I know it’s been such an age since posting here on the blog.  For those who were regular followers, I do apologise.  A combination of the book, a gazillion more events at Glenmore House, and perhaps the arrival of Instagram (which is a much quicker way to divulge a snapshot of what’s happening on any given day) can all be blamed; but I’m going to try to get back to writing the odd blog post….as time allows, just for those of you who really do want a wee bit more of a story. 

And right now, at the end of a gallivanting session, seems an ideal place to start! After all, it isn’t every day that one has the opportunity to launch a book in London….which was the good reason for a spot of gallivanting!

I can’t tell you how excited I was when Christina Strutt of Cabbages & Roses declared that she LOVED the book and would be delighted to kick it off into the world at her darling shop in Sydney Street, Chelsea.  The annual party she throws during Chelsea in Bloom, the week of the Chelsea Flower Show, posed the perfect opportunity.  So Cabbages & Roses had some fun with it, and so did I!  Here’s a link to their fun blogpost in the lead up to the evening, which will probably make you giggle. 

A peek into the sweet shop on the evening of the party, where their collection of quintessentially romantic clothes lined the walls and garden-fresh seasonal veg and yummy things awaited guests on their way through to the sunny little garden out the back (where I sat at a table signing a pile of books!) – yes….a glorious London evening with beaming sun ’til after 8pm. It was perfect :)  With a combination of Cabbage & Rose and Robertson friends, the book was given a delightful UK start. 

I can’t think of a more perfect place to have kicked it off….a longtime fan of Christina’s Cabbages & Roses….if you’ve read the link to their blogpost above, you will have seen that for me, C&R perfectly sums up England’s romantic idyll….many a young girls’ dream.  And though I may not be quite so young anymore, I remember only too well the notions that enticed me to London all those years ago. I’ve always been caught between two worlds…which is pretty much summed up in The House and Garden at Glenmore.

Some of you have been lucky enough over the years to score the odd metre or two of C&R’sHatley pink or blue on natural linen here in the Barn. I used the pink as the perfect foil for the Summer Pudding image on p.238 of the book.  Well….I’ve just placed an order for a few metres of Hatley black on natural, which is so totally divine and the girls in the shop will be posting it to me hot off the press!  Exciting!!

If you’re visiting London, I do hope you will visit C&R.….whether for a full blown glorious outfit or just some wee thing that captures your imagination…..I never escape without something and my cupboards are littered with C&R reminders!  (Think those pretty skirts I made for the girls when they were little, with petticoats of tulle underneath so they could spin around in the garden….or the acres of crisp cotton runners for the tables and aprons we wore for the Australian Garden History Society dinner here years ago….my favourite plaid jacket…or Chirstina’s ‘Guide to Natural Housekeeping’ which lurks on my desk – I do wish it would be reprinted – I know some of you have also picked up a copy here).

With a HUGE thank you to Christina and all her Cabbages team….I was utterly spoiled!

And just before I move off the topic of the book which I will…..this is the last of it then onto gallivanting.promise; it really was a thrill to walk into Waterstone’s on the Kings Road (on my way from meeting the girls at C&R to the Chelsea Flower Show), to be confronted with this panel of books right inside the door!

There we are….alongside pretty salubrious company!  

Many of you have asked about the cover and why it’s different:  it was the publisher’s decision not to have a dust jacket in the UK, and just to have the hard cover.  Once again I’m caught betwixt and between…..I love both, and while I’m sorry not to see the house with its spiky agaves in a clearly Australian landscape sitting on the shelves over there, I totally understand their engagement with the romantic image of me carrying a haul of hazy flowers from the Kitchen Garden on a crisp spring morning!  I know some of you are confused, but for those in Australia….take a peek under the dust jacket and this is what you’ll find.  For those of you in England….please ask your local bookshop to order it into stock!

OK…….so can we please get on with the gallivanting now?