The last blog a month ago took us all over the place. I'm glad to say this one is all about home.
I was back up to Rousay in time for Easter - there for a whole two weeks. We had a photographer, Elena Heatherwick, taking a portrait of us for our new book (MORE SOON.... see below). Here was the kitchen the first morning they arrived! Breakfast is ready.
This was the garden then - greening up - and it's amazing how much it changes now at this time of the year. Three weeks on the leaves are about to burst (but spring is definitely much later in Orkney than down south at the moment).
Beautiful blue skies in one direction...
Storms in the other!
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A Pair of Early 20th Century Kashmiri Globe Lamps
Vendor:Rebecca Christie-MillerRegular price £ 950.00Regular priceUnit price per -
An 18th Century Qing Dynasty Porcelain Mug
Vendor:Rebecca Christie-MillerRegular price £ 350.00Regular priceUnit price per -
An 18th Century Qing Dynasty Porcelain Mug
Vendor:Rebecca Christie-MillerRegular price £ 350.00Regular priceUnit price per -
An 18th Century Qing Dynasty Porcelain Mug
Vendor:Rebecca Christie-MillerRegular price £ 350.00Regular priceUnit price per
A random shot of Charlie's expanding miniature Orkney chair collection.
Our walk one of these evenings. It's amazing to see where the sun was setting then and were it is now - so much further around to the north already. And the days are so much longer now. Sunset in Orkney is now almost an hour later than in London.
Silvery light the next day.
There's nothing better than a quick picnic at the end of a walk.
Cosy in the library that afternoon....
I took Elena and Tilly her assistant back over to mainland for their flight down south, and was met by a beautiful breezy bright afternoon when I was home.
A stormy walk the next day. Winds were up.
There's nothing better!
But all calm on the road back to Westness.
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An 18th Century Qing Dynasty Porcelain Mug
Vendor:Rebecca Christie-MillerRegular price £ 350.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Mottled Earthenware Trivet
Vendor:Pentreath & HallRegular price £ 45.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Roman Emperors Plaster Cast Plaque, after a 19th Century Original
Vendor:Bridie HallRegular price £ 480.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Max Humphrey x CCH Gingham Enamelware Tray: Yellow
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Home the next day. Sunshine streaming in. Nancy enjoying the view.
Lambs in the fields now.
Sunset on the Morris & Co paper in the dining room...
So! Here is the book!!! Well, at least, this is the dummy. That is, it's an exact replica of size and paper, and of the cover - but just with blank paper. That will make a nice notebook one day!
The book comes out in October. It's a love-letter to our 15 years in Dorset. It's been a joy to work with Quadrille and with the brilliant designer Julian Roberts who helped us put together all the pages.
We'll be opening up pre-orders in the shop in a little while, but in the meantime you are able to make a pre-order with Amazon, (or with Amazon in the US here), with Waterstones, with Blackwells or even with your local bookseller now - I strongly urge you to do the latter. A while ago I was told by a kind and knowledgeable friend in publishing that these pre-orders make a massive difference to the success of a book when it's published a few months later, so I hope you don't mind the shameless push at this stage. I did a little post on instagram over Easter and it was so lovely to have so many kind comments and messages. More tasters in due course!
And after all that, this is the taster we all really wanted.
The week was of course taken up with walks, lambs and rainbows.
The chapel decorated for the Easter service - a lovely day, with Brenda our Minister and locals.
And Easter lunch the next day with our friends Sue and Robert.
Nancy always finds the best spot.
Sibyl and Mavis don't do too badly.
We have these crazy old daffodils in our paddock. Any clues as to the name?
Charlie's wonderful nature stack in the woods. All the sticks and deadwood he's been picking up off the woodland floor - filled with birds and bugs already... inspired by Dixter, the best.
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Max Humphrey x CCH Gingham Enamelware Mug: Yellow
Vendor:Crow Canyon HomeRegular price £ 15.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Max Humphrey x CCH Plaid Enamelware Tumbler: Yellow
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Empoli Verde Cat Decanter, Italy, c.1960s
Vendor:AntiqueRegular price £ 950.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Empoli Verde Glass Duck Decanter, Italy c.1960s
Vendor:AntiqueRegular price £ 1,650.00Regular priceUnit price per
Eventually I had to go back to London. This is the start of the journey - the Rousay pier. I think of it as the start of my commute. Better than a train platform!
A nice view on the way back to London!
The following weekend we had our reunion of my old office, in Suffolk - a long-established and lovely day. I managed to overshoot Darsham station where I was meant to get off the train. The silver lining was that I had a 10 minute wait at the next station up the line, at Halesworth. The town museum is in the railway station. It's utterly BRILLIANT! One of the best museums I've been to in years!
Then to the pub. The Kings Head, also known as the Low House, in Laxfield. The best.
Home to Charles and Rachel, in the lovely evening light.
On Sunday morning we popped into Blythburgh Church, next door. Heaven.
And then I was back down to London on the early evening train. The next week, in the office - but with a LOVELY little visit to the Soane Museum - which I know readers of the blog will love.
It was a little bit behind the scenes. Here we are looking at some of the incredible archive in the drawings collection.
Here is Soane's model room.
And their bedroom in the private quarters.
What a wonderful building. The perfect museum.
A lovely visit to the Drawing Office.
