Field Notes: June

My monthly recap - including tiny houseboats, geranium-scented skincare and my dream kitchen.

I really don’t understand where this year is going. It’s the eve of July and we’ve only had a fleeting glimpse of summer (I’ve counted just three days at home that were actually hot and sunny so far). The year is rushing by in a blur of grey skies, perpetual rain and an army of gastropods. This will forever be remembered as the wet summer of the slugs.

At least I’ve managed to get away to sunnier climes a couple of times. I’m a summer baby and I thrive on sunshine, so I’ve been finding the gloomy weather at home hard. Is there a version of SAD for rubbish summer weather? This past month, I spent 11 days in Switzerland, mainly travelling around in a camper van exploring the Alps. I’ll talk more about this trip in my Travel Notes segment below, and am planning a bumper newsletter covering everything from how to visit Switzerland without going bankrupt, the tourist traps to avoid, my favourite campsites and tips for staying in a camper van. This was our second camper van trip (not counting the years that we explored the UK in our own van) and it’s definitely one of my favourite ways to travel.

I mentioned in last month’s newsletter that I was feeling overwhelmed and unbalanced with work and life. This seems to be the case whenever I go away for a couple of weeks, and is a side of being self employed that I need to get a handle on. You can’t just set your out-of-office and handover your daily tasks when you’re freelance - they build up, along with your inbox and all the photo and video editing you return home to. I’m not very good at completely switching off, and all of my recent travels have been a mix of work and leisure - which is a tricky balance to manage. I’m not complaining - I love what I do and I wouldn’t change it - but things may be a little quieter on here for a while when I get on top of my ever-growing to-do list and try to figure out that tricky balance.

Two parts of my life that have been taking a backseat while I’ve been working and travelling and attempting to maintain a social life are my house and garden. There is so, so much I want to do in my home. Our bedroom and bathroom are almost finished, but still have a few finishing touches that have been lingering for the past years (the former still needs a headboard, light fitting, artwork and curtains - the latter a towel rail, bath panel and radiator). We have grand plans to transform our larger spare room into an office, with space for a whole wall of book shelves and a sofa bed, while building a built-in single bed with concealed storage in the box room - this would be a huge boost for my work, giving me a permanent spot to nest down in rather than traipsing my laptop throughout the house each day. And at some point, the entire ground floor of our home needs a complete makeover: levelling the floors, installing a new kitchen and replastering. Outside, not only does the ‘completed’ part of the garden need weeding, planting, pruning and strimming, but we have large sections that need a LOT of TLC to reach their potential. All of this work is pending due to both not having the time or the funds, but we will be slowly working our way through the long, long list and I will share any interesting updates. We’ve been in our home for six and a half years now, and it’s been a very slow journey.

Despite chasing my tail with work at the moment, June has been the quietest month of the year for me work-wise. Which is strange, as it was my most profitable month last year! I thought I’d be able to see patterns now I’m 18 months into freelance life, but there doesn’t seem to be any similarities between this year and the last. I have a few fun shoots coming up this month - a cabin in the Dales, a house and garden in Devon and a supper club in Stockport are all on the agenda for the next couple of weeks. I’m quietly adapting my business over the next few months, and am really excited about officially announcing changes to my offering in the autumn. Before then, I have some exciting travel-based jobs that I can’t wait to shoot and share.

Things I’m looking forward to in July: summer finally making an appearance; watching my garden grow (and planting more flowers, because there are never enough); early morning and sunset swims, whatever the weather; golden hour strolls with the heady scent of honeysuckle in the air; my new pledge to eat breakfast al fresco every morning that it isnt raining; and finally seeing the back of the Tories next week.

Field Notes is quite a long read, and may cut off in your emails so is best viewed on the Substack app or website.

TRAVEL NOTES

So, Switzerland.

I’m going to dedicate an entire newsletter to sharing my tips and advice on visiting this beautiful-yet-expensive country and travelling by camper van, so I’ll just share a little recap of my trip here. I’m also slowly sharing the photographs and videos I captured during our adventure on my Instagram, if you’re after more of a visual travel diary.

I had originally planned to get to and from Switzerland via train, but time and money weren’t on our side so we flew in and out of Geneva. From Geneva, we took a train to Lausanne, on the shores of Lac Leman. We spent two days here, staying in the Ouchy district, right beside the lake. The front door of our hotel was literally about twenty steps from the spot where I swam each day. If you’re visiting Lausanne, I really recommend staying in this area as you’re right by the water and can enjoy all the pop-up summer bars along the promenade. Next, we took another train to Bern, where we spent just one night. We were only there for a short time, but managed to see quite a lot of the city by walking around - mainly admiring ornate astronomical clocks and seeking out al fresco bars by the water (a common theme).

