February edit: the year is in motion

Plans for the month + where to source the best antiques in the Cotswolds.

Feb 10, 2025

A very, very, late hello from me this month. It turns out that when you write all day every day for your full-time job, it can often be hard to find time to write some more after that. But popping up for air, I come to you with a February countryside edit. It’s normally around this time of year where I need (so desperately) a real blast of heat – hence my pretty insistent dreaming of Moroccan desert, Bahamian beaches, Australia... but then I resurface back to earth, or to the Cotswolds, to the dancing snowdrops and first glimmers of budding daffodils. It’s a time when the supermarkets start to stock £1 buckets of the yellow flower, and I fill my entire house with them. So, dare I say brighter days (warmer?) are ahead? I’m at least longing for them.

This newsletter looks at the usual diary dates. Plus, a good friend of mine has set me off on vintage and antique kick, so I’ve rounded up some of the best places (and websites) around the Cotswolds and UK to source old-fashioned pieces. Happy collecting.

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13th February – it’s Dunkerton’s cinema night, the showing is Bridesmaids. Good for a laugh.

14th February – There are only a few tickets left for fire-flamed plates at the Bangarang x Daylesford supper. Book in for that famed coconut flatbread here. Tickets £85.

22nd February – Sourdough lovers should head to Worton Kitchen Garden for a full-on hands-on baking session. You’ll even get to take a pot of starter home. £95, get baking here.

26th February – award-winning author and fermentation expert Rachel de Thample will take you through a gut-focused day of krauts, pickles and kimchis at Daylesford farm. Book here.

Also, on this day, it’s the Late Sketch Club at the Deya Taproom in Cheltenham. Coloured pencils included.

27th February – hope you’ve read Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel recently; it’s the book of choice for the Bash Bites Book Club at Chloe’s in Charlbury. Partridge in rose petals will be on the menu.

28th February – it’s live music night at The Tivoli in Cheltenham.

Plus, head over to Jolly Nice Farmshop for golden fried fish and chips. Show up from 4 pm.

For the month, get whimsy at the Rococo Gardens in Painswick with a snowdrop sighting, open until March 2nd.

Next month, on March 4th, we can kick off pancake day at The Double Red Duke. £7 for a pancake, all the trimmings and a drink.