A Victorian villa in Brixton, Betty Soldi’s Florence studio, Judi Dench, a hidden Monet collection, and the beauty hiding inside an ordinary week
Good morning, friends.
I have been thinking about Instagram this week. When you scroll through, everyone else’s life looks glamorous and exciting and basically magazine-worthy. Some of those lives are real. Not every single day, but there are genuinely glamorous, adventurous people out there living lives that look exactly like that. This time of year everything is bigger and better than ever. The holiday decor is already up and looks like it belongs at the Biltmore House. The outfits cost thousands of dollars, are impossibly chic, and it is hard to believe that someone with a life, a job, and children jumps out of bed and walks down the street for coffee looking like that. And every living room, kitchen, and holiday tablescape appears to have been styled by a team of people with very good taste and an unlimited budget.
And then there are the rest of us. Living what looks like an ordinary life that is actually, when you pay attention, completely extraordinary.
A sunrise that stops you at the kitchen window. A text from someone who was thinking of you. A dachshund who has not moved from the warm spot on the blanket all morning. A hug that catches you off guard. A book that keeps you up past midnight. A warm chocolate chip cookie pulled from the oven before it is quite done. A cardinal on the porch that makes you think of someone you loved and miss every day.
That cardinal made me think of Gary, my step-father, this week. The Brewers are in the World Series. They have not been there since the 1980s. Gary had season tickets for years, and when he could no longer get there in person, he listened to every game on the radio. He would have been beside himself right now. Actually, I take that back. I have no doubt at all that he is sitting in heaven completely thrilled that his team is finally back where they belong. Enjoy the tiny moments, friends. All of them.
And with that, let’s meander.
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A Collected 1851 London Home with a Romantic English Garden
Melissa Richardson, director of JamJar Edit, and her husband Charlie Alexander, a historian and tour guide, have spent more than thirty years making Chaucer House their own. Built in 1851, it is a double-fronted Victorian villa in Brixton: layered antiques, objects collected over a lifetime, artwork by friends, an eclectic warmth that manages to feel both deeply personal and completely effortless. Melissa uses flowers from the garden in her pressed-flower artwork, so the outside comes inside in the best possible way. This is the kind of house where everything has a reason and a story and it is a joy to hear them.
A Calligraphy Artist’s Romantic 1801 Hideaway in Florence
Betty Soldi is a calligraphy artist and designer, and her studio is tucked away from the streets of Florence inside a historic 1801 limonaia, a former lemon house set within a secluded garden. The space is filled with colorful collections, artistic treasures, and decades of gathered inspiration. Betty’s family has a centuries-old tradition of making fireworks, and she brings that same sense of wonder to her work, transforming ink and lettering into something that feels almost alive. The combination of the garden, the history, the craft, and the romance of a converted lemon house in Florence, what more could you ask for.
Judi Dench — Encore with Waterstones
The only thing better than a conversation with Judi Dench is a second conversation with Judi Dench. Waterstones invited her back, this time with Brendan O’Hea, and what followed was: her career on stage, on television, and on film, and then the parts that surprised me most, her childhood, her upbringing, the people who shaped her. Watching Judi Dench talk about a life in theater is not something to scroll past. Pour a cup of tea and enjoy.
The Monet Masterpieces One Woman Kept Hidden
Jeanne Schlumberger was a French collector who believed in Claude Monet’s late paintings before much of the art world had caught up to them. Guided by her friendship with the pioneering Parisian art dealer Katia Granoff, she built a collection of Monet’s late work, including Iris and Saule pleureur, that she kept quietly in her private home rather than sending them around the exhibition circuit. She was fiercely independent, unconventional, and she trusted her own eye before she had any proof she was right. The question at the heart of this piece is a good one: what does it mean to recognize greatness before the rest of the world does? And what do these paintings tell us about the woman who never once let them go?
You can read more about Jeanne in this article: The magic of Monet’s late work and the radical who embraced it.
An 80-Year-Old Irishman Saving the Stepwells of India
Caron Rawnsley is eighty years old, from Ireland, and for nearly a decade he has been in Jodhpur working to clean and conserve the stepwells and water bodies of Rajasthan’s desert city. He spoke with the BBC about his life, his experiences, and why this work matters. I watch things like this and am amazed. There are people doing extraordinary things in the quietest way, and this man is one of them.
A Little Early Christmas at Fortnum & Mason
If London is not on your travel list this season (it is always on mine, even when it is not remotely practical), here is a small gift. Fortnum & Mason at Christmas is one of the great pleasures of the holiday season and someone on Youtube has kindly brought it to us.
In Case You Missed It
This week’s Monday Musings and Friday Favorites are both up. Come and have a look if you missed them. Don’t forget to check out the denim dress that I shared(above) it’s on sale for under $25.
Have a wonderful weekend, friends. Do not forget to visit Juliet at Make Mine a Spritzer and Kim at Northern California Style. We always have something worth sharing.
What is the most extraordinary ordinary thing that happened to you this week? I genuinely want to know.
Find me on Pinterest and Instagram for more during the week.
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