Archive for “Friends & family”

Ha, caught you out Granny! My Mum (aka Granny) has our blog as her home page and she’ll be embarrassed that she is in the spotlight. Well this one is for you to say thanks for being such a wonderful lady, for looking after Wilf so I could get the orders out this week and for teaching me how to play golf in the dark the other evening. I love you.

Also, thanks for going on a jaunt around the country lanes and coming home with fresh Whitwell watercress and runner beans. The watercress could blow you head off it is that potent, but it looks nice! I made a smiley(ish) face for you. x

This is probably very dull if you’re not into digging. But I’d like to show my Brother Simon my spuds. We teamed up in January to order our allotment seeds, onion sets and chitting potatoes and in March I gave up my weekend lie-ins for 7am digging sessions at the allotment. Sounds mad, but there is something great about frosty mornings when everyone else is in bed. Five months on, and I have 15lbs of spuds to show for it, oh yeah. Was it worth it? Mmm… I think having an allotment is more about the process than the harvest. One chilly morning the site was deserted apart from myself and a very friendly pheasant who munched on the worms I’d unearthed, it was a tranquil (and back breaking) experience.

I now have a little helper, but seem to spend most of my time fishing him out of the water butt.

I like the rain, but maybe not carrying shopping bags in the rain, more things like running, cycling, swimming. There is something refreshing about getting soaked to the skin, deliberately going through puddles and it not mattering. We’re lucky to have an outdoor pool in Hitchin and it was blissful swimming this morning, watching the steam rise while the rain drops plopped into the pool.

It reminded me of these photographs taken by our friend Christine Donnier Valentin. Not only is she a brilliant photographer but she is very funny too. I’ll add some more of her images when I get a minute.

This is for my pal Alison and anyone else who has a small area of mud that they’d like to fill with some lovely plants. I’m not a garden designer, but I know about colour and a bit about plants and this (in my eyes at least) is a great combination.

Good luck with it Ali. I might sound like a Gardener’s World Geek (another guilty pleasure) but you might also want some things that stay green all year round too, a Euphorbia is a trusty perennial with bold lime green flower heads and maybe a fragrant evergreen climber, perhaps a star jasmine or honeysuckle. Oh and bulbs, sorry this is turning into a big shopping spree, maybe some ‘purple sensation’ alliums and some ’spring green’ tulips.

This lovely little lady was born yesterday – congratulations Soren, Kathy and Alexander on your new addition. I had a wee cuddle and took some snaps – she is a delight.

After a week of sun and swimming in the sea, we’re back and feeling refreshed. Thank you for your patience if you’ve placed orders in our absence, the tissue paper and postal tubes are itching to go and I’ll be hard at work preparing the orders for dispatch today.

July is a big month for Bold & Noble as we’re launching our new collection, so a little recharge was required before the final push. It is amazing what a bit of ‘back to nature’ can do for your inspiration. Who would have thought Normandy could be such a tonic – deserted beaches, great weather and of course the usual delicious food and wine, the French just know how to do it don’t they.

At the risk of sounding like the ‘Office de Tourisme’, if you’re ever after a cracking, family friendly place to stay I’d gladly recommend L’Auvergne. A remote but well equiped farmhouse, where a warm welcome awaits from it’s owners, the ducks, sheep, the whole menagerie in fact. Just a short drive from the sea, it is in a beautiful setting and if you’re very lucky you might even find some fresh local produce left on your doorstep from time to time. Mmm those duck eggs were good.

The final countdown seemed to go on for ages, but at last we are up and on our way… and it feels good. A big thanks to everyone for their help, expecially Jonathan who kept us on the straight and narrow. Lizzie, Poppy, Wilf and Margaret thanks too for your time and patience.

We even nipped out for some bubbly – any excuse.