Easter Shian Spring '23 eZine

E A S T E R

SPRING '23

Undefinable is a thing.

Imperfectly perfect, perfectly imperfect.

Spring is moments of real change, earlier light, longer days, warming earth, birdsong and a feeling of possibility.

Cover photo is Glen Quaich where Easter Shian is. (DHE)

BY ROOM

Eating and cooking are my thing and did you know I won a cooking TV show too?

Garden growing, master plan and working with a garden designer- Jack Wallington .

The joys of sleep and how to decorate a bedroom for it.

Anti Book club! Words matter, books matter

From our TV binge list to making it comfortable, whats new in the sitting room

Organisation, life and the stuff that pays the bills

Fun is personal as is home, games night bringing play back

SPR ING

Change is joyful, I'm not a lover of static. Living in a field is never boring (well for me it isn't!) It's in constant change. The transition from winter to spring starts with the change in sound.

The sound of winter is crunchy, crisp and sharp, with long periods of silence Spring is windy breezes, unfurling buds and birds in song, and crunching turns to rustle of grass The longer days, more sunlight and the glass warming to the spring sun

A favourite season - I do say that about them all, though!

Monty is still injured; sadly, he had another accident and is having his other leg operated on after tumbling down the garden slope and damaging his back and leg. The slow recovery is going to take us to summer I have bought him a dog trailer for the bike and a dog bag carrier so I can take him a little further Plus, he's got a playpen to be safe outside enjoying the spring weather

KNOW MORE ABOUT E A S T E R S H I A N

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.

Henry Van Dyke

Scottish Spring

This will be our 3rd Spring here; each one has been warmer than the last. The Glen does have a micro-climate about 3-6 degrees different from the village March 1st is the birdsong switch on, and we will be in full Spring mode by (Equinox) March 20th We then get a little bashing of lousy weather. This Spring is no exception; with a big freeze in early March, then blue skies, and crisp sunny Spring days, it has even been an outdoor sofa fire pit and sofa day a few times Snowdrops appeared at the end of February, and the recurring daffodils unfurling from a long slumber just popped up again. As we start the gardens, I will keep a nature journal to recall the Scottish Spring changes

It has turned upside down. Before I published this edition, Scottish spring was warmer than England's as they got swept up with snow, blizzards and bad storms.

HELLO

It's my 3rd edition now, and I often think about the eZine; what would people want to read, see, and know?

I don't have any responses to that, so I consider what I would want to read, and that's what this fuller edition is all about I ramble, roam, digress, and meander through the rooms of the house as themes or topics I hope you find some value somewhere, and if you do, please let me know.

REALITY

The world of social media is rather intense at times, and I can take it or leave it, which I do regularly It is easy to lose yourself in comparison, and I hope that is never experienced I want to create an unedited view of our lives, not how I think we should look The real perfect imperfection of living in unedited photos, and I'm too lazy to do that too!

This Spring, my style of wabi-sabi, imperfection, wobbly lines, and a desire to be imperfect is at its best. Mismatch versus coordinated. This also seems oxymoronic as I love curating spaces, putting things together, tinkering, phootering, moving and changing. All this connects me to Spring, and you will see that a lot in this edition That oxymoronic nature, the natural contradiction, is what I am, so I don't fight it I embrace it .

IMPERFECTLYPERFECT

G A L L E R Y

THE HOOSE

Small moments around the hoose, when the light falls just right, or a shadow captures a mood. Spring at Easter Shian is a special time, and it's only just begun

G A L L E R Y

THE KITCHEN

The kitchen in spring is about movement, freshness, and awakening, from larder sorting to drawer clearing to fresher foods to lighter meals.

DIDYOUKNOW?

I won a cooking TV show called The Taste with Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre and Anthony Bourdain

Watch The Taste

ES SPRING 2023

The Kitchen

4 servings

Prep 10 minutes

Cooking 30 minutes

Super fast starter or a delicious side, as we move through Spring eating the seasons and larder, this is a win and can be served with any breads or extra crudities.

