We’ve had at least three seasons in Liverpool today, from wet and cold Winter this morning to warm Summer afternoons and a fleeting glimpse of Autumn in a few leaves drifting down. I wish my office view was nearer to some trees. Traffic and people is all very well, but I do like me a few trees in the window. My poor spider plant will have to do instead.

Today’s book, I think, comes from a place with a lot of trees. Shaye Elliott blogs at The Elliott Homestead, where she has a dairy cow, hens, ducks, a flock of sheep and a lot of produce that they grow and eat. It makes for relaxing reading on a day when the traffic noise has got too loud and my Irish peasant blood is whispering to go back home. I like reading about the hard work a smallholding takes, and then it reminds me why now I’d rather be here and typing.

Seasons at the Farm is the only one of Shaye’s books I have, but I’m definitely looking out for more. With how-to homesteading techniques or fresh-from-scratch cooking, I’ve got them on my list for another month. But I can’t resist a book or blog that handles the seasons well, and this one does. It’s a paperback, not a hardback, but it has a smoothly suede-feel cover and good quality eggshell sheen pages. I didn’t like that it won’t lie flat if you need a page right in the middle.

It’s split into four seasonal sections, of course, and each section gets a very clear and comprehensive contents page to itself. It should be easy to find what you need. The sections are further split into the seasonal garden, recipes, in the home and celebrations. Although they are roughly equal, I can’t help but feel the Winter section could have done with a little bit more… perhaps a little more Christmassing? But part of me hopes that means she is saving up her ideas and energy for a Christmas Homesteading book. I’ll definitely pre-order if it does!

The book has 275 beautifully written and full colour pages, illustrated throughout with pictures of the ‘stead, the family, the food, the cottage. It’s possible to spend a long while just looking at those, and not actually read the text, which would be a pity. Shaye has a lovely voice in print, and she puts into words some of the feelings I, too, have about creating a home from a building. As she puts it, “To create a home is to create life”.

Shaye and her husband, Stuart, obviously do have green fingers. I loved reading about their seasonal gardening: what flowers are blooming and when, how to grow bulbs, keeping pot plants alive and what they get up to each season in the garden. Small seasonal treats, like seed shopping on the shortest day of the year, are recorded. One may never need to shop for vegetable seeds oneself, but the task of choosing new life in the middle of winter’s death is a symbolism that appeals. It got me wondering what new, or adapted, little rituals I should keep?

The recipes are not terribly fancy. The ingredients are fresh, local to them, and obviously used a lot. I have a great hankering to make the Daily Bread (breadmaking being something I always mean to do, but end up sliding on) or perhaps the baguette to eat with soup in the depths of a snowy Sunday weekend.

I love the home that Shaye has made. It’s not fancy, not shining, not perfect, but it is well-loved and that shows. The feeling I get is that it i sthe sort of house where you would turn up and find the kettle on, the cake sliced and the craic is great without even trying. Shaye is honest about her seasonal decor. Small, natural touches from Nature or the garden are enough. In Autumn, that means pumpkins, and other changes in season are signalled by throws, cushions, candles.

If you haven’t already got a house filled with inherited/antiqued furniture and filderols, it could take a fortune to create from scratch. But, oh, what fun could be had in the chasing! Finding a squishy armchair to sit by the window, or a wicker basket just knocked around enough to look good as you carry the picnic to the park. And the pleasure in cleaning with lavender-scented beeswax, or vinegar window treatment.

But my favourite page in the whole book has to be Shaye’s short eulogy to the Homemaker’s Apron. “When Mama’s in an apron, Mama means business”, she writes, adding that “This is my homemaker’s uniform, which I’ve earned day after day, meal after meal, harvest after harvest.” Amen to that! I love a row of well-used, well-washed aprons ready to cook, clean, craft or create a small corner of Heaven on Earth.

You can, as I said, find Shaye on her blog, The Elliott Homestead, and also on Youtube as The Elliott Homestead, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. This book is a great introduction to the family if you’ve never encountered them before. It’s not a cook book, not an advice manual for homesteading, but a good lifestyle book without pretention or preaching. Shaye simply tells you it as she lives. You won’t be able to copy her life, but it will give you ideas and inspiration. And sometimes the germ of inspiration that leads you to create the life you love is enough.

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. Lent is a season of rituals and resets. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

How to Hygge Your Summer is my book about making the most of summertime. Hygge is so often seen as a winter pastime, and yet the principles of hygge (good food, good friends, time to be) are just as applicable to days when you can gather in a park or garden as when you gather round the fireplace. This book only scrapes the surface of what you can do, but hopefully sends you off with inspiration to make your own summer hygge.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of summer/autumn/winter.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is by Arno Smit on Unsplash. I wish I had a garden shed like this one! I chose it because I love the colours of the windowframes, the tantalisingly inviting open door and the comfy chair within. Perfect spot for a cup of tea and a good book. And the header today is the book displayed on my desk, and taken by me, of course.