I’m Nervous To Share This & Online Shopping Try On Haul | Lydia Millen

Good morning everyone.I'm like trying to see if you can see me because this is not the usual angle for my dressing room But I am trying to get myself organized.I have had a week.It has been such a lovely busy week and I am just sort of catching up with things now and the carnage that is my dressing room so I'm trying to organize everything and put it back in its rightful place like I've obviously washed my hair and and left everything everywhere and there is nothing like clutter and stuff everywhere that just makes me overwhelmed and unnecessarily chaotic so i'm sorting all of my bits and pieces out but like i said an absolutely mind -boggling week.I went to Glorious Goodwood.Oh, I've gone very dark.

Can you find me?Hi, I'm over here.I went to Glorious Goodwood, loved my outfit, had the loveliest day, and I will actually take you back and show you a little bit of that there.I also did my first autumn winter shoot of the year, and you're not going to be seeing it until we are in autumn, which is great.Well, autumn in the evergreen sense, anyway.So I don't have to worry about that too much and I have to say it was the best shoot, especially campaign shoot that I have ever done in terms of ease and how smoothly it went and I don't even know how to begin but I finally got some pictures with Atlas that are going to be like treasured absolutely treasured by me because I did a shoot with Hello when I first got him and he just wasn't settled.

It wasn't anything to do with Hello and how they did things or anything like that before anyone wonders.It really just was that he was my first horse.I was learning so much about him.He was not settled at all andI hadn't learned what he was letting me know at that point.He just wasn't settled.

It wasn't an enjoyable experience for me.And ever since then, the pictures are almost just like tainted, in my opinion.And I have wanted to get more, but I haven't wanted to put him in a position that he's not comfortable in.Anyway.We finally did it.I had him checked by a qualified vet before I did anything with him because I know he's not been well, which I'll tell you about.

But I've got the pictures.I'm going to insert one.Just one.so you can see.There's going to be many sneak peeks in this video, by the way.The other thing I did is I went to the Gents Journal Long Summer Lunch Party, which is such an honour to be invited to.

It is the party of all parties.It's basically Harry, the CEO and owner of the Gents Journal, is the only person who is allowed to throw a party privately like this in the gardens of Benham Palace, in the Italian garden.It is exquisite, absolutely exquisite and I was just talking to the most fascinating people.I met this wonderful gentleman called Gavin, I met a lovely guy who was all into like investments and things like that called David, I met a wonderful actor called Jeremy Irvine and I felt very very silly after I left because I'm not, you know, I'm not really big into watching like TV and things like that.I want, not TV, but like, you know, films and stuff.I have to really want to watch them.

I met a wonderful guy called Dustin who took us out on his boat, which is the only boat on a lake in a palace in the country.And it was quite an experience.So that's what I've been getting up to.I have also taken delivery of one of my favourite deliveries of the year and I'm wearing one of the pieces at the moment.This is a LilySilk dress.Now if you know one thing about me, I have designed LilySilk dresses, I appreciate when LilySilk does dresses and this is one of those pieces.

I get so excited about LilySilk deliveries every season because for me it's a brand that if you haven't got to grips with, if you don't know about, if maybe you've been a bit apprehensive, I would like to tell you now that it is one of those brands that consistently in terms of quality, designs, timelessness, elegance and they do things that last and last and last and you know I've designed for them over the years.I still wear my designs, I still love my designs and I know that you have loved them so much over the years to the point where they have become bestsellers.It's quite surreal to be able to say that so many of the pieces that I have designed for multiple brands over the years are literally bestsellers.It's wild, absolutely wild.So I get very excited and unboxing these pieces.I just get the same feeling every single time.

I know how much they're going to fit into my wardrobe, and I know how much they're going to last.And so I get really excited about sharing them with you.But this dress, I've not even styled her up yet.This is just me wearing her how I would generally wear her at home.It is a silk linen shell blend, basically.It has this almost crispness to it, which is so beautiful.

elegant and you can obviously add a belt they have it on the website with a belt but I actually like the simplicity of it with the little tie waist belt it's got this drop waist detail to it when someone like me a well -placed seam like this is so flattering because there's gorgeous amounts of fabric in the skirt.This is my dream.It is so elegant, so beautiful.I couldn't wait to show you it.Now, I have a discount code.I also have a QR code that I'm going to pop on screen.

All of the links to the products that I'm going to show you are in the description box down below.You will know I say this on every single one of my videos.I am showing you these pieces in the hope that they are going to be valuable in your wardrobe.I don't expect you to buy all of them.I don't think you need to buy all of them.I think you will know what is really going to add value to your wardrobe.

Because for me, it's super important that the things that I tell you about are valuable.The other thing I would say is the quality of their fabrics are the fabrics that you want in your wardrobe.Silk and linen are breathable, perfect in this last of the summer months that we are in at the moment.Whereas if you move over into their woolens and their cashmeres, those are designed to be soft on your skin but keep you warm as the season turns.So all of these items are the highest quality fibres and items that are really going to work in your wardrobe.I always want to say that as a preface.

It's my dream brand to work with.I love working with them.And it is an honor to show you them.So anyway, first item, I feel like we need to style her up though.I've got some little bits and pieces that I can give you.So I've got some jewelry bits on at the moment, my classic pearls.

I've got some little charm bracelets on.

I'm thinking tan.

Like I said, many sneak peeks in this video, but I think, oh yeah, that is tan.So elegant this pairing and then you can go sunglasses to hide my tired eyes from the week that I've had having so much fun but I can't handle it because I am a soft possum as we know.So simple, so easy to wear, absolutely gorgeous.Gorgeous and if you wanted to, just draping over a jumper or a cardigan, absolutely perfect for adding that layer as we get those little tiny chills coming back into the air as we reach high summer into the end of summer.Really just love this so much, I could talk about this dress to the end of the earth because she's so blooming comfortable.Look at that colour, this is the perfect high summer into autumn dress.

It's gotcasualness to it, almost has like a boho feel to it, paired with slightly more evening bag.This is a little mini town and country clutch that I think works really well.But I'd go for probably tonal accessories.But what I love about these dresses is I actually wore one of these lily silk dresses in the campaign that I just shot.I wore a green one, and this is how I would style it as a dress.

the evening chills off, I would go for something like this over the shoulders like this.You can obviously add a belt if you want a bit more shape added to it, but something like this with a gorgeous brooch.These tones are so my style in my wardrobe, like being able to add those more sort of heavyweight fabrics as the season progresses is my absolute dream.And these traditional almost tweedy tartan colours just pick out the richness of this silk dress so beautifully and as I mentioned there's a discount code.Basically if you scan this QR code here all of the discounts are there but there are also links in the description box down below.Things I'm loving at the moment again that just adds a bit of shape is if you were to ruche up the section here because these dresses are endless in their options, that's why I like the simplicity of them.

If you just get a vintage brooch like this, I found this for like £40 in a vintage market that I went to.Look at that, look how gorgeous that looks and again it just adds a bit more shape to the outfit.whilst also adding a bit of intrigue.Also the straps are slightly adjustable so there is a tack at the bottom of the straps and I've just cut the tack which makes them a bit longer which I actually think makes them sit on me a little bit better.It's also 100 %double faced silk.

It's also bias cut as well, which gives it that almost clingy look to it.So I just wanted to let you know that it's not just like one length.If you want it to be a little bit longer, you can cut that little tack and it makes such a huge difference.I've sold that old green one, I'll pop a picture in, with a blazer.It looks so good.Sorry, but I had to show you the green one as well because it is slightly different and it is still fully available on LilySilk.