We picked up our van from a depot just outside Bern on the Monday morning, and headed straight for Interlaken. We stayed here for two days, before driving towards Lucerne and heading east. After one night on Lake Lucerne, we drove up into the mountains and found the most wonderful small campsite surrounded by towering cliffs with waterfalls cascading down, clouds drifting past to mask their peaks. We stayed here for another two days, exploring the local area, hiding from storms inside the van and just falling a little bit in love with our surroundings. We then slowly made our way back west, snaking past Zurich and onwards towards Neuchatel.

My favourite moments from our trip: waking up in the van on a beach and immediately entering the water for a swim; taking advantage of a break in a storm to canoe down a lake to a waterfall; sitting outside the van at night with a glass of wine, basking in the golden sunlight; stopping to admire all the beautiful gardens we passed by; taking a cable car up a mountain to gaze at snowy peaks and wildflower meadows; and all those many, many lake swims in some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen.

I can’t wait to share more of this journey with you. If you have any specific questions about visiting Switzerland or travelling by camper van - please let me know and I’ll try my best to answer them.

SUBSTACK SUGGESTIONS

This month, I’m recommending a travel-focused newsletter that I always look forward to being published.

Alexandra Matteo

writes Wandering, sharing her beautiful film photography while sharing ‘the kind of travel advice I give my best friends’. I love how her newsletter shares everything from personal travel stories to indepth guides, bridging the gap between luxury and adventurous travel. She reminds me of myself - loves a nice hotel but also wants to go on a long hike. Her new Unpacked series interviews travel savvy writers about how and what they pack - and I’m hooked. If you’re waiting for me to share my Switzerland tips, Alexandra has recently published her recap of her own two week trip through the Alps.

MONTHLY EDIT

Every month I’ll share what’s been inspiring and tempting me in the worlds of travel, fashion, beauty, gardens and interiors.

5 things: travel & accommodation

I’ve recently come across 42 Acres and it’s shot to the top of my list of places I’d love to visit in the UK. This Somerset regenerative estate, nature reserve and wellbeing centre is the ultimate retreat from daily life. Look out for their wild weekends, retreat experiences and workshops - but it’s their self catered accommodation that I really have my eye on. I noticed Kip Hideaways founder Sarah De Vere Drummond staying in a magical place on the water, surrounded by lily pads and a comfy looking bed in a glass-windowed boat. A little sleuthing later and I discovered this is one of 42 Acres self-catering stays - Tiny Boat.

I’m always planning future trips, jotting down ideas of where to go and where to stay in my Notes app, and my current obsession is Hydra. I’ve been obsessed with the thought of returning to Greece since my trip in May, and I know this car-free island with its bohemian history is going to be the next isle I visit. I love that there’s not really anything to ‘see’ or ‘do’ there but hike to nearby coves, dine and drink in the tavernas and swim in the crystal clear waters. On my ‘places to stay list’: Bratsera Hotel, Rafalias Mansion and these two Airbnbs.

I love Banjo Beale, who won Interior Design Masters a few years ago, and was delighted to see he has a new coffee table book coming out this autumn entitled A Place in Scotland. The book showcases the most beautiful homes, hotels, cottages and bothies in Scotland - including some of my wishlist destinations such as The Fife Arms, Boath House, Inverlonan and Wildlands cottages, and I can’t wait to pour over its pages to plan future Scottish road trips.

I stumbled across Southcombe Piggery via Canopy & Stars, and I keep dreaming of a rustic staycation in this idyllic spot. Sadly, it isn’t dog friendly so I’ll have to keep dreaming - but there are twin outdoor tin bath tubs, wild flower meadows, a fire pit, an outdoor bed, AND a natural swimming pond. Not to mention that the owners host wellbeing days for local refugee groups and look after the landscape, encouraging birds, bees and wildlife. It sounds like my idea of heaven.

The Blue Palace Hotel in Crete seems to be this summer’s go-to, popping up on my Instagram feed as a couple of my favourite writers and photographers seem to have stayed there recently. I won’t whitter on about my obsession with the Greek islands, but I will tell you about their current collaboration with the Benaki Museum which includes beautiful ceramic displays around the hotel and a small selection of pieces available for guests to buy, including hand-painted trays and ceramic Cretan bull ornaments.

