Wealden Times | WT178 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

Above: Upstairs, Tim and Eve use the large space outside the
bedroom as a dressing room Below: Eve’s collection of glass jelly
moulds is displayed on a shelf over the stairs
back here, especially at Christmas, when they want
all the Christmas rituals that they grew up with.”
At this point, Tim’s wife Eve arrives back with the
horsebox, having taken one of her Highland ponies to
a local event. It might help to complete the picture, to
explain that Tim and Eve, as well as having the pleasure
of visiting children and grandchildren, share the farm
with three ponies, two dogs, three cats, a selection of
ducks and chickens, and a lone bantam cockerel.
As Eve slips off her boots and comes into the kitchen, she
joins in the conversation about Christmas: “We have a very
full house, with our three children, their partners and our
three grandchildren, plus various visitors. It’s very cosy but
noisy too,” she laughs. The extra accommodation in the barn
comes in handy, apparently, for those who want to escape the
noise and excitement. Or there is always the home cinema...
On a day-to-day basis, the kitchen, where we are standing,
is where Tim and Eve spend a lot of time and where they
eat. Dotted around there are original, homely, works of art
as well as books...well, everywhere. Who is the book addict?
“Me!” says Eve. “Tim bought me a Kindle in the vain hope
that I would stop buying books. It didn’t work!” Just as the
home cinema is a clue to Tim’s former profession, so the
books hint at Eve’s career as an English and drama teacher.
Leaving the warmth of the kitchen, we amble to the other
end of the house, to sit down for a cup of tea in the snug,
or TV room. Soon after buying the house, Tim and Eve
separated this room from the next door ‘book room’ by
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