I've paired it with some tan accessories, always the classics, and some tan shoes.And you can wear this with a tweed blazer over the top, but also with one of the wool wraps as well.I just think it looks so chic.It just keeps getting better.better.Now, if you remember, one of my most worn jumpers last year was one that I found on Vinted.

I don't believe it was 100 % wool.This is the exact same colour, so it has that two -tone element to it.Can you see that it's got a warmth to it, but also a sort of taupe -y, fawn -y colour as well?It's pure cashmere, and they've given it this fluffy feel to it that gives it a softness that I just value.as a design detail so much.If you're wearing it alongside smart trousers, for example, the difference in texture that it adds, it's just like a real depth to an outfit and like a consideration that I think, I don't really, it's like I appreciate it.

If I see someone that's gone to the extent to sort of find a different texture to differentiate between the fabrics, oh, there's something about it that I love.I also love it styled like this.again as we start to chill up here in the UK it is an inevitability at this time of the year and this is the perfect way to add again that elevated feel but still be warm and cozy whilst also wearing the mostluxurious fabrics.And it comes in another colourway as well.So it still has that two -tone element to it.

If you look at the fabric up close, it almost has like a very, very pale lilac and then more of a lavender hue.thread through again with the same cashmere and softness added to the details.It is beautiful.This would look so good with brown.I know Carrie often wears like baby blue and brown or lilac and brown and it looks so good as a way to still add colour into transitional dressing.If you like browns but you also want a bit of a pop of colour without going too wild but this is the colour that I would say If you're looking for a jumper like the one that I kept wearing last year, this is it.

They've created it.Now, one of the things that I have often been ridiculed for, questioned about and made fun of is tracksuits.Lydia, I'd love to see you in a tracksuit.Do you own a tracksuit?And the truth is, why would I when there are outfits like this?that feel like a tracksuit, but look.

like I've actually taken some pride in myself.This is a new cardigan from LilySilk.Look at how light this is.It's got this gorgeous draping to the front of it that makes it feel almost ethereal.It's the most beautiful, subtle, muddy blush, which is so versatile in your wardrobe.I've also popped it over a LilySilk vest top that I have many of, and just with a pair of trousers that I felt the colour worked so well together.

Honestly, this is better than a tracksuit because I haven't had to compromise how I feel about myself and the investment that I make in myself and if there is one thing that I share on this channelis you are worthy of dressing up and feeling lovely not for anyone else not because of what anyone else thinks but because you value you and you take pride in you there is nothing quite like it nothing quite like it and this cardigan is the most elegant way to be comfortable you still look beautiful this is like a how my grandma and my grandma's era would always dress.She would always go for something that was relaxed.beautiful fabrics, beautiful silhouettes, and that is what LilySilk is known for.It's why I still work with them all of these years on, because they are the front runner of this type of dressing, where you get to feel your best, you get to feel comfortable and cosy.Honestly, Ali is so jealous of all of my LilySilk stuff.

If there is one thing I would say, LilySilk, please cater to the men.But this is, this is my dream way of dressing, and it also comes in the most beautiful, rich, almost like cognac color.This is saluki gorgeous and I've paired it to keep it into that sort of transitional dressing era.I've got it with the lily silk cami and these are a pair of lily silk trousers that are elasticated waist.So you cannot tell me that this doesn't feel better than a tracksuit.I will honestly battle this until my dying day.

The fact that you can look lovely and feel comfortable is the absolute dream.And this is an outfit that I just think it speaks for itself.Absolutely love this as an outfit.So good.And this is the other thing that I absolutely love is they'll take something that is essentially a classic fit shirt, which this is.It can also be worn classic fit.

You can wear it open.over a cami or you can wear it done up with some trousers or you can wear it like this they have basically built in alternate buttons into the shirt so that you can get that drapey different feel and it nips in at the waist it creates a different silhouette but it's still a classic shirt that you can wear multiple ways.Now this is a silk twill so it's also it doesn't wrinkle or crease easily as well.Now the fabric of this is beautiful it's almost got like a matte finish and it has a tiny tiny pinstripe in there which I just think is the perfect bridging gap between ivory which these are the ivory silk shorts that I designed in collaboration with LilySilk a few years ago.It just marries up those two tones really beautifully and creates a real synergy to the outfit.Beautiful with a tan handbag.

So many different ways to wear it and just the most chic.I just can't cope.It's so gorgeous.And I love that they think of these details.And also, can I just add that these shorts are the most flattering because they are not tight.They have so much fabric in them.

I just always think that my legs look so lovely in these.Absolute win.The final piece, and I absolutely should not be showing you this yet, but I am because this is such a hero of LilySilk.Now, I own both Laura Piana and I own LilySilk, and I will go as far as saying, and going out on a whim, there is no difference in their outerwear.If anything, LilySilk, a little bit softer.just gonna say it and this is the chicest of all of the outerwear coats.

I've gone for black accessories because I just think with that black button it just anchors it a little bit and I love wearing lighter tones it makes me feel quite like elegant and ethereal but then anchoring it backlike a good pair of sunnies absolutely beautiful and you can obviously wear it like this cinched in but you can also wear it drapey well you could wear it like this which has a bit of a almost car coat vibe but a shorter car coat or you can wear it drapey as well anyway i just thought i would show you all of those bits because i love them and i love showing you this stuff i will pop Links to the items that I featured there will be a QR code on screen that you can scan which basically gives you all of the Information so it's a little bit simpler and it also helps me because I don't have to remember discount codes But let me know which outfit was your favorite and let me know what you're looking forward to wearing it this season Anyway, that is my first Transitional dressing haul of the year.

Well of this season.

Oh now that I've shown you all of that My puppy dogs are here.Oh my God.I have so much to update you on.It's ridiculous.But first of all, I am going to send you back in time and send you to Goodwood just to catch up on everything now.Good.

Good morning everyone.When I tell you that this outfit was a lightning put together situation, I fully, fully mean it.Today we are heading to the Qatar Goodwood Festival, otherwise known as Glorious Goodwood, and I had to put an outfit together quite quickly for this.I think this would have been a really lovely outfit for Ascot.If you aren't in the Royal Enclosure, you can obviously add some straps or some kind of detail into this.I'd say it's a bit on the formal side for Glorious Goodwin, which is normally a bit more sort of floaty and linen -esque, but the outfit came together around the hat.

Okay, so this is another gorgeous Jane Taylor creation, which has a sort of bridal, nobleto it.So because the hat has so much detail and sort of theatrics to it, I needed a dress that was quite simple and this is quite structured.Now Glorious Goodwood isn't that structured, it is a little bit floatier, however That is not me saying that I don't love my outfit because I absolutely do.I think that this is my sort of perfect amalgamation of an outfit.It's got that very, very typical nod to 1940s, 1950s fashion with this sort of very, very lovely voluminous skirt.

This is actually a Solace London dress and I saw it in the black and I don't know if you remember me trying on a Dior dress that was very similar.It didn't have this overlay in this peplum a hundred years ago.This is the ivory version of my dreams and it is absolutely perfect.I did actually look at another dress on NET -A -PORTER which was similar.It's from a bridal brand, but I didn't buy it.I thought this is actually a really really good price and I will get so much wear out of this.

