opening chapter four – hello april
Longer days. Lighter days. Here comes the sun. At last. Colour pops. In its element, the English garden comes alive once again. Bulbs burst. An annual gift. Fresh, fragrant and flourishing. Good Friday. Easter Sunday. Another Bank Holiday? Keep ‘em coming! Families gather. Feasts with friends. A toast to togetherness, bottoms up! My birthday. Another year older. But wiser? Time will tell. April showers. Then sunshine. A constant battle to and fro. Sow seeds. Dig deep. Feel the earth between your palms. Lunch outside. Shall we risk it? Oh go on then… it paid off! Chicks hatch. Lambs skip. Nature works its magic, yet again. Mini Eggs. Hot cross buns. Let the Easter egg hunt commence. Spring is here. Ladies and gentlemen, our collective patience paid off.
It’s my birthday month so I’m biased, perhaps, but April really is a special one isn’t it!?
Offering up multiple reasons to celebrate (hello two bank holidays, the return of spring dresses and the excuse to eat Mini Eggs from dawn til dusk!) like playful lambs in fields nearby, it feels like we have a collective spring in our step.
Obviously, given that it’s mine and Ali’s birthday month too (did I mention that it was my birthday coming up!?) we’ll no doubt be setting some time aside to celebrate in style somewhere special as well. Last year that meant throwing a very last minute garden party over the Bank Holiday weekend (and by last minute, we turned it around in 72 hours. I’m still not sure if my team have forgiven me for that one!) so who knows what we’ll get up to this year. All I know is that as long as I’m with my favourite people and animals (with a glass of chilled Moet in hand, it’s me after all) I’ll be a happy 35 year old wherever I am.
On that note, I’ve been thinking a lot about turning 35 in the coming days and how lucky I feel to have another year under my belt. I hand on heart mean it when I say that I feel more content than I’ve ever felt in my life at the moment and I truly feel that it’s because I’ve learnt to seek out the lessons and embrace the insights that life (with all of its weird and wonderful days) has sent my way in recent years. For that reason, whether I’m turning 35 or 75, I now do my upmost best to view each year that goes by as a perfectly packaged gift of wisdom that if opened and embraced, will inspire more confidence, learnings and a sense of peace within.
Which only makes me more excited to keep ageing if I’m being honest! If I feel like this now, what will 40, 50, 60 year old Lydia feel like!?
In other news, though April likes to send showers our way, typically speaking we can look forward to more sunshine too (quite the weather forecast you’re getting here, I know..!) With that in mind, I’m looking forward to creating my own take on Easter-inspired tablescapes for hosting (fingers crossed) outdoors in the coming days. I will be embracing every opportunity I get to open the patio doors and let the fresh, fragrant air breeze through the house. I’m also really keen to get in the kitchen over the Bank Holiday weekend and trial new baking and cocktail recipes for the coming months. I feel so inspired by so many of the foodies that I follow that just whip something up from scratch when friends pop by! I’m determined to create something special of my own this year. It could go pear shaped or I could be the next Nigella.
If I don’t try now, I’ll never know right?!
All in all, I’m a happy lady that April is here. To my fellow Aries, I hope you have a wonderful birthday too!
Dearest Ms. Millen,
While I know you may never see this at all I am going to leave a note anyway. I wish you the most joyous of Happy Birthday’s coming up! My birthday happens to be today, April 9th. From a very young age I have been obsessed with everything English and even more with a cottage or farm/countryside aura. I have been feeling quite low lately and cannot say enough of what a blessing your videos are when I am not feeling myself. They give me such joy and meaning. I have recently been thinking about starting to grow my own herbs to make things a bit fresher in my kitchen. I am equally chomping at the bit to get a hold of some boots from Holland Cooper! I am a plus size shorter woman, so the clothing is harder, but I make it work and find things that make me comfortable. My husband Joseph and I live in Dallas, Texas. There is nothing cozier to me than grabbing my fuzzy blanket and my dogs and watching your videos on YouTube on a Sunday. We have Luna our black lab (little bit of sausage in her too), our cocker spaniel Shireen, and our corgi Tyrion. They send you, Mr. Millen Gordon and the beloved sausages our deepest gratitude and warmest love!
Sincerly,
Jenny Zierath-Lowe
That means so much to me Jenny, thank you so much! I hope you feel better soon. Please give your fur babies a big squeeze from me! x