Bootiful

The splendid Lodge Park in Sherbourne, Oxfordshire was the incongruous setting for a biennial car boot in aid of the NSPCC. I basked in the autumnal sunshine and snaked my way through each lovingly curated trestle table, refueling mid morning on the requisite carbooter fare: a chip buttie and vicky sponge, washed down with a strong and sweet cup of PG.

There was the usual abundance of common household detritus that diverted my focus at times, so fascinated I was with sorbet coloured bath mats that I lost out on a bidding war over a stuffed, green parrot in a bell jar. Alas, there are pitfalls to such weekend pursuits. However, I left the haggling masses and verdant grounds of Lodge Park triumphant, armed with a trio of Formica, tri- legged occasional tables, remnants from the utilitarian 1960s and mine for a fiver!

Flora

Wallpaper is an excellent palette and mood dictator for any space so it is essential that one employs discernment throughout the selection process. What seems current and edgy today will be pasted onto the walls of a Gastro pub near you tomorrow. Ubiquity is a personal bugbear, I feel it is best avoided by honing in on hues, motifs and textures that verge on the more twisted side of traditional. Stroud based company Lewis and Wood have a delectable selection of textiles and papers as do the quintessentially English Sanderson, who have resurrected a few relics from their archive namely: Eglantine, a riot of sun drenched, mustard and carmine roses. Flora and fauna motifs are so unfashionably enduring.

Jardore

Paris, pour moi, is synonymous with two sensory pleasures: fruits de mer at La Coupole and a visit to Jar on rue de Castiglione. The latter being a true feat of self indulgence. My friend Josef who manages this velvet flocked, haven of olfaction, is ever ready to declare the Jar manifesto: a charming anti-establishment rant about discretion and non branding. The tear drop bottle is jewel like and free from any insignia. One is urged to sample the fragrance atop the wrist rather than under and there are no vials to spritz and sniff at ones' leisure. A leather chamois is doused with the fragrance and housed within crystal domes as if to entrap the perfume's spirit. I was drawn to Golconda, a quixotic blend of earth and clove, quite unplaceable and evolving on the skin.

Gothic Folly

This architectural anomaly: an unfinished folly in South Woodchester was built and abandoned in the mid 19th century. It is referred to simply as the Mansion by local yokels. Solitary and resplendent it stands, sandwiched between verdant forests and pastures, as if placed there by a giant child, quite an inhospitable place for a building and the reason for its capturing my imagination. Folk flock here to amble through its empty carcass, gaze upon the majestic window arcs and smirk at the hideously exquisite gargoyles. Bats live here in thriving colonies, a fitting attribute for a Gothic Folly. A dead building brimming with so much life.