Just because I've got other hats that are a little bit more paired back works perfectly.Anyway, We are heading to Glorious Goodwood today, which is a bit of a mish.It is over three hours from where we live.So it's a lot of time in the car, but we're going to have a lovely day at the races and the weather is a little bit more cooler today, which is perfect.So this is my outfit.I'm going to jump in the car.

Lots of work to do in the car as well.Lots of things to go over, garden designs, cottage designs, lots of things like that.So actually these car journeys are always a really good opportunity for us to just get ahead, get on top of things and have a Although, I shouldn't really have a snooze.Also, wearing my hair down is not a thing that I often do when I go to the races.You can see other outfits there.But I just thought that the bow looked really nice with my hair down.

So that's what we're going for.So Jane Taylor London, Solace London for the dress.Little Strathbury number, I've got Jennifer Bear earrings, and Emmy London.The only thing that isn't a British brand that I am wearing is my earrings.How funny is that?Everything else, completely British brand, which I just love for these kinds of things.

So let's jump in the car and head to Goodwood.Right, I'm happy to talk to camera now, because I was a bit grumpy earlier because I've got tummy pain.Over it, I thought it would be done by this morning, but it's not.TMI for the internet.We're on our way to Goodwood.Obviously I picked the world's most uncomfortable outfit to wear for a three hour journey as well.

I should have maybe worn my pyjamas and then changed into this, but I promise you when we get out, everything will be fine.And then we'll just have to make something work on the way home.I don't know why I do it to myself.I don't even need to wear the hat, but here I am sat like, like this and look at the car.This is the unglamorous side of it, but we probably got under an hour just under an hour 47 minutes to be precise but then we are arriving so it looks like a good sunny day and now we're raring to go we're literally halfway to france aren't we bonjour yeah i'm not being over dramatic for once popped on is it dover Or Calais.No, Calais is the other one.

We can even go from Portsmouth here.It's the PO postcode.

Exactly.

We could literally drive to the docks now.

I've got no idea where Dover is in this country, or where Portsmouth is.But if we're on route, we might as well just keep going.Just get a run up.We have arrived and I can breathe again.I cannot put into words how much of an endurance test that was in the car because I was like...Do I unzip?

But once I've unzipped, it means when we get out of the car, we've got to clip everything back in.I persevered and we are here.And actually, we've got a little bit of respite at the moment from the sun.We're about to shoot some pictures and then we're going to go and find the rest of the team.We are going to have a lovely day.Claudia's got a list of places that we're going to go.

And one of the things I'm really excited to go to is the Pocket Square embroidery pop -up.and love embroidery, so I think that's going to be really lovely to go and see.We're also going to see the best groomed horses of each of the races, so lots to see.Music's on, let's go.Just about to embroider our pocket squares and I've been looking forward to this since I found out this morning.First in the queue, we're going to go first.

I love that you didn't go for your real initials.That's love, thank you.

Yes, AMG.I was saying it.

AMG, like Mercedes.Just thought it's not his initials.Well.Here he is, AMG.

Not my real initials.

Stage name.Best person ever.It is so lovely and cool and graceful.We've even got a lovely little badge.And of course, we've lost each other.We're just waiting for him to leave.

He just likes to take himself off and do his own thing, so we just left him.Well, actually, I've started with dessert.We've got a monotony sort of slice, and this is the tuna...So we have just had a very very special experience and I feel like Claudia has loved this more than all of us We've basically just been judging which is hilarious when you see the state of my horse, but he's happy if that's what matters But we've been judging the best turned out horse.We have all gone with number four.He just looks she he he looks so good all the others look very good too but he had diamonds on his bottom and i don't think you can really yeah plaited mane shiny hooves very he just looked very very happy and beautiful i feel like i'm lost for words at the moment we are currently in the chairman's box and we are about to have Afternoon tea literally so surreal.

I honestly can't believe this We are currently in the chairman's box and we are about to have afternoon tea I'm gonna give you a tour because there's not many times that you're gonna get the opportunity to tour the chairman's box.So Yeah, we have the trophies tomorrow's race I like the the celebrations as well.That is a nice nostalgic touch absolutely essential for afternoon tea put some champagne on the way we have cigars and we also have the most exquisite views this is where thewant to watch the race.Oh my gosh.Today has been the most wonderful day, but I have had a little bit of a struggle because my feet had ballooned before I even put them in my shoes this morning.

So lots of walking around.I know, I know, world's smallest violin playing just for me.But lots of walking around when I tell you I'm going to show you my feet when I get home.I can't even show you them.I can't even bend over in the car.But they are balloons and I'm going to ice my toes when I get home.

Don't say I don't treat you to all of the visuals that that go on in my life.But other than that, can you believe we went into the private box?That was unbelievable.We got to watch two races there as well, which was very, very cool.And we had afternoon tea and a glass of champagne.And I tell you what, that is how you end the day at Goodwood.

I'm ready for bed.I probably won't make it home not having a nap, but what a lovely day.Allie's already hard at work next to me.Working away, no rest for the wicked.Ali did his first race day TV interview as well, which is what Frankie does sometimes.He's actually never done that to me.

He's always asked me.So I'm surprised that he, he probably just thought you'd be absolutely fine because of the way that you are.But yeah, he went straight up to Ali when Ali was actually filming me and he was already filming.So Ali just had to go with it.it's already sweating it was so warm but you looked so good no wonder he wanted to to show your outfit off and i think it's good that he features the boys outfits as well on race d tv so it's good very good day and my goodness me those sandwiches that we had in the backso good anyway troll look at this they're so swollen i just love that claudia's been like is it okay for me to film you is it okay for me to film you you just get it straight out you're like look at those trousers look at the size of them they look like a blimp chubby honestly but they've been that big since like the moment i put my feet in my shoes it's nothing to do with the shoes it's literally i think it's like hormones or something all right blame what you want yeah woman get in woman down woman down well that was such a wonderful day and it was so lovely experiencing that sort of very very traditional british event of the season but with that like little touch of qatari hospitality thrown in the dates that they have.

Oh yes, 40, you get your squeaker out.Boy, have we got an update for you on Porty.But yes, the dates, apparently you can buy a whole bag of the dates from Harrods.It's like over 100 pounds, but they were so good.And they don't have the stones in them.Oh, so it's just like eating fudge.

So good.You might have noticed over the last two vlogs that there has been someone with us on our escapades.This has been something I've been thinking about a lot over the last few months.It was mainly At the beginning of springtime I was just thinking about how I can make content better and easier and also more enjoyable for you.I think one of the things that I've mentioned previously is that I really struggle with being present.I give people my full attention when I'm with them and nowadays I definitely notice that it takes me away from vlogging, especially when I'm at places, in a better capacity.

So I've thought long and hard about this.I haven't reallyto expand our team for a very very long time it is such a hard job to what's the word to hire for that I find personally because it is so difficult woven into your personal life, this job.I want you to know that like my team have access to pretty much everything in my life, even my camera rolls, like everything.It's very exposing and it's very, it can be quite uncomfortable at times.And so inviting people in is a really, I feel very vulnerable when I do it.

