Arthur's Christmas Gift Edit
Everyone seems to be enjoying sharing their ideals of Christmas gifts so here are mine! Well anything to cope, lets face it.
‘Nightmare in Gucci and Prada, lost all its chic, its like Petty Coat lane, shouting and chewing and you have to queue to get in, queue! I don’t mind Tiffanies although I did see Amanda Holden sniffing around, oh this new wealth so very, very common. God, one day down Bond Street and suddenly she’s a Duchess, look at her, look at that! What did you get? whatever I could snatch from a Sharon’s greedy grasp! PLEASE DON’T SEND ME THERE AGAIN. I won’t.
BUBBLE’S CHRISTMAS SHOPPING FOR EDDIE - COLD TURKEY - ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
AND NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMAN - ARTHUR PARKINSON PRESENTS A CHRISTMAS GIFT EDIT… oh for f-sake!
I’ve bought several people these beautiful Dutch Still life but quirkily fun Daylesford x Colefax and Fowler pure linen napkins. One each for my loved ones mind you, I’m going to say they are in fact tea towels no one will suspect! They’ll look lovely draped over the oven door, for the big spenders this whole range is beautiful I especially love the Passionflower
- Daylesford antique Tulip Napkin or tea towel
Daylesford Passion flower Napkin or tea towel
My favourite gardening book of the year is one all about one of my favourite gardens, Coton Manor. it has been written and photographed beautifully by Coton’s owner the wonderful Susie Pasley-Tyler. Susie describes how the garden has evolved since she and her husband, Ian, inherited the estate over 30 years ago, and her thinking behind its many and varied sites. Experienced and novice gardeners alike will be encouraged and enlightened by her account of being at the helm of one of the finest gardens in England. This beautifully illustrated book shows how it has achieved this coveted status. I think this is one of the most beautiful garden books that has been published for a few years now, hugely personal, and informative with much charm, its in fact refreshingly old fashioned in part with none of the usual gloss. I urge you to visit Coton in 2025 and if you already know of it then consider a season ticket to see the garden at its floral highlights of the year, the flamingos are resident throughout!
I love the Farm Shop at Chatsworth and Lady Burlington this year has been very busy with a rebrand. You can’t have enough Honey in your winter stores and I love this twin pack of that contains both a jar of bramble moorland and wildflower honey in nice jars. All from Honey bee Hives kept on the estate and surrounding Derbyshire and Yorkshire Dales. Bee keeping is a very dedicated task and honey in the supermarkets unsurprisingly often is not from British bees at all so we need to be buying it from good and trusted sources - chatsworth farmshop honey
Sticking with the farm shop, I love the Chatsworth botanical gin, its really lovely Using select botanicals sourced from the grounds and greenhouses of Chatsworth including the Cavendish banana leaf! Chatsworth Gin
Chester zoo also have their own botanical gin that is also really flavoursome made with an original recipe curated by the zoo that combines fruity English quince, sweet honey and lavender. All ingredients are harvested from within the zoo grounds. Chester do incredible conservation work throughout the world. - chester zoo gin
My favourite rose ‘Morning Mist’ with its wonderful gracefully arching stems and free flowering habit of nectarine pink. star like bee friendly flowers is available as a sleeping beauty from David Austin either potted up in a stylish box on arrival perfect for gifting or order as a bare root, lifted and pruned back plant that will arrive still in a nice, robust cardboard bag. keep somewhere cool not under the Christmas tree for a week before hand or else it will dry out! A wonderful gift of a rose that will last a lifetime and the perfect New Year job to get you out into the garden to plant it. - Rose Morning Mist David Austin Roses
If you don’t grow your own Lemon Verbena, for its beautiful leaves that make the most soothing herbal tea, its worth seeing the winter out at least with it in bought in organic tea bag fashion as you won’t find this tender, sun loving perennial for sale now until next summer- lemon verbena organic tea bags
I love Trinny london’s see the light SPF not just because I absolutely adore Trinny Woodall but because this stuff actually works, my skin loves it . Its such an important habit to apply this daily to protect and nourish our skin, this is something I dab on every day. Three years in the making, its both an SPF and a moisturiser, a powerful way to prevent and reverse visible signs of premature ageing, while shielding against sun damage. A weightless, silky moisturiser, turning suncare into skincare with white tea and raspberry extract. Vegan and cruelty free. see the light spf
Is it wrong to gift Christmas decorations? Not at all in my book. I love the range of birds by The Vintage Christmas company especially the starling ! Too many to choose from! vintage Christmas birds oh and the butterfly !
I have to be a bit commercial here and highlight that I did a range of chicken illustrations for none other than London’s prestigious Fortnum and Mason’s in spring 2024. I’m really proud of the quality especially the ceramics that are all made in Stoke on Trent. The jute bag with the Silver Laced Wyandotte hen is very strapping and can cope with being a good and cheerful bag for life. Not bad to say I got a D in my art GCSE! I wanted this range to be very chic mostly with black and white hens.
Arthur's Fortnum & Mason hen collection
Winter is the perfect time for Sweet Pea sowing, if you have not sown any already. A good selection of varieties is available from Easton Walled Gardens in Grantham, supplied in lovely tins too so perfect stocking fillers. They do a lovely mixed tin of highly fragrant fairy tale, sugar plum shades saved from being too polite thanks to a good couple of maroons and strong corals. These seeds are harvested from the Walled garden at Easton. Easton Walled Garden heritage sweet pea mix seed tin
FOR THE HENS - a subscription of what will become their ultimate chicken caviar of calci bugs, delivered professionally each week. will see them be in strapping form. HUGELY rich in protein and goodness for hens fed daily as a treat. unlike mixed seed and other treats these won’t make your hens fat. be warned they wiggle! Boost your chickens’ health, vitality and wellbeing with Live Calci Worms (Black Soldier Fly Larvae)! These nutrient-packed morsels are more than hen treats; they’re a hen superfood promoting overall health, glossy plumage, stress busting and disease-fighting benefits. Easy to order, eco-friendly, and delivered straight to your coop…
I LOVE my vintage cigar press turned into the most stylish and effortless floral centre piece. My friends at Jam Jar Edit headed by marvellous Melissa beautifully curate these. They come with test tubes that slot into the holes, fill each with water and arrange a show stopper within moments. Perfect for a picking of snowdrops at large come February or before with Christmas paperwhites and freesias.
Effortlessly gorgeous thrown on and adored, I love Jane Hickman and her art work that she creates using the Batik technique. This process allows her to finely control the coloured dyes when painting on a woven material such as silk or fine cotton. The water based dyes are used in conjunction with hot liquid wax to create these beautiful and dreamy, elvish quite magical designs Jane Hickman spring silk scarf
RIGHT THATS IT I’M SPENT! MERRY CHRISTMAS SWEETIES! CAN SOMEONE BUY ME SOME NEW TASMANIA AUSTRALIA BOOTS …. CHEERS.
Great selection - will definitely be getting some of these and will also try and gift them 😆💚
Genius list.