And down in the Monk's Parlour. Insane!
Back to Rousay. It's all okay.
Look how much further round the sunset is one or two weeks on...!
We had George and Jane staying. I took them on a tour of Mainland, including (again) the wonderful Hall of Clestrain.
Back home.
The seals are back!
Spring is springing.
Lots of plans afoot in the garden soon, now that we have our listed building and planning consents.
All we really want is photos of Charlie's veg patch.
And golden sunlight, all of a sudden, as the sun was settling.
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Grand Tour Collection of Intaglio Soaps
Vendor:Bridie HallRegular price £ 30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Portable Paper Trays - Set Of Four - Regenfuss Sea Shells
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P&H Creamware Loving Cup
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An English Vision - Traditional Architecture and Decoration for Today - Signed
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22 comments
Absolutely love your blog Ben. So uplifting and exciting! I look forward to receiving each one so much just to see where you get to each month. It’s like being given a tutorial about a new city or museum and I love it! Can’t wait to see your plans for Westness now that you’ve got the consents. Intriguing! Charlie’s garden looks so enticing. What a good idea to build a nature stack – I’ll do it!
Thank you so much! As always so tasty :)
It is always smile inducing to get notification of a new instalment of your blog, I particularly love news of Westness House and gardens as I did of the Parsonage. I now know what I shall be buying for several people for Christmas.
If you haven’t already, try the National Daffodil Collection at Brodie Castle to identify yours – as Charlie doubtless knows, Ian Brodie, 24th laird, bred several hundred varieties in the early 20thC, and many are still re-appearing quietly every year in gardens around Scotland…
I love how the tussocks in the fields mimic the ocean waves. One home for sheep and another for the seals. And Westness over all, a home for dogs, one cat, and two absolutely brilliant humans! Thank you as always for sharing, Ben. Your posts mean more than ever in our tumultuous world.
As always, I enjoy the beauty of life from your perspective & how you both improve so much just by tidying up here & there. Your chapel has really come to life! Thank you for sharing.
Wishing everyone a joyful Eastertide.
I think that’s Narcissus ‘Telamonius Plenus’. XX
I so look forward to your blogs, the photos are magnificent. Charlie’s garden seem to be thriving already, lovely table setting for Easter and flowers set at the Church alter for your service. Your dogs and cat surely enjoy this beautiful landscape. Congratulations on your new book. Loved seeing the new lambs. I remember one year attending Country Living Fair in Islington and a farm had brought lambs for us to hold and bottle feed, they were so adorable and warm. You are so lucky to have this wonderful weather, tonight in Canada 5 degrees and heavy rain and tomorrow too and no end to it. I long for Spring and seeing flowers and greenery. So looking forward to your next blog. All the best.
Thank you! for your inside Westness photos! English decoration stirs my soul, you and the Kiwi have got it nailed, dear Ben! Seals, Lambs and Mavis and Sybil, Enid and Nancy and rock walls are all icing on the Westness cake!
Thank you for sharing your Rousay spring, especially because here in Alberta, Canada, winter refuses to leave — we’ve had 5" of snow since yesterday with more, and heavy winds, expected today and tomorrow. And a curling rock as doorstop is perfect!
Boy do I look forward to these installments! They are such a nice escape for a bit from the crazy of the world. I am constantly hitting “refresh” until I am rewarded with a new entry. Thanks so much!
Enjoying your lovely blogs, from a sunny autumn day in Melbourne!
It’s always a treat whenever Inspiration lands in my inbox. Thank you so much for sharing the life you and Charlie have created. What a delight, and dare I say “inspiration,” to witness.
Oh my word! Stunning. Thank you for sharing Ben. Saw you were in Charleston the other day. Lovely city that needs some help with their vision. I live across the bridge, on the harbor.
Thanks for the happy memories.I loved the Soane Museum, one of my favourite places. Reminds me of my time in London and the Nature Stack of the times I lived and worked at Great Dixter.
Love your collection of miniature Orkney chairs. Friends lived in Orkney many years ago and we visited and I fell in love with their Orkney Chair – still love sitting in it and feeling so protected in it when we visited and now see them in Lancashire. Love the photos and the dogs.
There is a photo of Nancy and a Corgie walking though the woods at Westness on a stone trail. Is this an old-long-ago-grown-over trail that Charlie is uncovering? I would love to know about it.
Thank you for years of your beautiful stories.
A lovely respite with my morning coffee – thank you so much for taking the time to share your photos and adventures. Your previous Inspiration Chicago photos were also so wonderful and gave a lovely new perspective on my much loved city. This morning, the final picture had me thinking of your paint swatches on the house. The colors resonated with the setting sun colors. Looking forward to hearing about the final decision. Happy Spring!
Thank you! I’ve pre-ordered!
So lovely to see the spring awakening at Westness. Congratulations on getting your permits! Can’t wait to see how the gardens develop. I was glad to see tulips in the veg garden – I bet there’ll be hundreds more in the future.
You work really hard, Ben and Charlie, but your life is blessed, gorgeous landscape, clean air, creative work to do, happy dogs. Perfect. I enjoy every frame, thank you for sharing.
Always enjoy the blogs. The sunsets and seals and the glorious golden light. Here in New Hampshire the daffodils are just blooming as are yours. Looking fwd to the new book!