I don't, I don't let a lot of people into my life.in general I have a very very closed circuit of people which is bizarre considering I share pretty much my entire life but that sort of step up from that is a lot for me and so when it has come to hiring previously I've hired a few people in the past and with every person I've hired I've had new learnings and new experiences and learnt something new about being someone who hires.someone because there's no rule book there's no rule book to this i'm doing this for the very first time like most people are and there are times when you get it wrong there are times when you get it right there are times when you hire someone and you think it's going to be a match made in heaven and then they hate the job and they leave within three months and you're like What did I do?It is honestly like, it's such an interesting thing to do.And what I have found that I really enjoy is like hiring people in my life that I trust unequivocally, but also I can see that maybe they fulfill a role that I maybe need.It means that the people around me I get to bring with me on this journey because honestly Life is boring if you're not doing it with people that you love spending time with and I'm in this really unique Position where I get to do that

whether I choose like someone who is you know the most innovative ruthless person that's gonna get me to the top of my career but I I don't know whether that would be as much fun as me getting to do it with my friends and people that I love and care about.And so it's been a real learning that maybe I don't want to always be at the forefront and the first and the quickest off the mark in this industry.I just really know what I'm like.I'm quite, what's the word, like fanciful and I think ahead a lot.about what i'm going to look back on a lot and i look back and i think am i going to have wished that i brought on the most ruthless and the the you know driving forces or am i going to have really be am i going to value having done it with wonderful people that i love spending time with and we have a good time doing things with and i think that i'm that person so it's never easy for me to do this i never feel like i need to expand or get get better or whatever but I know that I want to do a good job for you guys.And so I've definitely seen that having this new person along on trips and on events and things like that has really, really helped me be present when I'm meeting you guys, be present when I'm with clients, be present even just when I'm like with my husband and my best friend.

And they can capture these moments that maybe I wouldn't have captured because I'm so focused on whoever it is that I'm with.I don't think that that's a bad thing that I'm like that.I love that about myself, but I also want to be able to do both and I see an opportunity in that.So for the first time in four or five years, I have hired someone.I haven't advertised the role at all.Like I said, I like seeing someone and thinking actually I'd really enjoy it.

training them up maybe or introducing them to something like Carrie for example when she joined and she's been here nearly 10 years She had never worked in the influencer marketing space.She had never worked as a manager She started off as like doing my accounts She then moved to being my PA and now she basically runs everything and I know that all of my clients are so grateful for her and how diligent she is and I've said this before we are thanked so often by by our clients that say it is a joy to work alongside us and have someone who gets things done and who is fair and cares about authenticity as much as they care about making money or whatever.And I am so grateful for that.My more personal assistant, Satin, is my step -cousin.And she's known me since I was like 10 years old.And she's someone that is hardworking, and she will put her mind to anything and she'd never done this as a role before but I know when someone has good work ethic and you can teach them that kind of thing and the same is in this situation where Claudia is coming on board.

Obviously she might get into this role and not enjoy it and want to go back to her old job and that's something I have to be very very aware of.I hope that she will see like the benefits and that kind of thing and I say this to any person that joins the team it's like you can build your dream job in this job like you can take it in any direction as long as it fits within the parameters of what it is that we're doing.Like if you want to work in I don't know like Product development, we can totally make that happen.If you want to work more on the content production side, and that's your passion and that's what you're good at.we can totally make that happen.If you want to work more in a sort of like administration, publishing, like that kind of thing, strategizing, we can make that happen.

And that's often what I find is when we bring someone on board, they'll present a different set of characteristics and qualities and, you know, Talent that we go.Oh my gosh is amazing like you're doing you can also do this or whatever.So it's a really exciting time it's a nerve -wracking time because like I said, I find it very very vault like vulnerable and You get some really like interesting Experiences from this like I've literally had experiences where all of a sudden early on in my career we like set a task for people to go and complete and it was the same task everyone had to go and like complete the same task and i think sometimes there's only so many ways you can do certain things and we actually had someone like that we didn't go with threaten us because we used the content of the person who did get the job that just happened to be quite similar it was like a it really did like it was like a hair breadth between the two people and it was like oh gosh You realise how easily the equilibrium of a team can be disrupted if you bring on the wrong person or you invite someone in that just doesn't gel with the most important person.To me, Carrie is the most important person in this business.She keeps everything going.And she's so good at what she does that if you come on board and you don't get on with Carrie, it's like, there's literally nothing I can do.

Literally nothing I can do because she keeps me going half the time.And so anyway, it's an exciting time.It's a nerve -wracking time.I don't know how it's going to go, but I really hope that it goes well.And I hope that it makes things better for you.Because what I want to do is I want to have a lot more structure.

I hopefully want to bring more back to my website, my website.something that when the last person left we just made a decision as a team that like we couldn't keep that going for that moment in time but there was always the intent of going back to it because I have all of these blog posts and things that I come up with and ideas and that kind of stuff and I want that website populated but I don't have the time to go and code and put all of this stuff into place like I used to anymore.So I, people need to take these posts and put them on there.I really want to have all my book like reviews on there.Goodreads is nice, but it's not really anything like it's a bit of a waste of time and most people can't find me and it's just a bit nothing.I've tried Goodreads.

I'm going to have my book reviews on my own website and then I can put the links and I can share a lot more and all of those kinds of things.And so anyway, it's an exciting time, lots to update you on.But I just, I feel very, very optimistic.And I feel like, you know, when you've thought about something and then to and fro'd and thought about it and you're like, oh, what about this person?And then you think maybe it won't be compatible with their life because this is a role that requires someone to travel, requires someone to maybe be away from things.And you really have to like, have to weigh things up.

Cause I don't want to get it wrong.I don't want to put a round peg into a square hole when hiring someone or thinking about someone for the job.So, Anyway, I'm trying to be a good boss, but I'm not always like, I'm not always the best boss and those kinds of things, but you know, anyway, Carrie's really the boss, so I don't know what I'm talking about.Anywho, I have been out into the garden today, and I have my first potato harvest ready to go, and I thought, this is a time to be alive, okay?When the potatoes are poking their little heads out of the soil, we have to do this.There is also, I have had six punnets of blackberries so far this season, and I am

to have more.Ali is on his way back from golf, so I'm hoping that he will help me.He's promised me, because he made a mistake this year in the garden, and it means that I haven't got something that would normally be very much happening at this time of year.So he's promised me that because I don't have that, he will help me with harvesting blackberries, because I can't get into the blackberries, because I'm a delicate flower.Anyway!We will also probably take the dogs for a walk as well, I hope so.

Barkley is loving his evening walks at the moment when it's a bit cooler.So it's just very, very lovely, but it's exciting times.I feel really, I don't know what the word is, just like excited, which is Lydia's favourite word.But I do, I feel really positive about the future and how things are going to go, which is just a lovely place to be.So this is my first year growing potatoes.I have never grown potatoes before.

Also, I don't know if I showed you this, did I show you this?I did!This is my really lovely apron that Charlie, Charlie Gray got me. someone embroidered my logo on the front of it and I just think that's so lovely and I thought I'm not changing, I'm not changing out of this lovely dress.We're going to have to cover it up because I'm not going to get anything on it but yes it's my first year growing potatoes and it just like you know sent from heaven.I was just watching Alexander Widener on Instagram and he is growing a garden for the first year and he was saying how lots of things failed and I really wanted to be that person that's like oh you will have many times like that in fact you never stop failing and gardening is the most humbling experience but he was saying he's he's got some potatoes going this year and the potatoes are ready when the stems dry out and flop over.Not all of my stems

have dried out and flopped over, so maybe they aren't ready to harvest yet.We're gonna go and have a look.But every day is a school day with gardening, and I think there might be some that I can harvest, which is very, very exciting.I will say, ooh, actually, I'm gonna grab some punnets for the blackberries as well, because I love them.There's some juicy blackberries.I'm gonna have a whole freezer full of blackberries.

