Hello!
Look… Jane Brocket is lovely isn’t she? Well I think she is. She lives in Berkshire in the UK with her lovely husband and their 3 lovely children. She makes things, cooks things, grows things, writes books and keeps a very pretty, florally, crafty home. She does. I like reading her blog. My home is not pretty or florally or neat, which is why I like to go and peek at Jane’s place – because I can get a sense of pretty-florally-tidy without having to get off my bottom and clean or floral up my own house. Thanks Jane. You are a life saver.
Jane has written three books :
The Gentle Art of Domesticity
Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer
and the soon to be released
Ripping Things To Do
Her books are really special, melding a love of vintage children’s books, with a love of nice family times, resulting in ideas for Magic Faraway Tree style recipes and Famous Five party games.
I particularly like Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer – a cookbook jam-packed with recipes inspired by favourite children’s books like Anne of Green Gables, The Enchanted Castle and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It’s divided up in to sections like ‘Proper Elevenses’ and ‘Kind And Thoughtful Treats’ and chock full of recipes for things like ‘Pippi’s Swedish Pancakes’, ‘Mary Poppin’s Strike-Me-Pink Raspberry Jam Cakes’ and ‘Milly Molly Mandy’s Little Patty Pan Sultana Cakes’
Jane’s spin on the new domesticity has got some people’s backs up – if you dig around on le internet you can find various debate going on – I haven’t dug too deeply into that – but I will say that I like cooking and making and domestic things too. I don’t think it makes you a Stepford Wife (especially when your house is as messy as mine), as long as you are having fun and feeling fulfilled. If someone’s making you mend their trousers I think you should poke them in the eye with a blunt stick. But if you’ve dug them out of the dirty washing and are happily applique-ing a glittery butterfly over that little tear, well more power to you sister.
Jane’s blog is over here – or you can go to her website if you would like to! I found a cute Q&A with Jane here and an interesting piece over here at Etsy about Jane. Her new book is due for release in July. You can pre-order it here, if you would like to.
xx Pip