SUMMER '26 NUTRIENT

Nutrient: (noun) a substance that provides nourishment essential for the maintenance of life & growth. 

Here are Jolene's for Summer 2026 

Books, a Podcast + a trashy/classy TV show 

The world is terrifying, and climate anxiety is real. If you'd like to feel some hope as well as motivation to keep doing your little bit of good even when it can feel pointless please read How to Fall in Love with the Future, by Rob Hopkins. 

Another very timely book I read when I was up on my friend's hill farm is These Wild English by Nicola Wilding. Nicola is an ex colleague from my TV days, and this is her first book, a memoir in which she goes back three generations to try and figure out how her mum ended up marching through towns with the EDL and her brother ended up in prison for armed robbery. Sounds bleak, but is beautiful, funny, thought provoking + necessary... I inhaled it in two days. 

No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz. A book on healing trauma that my clinical psychologist friend told me about. WOW... I won't go into it here, but I used one of the meditations to halt a recurring physical ailment I have that is definitely linked to stress + anxiety. I got the paperback, but the audiobook comes with free meditations so you can practice. 

While I was packing all the towel orders (thanks people!) I finally got round to listening to The Blind Boy podcast. I particularly loved this episode because it has been on my to do list to find out more about the Irish writer, documentary maker, folklorist and so much more Manchan Magan who died in 2025. Strap in for a glorious + mind bending conversation. 

And in total contrast, because that's how I like it, the new season of The Parisian Agency landed on Netflix. Complete escapism... lots of uber rich people who fly to their summer holiday home but want it to be eco 🤣. As well as amazing locations and interiors and sunshine in the Glasgow rain, what I love most is the family who run this luxury estate agency who manage to somehow stay grounded and likeable. 

Two domestic museums and a domestic themed gig 

I spent a lovely hot weekend in Cambridge visiting daughter Mila last month, and took in two very different but equally charming museums housed within former domestic homes. 

KETTLE'S YARD

Kettles Yard, (above) for those who don't know it, was the former home of Jim and Helen Ede, who transformed four derelict cottages into a light filled home to display their collection of modern + contemporary art + objects. They used to invite visitors into their home from 1957, then in 1966 gifted the house and its contents to the university. What's interesting about it is the curation, which is pretty much as they left it - natural objects, plants, pieces of stone, a piano, wood - evidence of a life lived - are placed very naturally in the space as counterpoints to the artworks, with chairs scattered all around encouraging visitors to take their time and enjoy the view. It really reminded me of the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, which has a similar approach and aesthetic - calm, relaxed + light-filled, inviting you to enjoy the work at your own pace, in another domestic scale building. I was amused to find out that the inaugural concert held at Kettles Yard to celebrate the extension in 1970 was a performance by Daniel Barenboim and Jacqueline du Pré, who had been my mum's flatmate in London, and was godmother to one of my brothers. 

DAVID PARR HOUSE

By contrast, David Parr House (above) is the "town" to Kettle's Yard "gown". Housed in the former home of David Parr,  an artisanal decorator / painter for local firm FR Leach, whose clients included wealthy individuals, universities, churches etc as well as the don of the English Arts & Crafts movement himself, William Morris. Parr bought the house in 1886 to raise his family, and at the end of each working day returned home and set to work applying the motifs and techniques employed in grand settings to his own modest abode. If you think the decoration in the photo above looks unremarkable, bear in mind that this predates the mass-market adoption of printed wallpaper - the whole thing is painted by hand!

Untouched for almost a hundred years, the interior has been miraculously preserved as a living testament to his extraordinary skill and devotion to decorative arts, with practically no surface left unadorned. Parr's lifelong project was an infinite work in progress, acquired following the death in 2014 of Parr's grand-daughter - who had lived in the house since his death in 1927 - this a treasure trove for pattern lovers + maximalists, who will surely delight in the sheer exuberance of the interior. Now supported by a trust, who subsequently acquired the property next door which now houses the information centre & gift shop, fitted out by our friend Michael Marriott and containing a well curated selection of beautiful things to buy, including ISP! 

GETDOWN SERVICES

Finally - what's not to love about a band whose songs' subject matter include both socks on a radiator and dog dribble?! We caught the very silly Get Down Services earlier this year supporting Super Furry Animals at the Barrowlands, and have been loving them ever since. They are definitely going to go large, and the live show is excellent (if you like the idea of Daft Punk and AC/DC deciding to hit the studio after a few pints of Scrumpy).
For an injection of joy, head here (Tidal users)! (or here, if you havent managed to divest from Spotify yet!)