Also, hilariously, that big box, catchpole and rye box, we are replacing the sink in our downstairs loo because it is the most terrible, terrible quality.And so we have treated ourselves to a catchpole and rye sink.What did I come here for?Punnets.I mean, harvesting blackberries in my new lily silk dress.is a real recipe for disaster, I have to say.

But we move.Potatoes and blackberries coming up.But yes, new sink going in as well.What we'll do is when we re -wallpaper in there and put some lovely bits and pieces in there, we will change the sink just so we don't make any damage to the, you know, bits and pieces in the garden down here.Looking lovely and colourful.We've got cosmos coming up.

We've got dahlias.I've actually just been deadheading a few bits.Look at those beautiful dahlias over there.

How gorgeous are they?

This is the thing when you come out into your garden because I've just seen my cosmos over here and I am gonna have to deadhead them before I do anything else.So see, I've got one potato here that I managed to dig up.Maybe it wasn't ready because it's green like that, but we're going to find out anyway.But first of all, I am gonna deadhead those cosmos because I'm not leaving them like that.They are so beautiful.I want them to keep being beautiful.

Bear with me as we do some deadheading.As you can see, some ofthese are drying out and I definitely think that I have lost a potato there, so I'm going to dig some of these out because they aren't looking that great.These ones look a little bit more behind, so I think I'll probably dig up about halfway.So much more than I thought I was going to have.I've only harvested about, I don't know, a couple of the plants and I definitely don't need to do any more.

This is the one I harvested earlier and these have all just come up.So this is a new blackberry bush.This came up the last, I think last year.And we have so many juicy blackberries.This has been actually the most prolific.I don't know if you can see even through the little crevices that there are just so many and it goes all the way through the woodland.

It's pretty spectacular.I'm going to wait for Ali to harvest the other ones, but I'm going to pop you down whilst I harvest the front ones, just to give him a bit of a helping hand.hear the sounds of my husband coming home but I have gone to get my trusty blackberry stick this is an absolute essential if you want to go blackberry picking to get the good ones right at the back get yourself a little walking stick youprobably get these at a local antiques shop.You wouldn't need to buy it brand new or anything like that.You could use the handle of an umbrella, for example.

You don't need to go and buy anything new.But they are so handy for getting those really juicy big ones out the back.Show you my potatoes.

Is that all of them?

No, that's literally like a sauna.

Do they keep on coming?

No.I've got some in there and some in there, but this is like literally three plants worth.

So how do you normally keep them flowing all year?

Well, I've only harvested the ones that are drying out, which is apparently what you're supposed to do.Yeah.So you can have these for dinner.

Yeah, lovely.Perfect.Get the Barbie on.

Get the Barbie on!I definitely should not have been blackberry harvesting in this dress, but I think we may have got out of it unscathed.I'm gonna do the final harvest of the afternoon.Rather large cucumber to harvest.It's doing very well.I've got changed because all of my activities today were needing me to be a little bit more practical.

I might even take the dogs for a walk and I'm not walking the dogs in a dress so I've changed.I've put the lovely silk shirt on but I'm wearing it just more relaxed.This isthe one with a little pinstripe.I wanted to tell you I finished the book on Bunny Melon's life and And like I said, I loved every moment of the book.I wouldn't say that I particularly think that she is the best person in the world.

There are definitely things about her that sounded not so nice, but super interesting and a very, very talented, talented lady.So I finished that book and I have bought so many books to read.It is ridiculous.I am hoping I will at least get through some of them.But one of the books that I'm really excited to read, but I don't know if it's going to be what I hope it to be, is A Country Woman's Year by Rosemary Varey.Anyway, she's very, very well known.

If you know of Barnsley House in the Cotswolds, that was her family home.She developed the gardens and almost made them into a spectacle and a destination, one of the most beautiful gardens.And she's designed gardens for the king, but when he was the Prince of Wales.She's designed gardens for Elton John and also Oscar de la Renta which I think is really really special.So this is one of her most well -known books which is The Country Woman's Year and it has the foreword by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales which is obviously Charles.It sounds right up my street.

Now it may not be as sort of interesting or maybe like cultural and style focus as Bunny Melon's book, but this is basically a month -by -month chronological anecdotal observation on gardening and country living very much in line with Evergreen.I'm obviously going to start in August and just enjoy everything that August has to offer, but I think this will be one of those books that I don't like devour in one go.I have so many other ones though.You're actually on some of them.Do you know what, I'm gonna bring you down.So the other book that I have actually started reading, this is the Surprise Book.

of Constance Spry and she's probably most well known for like cookery books.But actually she was extremely revolutionary in floral styling and the use of wildflowers in floral styling and mixed bouquets.She's incredibly influential and I think that for me this is, she's also had quite an interesting life by the sounds of things as well.A very extraordinary story and interesting love stories as well.So that's the one that I think that I'll probably devour first.I also have another book from Rosemary.

I'm Joe, I'm gonna Google it because I hate it when I do this and you all get annoyed at me when I don't know how to say someone's name, but I'm doing life for the first time, by the way, guys.I wasn't born knowing all of this stuff, so there will be things that you know and things that I don't know and...I got another book by Rosemary Veary, Googled it, and this is The Life and Lessons of a Legendary Gardener.So I think that one will be another interesting one.Perhaps I should read that before I read this instead of going into this.I also treated myself a second -hand copy of Garden Spells which obviously I read this year and has been one of my most favorite books of the year.

Just a magical whimsical read and I thought giving a book a good home and then this is Her life, her world, her art, Nancy Lancaster.And this is by Robert Becker.This is another one on the list of people I want to read the books about and just delve into the world of.Very, very notable and influential in the sort of English country style homes and interiors and that kind of thing.So lots of books, little bit of a book haul.Don't know where to start.

Seeing as Ali is sleeping in the living room.I think I might try and delve into a book for a little while before I take the dogs for a walk.Don't let them hear me say the W word because they go nuts at the moment.Well Ali swiftly woke up and I have had an absolute bake -off in the kitchen whereby we roasted the potatoes that I harvested earlier and I have also made a batch of crumble with the blackberries that we harvested the other day and also some apples from a tree just down there and so we're going to have the crumble when we get back but what we're going to do is run Barclay and Porty up the road.Now Barclay has been the most patient brother for the last few months.But now that he knows that we are going on walks again, and like proper walks, he gets to the evening and he loves his evening walks so much.

Look at him, ready to go.You ready to go Barkie?You ready to go?You ready to go for a walk?You are?A walk?

My goodness.I have also changed into this lily silk It's sort of like a half button down with a collar.It kind of reminds me of a rugby top but it is so nice and it has a sort of casual collegiate feel to it.Perfect with a pair of denim shorts when you're just going to walk up the road.We're going to take the boys out, work off our dinner, ready for our crumble, which is the perfect end to the day, I think.And I'll give you a full update on where we are at with Portolini Lemon Squeeny.

With the same gumption that you just said it, say what you just said to me.

See, why don't they sell stuff like that for men?Like I have to wear these more rigid cotton rugby shirts and you get a sweater.

This is actually silk as well.

A soft jumper.

I think it's silk actually.Let me see what fabric composition this is.This is 78 % cotton, 10 .5 % mulberry silk and 11 .5 % nylon.

