Probably This Week

Issue 336 | July 16 2025

Those who use Beau’s audio narration—the audio is now located at the very top of this post!

This week, I finished stripping down an old desk. It had been on my list for a while—one of those items that leapt its way down my to-do list until it had shown up enough times for me to feel annoyed with myself for not doing it.

After designing the cottage over an 18-month period and feeling a bit burned out from that, it felt good to tackle something so small. And removing paint from a piece of wood furniture that would look better stained is always a nice feeling. I had a bit of a savior complex, thinking “there, that’s better,” once I’d finished.

You can see the before and watch the simple little makeover on Instagram, where I was feeling a little excessive and used T-Pain’s 2005 hit I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper) as the soundtrack. It felt right.

In case you missed it, the cottage had its big debut on the Domino Magazine website. When they reached out to feature the chanterelle cottage, I couldn’t believe it—I have loved the home tours in Domino for so long it was incredible to think this recent project would be sharing space with them.

I have felt so much gratitude for how the cottage has been received, from the bookings to social media to this feature. What a gift.

I’ve had such a family-filled time here in New Orleans—I met my baby nephew, saw all of my family, and am staying to celebrate my mom’s birthday this week. On the way back up to Tennessee I am stopping by our friends’ home on the beach in Florida, just for a couple of days of (hopefully) sunny weather.

When I’m back in Tennessee it’s going to be game on with landscaping. It’s the summer, which means the grasses and shrubs and trees are all competing with each other to grow as fast as possible. It’s like if the Jack and the Beanstalk magic had spread to every blade of grass. One of my first summers managing the land, I guess it was 2023, I remember being in shock at how the grass cut just the day prior had seemingly grown an inch overnight. For a split second the darkness inside of me thought “This is why people like concrete. No upkeep!”

Since then we’ve let parts of the property grow wild with grasses and saplings to take the burden off of upkeep and to support the pollinators.

Matt shared a piece of fiction this week on Substack! He’s always been a great writer but until recently hasn’t really shared much of his creative writing online. I’m glad he’s got a place to do that. You can read his latest here: A Spa in Etowah.

More below, as always.

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More for you

Probably Watching | Marcella, the new documentary on the life of chef Marcella Hazan is a must-watch. If you’re unfamiliar with her work and impact, the TLDR is that she is more or less to thank for the chokehold that Italian food has on modern American cuisine.

Probably Listening | A new Big Thief single dropped on Friday and I’m just getting more and more excited for this album. Listen to All Day All Night by Big Thief.

Probably This Picks | I found a new favorite t-shirt!! The Beefy-t by Hanes. It’s medium-heavy weight and nicely fitted.

See you next week.

xoxo

Beau