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

More about us…

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Tabitha Schofield

I realise I haven’t really done that ‘all about me’ thing on the blog yet so I thought now as good a time as any. Blogging through The Manor house site It tends to be more about the house but the family feature a great deal too! They are an important part of our journey with The Manor house so here is a little more about The Schofield’s…..

The Fam

Abi & I x

Harry & I met in 2007 and we moved to Moreton in late September 2008 – it was always our dream location, at the time directly in the middle of our parents and families, close to our home town of Dorchester but also deep enough in the countryside to satisfy us both. My best friend Abi had secured a cottage on the estate a month before and I was insanely jealous of her beautiful home, a chance phone call and a speedy viewing with our neighbour Ivy and I said yes to the house before Harry had even seen it. We moved in just over a month later with our baby daughter. Living in the same village as Abi has been a blast ever since, she is so dear to me and we have shared an enormous amount of experiences over the last 18 years of friendship. Always on hand in an emergency (and for a Friday glass of wine) I think I will always want to live “across the field” from her.

Chickens followed, the house changed here and there, as did the garden, life moves at a slow and seasonally based pace.. in 2011 our baby boy joined us and bedrooms were created to make room for him. A few changes of career paths happened and then in 2012 the most recent addition of our little family arrived, Plum.

Plum

Bumble kitten

Plum is a mini goldendoodle and a huge part of our family. We have both always had dogs in our family but wanted to wait until the latest baby was up on their feet before we thought about getting our own. She is an absolute treasure.. more about her and her recent escapades tomorrow…

We had been enjoying the Manor for a few years as some very dear friends of ours had lived there before relocating to Australia. When the opportunity came up with the house we took a huge leap of faith and took over the house. 2014 saw some changes for me in my career and I was doing lots of commuting with my job, really missing the children and all the extra stuff that comes when they join first school so we decided to open the house as a holiday home & wedding venue and I finished my job. We had a few months of furnishing the house (dream) and planning where everything was going to go, decorating and preparing. It was so much fun and I would love to do it all over again.

The last few years at The Manor have been great fun and we have met some lovely people along the way. it is a great job and flexible enough to mean I can get along with all our other projects and be there for the school run. The kids love the house and offer a critical eye on some of Harry & I’s furnishings and ideas!

Valentine

Summer at the cottage

We continue to enjoy living in the cottage, have more chickens and two gorgeous cats Valentine and Bumble.. as well as a stray know only as Skanky cat who sleeps outside in the shed and steals food. I could add to the animals constantly but they will soon out number humans in the house so we will just stick with adding chickens to the hen house!

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

Dates & Paints

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Tabitha Schofield

Movie date night was highly anticipated – (I know its only the flicks but January hibernation is long) I had booked us in to see The Revenant after watching the trailer and thinking it looked like a good ‘cinema’ film. Hell NO. It was the most traumatic 2.5 hours of 2016 so far.. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautifully shot, cast and set but it was so grim! Leo spent most of the film dragging himself across frozen ground unable to talk. The poor guy.
It was the kind of movie that made me want to get in to bed with each of my children for a long cuddle as soon as you get home – which is exactly what I did. It made me so tense I must have checked my phone at least 20 times in case the babysitter had called (weird Mamma anxieties going round in my head, fitting, high uncontrollable temperatures, house fires, cat suffocation, fingers in plug sockets to name a few).

A beautiful morning at The Manor

Our morning at the cottage

We have had unbelievably beautiful frosty mornings this week, unlike any before -6oc this morning. I have so many photos of Moreton looking like something out of a painting – I really need to learn how to use my big camera properly soon, iPhone’s are great but I think I could get better shots!
Plum and I have been on lots of long walks across the ford and up through the forest making the most of the gorgeous weather.

We have been wanting to do some redecoration at The Manor for a while but have had to plan it quite closely to find a long enough gap between guests to get the work complete, we are starting in early Feb with one of the beautiful front facing bedrooms and a bit of work in the drawing room. With a house the age of The Manor a lot of TLC is needed so we have to take our time!

New Farrow & Ball colours released in a few weeks

One of the bedrooms is getting a makeover

I am a huge fan of Farrow & Ball and their colour palette, the cottage is head to toe greys, minks and elephants huff. So I was thrilled to hear they are launching new colours in a few weeks. I popped in to our F&B shop in Dorchester today and the manager gave me a little sneak peek of the new colours ahead of their launch and they are beautiful! There is a fab little catalogue coming out with inspiration on how to match the new colours with others they have and I will definitely be taking tips from that. I will keep updating with developments but I am really looking forward to starting the project.

Meanwhile back at the cottage I have been having a great declutter and spruce up – it’s sometimes a little strange going from working at The Manor and the huge rooms to our little cottage nest, but it is home and I love where we live. I would need to have all my friends move in with me to fill The Manor on a daily basis, or have more babies… nudge nudge Harry!

A photo posted by Tabitha Schofield (@tabsschofield) on Jan 19, 2016 at 4:48am PST

The boy one had his first school disco this evening, bittersweet! My baby boy got himself all dressed up in his new shirt and was so excited to be taken back to school in the eveing (almost alone, big sis was on standby for emergencies) it was beyond sweet. He has grown up so much since starting school in September and is catching up with the girl one in so many ways. I am proud & blessed!

Sibling love x

T xx