That's it.It's just that it's a blend.It does make a difference.The collar looks nice and thick.

It's so funny because I...

I like wearing these.I'm actually in my golf gear.

I said to them, I was like, whenever I wear LilySilk stuff, Ally goes, oh, why don't we get that for men?These two little scoundrels look like absolute scruff bags.I feel like our life has been turned upside down for the past nine months.Paul's is missing his harness.Barclay's missing his collar.We've ordered both, but one has one and one has the other.

But when I tell you we have two very, very happy boys, I bloom and mean it.This one has just excelled expectations.Look at that walk.Oh, this is what Barkie does.He just cries.All he wants to do is just go for some sniffs.

He loves a sniff.Absolutely loves the sniffs.Look at how beautiful that looks.I know we can't really show you the full view of our house, but that just looks so pretty.So for me, the most noticeable thing about Porter is his back.So previously he had this, we kept saying that he looked really odd.

Well, as you can see, he loves a run, which is something that he has very slowly returned back to, but his back, he used to almost have, it looked like it was like hunched.We now know that that is because essentially he was bracing himself because he was in pain.So he was like holding his back.And as the pain has subsided, that sort of hunched look to his back has gone.he's just got better and better and better.I would say that now he is at 97 .5%.

He is not asking to be picked up up the stairs.He only does it if he like forgets that he can actually do it.He is going up the steps himself.He's jumping on the sofa himself.He's got that strength back in his glutes.He doesn't go flat out.

when he's running.I don't know if he'll ever run.Maybe he will.It's all been a very, very slow process for him, but he has basically got his run back.We have taken him on two or three of the big walks.

Yeah.Yeah.

He's had a handful of the big walks.So, you know, our walks that we really have just missed so much over the last few months.We're actually not going on one now because we're just going to run them up the road.Um, cause they've actually had a lot of walking, but, um, He's done them and he's had energy at the end.He's still completely mobile, completely able to move.And he's just in his normal self as if he's going on his normal walks.

It's reassuring for us in that he's able to just keep going and he's not tired.He's not lethargic.He's not limping.He hasn't limped for weeks.And I think that that's a real, turning point in his sort of healing that he's been going through.So at the moment he is still on medication.

He is on one steroid per day now.He will step down very soon to half and then he will come off.He's still on the immunosuppressants and he will probably be on those for a few more weeks, maybe even a few more months, but it's all heading in the right direction.Only time will tell.and we will find out whether he is completely cured obviously when he comes off the medication but for now we are at the mostpositive point that we have ever been at, which I just genuinely, I thought we'd never be here.

I can't believe that we're about to go into autumn.And the end of autumn was where this all began almost a year ago.It just feels so, so bizarre that we're now coming, coming finally to the end of it.And the thing that I really appreciated was I spoke to the people that obviously gave him the treatment.Um, initially, if you remember, I had quite a lot of frustrations because the person that initially diagnosed him maybe just didn't listen to us enough and didn't give it the time that we kind of wanted.And they heard that and respected that considering we paid, I think I told you, well over £10 ,000 and still had no proper diagnosis.

They honoured sort of compensating that a little bit.They basically said, we hear what you're saying.And I'm really glad that I stuck up for it, but yes.So anyway, positive, absolutely positive.

And look at him.He's already seen that Dave is coming down the road.

You excited, Portine?You going to see Dave?This one riding up front, living his best life because he knows that there is a crumble in the oven.A little crumble for Portie.I can't tell you how happy it makes me.This one is the happiest.

I cannot tell you how much he is loving being able to walk again.Like these long walks as well, we were trying not to separate them too much because Barkley gets so stressed.But, Now he's on his dog walks, happy as a little porky pig.Well, the crumble has definitely been Ali Gordon'd.He likes it well done and chewy and we like a big thick crust and not as much fruit.Oh, very nice, very nice.

I'm going to get the cream out because you're an ice cream person and I am a cream person.

Ice cream, yeah.That makes them very, very sour.

I don't think this is as chewy as you've normally done it.

I couldn't have put it in for much longer than that.I think it is.That is quite deep, actually.

Yeah, I always make it deep.So these are blackberries from our hedgerows.And then I managed to pick a few apples the other day when we were shooting a campaign.And I used them, soaked them in amaretto.And then I always like to have, like I said, thick crumble, little bit of fruit, usually with cream, but we don't have any.Could have made a custard, but just can't be bothered.

Because lots of people, well, lots of people, one person, one person asked what happened to my homemade vanilla extract.It's still up there, just marinating away.I've made custard with it.The thing that I am struggling with with homemade custard is getting the thickness.It tastes delicious, but it's the thickness that I'm struggling to get and I feel like custard, you want it to be nice and thick.So if anyone has any tips, let me know.

Do what?Tips.

Good morning.It is Monday and Ali and I sat in bed last night.and went through some new plans for the garden.I've told you this for a while but we are wanting to make some changes to the garden just to improve the layout so that it works for us a bit better so that we'll be able to have a main formal garden that the dogs stay in.Sorry I just ran up the stairs.Oh dear god.

and give the chickens an area of the garden so that they stop destroying my kitchen garden, and just create a little bit more formal planting.We're adding some water features in, and we're even looking at adding like a swimming pool, plunge pool type of addition.That's still TBC, to be honest, because where it's proposed to go at the moment, it's actually in the woodland, and we think we would want it in the sunshine.So it may not be a possibility, but we were writing all of our notes.I'm getting a water feature in my kitchen garden, then a water feature in the lower ground courtyard area.And then I'm starting off my Monday.

I've been doing admin with Carrie, just obviously all of the things that you have to think about and do, and finalizing job descriptions and all of that kind of stuff.But now I'm choosing fabrics, which is something that I love.I'm just squeezing this in before I do anything else actual work -wise because Obviously the sink has arrived for the downstairs loo and the last thing for me to pick for those rooms is the fabrics because we've got the utility and the downstairs cloakroom to do.So the utility is getting wallpaper, this is a beautiful Fermoy ticking stripe wallpaper and I believe that the colour that we're going to be painting the cabinetry is this soft really sort of soft, almost like pinky putty colour.So we've got that finalised.Then in the downstairs cloakroom we are using the rest of the Ralph Lauren wallpaper.

that's in my office because I love it so much and the colour that the woodwork is going to be painted is Edward Ballmer which is a beautiful natural paint company, this is also Edward Ballmer by the way, and we're going for the shade Mummy.So taking those things into consideration my favourite thing to do is to choose fabrics andone thing I am no longer doing is just like when there is one fabric going into a room, that fabric has to spark joy.There's people in interior design that have fabrics that just work in the space.That is not me. I have to have something that when I look at it, it makes like my heart sing.and that is what I'm doing today, I'm choosing it.

There is no space for fabrics that do not spark joy in my utility room and in my laundry room and in my downstairs loo.So I am going to try and see which ones I think work best.I'm going to start with the utility because I've got those fabrics laid out.I have a whole host of fabrics.here that have been sent by Noni.Really beautiful ones.

This is a Sanderson and Giles Deacon one, which actually I really do like it.I really do like it.There's also, I love embroidery, you know this.Now what I think about this is that this is really beautiful, but I worry about there being too many stripes in there.This one is a beautiful Pucker Prince.Again, I love this, but I worry that it's too much stripe in the room, so I'm looking for something a bit different.

