It rained, the baby birds hatched, a young man is losing his father too soon, and the summer meanderings are full of châteaux, courage and conviction
Happy summer, friends, and happy almost Father’s Day to the dads, the granddads, the uncles, and every man who has ever shown up for somebody else’s kid and meant it.
It rained. If you live in North Carolina you understand why that sentence deserves its own paragraph. Rain has been in short supply here for months, and yesterday, for a couple of glorious hours, it came down steady. I stood at the kitchen window like a person watching a miracle. The hellebores that had been flat on the ground lifted themselves back up. The bee balm looked plump again. Everything in the garden exhaled, and so did I.
The wren eggs have hatched. There are currently four fuzzy, pink, naked little birds in the nest on the front porch wreath, and I cannot in good conscience call them cute. Not yet. They look like tiny pterodactyls. But give them a few days and some feathers and I think they will be the sweetest things I have ever seen. I am checking on them approximately forty-seven times a day so I will keep you posted.
I have been thinking about death this week. I am sorry to bring this to a Saturday morning, but some things sit on your heart and the only way through is to say them out loud. My niece’s father-in-law is in hospice. He is fifty-four years old, younger than me, and he has been fighting cancer for ten years with everything he had. He will not live through the weekend. What makes this more heartbreaking than I can put into words is that my niece’s husband lost his mother when he was five. His dad raised him and his brother alone. And now, at twenty-seven, he will be without parents entirely. I cannot stop thinking about him.
When my mom was here visiting, we were talking about losing your parents, the way you do when you are old enough to know it is coming. She is eighty. She told me that at least once a day, she still reaches for the phone to call her mom and dad, to tell them something funny or ask them a question. My grandparents have been gone since the nineties. Once a day, for over thirty years. That is love. That is also grief, I think, the kind that never fully leaves but becomes a room you learn to live in.
If you are so inclined, prayers for this family are very much appreciated.
All right. On a lighter note, let’s meander. Kim and I have lots to share this week.
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Two Home Tours Worth Every Minute
Homeworthy is back with two tours this week that are, frankly, everything I love about old houses and the people brave enough to take them on.
First, we are visiting the Georgian country home of Amy Eld in Chobham, England. Amy is a sustainable antiques collector and the founder of Rock the Heirloom, and when she discovered this house it was a beautiful period property in need of serious restoration. What she has done with it is extraordinary. She is fearless with color, deeply committed to antiques, and she has a gift for mixing old and new in a way that feels layered and warm rather than decorated. Heirlooms and eclectic vintage finds sit alongside contemporary pieces, and every room feels welcoming and full of character. The gardens framing the Georgian facade are just as lovely. This is a woman who believes interiors should evolve over time and embrace their imperfections, and it shows in every corner.
Then we are crossing the Channel to the Loire Valley in France. Marie Daâge, the artist and porcelain designer behind some of the most exquisite hand-painted Limoges tableware in the world, welcomes us back to her family’s château. The estate has been in her husband Philippe’s family since the early 1800s. Originally built in the seventeenth century and reimagined in the 1840s, the château sits within a private park with a lake, and Marie has given each room its own identity through antiques, gorgeous fabrics, vivid wallpapers, and treasured family pieces. If you love French châteaux (and if you are here, you do), this tour is an absolute gift.
Movies and Documentaries
I have three for you this week, and they could not be more different, but each one is the kind of film you think about for days afterward.
Amazing Grace is one of those films I return to again and again. Ioan Gruffudd stars as William Wilberforce, the young British politician who spent twenty years fighting to abolish the slave trade in Parliament. Albert Finney is extraordinary as John Newton, the reformed slave ship captain who wrote the hymn. Benedict Cumberbatch plays William Pitt. The film is beautifully acted, deeply moving, and a reminder that one person’s stubborn conviction can change the world. If you have never seen it, Father’s Day weekend is a perfect time.
Marly, the Lost Castle of the Sun King is a French documentary that sent me straight down a rabbit hole. A team of archaeologists excavates the Marly estate, where Louis XIV built a château remarkable for its eclectic architecture and trompe-l’œil frescoes. The château was sold and destroyed in 1806, and all that remains above ground is a park. But beneath the soil are archaeological treasures: evidence of the sumptuous decor and daily life of a king who came to Marly to escape the court at Versailles. Three hundred years after his death, this film is a true investigation into a lost royal residence. If you love Versailles, you will be riveted.
The Tasters is a new film by Italian director Silvio Soldini, based on Rosella Postorino’s bestselling novel, itself inspired by the true story of Margot Wölk. In 1943, a young woman named Rosa flees bombed-out Berlin for a remote village in East Prussia, only to discover that she and a group of women have been conscripted to taste Hitler’s food and make sure it has not been poisoned. Every meal is a gamble between survival and death. The film is one of those rare World War II stories that places women at the center. I have not stopped thinking about it.
Inspirational
Ann Patchett | TED Talk: The Love of My Life (And Why I Need to Share It With You) If you want to live in a world where people read, Ann Patchett has news for you: it is your job to help create that reality. In this recent TED Talk, she traces her path from a chance airport encounter through a career writing iconic novels and opening Parnassus Books, her beloved independent bookstore in Nashville. She makes the case that reading is not a private pleasure but a civic act, one that builds empathy, sustains what she calls a “long-format brain,” and pulls people out of isolation. For every woman reading this who has a stack of books on her nightstand and feels slightly guilty about it, Ann Patchett just gave you permission to double it.
This conversation with chef Margot Henderson, recorded inside her home in Stockwell, London, is one of the most absorbing things I have watched in a long time. Margot is one of Britain’s most influential chefs, a pioneer of nose-to-tail cooking, and the woman behind Rochelle Canteen and The Three Horseshoes in Somerset. Alongside her husband Fergus Henderson, she has helped redefine the way Britain eats. But this is not a food interview. Margot talks about growing up in New Zealand, the pull of London in the 1980s, the whirlwind romance with Fergus, and, with remarkable honesty, what it means to care for someone you love through Parkinson’s. It is a conversation about marriage, loyalty, home, and what it looks like to keep showing up.
Sarah de Lagarde | Survival Story
Sarah de Lagarde | An Extraordinary Survival Story I do not even know how to introduce this one except to say that Sarah de Lagarde’s story will stay with you. Sarah was commuting home from work on a rainy Friday evening in London when she slipped on a wet platform and fell through the gap between the train and the platform edge. She was run over not once but twice. She lost part of one leg and part of her arm. What she has done with her life since that night, the way she has rebuilt, the grace and humor with which she tells her story, is unlike anything I have encountered. Sit down with a cup of tea and watch this.
Wander Over To
Don’t forget to visit Kim at Northern California Style.
Happy Father’s Day to every good man in your life. I hope your weekend holds rain if you need it, a front porch if you have one, and someone to sit there with. What are you watching or reading this weekend?
Thank you for meandering with us.
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