Happy New Year.

Happy new year. Thank you -really thank you- for your attention and support this year. I sincerely hope that 2012 is as wonderful as wonderful can be for you. We're getting ready for a big evening.

Walking. Again.

I am often banging on about the joys of walking. Generally I talk about walking with others. But today I have had a long walk by myself; with only four dogs for company. I didn't see anyone else for a couple of hours and scrambled along a river bank that I used to fish from when I was a teenager. It was magic, even though the sun only came out as I headed home. This time of year is always one of long walks for us and my favourite quote of the moment is 'everywhere is within walking distance if you have enough time'. I don't know who said that, but I like it.

Antlers Are In Your House.

Deer horns or antlers are having a bit of a moment; another moment. We have sold various types at Pedlars for years; those are our current offering with the lime green mount; they have always been popular. Flicking through some design blogs yesterday, I kept coming across them in good-looking houses. The moose head above is ours, at home. We bought it in Lake Placid in upstate New York and had a massive fiasco trying to ship and import it. But it was worth the effort.

The Marbles of Gladstone Match Safe.

Here's a pretty cool bit of kit that I got for Christmas. There are loads of match safes –watertight containers that keep matches dry and also offer a striker- on the market and most of them are nasty plastic things. But this one is different, made by Marbles of Gladstone, Michigan, to a design patented in 1900 and pretty much unchanged ever since. It almost makes me want to take up smoking again. But maybe I should stick to bonfires/campfires. Available via marbles.com in the US or bestmadeco.com

Another Spectacular Drive.

Jack -our eldest- and I were up and off out early today. As always with early starts we were later than intended. But that didn't stop us from getting out of the car to wonder at the astonishing power and beauty of an immaculate dawn. Yes, we were above the clouds. Sometimes you can't beat the Highlands.

A Day In California

And I think to myself, What a Wonderful World....

The Pedlars Sale Is Now On.

Just in case this nifty little postcard full of important news wasn't at the top of your mail pile this morning...the Pedlars Sale is on now! Visit us via the title above.

I've Started Using Tumblr...

I've been away from this blog for a few days, taking a bit of a break over Christmas. But I haven't been idle....oh no; I've been starting to post photos on Tumblr for the first time. I like the way that Tumblr looks and have decided to use it as a kind of online photo gallery of family, friends and other cool stuff. You can visit me there, if you like: I am charliegladstone and you can see my first few efforts via my title above. These are snaps of our Christmas, with 23 of us in the house and not a single argument.

Very Good Wrapping Indeed.

Talking of Christmas wrapping, this makes mine look rubbish. Perhaps I could start again? Via honestlywtf

Christmas Is Coming....

Here are some wonderful photos of Christmas, all taken from theatlantic.com There are loads more via our title above. It doesn't last long, so please enjoy it. And thanks for watching our blog this year. xx

Meet Sophie's Ribbons.

I have just been doing my Christmas wrapping, kneeling on my office floor and listening to Sigur Ros, away from the 22 other people occupying our house. I am not mad keen on wrapping; I'm too impatient. I want it to look brilliant, but instantly. Anyway, I've been using ribbon bought from our friend Sophie Bevan, who sells the best ribbon we know, made to her design in Turkey. Sophie's husband Rupert is a gilder and furniture maker and spends a lot of time in Istanbul. He used to bring piles of this ribbon home, which gave Sophie an idea. You can visit her site via the title to this post.

Pedlars Christmas Party.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a bit of an office knees up and we had ours at home on Thursday night; about 50 people and all eight of us cooking and serving and pouring drinks and hanging coats. It was all very nice, I think, and almost everyone came and drank and ate far more than we imagined. It turned out we hadn't bought quite enough champagne or Hendrick's gin, which were the tipples of choice.

All I Want For Christmas Is You by the Gladstones.

We didn't do Christmas cards this year; so here is this instead. Sorry. Is it to late to make a bid for the Christmas number 1?

RIP Inca The Three-Legged Wonder Dog.

RIP our lovely Inca, the three-legged Wonder Dog. The bastard cancer got you in the end and this time you didn't win. Thank you. We miss you; you were truly wonderful.

Two Great Cafes, Nolita, New York.

I think we might have posted on one -or even both of these- right back in the mists of time (about 20 months ago) when we started blogging. But they are both worth a second mention; Gitanes, on Mott Street, has become a bit of a New York institution and deservedly so for its gentle fusion of north African and French food and ultra-cool workwear staff uniforms; and Cafe Habana on Elizabeth Street for it's confident Mexican food, good coffee and imported fruit drinks called Boing. Expect to queue for a table at both; but don't miss them.

How To Fill Your House.

We had nine 10 and 11 year-olds to stay for three nights earlier this week. With help from two of our daughters, Xanthe (16) and Kinvara (14), I took them from Heathrow to Aberdeen. That photo was taken by a friendly BAA security guard who thought I was their teacher. Once here in the Highlands we built bonfires, made s'mores, played massive games of Bulldogs, rode, walked dogs and generally rolled around in what little snow there was. You'd think that having so many children in the house would be hard work; but it wasn't. It was fun.

More Christmas In New York.

Here are more of my snaps from New York. I love Christmas.

A Proper Breakfast, New York City.

New York is choc-full of upmarket restaurants that are essentially pastiches; they do what they do brilliantly and the look is incredibly successful, but they are as much theme park as restaurant. Balthazar and Pastis are perfect pastiches of French bistros, The Spotted Pig a Brit pub, Freemans Sporting Club is more hunting lodge than most hunting lodges. And so sometimes its good to find a proper, unapologetic American diner, just as they all used to be. We found this and it was full of business people and tourists and local groups of friends and it was just what we needed. Even if we could hardly walk for being so full after breakfast.

Some Interiors In New York City.

Looking through my photos from last week, I have loads of good interiors. Here are some of my favourites.