Venetia Stanley-Smith - the bobo version of Martha Stewart

My last post was about my frenemy Martha Stewart.

I was told by an old friend of mine who kindly commented that there was a show called Whatever Martha.  This show is about two women, one of them being Martha's daughter, Alexis Stewart making fun of Martha's old shows.  My YouTube was rather busy and I was entertained in bed while fighting this cold weather.

Here is an example of a show  - click here to view.

Now after watching or reading Martha, I will be honest and say that nothing changes in my life.

I can barely do the dishes let alone tackle a Martha project.

As some of you know, I have just gotten back after several weeks in Southeast Asia and I am still a bit jet-lagged.  Actually, it is a bit more than jet-lagged, I don't feel like I am all here yet.

My theory is that although not as drastic as riding a Concorde or space shuttle, the human body isn't meant to have traveled so fast, therefore some molecules just hasn't caught up to London yet.

Sounds a bit kooky I know but let me Google some mathematical formula that eventually proves this some other time.

While I was away, I was exposed to CNN and other generically polite news channels, NHK world being one of them.

I had the chance to catch up with a show I haven't seen in a while and enjoyed viewing immensely and wanted to share with you.

Image via NHK

If you haven't seen it yet, I can not recommend At Home with Venetia in Kyoto highly enough.

Before I waste anyone's time, I must preface that this is the type of show that would be on BBC4.

So if you don't like BBC4, then there is no point reading on further.

This show features Venetia Stanley-Smith, a British woman who moved to Japan thirty years ago.

She teaches English in her own academy but also has published books about herbs and gardens in Japan and unfortunately for most of us, in Japanese.

Her show is about her expertise as a herbalist and her housekeeping and garden tips as illustrated through her traditional Japanese 100 year old home in the outskirts of Kyoto, Japan.

Image via NHK

Each show features the changes in her garden and an aspect of her home whether it is a recipe for dinner, a rosemary shampoo, or a special paste for her woodwork.  They film the Japanese countryside and name the plants in either plain English or the Latin names which for a very amateur is educational.  

Her garden that took 6 six years of cultivation won the Japan National Garden competition in 2002.

Via Japan Times

I will admit that the photos don't do it justice.

You see, it would be like putting a picture of my funniest friend 

on here and saying, 

"See how funny my friend is?? Just look. Hilarious!"

It doesn't work.  It comes alive with her guiding you and in movement on the show.

She does all the right things: lives seasonally, organically, and promotes local craft and produce.

She is the earthier, eco-friendly, and hippie version of Martha.

Via yestijasmine.blogspot

She has a simple but the most coziest home. I do not exaggerate when I say that her home is one of the houses I lust after.  

If I could, I would be Russian oligarch obnoxious and give her ten times what it is worth and kick her out but then pay her to tend to the house and garden.

I have been trying to analyze what it is about her house and garden that I am trying to imbibe.

I concluded that it must be the time, energy and love spent.

It is the peace that it must have brought and something that one can literally not buy.

I must be an architectural soul vampire - only way to describe it.

And now you know way too much about me...

Via NHK

Ironically, I don't even have this carnivorous (are bricks meat?) urge to devour her family seat of Kedleston Hall.

Via National Trust.org

She is the epitome of bourgeois boheme.

Parisians say "bobo"- like "bcbg" for bon chic, bon genre.

You see, she is a bit of posh girl but went to live in India for a while in an ashram and left the conventional life in Britain. 

Her father was a seemingly cookie cutter Etonian and her mother was the granddaughter of Lord Curzon, a Viceroy of India.  

Her family have lived in the same grounds since 1297 

in Kedleston Hall.

The film "The Duchess" was filmed here for those of you who may recognize the estate.

Via National Trust

It has a hall designed by the architect Robert Adam.

Via National Trust

The south side of the house and the gardens were also designed by the architect.

Via National Trust 

The house was built as it looks now in 1765.

It has a special curved hall hanging family portraits. 

Her family are nesters for sure.

Via National Trust

Lovely bedroom.  Try dusting on top of the bed frame...

Via National Trust

But I admit I do adore the library.

Via National Trust

But mind you, I have tastes for libraries what men have for breasts ; I am not too picky and love most kinds.

She doesn't do the whole pre-prison Martha that exuded "Don't I have the perfect life" ethos - Venetia is quite candid about her own life.

She wrote about her daughter's schizophrenia and having to raise her grandson, albeit in a very British matter of fact way.

She writes about her family and life on monthly updates on her blog.

She is honest to say that her privileged background didn't bring that supposed happiness and while I don't know of her finances, she does prove that money is not the main ingredient in a home.

Case in point. Oprah's house.

Via Glamour magazine UK

I don't know if some of you remember her now defunct home decor magazine that was called O at Home.

Her home in Santa Barbara was featured and even though 

I know it cost about a hundred million dollars - 

not an inch of me wanted to move in.  

I might have gone for a Sunday open house tour but house envy? Not one iota.

I was relieved when in her latest issue of O Magazine, she admitted the lack of style and warmth in her own house without me outing her seeming like a right bitch. ( Although I can be...)

Via O April 2013

I mean - look at this hallway.  

It is so "Real Housewives of some U.S. metropolitan city."

Via O Magazine April 2013

You expect her to come down in those stairs in furry kitten heels to confront the maid trying to seduce her husband.

Then look at this.

Via O Magazine April 2013

I don't know who her painter/decorator is - but have you ever, ever seen such walls painted with less soul.  It is the most one dimensional wall I have ever come across.  It was not only in the yellow paint of her hall but also in this apricot room.

This is Oprah's private library.

But she does admit that the library just doesn't work.

Via O Magazine April 2013

But I have never come across a library that I would not feel at home in but there is always a first.

So this illustrates that ostentation, money, and access to the best decorators in the world does not produce a covetable home.  

Not that making a home covetable is the aim...

But a house that you would love to live in.

Via NHK

Venetia's home does that to me.

When you watch her show, she demonstrates a recipe, a house or garden keeping tip which is in Japanese.  

( The show is mostly subtitled I must warn you.) 

But then she does an essay in English in her unique accent that has been indented with Japanese clipped endings and a haiku rhythm.

Don't worry - she is not kumbaya at all.

I always feel so much peace when I watch this show - 

once I get past the hostile urge to take over her house.

She seems so content weeding her garden and collecting seeds for the following year to share with her friends.  She doesn't have any of the frenzy to live a perfect life, she imparts a genuine stillness that is infectious.

If you don't mind subtitles and a slower edit, I encourage you to watch her on YouTube if you don't have access to NHK and enjoy not only her life but also as a means to enjoy Japanese culture.

This episode is a nice opener - I won't take it personally if you don't like her.  I can imagine some of you clicking off. 

But for those of you who want to passively meditate and 

want a tele-visual, informative poem, this is your show.