A Commonplace Book For the Home and Heart
There exists an antiquated custom of maintaining a commonplace book—a journal filled not solely with one’s own musings, but with treasures too precious to forget. Quotations copied from beloved books, recipes handed down through generations, sketches of wildflowers, observations from leisurely strolls, lessons gleaned amidst the mundanity of days. Over the years, these compilations transcended their simple purpose, evolving into cartographies of a life: records not merely of events, but of the virtues and memories worth cherishing.
The Field Notes serve as Desiderata’s cherished commonplace book—an anthology of musings that both inform a home and, in their quiet way, craft a life. Some are as practical as a well-placed sequin; others, as timeless as a philosopher’s query. They emerge from old books, gardens in bloom, kitchens alive with aroma, workshops busy with creation, travels distant and near, and the subtle rhythms of Hawthorn House itself. Not one claims infallibility; they are merely observations hoarded along the journey—tiny troves of wisdom worth revisiting, expanding upon, and passing down. For a life well-lived, much like a home well-loved, is seldom forged in the blaze of grand gestures. Instead, it is built through an infinity of small acts—each a modest field note—collected one delicate insight at a time.
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Field Note 003: Maintenance
Restoration and Preservation There is a charm, even for homely things, in perfect maintenance. Louis Auchincloss There is quite a difference between the intense effort required for restoration – it’s a one and done. And then the world runs its course and the items are again returned to shabbiness, as is it’s natural order. That’s…
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Field Note 001: Signature Scents
Smells like Home Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived. Helen Keller Every home has a smell. You know it… the one you’ve gone “nose-blind” to, as Febreze so famously put it. But there’s that smell when you walk into a space that’s…
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