Roasted Honey Carrots, Hummus and Pesto

Ingredients Method

HUMMUS

Make your own or simply buy a good quality one

1 TBSP OLIVE OIL

Use the best quality oil you can afford, or good quality rapeseed oil

SALT, PEPPER, DRIED CHILLI

1TSP AND 1 TBSP HONEY

PESTO OR FRESH HERBS

I use fresh pesto , you can use a good quality one, its only for dressing so not a lot needed or skip and add chopped fresh herbs

STEP ONE

Plate up the hummus and spread around a serving platter, put aside

STEP TWO

Chop your carrots lengthways into quarters, put in a bowl, add the salt, pepper, chilli and honey and toss the carrots until fully coated

STEP THREE

Put the coated carrots onto a baking tray and cooked until darkly coloured (normally 20-20 minutes), turn if needed half way through

SERVE

Tumble the carrots straight of the baking sheet onto the hummus, serve with dollops of pesto or chopped herbs, serve

The Kitchen

5/6 servings

Prep 15 minutes

Cooking 40 minutes

In the kitchen, I share one of my favourite Spring recipes. I have always said that every recipe is a bastardisation of another, a hand-me-down, a flavour addition or even just the way it's served all make a personal difference. This one is no different; Nigella calls it eggs in purgatory, based on Tunisian Shakshuka. This is a simple take on all of them.

Ingredients

LUDO SAUCE

getrecipehere

a staple in our house and makes this dish specialfind the recipe here You can use any best quality tomatoes or passata too.

3 TBSPS OLIVE OIL

Use the best quality oil you can afford, or good quality rapeseed oil

1 ONION, 2 CLOVES GARLIC

finley chopped (you can also add cilli if you want extra heat)

SALT, PEPPER AND 1 TSP SUGAR

The sugar offsets the tart of the tomatoes

FREE RANGE EGGS X 5

One egg per person

MOZZARELLA/ BURRATA X

1 BALL

You can use any cheese you like I prefer the mildness of the mozzarella in this as the tomato is the star.

Method

STEP ONE

Warm the oil on a medium heat, add your onions, garlic and allow to cook until a light colour

If using the Ludo sauce as your base then add to your pan, let it warm and go to step 3

STEP TWO

Add your tinned tomatoes, salt , peeper and sugar and all to simmer for 6-8 minutes

STEP THREE

Crack each egg and drop individually into the sauce, around the pan, and add the mozzarella broken into pieces around the pan too Put on a lid or foil Allow to simmer until the eggs whites have soft set

SERVE

You can drizzle with honey if you like and chopped fresh herbs, serve with bread or tortilla chips

Kitchens collect stuff more than any other room for me, and Spring is a great time to sort out the overflow We all need a dump drawer, yet we don't need out-of-date foods or piles of unused items I do a drawer-by-drawer method, go through, and anything I haven't used in 12 months goes into a charity box and can be someone else's treasure Less is actually more in a kitchen

L A R D E R

I am fortunate to have built a larder and know that You can have a shelf, a cupboard, or whatever your space does for you The joy of kitchen spring work is sorting, labelling and, for me, decanting Finding odd ingredients, out-of-date stuff, and, for me, creates a flurry of recipes too Have the items you use the most labelled, at hand and easy to access Remove clutter and excess items- do you ever need more than one whisk?

Another thing I do is walk the kitchen and make sure everything is accessible, sort the stuff I have put in odd places and make sure that I can access the regular go-to items and, if need be, move other things to the larder drawers/ cupboards I don't use as much So what's near the sink, what's easy to access near the oven, for me Aga, what's near the fridge, dishwasher etc It amazes me how stuff moves, and I change in the kitchen

THIS IS MY SPRING KITCHEN ACTION, NOT A MUST DO FOR YOU

H E G A R D E N

TAs a non gardener, I have brought in Jack Wallington to create a master garden design that we will work on for the next 5 years (and more)

THE GARDEN

YEAR 4+ YEAR 2 + 3 YEAR 1

Learning from ground up, literally Develop the Product

Seeing the gardens come to life and adapting Knowing how things are establishing, being patient

The doing Plans Design

Deciding to ask for help was a big step We could plough ahead and do what we think Yet the learnings of living in an old renovation project is that you need skill, advice and experience to guide you We are working with Jack Wallington, who is delightful and knowledgeable and focuses on natural habitats and pesticides free which we want

