It’s been a while!

Having not blogged since before the last half term there is a mountain of stuff I could go on about, but a brief update is probably best and then I can resume normal service!

Moving in blooms at Teal House

Moving in blooms at Teal House

Morning views, a very sunny house.

Morning views, a very sunny house.

The main reason for my absence has been that we moved house – across the field from our cottage so not too far, but is has completely consumed every spare minute outside of kids and work so my little blog has been slightly neglected.
I am starting to feel much more at home and the main chunk of work has been done to make the new house feel like home, we all absolutely love it and are very happy.

The Manor House is looking stunning at the moment, our head gardener at The Walled Garden, Tim Newman has done the most wonderful job of pruning this year and the house is covered in lilac blooms, we have a wedding this weekend and I really hope that the flowers are still in one piece as they would make a wonderful backdrop for photographs…

Wisteria season at The Manor

Wisteria season at The Manor

Beautiful facade to the house

Beautiful facade to the house

The one thing I regret is not blogging more when the spring blooms were abundant in the garden at The Manor, it really is a beautiful sight. Banks of daffodils followed by carpets of purple, lilac and white Bluebells (or Snowbells as Clementine calls them!) then, just after it all calmed down we had a week of glorious sunshine combined with torrential rain which encouraged all the trees along and the Wisteria and now it looks like mid summer and the lawn is needing a lot of mowing. All beautiful, such a great time of year.

Bluebells & *Snowbells* at The Manor

Bluebells & *Snowbells* at The Manor

Bluebell woods at Moreton

Bluebell woods at Moreton

April & May are very busy for us as a family as we celebrate so many family/ friend birthday’s, (I counted 12 off the top of my head but I think there are a few more!) so we have had lots of parties and celebrations, all of which have been great fun.
Jude turned 5 and had a great time with all his pals, he didn’t really want a theme for his birthday or bouncy castles etc so we had a garden party with friends from school and they played football, I think we ended up having three parties over the weekend of his birthday!

The boy one turned 5!

The boy one turned 5!

Birthday boy!

Birthday boy!

I had the most perfect birthday in late April, Harry organised lunch with my parents at Summer Lodge in Evershot (a must visit for anyone new to Dorset, it’s worth the drive!) and then my darling friend Sophia hosted a dinner for me with lots of my nearest and dearest there, it was so much fun. We finished the weekend off visiting friends up near Bath, which was the best way to round off such a brilliant weekend.

Lunch at Summer Lodge with Harry, Mum & Dad

Lunch at Summer Lodge with Harry, Mum & Dad

Birthday celebrations at Sophs.

Birthday celebrations at Sophs.

My friend Louisa Loasby is an incredibly talented chef and cooks for dinner parties at The Manor frequently, a lot of our guests re book year on year and always make sure that Lou is free before they do so! This April Lou organised a hen weekend for one of her best friends Donna, it sounded like they had a very fun weekend. Lou organised a chef for the first night but decided to dress the table herself as a treat for the party, I had to include this on the blog as it really did look stunning and is such a great idea for a celebration meal – the photos do not do it the justice it deserves! Lou is now offering a table dressing service as part of her business. FYI future guests!!

Beautiful new service from Louisa Loasby

Beautiful new service from Louisa Loasby

The Manor!

The Manor!

Seasonal Optimism

I don’t understand how it manages to happen so quickly after Christmas, but each January before the cold snap comes I start thinking about spring, summer and generally sunny and warm things. I seem to do this all year round, one seasonal event ends and I am on to the next – I like to think it gives off a positive and optimistic vibe but I suspect my nearest and dearest would rather I enjoyed the seasonal “moment” a little longer!

As we have been having little glimpses of sunshine I am starting to peek out in to the garden a little more, beautiful, but pretty neglected through the winter and having little day dreams about picnics and BBQ’s, sun-downers and camping trips (some of which actually happen, a few never do – ie. camping)

Here is the view I get going through our door –

Snuck a peek in to the garden yesterday – not been out there in a while.. Need to get #dorset #garden #tuesday

A photo posted by Tabitha Schofield (@tabsschofield) on

And when the sun is shining like that I just get a little optimistic about it all. My darling friend gave me the most enormous bunch of flowers yesterday which have filled the house in various vases and vintage jugs and that is helping very much – there is something so fresh and clean about having flowers in the house, I love it.

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I am battling with an incredibly slow laptop today, I think it needs some TLC -typically on the afternoon when I have loads to type about it is just so frustrating!! So I will have to save the more interesting stuff for tomorrow after I have given this damn machine a bit of attention. Please excuse any spelling mistakes or shocking punctuation – typing a word is taking ages!

Just before I go I wanted to share this picture – the view from our bedroom window, I love our little corner of the world.

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