Wouldn’t Life Be Lovelier
With Seasonal Routines, Rituals and Teeny, Daily Celebrations?
Ten Puttery To-Do’s For October Joy
First appearing in my 2019 Playbook, this little list of to-do’s is just right for adding a little joy to everything from candlelit breakfasts to leaf-hopping and stolen afternoons watching old movies… 1 Settle in for a cosy evening in watching The Ghost and Mrs. Muir on YouTube 2 Follow Vintage_Dahling on Instagram and fall…
The Brocante Round-Up!
It struck me today as I jiggled endless pots of tea for plumbers fixing leaks here, there and everywhere, and tried to bring a little order to the chaos reigning all around me, that while I’m awfully good at creating lovely little somethings I am also tragically terrible at telling you about them and so…
Housekeeper’s Diary
Arggghhh rats! Blooming rats. A plague of them. Well at least two. Apparently disgruntled by the harvest in the field behind the house, or perhaps the building work on the barn before it. And clearly too rude to consult me and discuss their very unwelcome existence in my garden so we could arrange mutually satisfactory…
October BookClub Choices
Heavens these months come round quick don’t they? After a Summer haitus we finally got together to discuss September’s bookclub choice, The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner last night, and though it was a quiet night for the bookclub with only a few of us attending, it was a lively discussion about a book we…
What Self-Care Means
I shouldn’t be allowed on the internet. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue and sit on my hands and generally give myself a good talking to so I don’t turn into one of those snarky types who leaves sarcastic messages at the bottom of posts and memes that have made us want to punch…
The Autumn House
Hello me Darlings, welcome to Autumn at BrocanteHome! Today I bring you a newly revised and refreshed Life-Book edition of my cosy guide to all things Autumnal – a workbook version of my tiny little Kindle book so you can make notes and scribble in it to your hearts content. With atmospheric essays, puttery treats, homemaking recipes,…
Housekeeper’s Diary
A long, hot night finally broken by rain that leaves the damp air smelling like diluted orange juice. We stumble out of bed at the same time and convene bewildered, rubbing away sleep, on the landing. Even the house feels restless. Spiders who have taken shelter from the heat scurrying up towards the skylight and…
What You Can Expect In September 2021 At BrocanteHome
Hello all. I do hope you have had a happy, reassuring summer and that you and yours remain safe and well. Today, after taking the Summer off to stitch my life together I am finally back at my desk full time and ready all over again to help you make life feel lovelier no matter…
Housekeeper’s Diary
Hello friends. How nice to be here talking to you again. I woke up this morning with the urge to write to you tingling in my fingertips and a person cannot be expected to resist a tingle now can a person, even if she has declared herself to be on her annual August holiday from…
Housekeeper’s Diary
A long, moody Sunday, remarkable only for the flow of the deeply splendid ordinary. Laundry hung on the line and a chicken roasting in the oven. Potatoes already par-boiled and roughed up in goose fat and Himalayan salt. First thing this morning, I was on my knees cleaning out the bathroom cupboard. A fierce energy…
50 Super Quick Scrumptiously Fresh Treats For Summer
I’m all about scrumptiousness, me. While I usually regale you with half a dozen puttery treats when the mood takes me, I know that finding time to breathe when the kids are under your feet in the Summer is a task and a half , and so today I wanted to offer 50 Brocantehome style…
Where I’m At
Hello, I’m so sorry I haven’t been around. One of the oddest things about being a blogger is that when sad things happen, I have to toss a coin to decide whether to share the details of that sadness or disappear in order to let my silence do all the talking you need to know….