Winter Journal Post- New Year 2023
My Home
This is the place that I love the best...
Week after week, here hidden away,
In this sly nook that I love the best--
This little brown house like a ground-bird's nest?
And in a blink of an eye we’re in the second week of January…Didn’t the holidays fly by?
Has it been a case of back to earth with a thud or full sprint ahead full of vim and vigour? January seems to be a month that evokes strong feelings (and reactions) either way. Either a welcome opportunity for a fresh burst of energy, marked by promise and motivation, or a bit of a dreary month that’s best spent hibernating indoors and reflecting on what you’d like the year ahead to look like.
As you may have guessed from the poem above by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, this year I’ve felt myself yearning for the restorative calm a quiet January can bring. Global events and the sharp changes that followed in this past 12 months have challenged almost all of us and reminded me how important it is to have space and time to replenish our energy and look out beyond the immediate bumps and dips in the road. As simplistic as it may sound, I've found focusing on future hopes and dreams incredibly comforting. And there's definitely something to be said for simplicity in a complex world. Simple pleasures like a good yoga class, tv series (hello ‘Slow Horses’) and delicious meal with friends never fail to lift the spirits too!
Whatever your own activities and simple pleasures are, here's to this year ahead promising them in abundance so that you can be soothed and invigorated in equal measure. I hope too that the little pieces of beauty I share along the way support and inspire you to create a personal home that cocoons and uplifts your spirits.
Anouska.x
Strawberry Hill House
‘all Gothicism, gold and looking glass’
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‘a little plaything that I got out of Mrs Chevenix's shop and is the prettiest bauble you ever saw.’
Realised by the eccentric and deep pocketed Horace Walpole in the 18th century, his ‘little gothic castle’ began life in 1747 and soon caused a stir with its spooky opulence.
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The whole house is a treasure trove of inspiration but the pointy bookcases may have been my favourite detail when I visited the house in the interlude between Christmas and New Year. They were designed by Walpole's friend John Chute who based the joinery on drawings of St. Paul’s Cathedral and medieval tombs at Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. Spooky indeed!
One thing that's still puzzling me though, is how one reaches the books on the top shelf behind the fretwork...? Answers on a postcard please!