So, I love this.This feels really nice and I think brings a lovely, lovely element to it.We've got some fluorosomes here, but I don't love these ones in particular, although I did like this one, but I don't think that's right at all.We have it in a blue.which the blue is nice but again I don't think that's right personally for what I want.This one feels, it's lovely I think it picks out the tones but it doesn't spark joy.

We also have some really lovely ditzy ones as well which I think this is really lovely but again this is to me is more of an accent.than picking the main event.Does that make sense?So the ones that I have picked, and I really love this, oh yeah, it has to be this for me, because this has beautiful, beautiful ivory embroidery, but then it also has these roses embroidered, and that, to me, is the winning one.I just think that the red from the roses picks out these terracotta tones really beautifully.and it still feels elegant and feminine.

Love that.But we do have others.This is also really nice.If I wanted something maybe a bit bolder, which it could do, but I like the thought of this being quite feminine.And this just feels a little bit more feminine.Then we've got some other ones.

Now this one I love.I really do love this one, but I don't think, I don't know.Oh, do you know what?They all work really beautifully.We could go blue.So the same, sorry, this fabric is from Bluron de Lens.

and this is their Margot fabric in rose and in blue so we could go blue the blue is lovely I do like the blue but I think it's the red for me and then again we have this one which is so pretty so pretty but again it's the stripe I think this is the winning combination for me although I do think that this is a close second.I actually, this is also Flora Soane, sorry, this is Soane Britain, and this is their Trailing Geranium.How do I choose between the rose and the geranium?Oh, I'm gonna have to take some pictures and really mould this over, but this is what I love.So when you've got the colour scheme like this and you know what you're working with, I just find fabrics are the most fun part for me, and this is just the most gorgeous lip.and when this is all ruffled up because this is going to be a cafe curtain and a little faux blind because we don't actually need a blind in there but I just think an undressed window

always looks a bit sad so i love that i love that so much okay pictures for this one and then we need to do ralph lauren but i don't actually have a little example of that i need you to let me know in the comments which one is your favorite i'll pop pictures on screen of each of the fabrics in situ do you prefer Soane Geranium or the Fleuron de Hélène Margot in Rose.Put Rose or Geranium to choose which is your favourite setup.Now we are going to go and have a look downstairs.I'm going to go to my office because I actually don't have a sample.I actually just have the rolls of the wallpaper.Now These are the two fabrics that have been sent, well there's lots but I don't like the other ones, so these are the two that have been sent.

I actually think that this is my favourite one, however this was sent for the utility room and personally this combination makes me really really happy.This is a close second, I actually think that this one just, I would look at this and I think it's lovely but to me this is like an accent and I need some kind of natural nature floral or something to sit front and center if we're using something like this.So these are my two choices.Rather than go rummaging in a cupboard somewhere for the rolls of Ralph Lauren wallpaper, I thought I would come down here.So this is the color.Now it looks like it's the same color on this camera, but this is actually more of a greeny tinge that goes really nicely with this.

So I think that if the walls were this color and then we had this as the blind, I think it will look really nice.Now this is the other one that I liked but I don't love.It's got a sort of warmer backdrop so it isn't quite so stark so I understand why she's proposed it because it looks softer than this one.I think on camera it looks morecontrasted, in person it doesn't look so bad.So if I show you up close.

Honestly, this is the stuff that I just love doing.

But yeah, it looks much whiter, much bluer because of the lighting in here at the moment.It doesn't look like that in person, it actually looks like it provides a nice point of difference.But that is what I think we shall see.I also have to show you this bookcase because I love this bookcase so much.It is like my little grand regal bookcase with all of my old books.This is a little figurine that my grandma gave me.

It was in my grandpa's office and I just love it there.But the reason why I'm showing you this is we just put this holland cooper roses diffuser down here and it has made the whole space down here smell so lovely it's not like a sickly rose it's like quite a deep rich rose which i think suits this room really really nicely but this bookcase honestly is my pride and joy.I love it so much.I also just treated myself to this Ralph Lauren coffee table book as well.This is the one with the black watch tartan, which I felt was very, very fitting.

It's looking very, very lovely down here.I love it.

And finally, we are on to fabrics in the living room.Now that the carpet is down, we are about to pay the invoice on the fender, which I think the fender will likely either be in a tweed or in one of these.I actually like this one more because it has a bit more depth to it, I like this more chocolatiness to it so that's an option.Desperate to use this fabric in here, this is the Highgrove and Sanderson collaboration and this is almost like a woodland toile de jouy.Love this and I would love to have this on cushions in here so I think that would be lovely as well.This is sort of more of a paired back one, you know I can give or take

these.It's more how they sit alongside in this capacity.And then this is really interesting because I can't see how this fabric looks like this.Do you see how different that is?Look at that sample.Maybe I've got it wrong, but I love it because obviously I love the embroidery.

It says it's the Rose Pergola.but it doesn't look like the rose pergola, I have to be honest.I don't know if this is something different, but I love the tones of it.These all look really nicely together.This was one of the fabrics that was sent earlier when I had those rolls, and I honestly think that this, with this one on the fender, I would like to use this on the curtains, I think.

I'm going to show you a little bit of how it looks.

Now, I don't know if you're far enough back there to get a real sense of how it's going to look.Also, there is supposed to be another little mini picture there and he has a lot of artworks put up but this is what i think i would like for the curtains in here because this is quite a plain room i just think that this feels really thick and cozy but still has this nice muted warm color palette instantly transforms the room and adds a bit more personality pulls out the blues of the seascape that we got in norfolk and I just love that, absolutely love it.And finally, I have just had some lunch and I have come upstairs to look at the last few fabrics.So these are actually fabrics for Norfolk.So I'm just kind of sorting through what I think I'm gonna like for Norfolk.We have some lovely coral sewn wallpaper.

Now I'm thinking that wallpaper, we might need to like find some examples because I'm worried that wallpaper will look too new and styled so Isure on that one.I love this ticking stripe, this is definitely going to get used.Not so much the green because I feel like we aren't going to be using too much green but things like this will be lovely but I really just want it to be lots of juice lots of really natural fabrics and fibres so I've got a little almost burgundy cherry red ticking stripe in there.These are just to say that I like the fabrics how we use them but I'm thinking that these kinds of things will just look maybe a bit too...I've bought a fisherman's cottage and I've renovated it, whereas I don't necessarily want it to look like that.

I almost want it to feel like you step back in time.So I'm happy to be proven wrong on this.They're very lovely, but I'm just not sure on the vibe yet.And then we have these wonderful, sumptuous, I think these must be mohair velvet.These are for some chairs downstairs in the hallway, in the lower ground hallway, because we're gonna have some chairs next to the piano so that you can sit there, have a whiskey, listen to the piano, have a lovely time, all of that kind of stuff.So, that is my fabric buying for the day.

I'm now gonna get myself ready, because I'm going to take you to the stables with me, and I'm going to update you on Atlas, because as well as having a poorly sausage dog, for the last few weeks, I have had a poorly Atlas as well.I can't even remember what I told you about this, but basically he wasn't himself and I was having one of my lessons and he just felt like a coiled spring, which you don't get that from Atlas.He's very much like a plodder.He's very content.And one of the girls at the yard, one of the other liveries said that she'd noticed that he had a lot more mucus.Now, when I bought Atlas, and this is one thing I would really just like to underpin because I know what the internet can be like sometimes, but when I purchased

Atlas from Charlie, Charlie was upfront about everything to do with him.Like, it really was the dream situation to buy a horse in, in all honesty.It was someone that I trusted, that I knew was reliable, that I knew was in no way looking to fleece me.She was actually giving me one of the most beautiful opportunities.It's what worries me about maybe one day when I, don't have Atlas anymore.And that's not me saying that I will ever sell him because I won't.