The master plan is being created by the super-talented Jack Wallington, and I feel so privileged to have him help us foray into this unknown He has started the plans, and it is so exciting, informal and wild with our personality throughout

This starts as soon as we have the full the master plan, the first is the front of house space, a herb gravel garden, gravel and mown grass lawns and starting to establish a flow through the garden Watch this space It's a full learning zone and one that I am relishing as I do feel it will have a massive transformation to the whole Easter Shian Estate

Walls, patterns, planting, year review

The Front - Landscaping, planting and paths

The Driveway, barn, walls, planting

Planting, resetting, reviewing, adding

THE GARDEN Inspiration

Welcome

THE BEDROOM

LOOK UP

WALLPAPER CEILINGS

I love wallpaper, my go-to brand is Woodchip & Magnolia for quality and ease of putting up, and they also resize murals to fit Anyway, now I've said that the wallpaper in this room is B&Q Fresco! Wallpaper ceilings are my go-to. I have the Pink Room with a cloud wallpaper ceiling When you think of all the rooms in our homes, it's the one place we are looking at the ceiling! My only other comment is I nearly got divorced (literally) attempting it myself and got our regular decorator Tony in as I lost it. Totally doing it! I always say give it a go, though. It transforms a room.

BEDFIRST.

We once got asked by a young couple what advice we would give them, and Dave and I both said in unison buy the best bed you can afford- they did, and we are going to their wedding soon, so maybe our advice worked? Your bed is essential; believe me, it can create physical and emotional issues if you don't sleep properly. Our bed in this room is an Emperor European style as we bought it in Mallorca and it's a beaut. If you can't afford a full bed, our go-to rescue is a much cheaper option of a top-of-the-range topper and can transform a bed too. Next is bed linen. I love linen (and do have some). However, I dont love the price and usually go for crisp cotton I go to TK Maxx for ours as you can get some real bargains- buy it when you see it, not when you need it! Final advice on beds always gets a divan; no slats here.

Make it.

Headboard. This headboard is actually a picture frame from Mallorca, long story short- we had it made specifically to fit Dave's bike it never went in it! So I used it for our headboard.

See it being made here

Ive always wanted a Haastens bed yet way out of my league, its signature is the checkerboard so I bought some gingham fabric and recovered the divan base. Job done!

Spring is an actionfilled time, a doing season, and the books for Spring have this in mind. Pushing us to think differently into action.

LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY

Welcome into my library, grab a book, and share your reads I don't give books away- I keep all my books! However, when I find a book I love, I buy multiple copies to give away.

A fabulous reader of the Winter eZine edition shared her thoughts on the anti-book club, and I loved it. The concept of sharing a book you love, synopsis and the choice is yours to take So here's an anti-book club This could have legs and become a thing, too- start sharing your Spring and Summer reads and let's see where it goes!

Welcome to the library

Spring books are nudges of hope that drive thought, stimulate and push us into action, whether the physical kind of doing or a directional move into different thinking and building a broader perspective. So I hope you share your Spring (and get ahead for Summer reads, too). I would love to hear your thoughts on the anti-book club too!

SPRING BOOK LIST 2022/23

Spring Books to boost, challenge, change and be curious about

Perfect, Imperfect Karen Macarty

A book after my own spring heart, the title says it all. Interiors that make me smile.

The other black girl Zakiya

Dalila Harris

I loved reading this, always another perspective to learn.

Smart Brevity Jim Vandhei

Communication spring clean! How we understand through less is more. Super fast read too.

Why women grow Alice Vincent

As a novice to gardening a friend bought me this a beautiful enlighting read

Why has nobody told me this before Dr Julie Smith

A quite moment stopping - yes why didn't I see that book. Good read to push thought.

Lost skills and crafts

handbookAlan Titchmarsh

Learn, see, do and a fun easy read too

Food for love Anthony Capella

My repeat reading book an easy read food love story. No Spring lesson just a lovely read

Share your Spring book list on insta @eastershian

T H E S I T T I N G R O O M

Sitting Room for us is just sitting, relaxing, calm, binge-watching TV, chatting and copious amounts of coffee and always with a blanket!

PROJECT STARTS & STALLS!

The sitting room hanging chair is a project start. I've decided to weave it with thick hessian rope. It is taking a long time, and might be ready for summer!

