Welcome to The October edition.
I almost feel relieved we’re here, after the madness of September and the pressure we put on ourselves to get back to work, settle into new school routines and adopt own new regimes of our own for this new year of sorts.
I have loved the September sunshine but there is something calming and comforting about sliding fully into the season. The leaves are turning, the days are shortening, the dahlia’s are hanging on, just. Autumn is here.
In this edition, we chat with the wonderful printmaker Molly Mahon who is celebrating a decade in print with her eponymous brand and studio. Molly and I share a love of colour, print and bringing joy to the home. When we had our pubs in The Cotswolds, Molly designed one of the bedrooms in her heavenly prints and it was so joyful! Her new Wanderlust collection has me wanting to redecorate at home, all over again.
I also share my fashion and beauty wishlist in Willow Loves, talk about what I’m sowing for the garden now, share my go-to smoothie which is the highlight of my autumnal mornings, and more.
I hope you find something that inspires in this edition and wishing you a very happy month ahead.
With love,
Willow
*This is monthly free edition, but every week, I send out emails to my paid subscribers with flowery, fashion, food and wellness content - ideas to inspire, create and nurture. Plus live videos, chat and much more. I hope you will join us!
PS. this is a long read so might be best to read in app/web browser (just in case it cuts off in your email).
Willow Loves!
What I’m loving this month…
Cosy and chic cream with a removable tasselled cape. I mean…
The perfect denim skirt. Just add tights (now it’s October, we can!)
Willow Loves… (6 more!)
(scroll to the end for our paid subscribers)
What I’m sowing now
I’ve spoken before about how I’m starting to sow earlier this year. Partly it’s me getting organised and planning my garden for next year and partly it’s this strange weather we’re having, I'm experimenting! And partly - ok, quite a lot, to do with the fact that I now have a greenhouse and find every excuse to be in it!
The advantage of autumn sowing is that the seeds have more time to develop strong root systems which in turn means healthier, bigger, stronger and earlier flowers. Not every seed wants to be sown now, just a few hardy annuals and perennials that benefit from that cold winter burst.
I’m going to sow ammi majus, corncockle and sweet peas now in the greenhouse and then directly sow poppies, larkspur, nigella, sweet rocket, these amazing chianti shades pansies and calendula into the ground outside.
I have already had great success sowing corncockle a few weeks ago, they germinated like lightening in just a few days - I can’t tell you the JOY!
In my Sunday vid this morning I’m talking through what I’m sowing….
Also, if you don’t have a greenhouse, do not worry! I have gotten by for many, many years using seed trays in windowsills or somewhere where there is as much light as possible. Don’t forget to label what you’ve sown, that is a surprisingly easy thing to forget to do and it’s not worth leaving to chance, especially if you’re sowing lots of seeds and planning your spring garden in detail…
Watch may video below for a little more how-to if you’re new to it all…
Interview - Marvellous Molly Mahon
Molly Mahon, the British printmaker and textile designer, has spent ten years bringing joyful, handcrafted print into homes in Britain and around the world.
For Molly, this decade in print has been a journey between the Sussex countryside and India - developing hand-carved blocks and hand-printed cloth, and bringing them home again to develop into beautiful collections in her rural studio.
It’s also been a very personal journey - from the realisation that ‘this was it’ at a block printing workshop, to starting her eponymous brand and studio while battling breast cancer in the early days.
We spoke to Molly about the inspiration behind her most personal collection to date - Wanderlust - the importance of preserving traditional craftsmanship, and how colour and print and the collected stories we gather in our homes inject joy into the everyday…
My Go-To Smoothie
I remember going to a yoga day about twelve years ago and being given a smoothie halfway through the morning. It didn’t look like much, more sludge than smoothie, but it was so delicious that I’ve never forgotten it.
Then, this summer, I had a similar one at the airport en route to Mallorca, and was reminded about the sensationalism of it. I’ve now started making my own each morning when I run out of time for a proper sit-down breakfast. It’s become the new highlight of my day, almost taking over from the coffee moment in the joy stakes.
One banana
2 teaspoons of crunchy peanut butter (I’m sure smooth will work too)
2/3 dates (these ones are insanely good ones)
Possibly a blueberry or two if I have them
A sprinkle of my Milled Flaxseed, Almonds, Brazil Nut, Walnuts & Q10 mix
A teaspoon of either collagen or creatine from Ancient & Brave
One cup of oat milk
Ice
Whizz it all up in the Nutribullet and enjoy!
My Flowery Life
I’m so excited about my new live video series - My Flowery Life, hosted here on Substack.
Think it of as an intimate chat where you’re all invited and where we chat about life, through the language of flowers. Each week I’ll chat with someone about their flowery life. Some of my guests may be in the flowery world, others not. But they all share a love of flowers and recall memories where flowers made them feel something. It’s a bit like Desert Island Discs but instead of music, we’re talking flowers!
We began last week with the utterly fabulous Kimberly Fleming AKA The Marlston Farmgirl. You can watch our conversation here. We chatted Kim’s career pivots from fashion to flowers - opening her own flower shop, then flowering on film sets including Oceans 12, managing the flowers (and moving them in a sustainable direction) at The Whitehouse under the Obamas then moving to England and starting her very own flower farm. Yes, she is fabulous.
This week, I’m chatting with the wonderful Jo Thompson - garden designer, RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winner and author - whose Substack ‘The Gardening Mind’ is a must. Tune in live on Wednesday at 9.30 UK time.
I have so many fabulous friends coming on for a chat in the coming weeks. If you’re tuning in from abroad and the time doesn’t work, don’t worry, we’ll send a recording afterwards.
Who would you like me to chat with about their flowery life?
October What’s On
What to see, visit & plan this month…
Go see The 90’s: Art & Fashion, Tate Britain from 8 October
Try to get tickets if you can for Kristin Scott Thomas in The Cherry Orchard at Harold Pinter Theatre from 3 October
Visit Painting the French Riviera at The Royal Academy, on until 31 January
Visit the BFI London Film Festival 7-18 October
See Gillian Anderson if you can find tickets in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Soho Place until 19 December
Visit the Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A before it closes on 8th November.
Join Countryside Arts Club for events on 9 and 15 October in Oxford and nearby
New season telly:
Celebrity Traitors on Sky - it’s back and an all-family pleaser
War - Sienna Miller & Dominic West on SkyBrothers - Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey on AppleTV
Mobland on Paramount - The Harrigans are back…
Youth on HBO - Sharon Hogan is brilliant in this dark comedy-drama
The Real Rooneys on Disney+ - Wayne and Coleen Rooney are opening the doors to their Cheshire home for a new eight-part reality series
The Gentleman Series 2 on Netflix -
Slow Horses on ITV - It’s back with rave reviews
The Blame on ITV - crime thriller for the dark nights
Number 10 on Channel 4 - coming soon
Where else should we go this month, watch or book ahead for?
PS. Willow Loves (6 more!)
My autumn to winter wish list..
