About Us
I grew up on a farm in South Africa, where childhood was measured by long summer days, the smell of the bush after the rain, dusty roads and endless skies. Nature was my playground and although I didn’t know it then, those early years would quietly shape the way I see the world today. I have always been happiest surrounded by beautiful landscapes, flowers, animals and the simple pleasures that make a house feel like home.
After school, like so many young people, I followed the bright lights to the city. Then, at twenty years old, I met the man I would spend my life with. We married, welcomed our children and slowly built the life we had dreamed about. We moved from our little starter home into the family house, celebrated birthdays by the pool, hosted braais with friends and watched our children grow. It was a wonderfully ordinary life, full of school runs, family holidays and all the beautiful chaos that comes with raising a family.
One such family holiday was spent visiting England in the summer. We would spend days exploring the most beautiful coastal towns with names like Fowey, caught the ferry across to Polruan , and back to Looe for crabbing. The weather was kind to us, the skies were impossibly blue, and everywhere we went felt like something from a storybook. I had grown up with dry landscapes and wide open bushveld. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by rolling green hills, ancient villages, flower-filled gardens and country lanes that seemed to disappear into history. I was mesmerised. There was something about England that felt instantly familiar, even though I had never been there before. The villages, the cottages, the gardens, the changing seasons - I couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like to call this place home.
The next year we spent exploring further – up to Shrewsbury where my husband was from, and across to Norfolk. I just loved the place. When we returned to South Africa I couldn’t shake the feeling, so I started planning. Moving a family across the world isn’t something that happens overnight. There were children finishing their studies and perhaps the hardest of all, our family home to sell.
But everything went according to plan and at the beginning of 2020, we finally arrived in England with our beloved dogs in tow. We had heard whispers of a virus that was beginning to spread across the world, but none of us imagined quite what was about to happen. Six weeks after we landed, the whole of the UK went into lockdown. Like everyone else, our plans suddenly stopped. Looking back now, it feels like the strangest beginning to a new chapter anyone could have imagined.
By then we had settled in the Wiltshire countryside and with nowhere to go, we spent our days walking and exploring. Every morning we would head out with the dogs, following footpaths through fields, discovering ancient churches, little villages and quiet lanes. We watched the seasons change together, noticed wildflowers we had never seen before and slowly learned the landscape that had become our new home. Those months, difficult as they were for so many people, became an unexpected gift for our family. Instead of rushing into jobs and routines, we were given something incredibly rare - time. Time to be together, time to explore. Wiltshire will always hold a very special place in my heart. Eventually life went back to normal again. We found jobs, settled into everyday life and started building our future, one small step at a time.
Today we spend our weekends exploring beautiful corners of Britain, filling the car with picnic blankets, walking boots and a coffee flask. We wander through gardens, discover little villages, visit historic houses and lose ourselves in the countryside whenever we can. Europe is just across the water, and every new journey reminds us how fortunate we are to call this part of the world home.
Sometimes I think back to that little girl growing up on a farm in South Africa, breathing in the smell of the bush after summer rain. She could never have imagined that one day she would be walking through English meadows, planning weekends in the Cotswolds or catching a ferry to France. Life has a wonderful way of surprising us.
This little corner is where I want to gather all of those moments - the homes that inspire us, the gardens that take our breath away, the recipes we love, the places we discover and the memories we’re making along the way.
I’m so glad you’re here. I hope you’ll enjoy exploring our corner of the world with us.