Hello you! How’ve you been?

Well, well, well. It’s been a while. It wasn’t intentional, things just got a little busy, but I’ve missed writing my little rambles from Keeper’s Cottage, so here’s a whistlestop tour of life lately.

I nearly made a comment in my last post – way back when – to say I’ll probably not be hanging about around here for a wee while. But, typical Gareth-Fashion, I was like ‘nah, I’ll be able to blog whilst hitting work deadlines, attending a conference, visiting family and friends… blah, blah, blah.’ And of course, I couldn’t and so my witterings have taken a back seat. But I’m back. So here goes.

Our little angel, Tilly.

Our sweet soul, Tilly.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen that sadly last week we had to say goodnight to our sweet girl, Tilly. Tilly, the haughty tortie, very suddenly showed signs of being unwell, and an emergency trip to the vets confirmed the worst news. Whilst there would be a tiny chance we could help her, it would only prolong her life a few weeks at best, and wouldn’t cure her failed kidneys (a thing that turns out to be very common in cats). We had to make a call with her best interests as the priority, and with the advice of the vet, we decided that we didn’t want her to suffer in her last days. Of course, like all of us, we just want our wee babies to live forever, but it’s not how these things go, unfortunately.

She hadn’t shown any signs of being unwell, so the shock blindsided me. When I put her in the car for Paul to take her to the vets, I gave her a cuddle and told her I love her – a comfort to me – but then I said: ‘see you in a few hours.’ Unfortunately, she never came home, but Paul was with her all the way, holding her little boxing glove (her one biscuitey-beige paw), as she peacefully slipped away. Of course, we are sad, and we cried a fair bit over the weekend. But as things settle, we are actually grateful that we had 15 happy years with her, without a single illness or accident. What a blessing. I do miss my little office buddy dearly.

We have had an outpouring of kind messages, and many of you sharing your stories, and we are ever so grateful for the wonderful community that surrounds us on here, and forever supporting and cheering us on. You’re wonderful, you really are – so a huge thank you.

Escaping to Memorial Cottage

Unfortunately losing Tilly, understandably, threw a huge shadow over everything, but upon reflecting the last month or so, we actually had a really lovely trip back down to Derbyshire. We make our annual pilgrimage each Easter, as it coincides with both of us needing to be in Sheffield for work. After last year’s trip, where our accommodation was pretty ropey, and certainly not suitable for two big adults and two big dogs for a prolonged period where one of us always had to work from there too, there was some underlying trepidation with this trip. But, we completely turned things around by booking the most wonderful cottage for the two weeks – Memorial Cottage in Eyam. Rachel and Haydn have created the most beautiful cottage in the picturesque historic village of Eyam. I’d say it was like home from home, but if I’m being really honest, it was better. The way in which the cottage was finished and styled was actually exactly the vibe I want to create here at Keeper’s. So, as you can imagine, my head has been swimming with inspiration ever since. And yes, paint samples have been ordered.

We have already booked the cottage again for another stay and I would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who’s looking to escape to the Peaks.

Home from home at the cosiest of cottages: Memorial Cottage, Eyam.

It was a trip down memory lane for me too. I used to work in Eyam part-time in the Hall’s giftshop back in 2005, while I was studying (as a side-bar: oh my days, how quickly does time pass us by? It’s been a real wake up call). I remember it almost entirely fondly, apart from the end of each day when I was required to add up all of the receipts and make sure it balanced with what was in the till. I may not possess all that many skills, but there is most certainly a deficit when it comes to maths. I could never get the sums right. I would even use multiple calculators, in case that was the problem (it wasn’t, quelle surprise!) I used to just take the money to the Hall, leave it on the kitchen table and scuttle off, hoping I still had a job the next time I showed up!

It was nice to revisit the courtyard, though very different. But nestled in one of the beautiful old buildings is a magical little home and garden store – Delightful Living – and that was a real treat. The boys got all the love in there too, so we were all happy chappies. They’re on Instagram and do sell online too, if you fancy a nosey. We picked some lovely things up (and I will be reordering their amazing wax melts ASAP!) We couldn’t resist the cosy little lights, which are now pride of place in the conservatory.

Delightful Living is an absolute treasure trove - we couldn't resist these cute wee winter village lights.

Quality time and precious memories

Whilst we were down, whilst it was busy, and was a work trip, but we managed to squeeze lots of lovely trips and visits into our evenings and weekends. In this new age of video calling and social media – and having all gone through a global pandemic where lockdowns meant we had to find ways of staying in touch – it is easy to make sure you’re always keeping up with what’s going on with family and friends. But nothing quite beats a real-life hug, or a proper natter over a cuppa (or a glass of wine).

My little nephew is 18-months old, and it’s been a whole year since we’ve seen him. So you can imagine how much he’s grown now. He is a real heartbreaker for sure, and we both said that he has been one of the reasons that made it hard to leave. He’s a little bundle of joy who gives the best cuddles. He is also animal mad and loved the boys. He just kept pointing and saying ‘Oliver’. The boys were both brilliant with him and it was a joy to see. I forgot myself briefly and bundled him up and kissed his head like I do with Logie. He just turned around to me and said, ‘stop it’ and wandered off. Brilliant!

At the other end of the spectrum, we got to have a catch up with my grandparents. My grandad had a hip operation just before Christmas (and thankfully is doing so well), so it was nice to see them in person. They absolutely adore the boys, and as our trips are more precious than ever, capturing these moments is very special. The nice thing is they will be coming for a holiday to Scotland later in the year. This will be their inaugural visit to Keeper’s Cottage. So it’s all go from now until then to get some of the garden and house jobs tackled. It’s nice to have a target to aim for. Their garden, a labour of love for many decades, is such an inspiration, and we are very lucky to be able to have lots of cuttings from this garden to live on in Keeper’s gardens.

A few precious moments from our latest visit.

Craving creativity

And on that note, I’ve got lots of little zhuzhing-up projects planned, which I can’t wait to get stuck into as I’m really missing doing anything creative. As things go when you must work full time to pay the bills, things like painting pieces of furniture can get sidelined. The first part of the year is always the busiest for me work-wise, so I accepted that certain things would have to take a back seat. But I’m raring to go now.

In the cottage, after being inspired by the aforementioned Memorial Cottage and after spending time in our friend’s - @gillstewartartist – magical cottage, I have started to work out that perhaps the way I’ve approached Keeper’s isn’t creating the calming type of vibe we both crave, so starting at the top (and probably bottom, simultaneously, no doubt) we plan to refresh the rooms. Some, such as the guest bedroom, is a necessity. It’s been the victim of a prolonged leak, which means we need to give the ceiling a good scrape to rid it of all peeling paint and then find a good stain blocker (any recommendations would be most appreciatively welcomed) before giving it a much-needed tart up. From there, we will tackle the very boring and tired stairs and tiny hall to inject some character, before tackling a mini kitchen overhaul, after we had a brainwave to remove a bank of units and replace it with a lovely dresser - which we duly found on Facebook Marketplace the very next day after deciding on this whim. It was meant to be. I’ve ordered my paint and hope to transform this dark brown piece into a lovely French-vintageesque statement piece for the kitchen, using Annie Sloan’s Coolabah Green – a colour I’ve never used before, so I am very much looking forward to seeing it in real life.

Right, I’ve definitely taken up more of your time that necessary, so I shall bid you a happy weekend. We are planning on a little trip to town to check out a newly opened bakery! Then we will just spend the rest of the weekend pottering and resting after a busy few weeks. Have a great one!

G xx