Happy New Year from The Manor House

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Tabitha Schofield

Wishing all visitors to our blog a very happy New Year!

2016 saw many fun and interesting events at The Manor and we welcomed some lovely guests to the house. It is lovely to see many returning guests year after year and to see all the fun ideas that people come up with in ways to use the house.
We have had Uni reunions, hen parties, art exhibitions, Mexican fiesta’s, English Country Garden themed weddings, tennis tournaments, grand weddings for 200 and a small perfectly styled intimate wedding for 50, a spooky Halloween themed party and a blissfully relaxed yoga retreat for a group from London. All in all a varied and eclectic mix which goes to show how the house can be used in plenty of different ways.

We have more to look forward to in 2017 starting with a fitness boot-camp this month and plenty more after. If anyone has any other ideas to put forward please do not hesitate to get in touch via email. We still have a few weekends left in the Spring and more later in the year.

As ever we are constantly working on little improvements in the house and out in the grounds and we hope to work in conjunction with some local suppliers to re decorate rooms and keep the house in tip top condition.

I am hoping to bring more information on places to visit in Dorset when staying with family and friends, good eateries, beautiful walks and the occasional seasonal recipe to indulge in.

Here is a pretty taken of The Manor on a winters morning –

Good morning from The Manor House

A photo posted by T A B I T H A (@tabitha_in_dorset) on Dec 16, 2016 at 1:38am PST

Watch this space….

T x

End of the summer at The Manor

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Tabitha Schofield

As we are now officially in to Autumn I feel the need to give a brief summer round up before the inevitable influx of Autumn posts hit the blog.. (it is my most favorite season)

Summer was hugely busy, fun and memorable. We had plenty of wedding celebrations at The Manor house. Festival style, English country garden style, big weddings, small weddings! All beautiful with lovely couples. It is such a wonderful thing to host and be part of their special day. Our last wedding of the season is this weekend and it already looks set to be as fabulous as those before it.

There were also lots of lovely families staying through the summer, enjoying the local beaches and exploring the countryside.

During the first few weeks of September we managed to squeeze a few days in at the house with our decorator Rich who has been giving the house it’s facelift, getting all the exterior paint work re done. It now looks all smart and happy with it’s new make up on.

As a family we had a great summer, a lovely holiday in France with our hosts the Shell’s and Loasby’s and lots of camp outs, boat trips, sleep overs, BBQ’s and beach trips.

Oh so pretty Monpazier

A photo posted by T A B I T H A (@tabitha_in_dorset) on Aug 4, 2016 at 1:50am PDT

Children of the wine farm – still chirpy after an hour & a half drive to try some more! @louisaloasby

A photo posted by T A B I T H A (@tabitha_in_dorset) on Aug 5, 2016 at 2:36am PDT

A photo posted by T A B I T H A (@tabitha_in_dorset) on Aug 14, 2016 at 5:58am PDT

A photo posted by T A B I T H A (@tabitha_in_dorset) on Aug 18, 2016 at 2:38am PDT

I’m now nursing my first (and only!) cold of the Autumn whilst the rain lashes down outside so all these sunny throwbacks seem like a distant memory.

Sorry for the lack of photos, my laptop has taken a dislike to my phone, so insta links are all I have at the moment!!

T x

Weekend escapades

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Tabitha Schofield

Good morning, happy Monday! It is a grey day here in Moreton and I am needing some serious motivation to get myself up and running, literally running, in the woods with little Plum.
We have had an interesting few weeks with our little Plum, quite traumatic and to be honest I don’t think I am entirely recovered.

part of the family

Harry & Plum

Last Saturday we took Plum for a brief walk at a local wood whilst the kids played football and she was there one minute, gone the next! We searched for hours and must have walked miles to find her.. it was absolutely awful. The forest we were in is huge and I was fearing the worst. Luckily a wonderful couple found her, popped a lead on her and took her to the vets to have her chip scanned. We got the call and were so relieved! keeping her very close for the time being, thank goodness for technology and the kindness of strangers!!

We have been getting in lots of lovely new produce at The Dovecote farm shop and most of it is grown on site. It’s lovely to be able to pop in and have a coffee, read the papers and pick up some yummy bits and bobs, we enjoyed some delicious Seville marmalade over the weekend as well as veggies and sausages. The menu in the cafe has had as revamp and I enjoyed some lovely lunches there last week, soup, cassoulet and fishcakes..

Yummy soup

Seville Marmalade made at The Dovecote

We had a lovely Friday evening with our great friends Sophia & Mike, and on Sunday enjoyed a muddy and windy walk along the hill at the top of Ringstead, down to St Catherine’s Chapel by the sea and back. The sea mist was blowing in and we all got VERY wet and muddy, but the fresh air blew away the cobwebs. The views at the top are amazing and you can see along the coast and across to Portland. A highly recommended walk for anyone visiting Dorset.

A photo posted by Tabitha Schofield (@tabsschofield) on Jan 31, 2016 at 5:06am PST

After the walk we got the car stuck in a very muddy patch in the car park and needed rescuing by our friend & neighbour Scott and his trusty Defender, it was not quite how I had planned our Sunday on going but we redeemed the day by paying Scott & his family back for his time with a delicious supper of Osso Bucco and some lovely red wine.

I will be able to reveal the new interior scheme for our bedroom at the manor this week and will hopefully get started on the decorating by Wednesday.

I know what colours I think I want to use but they are not officially released until this afternoon – I think I need to run the idea by a few trusted friends first!

T x

A wonderful way to end the week…

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Tabitha Schofield

We have had a super busy Friday – I met with three sets of wedding couples this morning all booked in for their big day this year.
I absolutely love a wedding and get a real buzz helping different couples plan their special day. It is always a really happy meeting at The Manor, even when it is pouring with rain like today I was met with smiling faces. What is really nice that for most couples it was their second visit to the house and they said it was even better than they remembered which is lovely to hear. One couple had never seen the house in person and booked anyway – and they were delighted with their visit which was a huge relief!

Our little family

Lots of happy wedding couples at The Manor today

I received the sweetest gift from a couple from the Netherlands as a thank you – it meant a lot! Myself, Harry and the children will be enjoying delicious waffles as we snuggle over the weekend xx

The cottage is filled with the most spring like scent of Hyacinths and we have lots of Tulips over at The Manor. We have returning guests this weekend which is lovely. They have the very talented Louisa Loasby cooking for them over the weekend which is a great idea to give the group the treat of not cooking whilst they enjoy the house.

A photo posted by Tabitha Schofield (@tabsschofield) on Jan 21, 2016 at 11:30pm PST

Plans for the weekend include a long overdue night out with friends, football training, a visit to Kingston Lacy, walking, reading the papers and a lobster supper.. I can’t wait!

Weekend of relaxation sorted!☀️#food #weekend #flowers #tea

A photo posted by Tabitha Schofield (@tabsschofield) on Jan 22, 2016 at 6:27am PST

T xx