5 things: fashion & beauty

I photographed this beautiful cardigan for British knitwear brand Genevieve Sweeney this month, and she very kindly let me keep it. Thanks to the unseasonably cool weather, I’ve been snuggling up in it on repeat. It’s sumptously soft, the perfect cropped length and what looks like a soft pastel green from a distance is actually a unique marl of lime, dove blue and putty yarns, making it a really special piece.

I’m a little bit obsessed with geraniums (check both my window sill and my garden and you’ll find plenty) so was delighted to stumble across C. Atherley London recently. All of their products (all beautifully packed, may I add) are based around my favourite flowers and the wonderful scent of their leaves. I love the brand’s messaging of ‘from greenhouse to bottle’, and am eagerly anticipating the day I get to sniff their geranium fragrance.

I’m actually on a shopping ban at the moment. I don’t need any new clothes. I’d just like the chance to wear my favourite summer outfits (thanks, English summer). However, if I was allowing myself to shop, I would be making a beeline for With Nothing Underneath as I’ve fallen for their boxer short and shirt coords. All I want to wear during the summer months is a comfy pair of shorts and a billowing shirt over my swimsuit.

Going back to my shopping ban, I’ve been enjoying following sustainability advocate The Landerline on Instagram. Emily Fenves shares her stylish looks while promoting outfit repeating, thrifting and staying clear of fast fashion. She’s also championing The Rule of Five - a challenge to address over-consumption of clothing by only buying five new pieces of clothing over one year.

Finally, I’ve just found out that my favourite SPF moisturiser brand, Thank You Farmer now offers free UK shipping straight from their own website AND that they have a much wider range of products to choose from than just the face SPF I’m obsessed with. I’ve been wearing this for years now and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a light SPF for their face that also moisturises and really works.

5 things: home & garden

I’m obsessed with Olive & Hugo Guest’s (owners of Glebe House) new Neptune kitchen. Partially because the kitchen itself is just so beautiful and I adore the colours they’ve chosen - but also because of all those beautiful ceramics that Olive has filled it with. Because I hate our kitchen and am forever dreaming of the day that we can change it, a case study of a particularly stylish and practical kitchen really draws me in.

I treated myself to Krautkopf’s beautiful new book, Beyond the Meadows this week. I’ve long been an admirer of their beautiful photography and dreamy garden and was thrilled to discover that their latest book was available in English (their previous books have been in German only). Beyond the Meadows is a beautiful portrait of their country garden, filled with inspirational images and plenty of advice for everything from growing your own kitchen garden to tending a wildflower meadow.

I can’t believe I only fell in love with Lucie de Moyencourt’s shells after her London pop-up with Hadeda. Bad timing on my part, as her Shellegance creations are notoriously tricky to get hold of. I have dreams of filling one of my bedroom walls with her beautiful shells, similar to this photograph.

While I’m on the subject of ceramics (this newslette is quite ceramics-heavy, isn’t it?), I’m also a little bit in love with Ivo Angel’s Italian artisan creations. I especially love their Vines dinner plates and sweet little bud vases. Despite having a ceramics addiction, I never seem to have enough vases when it comes time for daily flower cuttings from my garden.

I love trawling through House & Garden’s website in search of interiors inspiration, and I recently stumbled across a feature on Lucy Cunningham’s Hampshire cottage which stopped me in my tracks. Patterned textiles, an abundant cottage garden, beautiful wallpapers and a wonderful collection of antique finds. It helps that it was shot by one of my favourite photographers, Mark Anthony Fox.

Coming this month …

I’m having to slow down how many newsletters I write at the moment, as I simply don’t have enough hours in the day to maintain the pace I was publishing earlier this year. There will be at least two extra newsletters each month for my paid subs (in addition to this monthly letter and my book club) - sometimes more if I find the time. I have a long list of topics I want to write about and will soon be sharing: my favourite travel photographers, summer staycation ideas in the UK, the lowdown on my camper van trip with tips for Switzerland on a budget and where to visit, and an ultimate guide (similar to this one) for visiting West Sweden.

Thank you for subscribing to Field Notes. It really means the world to me, and I notice every single time someone new subscribes. If you’d like to have a chat or have anything to say about what I’ve talked about in this newsletter, please leave me a comment and let’s start a conversation!

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Emma x