News from L&F

...of winter!  Snowdrops are everywhere, bluebells and daffodils won’t be far behind, and it seems remarkably mild.  No doubt there will be a few more glitches before 21st March, the official first day of spring, but there is definitely a...

February looms.  A strange month.  Everyone says it’s shorter  -  it is, but only by a couple of days.  And right in the middle of it is the 14th: St Valentine’s Day.  As a teen it filled me with dread. ...

January is Seville orange month, and if you’ve never made your own marmalade before, do. Mr I seriously doesn’t cook, but he has a vested interest in ensuring the quality of his favourite breakfast essential, and is therefore currently to be...

Methinks it’s time to introduce the L&F lurcher, Callie. So named because Isobel, whose job it is to name all our pets, felt that ‘Caledonia’ was a bit of a mouthful to yell. So here is Callie, now 8 months,...

Well!  What a whirlwind that all was … blink and you missed it, but with a bang and a wallop Christmas and New Year both came and went and now we’re into 2024.  Extraordinary to think that all that frenetic...

... so named, because they are!  The key here is the mincemeat:pastry ratio, and the lack of lid.  Traditionally I do a star for each, and I will draw a veil over the behaviour of some of my family -...

Reader: I’m a year older than when we last spoke.  My birthday was yesterday, and I’ve fought hard all my life to keep it distinct from Christmas.  Increasingly it’s swallowed up in the general gaiety, and as time goes on...

Stockings!  Where do we stand on stockings?  Without doubt, they’re my favourite bit of Christmas.  I hope I don’t shatter anyone’s Father Christmas based illusions when I say that creeping around the house in the dark swapping empty kilt/welly socks...

Yesterday was the last of our 2023 Fairs, this time at the magnificently named Grimsthorpe Castle – and it was as jolly cold as it somehow sounds.  From now on it’s all downhill to Christmas, and if the lack of...

Speaking of new traditions, as we were …. here at L&F HQ it has become something of a thing that Isobel and I go and choose the trees for inside the house.  (There’s a huge Wellingtonia in the garden that...

Another day, another two firsts: we’re at Sandringham Christmas Fair this weekend; and the glorious new baubles, which are going like hot cakes.  Christmas music in the background (thank you Michael), cold enough to feel seasonal, full enough for atmosphere...

Who could forget it?  Tomorrow is truly one of L&F’s favourite nights of the year.  Marshmallow covered, singed oven gloves (they melt and gloop, whatever you do to try to avoid it), ‘Oooos’ and ‘Ahhhhhs!’ mixing with the smell of...

Right: don’t tell anyone, but it’s almost November.  Which means it’s nearly December.  Which means we’re in the run up to Christmas (having had our first retail order for Holly Ovengloves as long ago as May!).  The utterly gorgeous new...

You will no doubt have seen that we have a new collaboration under way!  L&F has come up with two new designs for Stamford School (est 1532 – yes, 1532) and the mugs are selling fast, with tea towels soon...

Well, that says it all really. We’re bonkers for conkers here – we’re lucky enough to have two enormous horse chestnut trees at the front gate, and walkers and riders alike keep a beady eye on them year round, it...

There is NOTHING better, on a crunchy brown autumn morning, than a cinnamon bun and a cup of proper coffee.  Believe me: I have done extensive research on this.  Perhaps sitting on the back step, maybe kicking through the leaves...

Free form, hand painting is a serious skill. One of the things that struck me during my time on a narrow boat way back in May was the beautiful decorative work on boats and chandlery alike: from someone who can...

Like it or not, Halloween has become A Thing here in the UK. As if to prove it, last year our delicious Pumpkin candles were an absolute sell out. So they’re back, for an understandably very limited time only! A...

Is it just us, or are the nights really drawing in?  Mr Irvine’s grandmother used to say they were, every year without fail, starting on about 1 August – but here we are a week into September and I’m sure...

All the right people got married, the weather didn’t beat us and even a last minute disaster with my outfit failed to spoil a truly wonderful weekend.  So now it’s back to matters L&F with a spring in our step,...

Yesterday’s traditional Yoruba ceremony was everything we had all hoped it would be.  Loud, colourful, emotional (the groom’s mother in particular, embarrassingly) and full of love, laughter and wonderful Nigerian music and food.  Today will start off as a much...