News from L&F

Two birthdays down, one and a wedding to go.  The bride is British Nigerian, and L&F HQ in this quiet corner of rural Lincolnshire will shortly shake with noise, music, colour, traditional dress and unfeasibly spicy food – we can’t...

Dare we mention the weather?  12 days to go until You Know What, and we’re starting to look up hopefully when we open the curtains in the morning.  I keep telling Isobel that Rainclouds should be her next design but...

August is always a busy month at L&F HQ and in 2023, it’s more so than ever.  Three birthdays (the first of which is today) and this year a giant, two day family wedding!   Forgive then, if a slight preoccupation...

For the last twenty eight or so years, at around this time, I have decamped to Argyll for weeks on end with first one, then two, then three small Irvines.  It still feels strange not to be tied to school...

Is this the very best time of year?  Possibly … although I tend to feel that at pretty much any point on the calendar.  At the moment though, when not toiling in the L&F office, I’m usually bottom up in...

Please welcome … ‘Potted Shrubs’.  Our newest, freshest design springs from the garden and shrubbery at L&F HQ, where gnarly old favourites in beds are surrounded by new youngsters, looking pretty in pots while waiting their turn to shine.  Luscious...

No excuse needed! Every day tends to be cake day here at L&F HQ and if it ends in a y, we think that’s a good enough reason to whip up our absolute all-time favourite, Carrot.  As a special treat for...

… in time to see how our newest collection, ‘Shrubs’, is progressing.  And the news is good: the prototypes are gorgeous, and our manufacturers are doing their usual terrific job, so we hope to have the range available on the...

All the way from … the Lofoten Islands!  No, I hadn’t heard of them either, but it turns out that they’re way up north in the land of the midnight sun.  Last year was a Significant Birthday for Mr Irvine...

Don’t tell anyone, but L&F HQ is echoingly empty this weekend.  Lancashire beckons, for the wedding of a family friend, and excitement is high.  The groom is reputed to be nearly as fab as the bride, and her parents are...

The Rutland Show is tomorrow, and the weather forecast is fine, and we’re packed and ready … what could possiblygo wrong?  Thetford last month involved a midnight trip for one of us to A&E and we’re determined that no such...

Here we go again: we’re planning our next outing, this time to the Rutland County Fair.  In eight days we’ll be set up and selling in the gorgeous market town of Oakham: come and see us, one and all.   Our...

Spring brings much that is good, and some that is less so.  Here at L&F HQ we have a range of neuroses: needles, spiders, panthers lurking in the woodshed (no, truly), and my own particular non-favourite: anything that flaps.  Birds,...

Polly has spent much of the last week on a narrowboat, puttering gently around Northamptonshire with friends – some of very long standing, and some new.   It’s such a pity she has the artistic abilities of a paving slab: Isobel...

How will you spend today?  Watching the historic events unfold, basking in the pomp and circumstance of a state occasion the likes of which we will never have seen?  Or is that totally not your thing – perhaps you’d rather...

Coo!  Well that was over in a flash: time flies when you’re busy and having fun: thank you to all who came to see and support us in lovely Thetford.  What a hoot – it’s so exciting to see for...

It’s happening!  It’s day one of the East Anglian Game & Country Fair (and Polly and Mr L&F’s 34th  wedding anniversary, by the way).  How better to spend the weekend than here in the sun? After a somewhat stressful week...

Half way through April already, and we’re preparing for the East Anglian Game & Country Fair, now only a week away.  Just off the A11 on the Euston Estate near Thetford, it’s going to be huge – if you haven’t...

For small independent retailers, a Saturday between Bank Holidays is a curious thing.  From experience it can be as dead as a doornail, or crazy busy: people are either away, or determined to make the most of a long weekend. ...

Well, very sadly we are closing our bijou little boutique at Easton Walled Gardens.  Our two year lease is up at the end of this month, and we’ve loved every minute of it.  We’ve made some terrific friends, and gained...

IT’S NEARLY EASTER!  I’m sorry: I know that we here at L&F HQ are phillistines, but the mere thought of chocolate is enough to gladden the heart and put a spring in the step.  The traditional Easter Egg hunt will...