Houses, houses, houses

from dolls houses and model villages to reality

I could have written ‘‘Ouses, ‘Ouses, ‘Ouses’ by The Imagined Village which is now one of my favourite folk songs which I was introduced to by a friend earlier this year. But that would be another post and in this imaginative world of mine I need to stand firm on my thread for this one- the joy of creating environments and the importance of creative thinking.

Here is a dolls house that I bought last week from a local charity shop- £10! A bargain indeed- it felt unloved and reminded me of my old dolls house that had long since been passed onto a younger relative.

Just in case you didn’t listen to the last ‘Wanderings and Wonderings-9’ podcast- on it I explore this purchase in more detail- I couldn’t open it up in the shop- one side was stuck shut- so I bought it after only having a quick peep in the attic and the right hand side of the house. The attic had what looked like the remains of a Xmas party, including a tiny Xmas tree, tinsel and best of all, some tiny hand made paper chains which I will admit to accidently hoovering up when I gave it a good spring clean last week. My son had the cheek to suggest I was cleaning the dolls house to put off doing ‘actual work’! But bearing in mind I had just worked hard to get a new website up and running- he was correct- I needed a break and this was just the beginning.

This photo is a detail from the model village ‘Bekonscot’ in Beaconsfield that I visited last week. What a lovely time I had- looking at all the details and through the windows of all the little houses, shops, churches, factories etc.

Last week I took myself off to a rural location so I could get some work done- there were no dolls house distractions for a start. I spent a day planning my ‘Creative Coaching’ offer- as I believe we all deserve a more creative life if we want it and I now have a plan! I have inadvertently been encouraging people to do this for years- I can’t help myself- if anyone has a creative idea and speaks to me then I will ‘egg’ them on. I believe the world needs more creative thinkers and the art that they produce, but encouraging creative thinking can lead to other things too- who knows where a little guidance and focus could take you?

Just checking up on existing descriptions and offers of creative coaching and getting distracted by finding peacock feathers on the lawn of the guesthouse I was staying at. The ‘marsh geranium’ was a colour I hadn’t come across before.

Recently I encouraged Emily Turner to start the process of her podcast ‘The Second Act’ as the idea sounded wonderful and she did- it happened and there have already been 2 wonderful episodes with more in the making. She writes on Substack too and her last post ‘Why I started a Podcast’ is a great one to read. She is generous in sharing a lot of information that helped her and the solutions she has found to get the podcast out there. Below is a quote from the last post. Do check it out.

‘The inspiration for starting one came after listening to Clare Jackson’s Dwellbeing podcast. I loved her approach and theme of looking around guests’ homes and asking insightful questions.
Clare knew I wanted to launch a podcast and she asked in April where it was. I confessed my paralysis and second thoughts. She said, "You won't know if you don't try" and that reassured me that she believed the podcast was a good idea. She set me a deadline to schedule my first recording and it gave me a huge kick up the backside to get going. I am not sure it would have begun without that conversation.’

An ink sketch of White Bryony found in the garden at the guesthouse- whilst I was away I was able to really have the headspace to work out a coaching practice that would sit well and be inspired by my own Dwellbeing practice.

Back in what feel now feels like the depths of time- the early noughties- I did some training in life coaching. I loved it- I passed my courses and then had my second child and things got busier in my life- I thought I could juggle it all but in the end I had to delay any further training. I had been taking briefs for design work since setting myself up in business as a 22 year old, asking insightful questions to clients to really find out what they needed. Life coaching felt similar- it was about mostly listening and letting people talk their way to what they really felt was important. I created quite a few tools to use which helped clients visualise their path forward. It was very rewarding. Having recently revisited my coaching training whilst creating copy for our new website- ‘Dwellbeing Works’ I am ready to take on my first few clients- I have space for just 3 starting at the beginning of September- let me know if you would like to be one of them- as there will be an introductory price for this intake only.

Here is a screen shot of our ‘About Us’ section from the new website- Dwellbeing Works- it is a companion to my Dwellbeing Life one. Jim was made redundant recently so we have brought a future plan forward and will be working together, offering our professional services.

Last time I had photos taken professionally for my website, but this time I knew that Liz Gregg, the photographer was busy so Jim and I had to do the photos ourselves. So, using our DSLR camera, a tripod and a self-timer we tried to look approachable and a bit serious. We took many photographs over two sessions and gave them all to Cara Bendon, our website designer to choose from. She did really well and hopefully we both come across ok too. It is a very tricky one, to self promote, but if we don’t try then no one will know that we exist and really with all our experience and love of our specialist areas, that will be a shame.

Our Services are listed on the website- if the titles are clicked on then they open up with further information. Do go and have a look and see what we offer.

So- back to the model village- I spent 3 hours there- I was ‘on holiday’ so it felt ok to do so. I loved to notice all the little humorous details that the modelmakers had put in. I am not sure if it was done to entertain the parents and carers of the younger generation of visitors or the modelmakers themselves, but having gone to Medway College of Design back in the day, the modelmakers did have the best sense of humour, so maybe it is endemic! Nick Park, the creator of ‘Wallace and Gromit’ was a past student of the nearby National Film and Television School, (NFTS) and I can imagine him being creatively inspired by the place. His work also has many subtle funny details in the background- often missed first time but always good to spot on repeat screenings.

I really had to zoom in to see this detail at the model village- in the hospital you can see a child with a saucepan stuck on their head and the rather tired looking mother seems to make eye contact with the visitor and you can imagine it isn’t the first time it’s happened!

Anyhow- that is it for now- don’t forget to check out our new website- Dwellbeing Works. If you want to be one of the first 3 for me to coach, do contact me directly either through messaging here on Substack or via the Contact Sheet on the website.

Or if you would like me to work with you on a design, for your home or a commercial space let me know here. For any other Dwellbeing experiences- walk, retreats etc, then contact me here.

Last night at the hut, after an exciting swim with lots of seaweed and jellyfish!

Wishing you all a good Summer- I hope the sun is shining where you are and you are able to get some rest, sea swims, time in nature, ice creams and anything else you need!