Perhaps you were swept away by “The Dig,” the new film released at the end of January on Netflix, starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, Lily James and the archaeological dig at Sutton Hoo in England.
Perhaps you’ve been transfixed by “The Crown,” and its semi-documentary recounting of several generations of the British Royal Family.
Or maybe your first post-COVID dream is to travel around England and poke around in some of the magnificent “homes” that are the setting for so many wonderful British films, modern and costume.
If those conditions apply, you might enjoy a documentary series that you can stream for free on what YouTube calls its Documentary Base.
The series is “Crown and Country: A History of Royal Britain” and it was produced by and features Edward, the youngest of the four children of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
This is the part where I confess that my attention was never really captured by “The Crown,” so I don’t know to what degree Prince Edward and his lovely wife, Princess Sophie, are featured in it. I think one of the notable accomplishments of this royal couple is that they’ve done a remarkably good job of staying out of the headlines; perhaps this is why Town & Country magazine claims that Edward and his wife are Queen Elizabeth’s favorites: They are dependable, reliable and discreet.
I’m not a huge Royal Watcher, so I have no idea how Edward is generally perceived. I do know that he takes a lot of abuse about the documentaries he produced during his nine years at the head of Ardent Productions, which he founded and then retired from in about 2002.
I personally don’t care. I think this is a really enjoyable series and I’m perfectly fine that Edward is not as funny and lively as, say, Graham Norton. He’s certainly as personable a tour guide as the popular Rick Steves.whom I also like.
Five seasons were produced, beginning in 1998. In each 25-minute episode, the prince takes us on an informative tour of a famous site in England.
In the first episode, we travel to and learn about Sutton Hoo, site of “The Dig.”
The British press are pretty vicious about Edward and his work. I came to it not knowing about the scorn and I have to say that I found Edward to be a good story teller and a good historian. I’ve watched a lot of tours of England on the internet, and I’d rank this series at the top. There are maybe a few too many Dramatic Recreations, but they’re brief and they stay largely in the background.
And yes, Edward does have a noticeably posh accent, but it didn’t bother me. In fact, it reminded me of the way the actress Honeysuckle Weeks speaks in “Foyle’s War,” and I find her diction to be very easy on the ears.
In the 30 episodes on YouTube you learn about famous properties including White Hall and Hampton Court and Kensington.
When Edward describes the fate of their residents, you do feel as though he feels a connection to these great people, these historic events and these fabulous (and sometime excessive) examples of English design and architecture.
After all, Edward has lived in some of these houses and if he wasn’t related to all these kings and queens, he certainly has more in common with them than I do.
And every now and then he or someone will make a subtle joke about his royal status.
“Not to make too fine a point of it, but this is what your lot did to my lot,” one historian says as he shows Edward the graves of paupers and criminals at Sutton Hoo; their bodies were mangled or disfigured during or before burial.
If you’re interested in English history and houses, give “Crown and Country” a look on YouTube (Amazon Prime also has a few episodes).
Ruth Epstein
As August looms, college students begin to think about the upcoming academic year. Concerns over roommate compatibility or maintaining good grades are common. But for some, mental health challenges can arise in the campus setting.
Author and psychiatrist Mathilde Ross deals with the subject in her book “How to Thrive at College: A Guide to the Ups and Downs of Mental Health on Campus.” Ross, the daughter of Cicily and Joseph Hajek of Sharon, will be among the writers featured at the Hotchkiss Library’s 28th annual Sharon Summer Book Signing on July 31 from 4:45 to 7:30 p.m.
In an informative yet humorous style, Ross, a senior staff psychiatrist in the counseling center at Boston University, dispenses advice to both parents and students. The book provides strategies for communicating about difficult topics and determining when there is a serious problem and when symptoms may be normal behavior.
Ross takes readers through a college calendar year and shares a series of cases she has encountered during her tenure. She’s counseled students with debilitating fears of dogs or flying, eating disorders and sleep deprivation — challenges that prevent them from functioning. Others are gripped by the certainty that they will fail out of school.