FLOWERS, BULBS, REVISIT.

I am a serial mover. I sit in a space and see what I can move. The latest is the artwork in the sitting room, the stove addition and the flowers changed from winter faux to spring plants.

SHOP YOUR HOOSE!

This is my fave sport of interiors ever. You have got stuff and if like me, a lot of it. Walk the house and shop what can be moved, tweaked, how could that mirror in the bedroom look in the sitting room, art, rugs, vases, trinkets, throws, cushions, books, plants, lamps, anything goes. It's fun and doesn't cost you anything.

IMPERFECTLY TCEFREP

Spring sit outs, fire pits, coffee, croissants fleeces and blankets

THE OFFICE

Spring is about change. The office has changed from its Autumn/Winter location in the center of the house to the sunny keeping room.

THE OFFICE 29

The keeping room is our morning room, decorated with the delightful green lick paint and my truly favourite wallpaper brand, woodchip and magnolia Floresta It is a glorious room The sun rises and moves through it the whole day and total of 270º views of the Glen too It's our morning coffee and chat room

The office had been based in the centre of the house through winter, warmer, cosier, and altogether a wonderful place to work, yet as we moved into the brighter days, it felt best to follow nature's cycle The move began We ended up with the domino effect of one room becoming many new spring rooms! The library, the office, the dining room, and the games room changed! Watch now

We moved the smaller coffee table out and the big Mallorca monastery door table in We removed a sofa and opened the space with the 2 leather belt chairs (Soho home) The area felt much lighter, adding even more fresh greenery, and we haven't moved from here since! Our clients love the change, too, as they also experience the complete joy of the Glen on video calls.

watch the video here of the room walk

Play is a part of life we can lose. We choose to remember it. Games nights are simple, cheap, fun and can stop you binge watching tv!

THE GAMES ROOM

Board Games

We love Scrabble and Yahtzee in our house, our go-to games nights. My Scrabble board is a prized possession from my adored Grandma, her original 1950s board in its original box. I used to go on domino rallies with her as a child and loved them! The impact of connecting at this level is we share our fun side, competitiveness, ability to self-manage, and the simple connection we create by being in play

Make a space

Fortunately, we have a dedicated game space, yet we used a tray before this So have your games in one place, cupboard, drawer, stacked. I love it when you see packs of cards and game boxes, and even now, hotels are creating game spaces which I love. We also have our dining table that turns into our ping pong table too!

Spontaniety

Just give it a go. Feeling uncomfortable playing scrabble because you can't spell, think backgammon or chess is for others? Start with a mutual thing you like, words, numbers, monopoly, drawing games. Discomfort or concern is soon diminished when you start to play.

CAN,I WILL, I DO,I SHALL, I HAVE"

MY LIFE MANTRA

"I

E|S

EMPORIUM

COMING SUMMER 2023

It's easy not to say thanks for that extra smile, the coffee made every morning and the switching on the heater before you arrive. For that conversation, you didn't think you needed it. But, the thought is always present to be more grateful and share gratitude. The effort is what makes the difference.

THANKS

DaveEvansThismonthhasseenDave workingawaysoloalotmoreandlooks likeitaseasonofthisyear I willthank himeverytimeasheisthestalwart,the support,thecritic,thecheerleader My love.

KimGouldingwhoIdon'tseeorspeak tooften,yetisinmythoughtsarefriend ofover20yearsandwhoboughtthefirst giftforEasterShianthedailyusedwelly rackandIsmileeachtime.

Maximillien HallsForembracingall that-isEasterShian Forhisworkon acclimatisingandtothefuturetimewe gettoshare

JackWallingtonfromyourbook(s)to contactingyou,totheconversationto meetingyouandnowbeingaforeverpart ofEasterShianIknowthatiwillbe constantlearnerofallandsolook forwardtothegardensbeingwhatthey deservetobebyyourguidance. .

DunkeldvetsFortheamazing careand attentionofMonty,makinghimwork againandprovidinguswiththesupportto bebebetterhumancarerstoo! Instagramfollowers Ihavealove dislikeconnectiontoinsta,fallingintoits rabbithole,comparisonandmoreYETto the@homeofrealfoodand@eastershian followerswhohavestuckwithme,joined inThankYou.