I’m very conscious I haven’t been posting much on here lately – life has just been so crammed with activity since we moved into Station House. But I have always enjoyed writing here, and it’s fun looking back over the last nearly ten(!) years of posts to see how much has happened in the last decade.
Although Daisy and I still miss living by the sea, certainly taking up residence next to a working heritage steam railway has been very exciting and, instead of walks on the beach, we can choose to walk alongside the carriages to reach the open fields and woodlands alongside our garden….
Our house dates back to the mid-nineteenth century and was built by the railway to be the Station Master’s house. It had only had two previous owners before we purchased it after being sold by the railway following the Beeching Report when it became a private home. The most recent resident was an elderly lady who’d lived here for nearly 40 years. She had planted tall conifers all around the boundary which entirely enclosed the house and made everywhere dark and damp. Almost the first thing we had done was to have them taken down and now the amount of light is unbelievable, as indeed are the views. From the front of the house we can look up the line, down the line and across the station platform – I guess the station master had to keep an eye on everything. Here’s the Santa Special (its carriages filled with excited children!) steaming past our door this morning….
We have wonderful views across the countryside from the rear too….
Looking over the fields to St Bartholomew’s Church (where we’re getting married next spring). The house does, however, need quite a bit of work – nothing too serious, mainly redecorating and sorting out the garden. The elderly lady that lived here before hadn’t decorated for quite some time…
Above is a corner of our bedroom. Though it’s perfectly fine for now, personally I do prefer a more finished effect(!) And so we’ve decided to begin in the front room – the perfect place to cosy up with family and friends over Christmas. We have re-opened the chimney – there were several birds’ nests inside – and are having the floorboards sanded and polished this week before we begin decorating. I’ve been busy choosing wallpaper and fabric….
Though for me of course it’s mainly about the fabric haha! This is a lovely (well I think so anyway) printed linen from Sam Wilson Studio called Hedgerow which she says was inspired by a hedgerow full of blackbirds. I think it’s so pretty – though making Roman blinds will be challenging – we have a large bay window and I will need to make five separate blinds, each starting in exactly the same place on the pattern repeat (or else they’ll look all higgledy piggledy). Wish me luck everyone!
All this, and the December Magazine to publish too! I think this must be one of my favourite editions, I really enjoyed putting it together – and using foliage from our new garden to experiment with new ways of presenting the finished projects. As always there are six projects to choose from….
And much more besides. The patterns are available individually in store, or to find out more about subscribing, please just CLICK HERE to visit our magazine page.
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