She also discusses those who suffer from depression, live with obsessive-compulsive disorder and contemplate suicide. Many problems can be traced back to childhood, she notes.
Ross says there are some things “we know are very, very bad,” labeling them “the Big Three: child abuse, domestic violence or a parent with an addiction. Each creates an unsafe and unstable early childhood environment, which is very bad for human development.”
She also speaks about the enormous pressure some parents put on their children — whether to succeed academically, excel in sports or pursue a particular talent — and the effects such expectations can have.
She writes about “young people who are burned out, and don’t know who they are. They know who their parents want them to be — they’ve gotten that message. But they’ve been driven to achieve, at the expense of knowing who they are, how to take care of themselves, or even if it’s worth it. A parenting style that emphasizes achievement at all costs … has a cost.”
Ross introduces readers to terms such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention, generalized anxiety disorder, stimulus restrictions and parenting pandemic.
While the subject can be heavy, Ross’s style adds a lightness to her message. Often self-effacing, especially when speaking about parenting her three children, she nevertheless provides tips that are easy to understand.
Ross said the impetus for writing the book came in 2017, when headlines blared about a mental health crisis among young people and she began seeing increased demand at her clinic. Friends, knowing her profession, peppered her with questions and concerns. Her short answer is, “The kids are all right. Not every single one, but the vast majority are very extremely totally all right.”
Her book, she said, is her answer to the public confusion.
For tickets to the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon’s Summer Book Signing, visit hotchkisslibraryofsharon.org
Kerri-Lee Mayland
Perhaps that’s why summer travel is so irresistible. It isn’t just the promise of sunshine or a change of scenery. It’s the chance to step outside our routines, notice how other people live, taste something we’ve never tasted before, discover a beautiful object made by local hands and come home just a little different than when we left.
The best trips don’t end at the airport or in the driveway. They continue in the way we cook, decorate, entertain and even dress. That’s why I always try to bring a little piece of wherever I’ve been home with me.
You don’t have to travel far to do it. A weekend in Vermont might introduce you to maple syrup from a family sugarhouse. A drive through the Berkshires could lead you to a local potter whose serving bowl becomes the centerpiece of family dinners. A stop at a Connecticut farm stand might send you home with lavender, local honey or a recipe you’ll make every summer.
The best souvenirs aren’t necessarily what you think they might be.
As I unpacked after a recent family trip to Italy and France, I found myself searching first for the two little mementos I’d brought back. They weren’t expensive or particularly remarkable, but I knew they’d be the things that would keep our vacation alive long after the suitcases were put away.
One was a small container of chunky flaked salt from a market in the South of France. My friend who hosted us insisted on buying it for me after I admired hers while cooking together. The other was a colorful silk scarf I found fluttering outside a tiny shop in Sanremo, Italy’s historic district, while my family waited for dinner at the restaurant next door. I know when I wear it, I will think of that evening again and again. The salt cost $8; the scarf, $12.
Since returning home, I’ve sprinkled the salt over tomatoes from my garden and used it to season pasta sauce. Every pinch brings me back to that bustling market and reminds me of the friend who gave it to me.
Some of my favorite souvenirs this summer, however, didn’t arrive home with me in my suitcase.
One afternoon, a friend served slices of fresh cantaloupe from a farm just down the road where we were staying. As I reached for a piece, she asked, “Don’t you want a little salt and lemon?” I never would have thought to pair those flavors, but together they transformed an ordinary melon into something unforgettable. Another day, I watched homemade hummus come together in minutes. I honestly didn’t expect it to taste much different from the store-bought kind. I was wrong. It was creamy, fresh and so flavorful that I doubt I’ll ever buy prepared hummus again.
Those recipes are now souvenirs, too.
That’s what is so satisfying about travel — it can change your everyday life long after you return through the keepsakes that come home with you. They’re recipes, ingredients, traditions and simple objects that carry a memory every time you use them.
