The September Domestic Almanac

The September Domestic Almanac Is Here…

The second of my monthly Domestic Almanacs has arrived, carrying a floral housecoat over one arm and several increasingly elaborate paper projects under the other.

Every month I’ll be making a playbook for this lovely ordinary life of ours. There’ll be pages to write on and pages to cut out. Seasonal observations, reading recommendations, tiny rituals, artists to discover, things to notice, ideas to borrow, little projects to enjoy on rainy afternoons, recipes, and the occasional rabbit hole because I simply don’t trust anyone who never disappears down one.

You’ll be able to print it, scribble on it, stick bits of it into your journal, fold the corners over, spill something on it, tuck pieces into your commonplace book and, I hope, return to it long after the month itself has disappeared.

Perhaps that’s all I’ve ever wanted BrocanteHome to be?

A place that quietly accumulates delight…

So in September’s Edition?

The September Domestic Almanac is a richly illustrated A4 collection of seasonal reading, domestic experiments, literary pleasures and glorious old-fashioned paper play. It’s designed to be printed, written upon, cut up, coloured in, altered, pinned to the wall and slowly inhabited as summer gives way to autumn.

September’s particular obsession is the housecoat.

I’ve wandered through its history, considered what it means to dress for the private self, and reinvented it for those of us whose domestic uniform is less quilted nylon and more black vest, yoga trousers and a magnificent floral kimono.

There are tiny experiments involving housecoats, lamplight and proper letters. There are books for cooler rooms, pages for recording what the body knows, colouring pages, and paper projects sufficiently elaborate to occupy an entire wet afternoon.

And then, because September is really two seasons sharing a hallway, there is a complete Changing of the Season Appendix for noticing what is leaving, preparing what is coming and deciding what can remain gloriously unfinished.

Inside you’ll find…

At the Threshold ★ A Note for September ★ September at a Glance ★ The Principles of September ★ Things to Notice ★ What Helps in This Weather ★ Your September Body Forecast ★ Small Seasonal Care ★ In Defence of the Housecoat ★ The Great Housecoat Rabbit Hole ★ The Housecoat Through Time ★ The Modern Housecoat ★ The September Kitchen ★ The September Table ★ Recipes for the Turn of the Season ★ Domestic Fieldwork ★ The Reading Room ★ The September Reading Shelf ★ Reading Notes ★ The September Reading Room ★ September Labels & Bookplates ★ September Marginalia ★ September Experiments ★ The Housecoat Hour ★ One Lamp, Three Evenings ★ The September Letter ★ Pockets, Envelopes & Little Keepers ★ The September Field Notes ★ Cut & Keep Field Notes ★ The Playground ★ September Tickets, Tokens & Promises ★ September Bookmarks ★ Quiet Colouring Pages ★ The September House at Dusk ★ The September Correspondence Folio ★ Tiny Writing Papers ★ Complete Folding Envelopes ★ Seals & Address Labels ★ Autumn Pantry Labels ★

And in the Changing of the Season Workbook Appendix…

The Season in the Hallway ★ The Threshold Inventory ★ Summer Out, Autumn In ★ Use It Before It Turns ★ Repair, Mend, Replace ★ The Unfinished List ★ The Beautiful Form ★ The Room Where Summer Keeps Its Secrets ★ The Still Room Handover ★ Weather Permissions ★ The Seasonal Contract ★ First Leaf, Kept ★ Until October ★

It is rather enormous. And it is lovely.

This second Almanac has become richer, stranger and more confidently itself. It contains things to read and things to do with scissors. There are places to think properly, places to make a mess, and pages whose only ambition is to make an ordinary September afternoon feel a little more interesting.

I do hope you enjoy it. 

August taught me that there are women who want this sort of monthly paper world. Women who still like printers, pencils, handwritten notes and projects that leave little scraps all over the table. Women who understand that making life lovelier is serious work, even when that work involves hand-labelling the jars in your pantry…

Do remember though, that we are pick and mix women and we only ever have to take what we find relevant and can leave everything else behind…