A letter? A letter? What is this — 1897 (Editor's note: incidentally, this is when Country Life was first published)? Do I have to cycle to the post box on a penny farthing?
Ahem, no it’s not, and no you don’t. There are various occasions now when you can get away with a thank you text — someone picked up the tab after dinner, someone gave you a book they thought you’d like, someone dog-sat for you, someone gave you unwarranted and ultimately quite unhelpful love life advice, but the thought was there. A brief WhatsApp or even a voice note (under a minute, please!) can work in these situations.
Alas, there are still moments when you still have to sit down, like a reluctant child after Christmas, and bash out a few thoughtful sentences by hand. After a wedding, after staying with someone for the weekend, or after a particularly inspired present.
That said, I’m a big fan of a postcard. Did you take an adorable snap of their baby during the weekend? Did you take a photo of the bride and groom, emerging from church, confetti floating into their open mouths? Go online and knock up a photo postcard, in that case, and write a few (heartfelt!) lines to go on the back of it. Quick, easy, still personal and delivered through the letterbox, but most importantly the website sends the postcard for you, which means it’ll arrive promptly rather than rolling around in the bottom of your bag until you remember to stick it in the post five months later.
Alternatively, make like my godson, Jack, who sent me a terrific thank you letter a few months ago. Jack is five, so it wasn’t a long or notably articulate letter. ‘Dear Sophia’ it said, in wobbly orange, felt-tip pen letters at the top of the page, and underneath that was a very rudimentary felt-tip drawing of a camera since I’d given him one for Christmas. ‘Love Jack,’ said more wobbly letters below his picture. That was it. Just a drawing, but I loved it so much I’ve framed it. So you could always try that after a wedding, and send a ropey sketch of a salmon canapé.
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A dozen fine homes across Britain, from Cornish cottages to a vast Highland estate, as seen in Country LifeOur look at some of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life includes a gorgeous south coast home.
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Arthur Parkinson: Chicken Licken isn’t just a children’s story about a chicken who believes the sky is falling, it tells us everything we need to know about keeping hens happyToo many people think chickens only need shelter when it's hot, but the truth is much more complex.
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A duchess, a Nazi and a socialist walked into a room: The celebrated and scandalous Mitford sisters reunitedIndia Knight, the author of ‘Darling’, a retelling of ‘The Pursuit of Love’ by Nancy Mitford imagines what might happen if the six Mitford sisters reunited in 2025.
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‘Everyone had dodgy magazines hidden under their beds and I had interior design magazines’: James Thurstan Waterworth's consuming passionsInterior designer James Thurstan Waterworth was the European design director at Soho House before he went on to open his own studio, Thurstan. He discusses his love of Tudor history, Andrew Scott and how a portrait of a chicken changed his life.
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101 gold rats, a 'self portrait as a horse' and a tribute to motherhood take home top prizes at this year's Royal Academy Summer ExhibitionThe Royal Academy has announced its 2025 prize winners, spanning talented sculptors, painters and print-makers, with works on display in London until August 19.
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Sophia Money-Coutts: Is there even any point in setting an out of office, these days?Setting an out of office email only to reply anyway is a vicious cycle, writes our columnist.
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The truth about P.G. Wodehouse: Robert Daws on playing England's greatest comic writerThe actor Robert Daws starred alongside Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in Jeeves and Wooster back in the 1990s, and the work of P.G. Wodehouse has been part of his decades-long career ever since. He joined the Country Life Podcast.
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The teeny tiny car that you absolutely don’t need, but will absolutely want this summer — and it has an inbuilt showerThe Fiat Topolino has been reimagined by French swimwear brand Vilebrequin just in time for the summer holidays.
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What everyone is talking about this week: Are people marrying younger?Week in, week out, Will Hosie rounds up the hottest topics on everyone's lips, in London and beyond.
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‘It only remains for our descendants to curse our impotence and laissez-faire’: Only four photographs of a storied London townhouse survive inside the Country Life archive — and it was brutally demolished not once, but twiceNo. 32, Soho Square was demolished not once, but twice, despite warnings of doing so in Country Life.