The destination isn’t what matters most. It’s the feeling a place leaves with you and finding simple ways to carry that feeling into everyday life.
The next time you travel, whether it’s to Europe, Cape Cod, the Berkshires or just down the road, maybe you’ll be inspired to get creative when considering what to bring back.
Because the best souvenirs don’t just remind us of where we’ve been; they invite us to go back, if only for a moment — until we can meander again.
Lucia Iandolo
Art dealer Kim Schmidt at the 2026 Summer Salon in Lakeville.
For the summer, the Churchill Building Company at 332 Main Street in Lakeville has been transformed into a group exhibition space featuring artwork by emerging and established artists. Curated by private art dealer Kim Schmidt, who is based in Manhattan and Millerton, the 2026 Summer Salon Session opened on July 18, bringing together work by 45 artists in an exhibition designed to make art more approachable for collectors and casual viewers alike.
Committed to making art more accessible by bringing it into everyday spaces rather than museums and galleries, Schmidt hopes the “pop-up” will create a more inclusive environment where art lovers can discover a wide range of work while emerging artists have the opportunity to exhibit alongside more established figures.
“I really wanted it to be that mix of discovery, where you can walk in and buy something for $1,400, but it might be standing right next to something that’s $100,000,” Schmidt said.
Many of the featured artists are local, reflecting Schmidt’s strong ties to the region’s arts community. Those connections began when she and her husband organized fundraising auctions for Ukraine at The Re Institute in Millerton and Troutbeck in Amenia, introducing her to many of the artists who now participate in her exhibitions. The Summer Salon is open Saturdays and by appointment, with all works on view available for purchase.
Having purchased her first piece of art at 16 and spent four decades in the art world, Schmidt places as much value on the stories behind the artwork as the work itself. She said understanding an artist’s practice and motivations is central to the way she presents each piece.
“I am fascinated, and I really want to be able to discuss anything on the wall in a way that the artist is speaking through me.”
The Summer Salon is located at 332 Main St. in Lakeville and is open Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Labor Day. To book an appointment, call (917)742-6456 or email kimschmidtart@gmail.com. To view the works on exhibit, visit kimschmidtfineart.com.
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Dee Salomon
All gardens are works in progress; never static despite the best efforts of gardeners to freeze a perfect aesthetic moment year after year. Seeing a garden when it’s first planted is particularly intriguing and instructional. The recently opened Little Guild animal shelter is a visual master class in landscape design and native planting. You really should take a look.
That it was designed by two of the most venerated gardeners in our area is no surprise, given the notable people involved with bringing the new facility to fruition. Page Dickey, author of many books on gardening, and Jeff Lynch, who recently left his role as head gardener at Weathersfield to consult for clients, selected plants that will be able to thrive, once established, without watering. The planting and maintenance is being done by Jameson Secco of Roots and Branches Organic Landcare.
The “architecture” of the planting layout relies on an alley of multi-stemmed serviceberries anchoring the path that borders the building’s façade, as well as several swamp oak trees that will grow to provide dappled shade for the parked cars and underplanting.Beneath them is a seemingly simple mix:three species of sedges; two that mound, Carex laxiculmis and Carex rosea; and one, Pennsylvania sedge, which will eventually spread its tufts throughout.Blue phlox will do the same, as well as provide spring color.As you approach the entrance, different flowering plants and shrubs appear: foamflower, bowman’s root, skullcap ‘Appalachian blues’ and Clethra alnifolia, sweet pepperbush.
Along the side that faces Route 128, a mix of shrubs covers much of a steep slope, which ends in a swale that collects water runoff and, if we get some meaningful rain, might become a small pond.Here you will see winterberry, witch hazel, buttonbush, yellowroot and a plant I have not come across before, groundsel bush (Baccharis halimifolia), which Lynch says can get as tall as 16 feet and has fluffy white flowers in August.Brilliant red bee balm ‘Jacob Cline’ punctuates the planting with color between the shrubs, much as the phlox does on the entry side.
