News from L&F

This weekend was the penultimate shoot of the season here in our corner of Lincs, so it was all hands to the pump yet again.  There were logs to be chopped and brought in; fires to be laid; cleaning to...

One hot but overcast day, the granite came to grace the island in the kitchen and replace the rather bumpy MDF that had been there now for some weeks.  A third of a ton of it on a very large...

Well you did it!  If you’re reading this, you have managed another Christmas, another New Year, and roughly another 365 days since the last time you read the first L&F blog of a January.  Our demographics show that most of...

Here at L&F HQ our Christmas started, as usual, with all five of us in/on the marital bed, opening kilt stockings stuffed with badly wrapped silliness.  That of course was total bliss when the children were all small and warm...

... it's very, very nearly Christmas!  Over the last 35 years it seems that we Irvines have established our own traditions and it’s a constant source of amazement and joy to me that all five (and now six) of us...

Here in rural Lincolnshire, the temperature is definitely dropping.  We woke this morning to a frost at long last and, excited and encouraged by a surprise visit from Chelsea Godmother, we realized that the only way to spend the afternoon...

And then, Eeyore (beloved husband, so named by my mother for his relentlessly pessimistic outlook) was made redundant.  The cruellest word, and a thoroughly unpleasant experience - to which, sadly, he had become quite used.   Newly at leisure, Eeyore...

I love the randomness of your orders at the moment.  We suddenly seem, for example, to have sold the last two of our Easter Sheep who were out to pasture in a box at the back of a high up...

You asked and we listened: after the run-away success of a video showing nothing but my rather stubby hands making a load of mince pies, we have had people year round asking for the recipe.  Ever eager to oblige, here...

There really is something about this place at this time of year.  We have huge trees around the house and on blowy, wet days like today they’re wonderful to watch - from the inside, with the fire lit of course. ...

It really comes to something when, on the 8th of November, you are already pretty much Christmas’d out.  (And yes, that’s a thing.)  Having spent much of the last week counting our Holly and Mistletoe napkins into groups of four;...

As Christmas loomed that year I feared for my sanity as warm friends in warm cities all around the world kept calling, seemingly with the sole purpose of reminding me how little time there was left before my ‘Country Living’...

Well, stand still around here at the moment and you’re likely to be wrapped and posted off – things are moving fast and we’re panting to keep up.  I love that you love what we do, and that you’re onto...

I have to report clear signs of my blood thinning as I age.  Last week some of the family went to Barcelona to watch our daughter-in-law compete in her third Ironman competition.  For the uninitiated that’s 2,000 people doing a...

Somehow, in the middle of all this, the year had moved round again and it was time for the Meet.  Hunting doesn't work.  As a means of killing things it's ridiculously inefficient.  But to begin with it's very pretty.  Picture...

I don’t know how it is in your neck of the woods, but in this corner of rural Lincolnshire autumn has most definitely arrived.  Is this my favourite season?  It just might be (but then I tend to think that...

Day two today of the Rockingham Castle Autumn Artisan Fair and the sun is shining!  What an amazing place this is.  Henry VIII was a frequent visitor, as was King John and just about every one of any note ever...

Next was the issue of the tiles to go around the heirloom Aga, and behind both the electric hob (I'm not as stupid as I look: belt and braces always) and the huge double sink and drainers. In my new...

Here in sunny Argyll there is most definitely a change in the air.  The sun is still lovely and warm but the air is decidedly cooler than it was even a fortnight ago.  As I let the dogs out this...

A summer sale seemed like a good idea at the time.  With autumn on the horizon, we reasoned, we should clear the decks and make room for new stock.  Some of our old favourites were the first to be listed...

We’re getting into Dangerous Territory now.  August is birthday month at L&F with one husband and both sons requiring cake and presents on the 5th, 10th and 25th – as you read this, we will all five of us be...