drifting off to covert every cushion, lamp…
Snapshot: the dressing table
It’s taking a while to get our heads around the space that living in the country brings. A bit like battery chickens we’ve been trying to cram all our stuff into one room/cupboard/shelf, but slowly we’re spreading out and creating nooks and crannies we couldn’t have dreamed of in London.…
Snapshot: the bedside table
I thought it would be fun to do a series of snapshots to show you little corners of my new home as they appear from the rubble, plus all my favourite beauty must-haves and style finds, in context. Here’s my bedside table this morning. It’s the first proper one I’ve…
A Sunday Jaunt to Darts Farm, Topsham
After a week that can only be described as THE PITS (teething baby, plumbers from hell, serious family illness… you get the drift), come Sunday we decided to get in the car and DRIVE. Finally, fortune was on our side and the sun shone as we ditched the car and…
The soundtrack to my life
Inspired by tonight’s episode of The Voice UK, namely Jaz Ellington killing it with his unique rendition of Ordinary People, it triggered this blog about my very own Desert Island Discs. Benny and I had been together only a month or so, we hadn’t said those three little words yet…
Uncovering garden treasure
So, a couple of posts ago I wrote about my lustings for a hammock for my tree-less garden. Well, that’s not strictly true. We did have to get a tree surgeon in to remove all six mature trees in various states of rot, decay and downright danger. I am always…
And the winner is…
Devon. After a lot of house-hunting, umming and aahhing, a whole heap of soul-searching and should we/shouldn’t we midnight talks, we’ve decided that Devon will be the Mansi family’s new home. While London was a loyal bedfellow for the last decade, with the arrival of Country Bebe it felt right…
On… hammocks
One of my main loves when it comes to country living is an early evening swing in a hammock. Preferably accompanied by my trusty Roberts wireless and a G&T. My parents have the perfect pair of apple trees to string a hammock between, offering dappled shade in the summer and…
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter all. We’re just frantically throwing the contents of the house (jug blender and all) into the car and heading off to Somerset for a 5 day break at the in-laws. Unfortunately that’s not their Stately, it’s Montacute House near Yeovil, but they do live just out of shot…
The big chop
My mother cut my hair. This may be in the past tense but I’m not talking 30 years ago, it was last week. For an ex-beauty editor this is like a chef saying: “I just scoffed a Tesco Value ready-meal”; or a sommelier admitting to; “quaffing a bottle of Lambrusco.”…