The back of the building has not yet been planted.Still, seeing such an early-stage planting informs us how to place different trees, shrubs, grasses and forbs (flowering herbaceous plants) to work in challenging areas.For The Little Guild, an organization that cares so deeply about animals, planting native species, which nurture wildlife and preserve habitat, is very much in line with its values.
Normally we are invited to view gardens only when they are considered “done,”but equally interesting are gardens that are in the process of becoming.In these, the negative space and the plants that fail or prove more aggressive than previously thought are all on view.Private garden tours may not reveal this early stage, but around public buildings it is in plain sight for us to enjoy and learn from.
In Falls Village, horticulturalist and landscape designer Deb Munson, again with Page Dickey, installed native plant beds around the Hunt Library last year.The project was funded by proceeds and contributions to the winter speaker series “Bad Grass,” founded by Jeb Breece.
As with the Little Guild, there is still evidence of a recently planted garden; the Allegheny spurge — the native Pachysandra procumbens — has not yet covered the ground around the rhododendron. (A note about this native pachysandra:in addition to providing erosion control and nutrition for native insects, this elegant plant thankfully lacks the invasive quality of its commercially popular Asian counterpart, whose moist environment is favored by ticks.Lindera nursery carries it.)
The entrance side of the library has filled in well: a serviceberry tree; the flowering shrubs clethra, aronia and fothergilla; and flowers including bowman’s root, coneflower and the amsonia cultivar “Blue ice.”
The addition of native planting around some of our important community institutions encourages us to plant native infrastructure at home — a beautiful way to protect habitat, keep water healthy, hold erosion at bay and sustain the natural world around us.
Dee Salomon ungardens in Litchfield County.
Natalia Zukerman
Celebration at Belden House included Rep. Karen Reddington-Hughes and Sen. Stephen Harding. gathered to celebrate Belden House & Mews’ Award of Merit from Preservation Connecticut.
Belden House & Mews, Litchfield’s first luxury hotel in more than a century, received a 2026 Award of Merit from Preservation Connecticut during an intimate ceremony at the property Monday, July 27.
Presented annually, the award recognizes exceptional efforts to preserve and revitalize Connecticut’s historic buildings, landscapes and communities. At Belden House & Mews, that vision is reflected in the careful restoration of an 1888 Queen Anne mansion and the thoughtful integration of a 1959 modernist Mews building, preserving the architectural character of both while creating a contemporary destination.
Designed by Champalimaud Design, the studio behind Belden’s sister property Troutbeck in Amenia, the interiors blend global sophistication with a distinctly local sensibility. The property’s creative story is enriched by the work of regional makers and artisans, including custom furnishings by Ian Ingersoll, lighting by Dumais Made, tilework by Bantam Tile Works, millwork by White Dog Woodworking and drapery by Lakeville Interiors. The landscape, designed by Reed Hilderbrand, extends that same philosophy outdoors, creating gardens that are connected to the pastoral beauty of Litchfield County.
With architectural guidance from PBDW Architects and preservation expertise from John Kinnear, Belden House & Mews stands as a model for thoughtful restoration — a place where history, craftsmanship and contemporary hospitality meet.
Belden House & Mews, 31 North St., Litchfield. Find out more or make a reservation for the hotel, spa or restaurant at beldenhouse.com.
Lakeville Journal
Ancram Center for the Arts will host its second annual Summer Bash on Saturday, Aug. 1, from 6 to 10 p.m. at The Farm at Pond Lily in Elizaville. The fundraiser features a cocktail reception, buffet dinner, a performance by acclaimed musical duo The Bengsons, dessert and an after-party. Emmy Award-winning actor Rena Sofer and Broadway performer Danielle Skraastad will emcee the evening. Proceeds support Ancram Center’s performances, artist residencies and free educational programs. Tickets are limited and available at ancramcenter.org.
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