But when I, when he's no longer here, I don't know if I'll ever be able to buy a horse in that level of confidence again.So I really just want to underpin that.She was very upfront about him and saying that he's often, you know, he has a little bit of like mucus, but he, it clears and he's happy as Larry.She was like, you can investigate it if you want, but he's never shown any signs.And his lifestyle was very different with me.And he, he can't have year -round, like, all -year turnout, which is what he had with Charlie.

And he was in a stable, and it wasn't the best stable for him, and he started getting a little bit more mucy in the beginning, but it kind of sorted itself out, to be honest.And we got him into a really good place, he had the perfect stable, he had his own paddock, and it was all really good.It has been exceptionally dry this year, as we all know, which means it's extra dusty, and I think that that just sort of has pushed him over the edge, where most horses are a little bit coffee, because of how dry it is he is pushed that bit further and um he was i think he was quite uncomfortable so i had him scoped which essentially was what charlie said you can do it if you want um but he's never shown any discomfort from it he clears it himself and what we realized is that he hadn't been clearing it himself i think it must be to do with the dryness who knows so he was scoped Cost of fortune, totally worth it.We did establish that he's had a wind -up, which is why his winnie is so pathetic.So he has an old man's that's smoked 50 a day.like so he had a partial wind up so one side of his larynx is completely paralyzed so that won't help in itself there was a lot of mucus in there and there was a lot of inflammation so he went on to a course of clenbuterol he's now finished that he is now on the same stuff that Porter is on prednisolone and Porter is on an immunosuppressant dose, whereas Atlas isn't.

Very expensive medication.He's been on it for just over a week now and he has also just finished his antibiotics or steroids, antibiotics I think.So he's been medicated and he's getting regular medication.He's going to be on the prednisolone for another three to four weeks.And I'm now at this point riding him again.So I rode him on Saturday and we went for a walking hack.

I think today it is likely we will step that up to a trot.Now he usually starts to cough in a trot that was what was happening as his um condition progressed so he coughs more in the school than he does on hacks i think that would make sense as well that that wouldn't have been something that's shown beforehand because charlie didn't take him to the school he was very much a happy hacking horse so Just making sure that you know that I knew full well what I was getting myself into with Atlas and I knew his condition and I knew what he was sort of going through.But now we're trying to treat it a bit more vigorously because he's more uncomfortable.So I'm going to take him for a hack today, him and Hugo.And Hugo is Claudia's new horse and we are going to see how he goes.I'm going to take you to the stables with me.

That's just a bit of an update on why maybe you haven't seen him so much because I actually bumped into one of Charlie's friends at Christmas.goodwood and they were like we don't really see him anymore and i was like i know it's not because i'm not there i always post when i'm hacking with him on my phoneliterally all the time he's on my stories on my vlogs I don't purely because first of all he's my priority and with this being such a new thing and me looking to learn I just want to do the best that I can do for him when I'm there and my priority is not filming that It should be, and I wish I could always do it.I would have to be in a really specific headspace for it.But we had just the loveliest shoot the other day, and I just loved it so much that I thought, you know what?Today, I'm gonna go to the stables and I'm gonna take you with me because it was just so lovely when we had our hack the other day and even though I'm a bit nervous because I haven't been riding him as much as I normally do and anyone who's a rider will know, the more you ride, the more confident you become.

The less you ride, the more your confidence disappears and I have found, I know it won't be for everyone, there are lots of girls that I am like, you are nuts.Like you are riding without a helmet, without, like when I watch people ride in America, like, English people going over to America and riding without helmet without body protector who've never ridden or have any equestrian experience I'm like you are absolutely nuts you are you are nuts like I don't even have that confidence in my seat and I have been riding for nearly six years now like like as a thing I've had my horse for nearly two years nuts absolutely nuts anyway my confidence at the moment is not as it should be so you have to bear with me but I'm going to take you to the stables with me.So we are heading en route to the stables now.I will show you my outfit, although my outfit is usually just variations of Holland Cooper.So I've got my Holland Cooper breeches on and a Holland Cooper shirt.This is a linen one.

It is so nice and breathable for underneath my body protector.The weather at the moment, it's very hot.Not hugely hot not hot with what we've experienced recently but there is this is the other thing that I'm learning about being an equestrian is you have to weigh things up and becauseatlas hasn't been very well um he hasn't had much exercise so whilst i am not about to take him ragging around the fields obviously i'm not really a ragger anyway when it comes to riding i think he needs a little bit of something for his own well -being, as you have known in the past, I struggled with keeping Atlas's weight on.He is now, you'll be pleased to know, at the very top end, and we have to manage his weight now, because he's been a little bit - he's not been working so much.So I'm going to take him for a walk around the fields.

I might get there, And he will very very clearly communicate with me if he doesn't want to.This is one thing I lean heavily on.My animals, I am in tune with them enough to know when they are not wanting to do something and Atlas will tell me that as well.So I could get there and he may not be interested at all and he may be very very clear in what he says.But other than that, we'll see.We're going to look at him from this side because He looks a little bit cleaner from this side.

He's got his dinner all over him.He's also telling me that his name is no longer Atlas, because his sign has come off.Little bit stumpy today, so not sure if he's happy about it, but we shall find out whether he's happy to go for a hack today.We will find out.I have actually got my vlogging camera in my pocket.I am obviously a bit nervous, because I haven't been riding as much, and it's warmer, so we're just taking it slow.

I'm not getting my vlogging camera out.I'm not doing it.The cloud is vlogging for me because I can't do it.I don't know how you do it when you're cancerous.It's wild.Anyway, I am riding.

I'm riding my horse, and he's okay at the moment.He's doing good.He is doing good.So this little one has got a lot of flies on him at the moment.Because he's grey, the flies are attracted to him, and I'll often get people ask why I have this crop.Where is it by the way?

Got it?in all honesty that's the only thing i ever use it for nowadays i've never i've never used a crop on him on have i ever used i don't think so because he goes off of my voice and off of my legs yeah he's responsive this is a very posh swain fly swatter basically but yes so we're just having a slow walk today though because of how hot it is and because we're easing him into things a little bit more as well Chloe, you're being a good boy.A little bit annoyed by the flies though, aren't you?You're a very, very good boy.The only time that he gets a little bit excitable...Where is it?

Can you see it on there?

No, I can't see it on this side.

The only time he gets a bit excitable sometimes is when we turn this corner up here and he's like, we're going home.And sometimes he's like, right!But that's it.Otherwise, good boy.Boy, bedtime.Come on, bedtime.

Those big moody cows.Very sunny, isn't it?You look like a flyborg.

Let's go put you to bed, shall we?Come on.

We just did a little bit of training.Sorry, I forgot to vlog.No, I'm not coming back to give you anything.Go have your breakfast.I'm not coming back to give you anything.I'm not.

I'm not.

I'm not, it's not a coward.It's not a coward.It's not a coward.You're not a coward.Off you go, you've got no coward for me.Come on.

See you later.You have to give your mummy a kiss.And that is the end of the vlog.