It’s the heart of the château. It’s where we gather at night when the work is done. It’s the place where friends and visitors are welcomed. Where the issues of the day are discussed and decisions arrived at. It’s where we make our plans and dream our dreams.

Almost five years in the making, and it’s finally finished – our kitchen table, handmade by Thomas from a large oak. This tree. Now there’s a story!

The oak was felled years before our arrival and left to rot in the woods. Rumour has it the previous owners of the estate pressured a local man into felling the magnificent giant because it blocked their view. Whatever the case, we found it in the woods underneath the château with large chains still around its trunk as if it were cut yesterday. On the spot, Thomas promised the tree that he would set it free and give it – in a new life -the love it deserved. And he did.

We spent days clearing a path to where the tree was, we got a neighbour with a tractor strong enough to heave it out, and we had the trunk transported to the local mill to cut into lengths. Not willing to wait for the planks to fully dry, Thomas set to work the moment the wood came back from the saw-mill. So he pressed the planks together with clamps. An underneath the table he secured the construction with metal beams to avoid too much warping. For years, we had trestles for table legs. Only last autumn, we put custom steel supports under the table and gave the top an oil-sanded and buffed finish.

LYNX SPIRIT ANIMAL

How marvelous – to have a tree, that was planted over a century ago in the park, once again be connected to the château. The more I look at it the more beautiful it gets. And best of all, it houses a lynx! I love that we’ve brought the wisdom of a tree deity into our home and that its spirit animal, strongly connected to the forces of nature, has chosen to guide Thomas in life.