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At first glance, you might imagine Genevieve’s story is about a rural idyll in a quintessential historic English country home, well it is. But surprisingly, it’s also about using technology to bring all her passions together, simultaneously connecting with an international community of like-minded people from her kitchen table.

Genevieve, AKA Mrs Truffle Pig in her garden.

What is your background, and how have your interests developed?

Genevieve.  I grew up on Vancouver Island, and my mum and dad were English. I took marketing at uni; I wanted to work in fashion; I was obsessed with it from childhood. I can see why I’m obsessed with thrifting because my mum used to take me to all of the little markets and bizarres; all of those sorts of places. So I headed straight for the clothes rails and started putting things on. Because everything was cheap and second-hand, I could buy bits and experiment with them.

When I finished uni, I knew I wanted to move somewhere with a larger fashion scene, it was Toronto, or London. I had a British passport, London it was. I didn’t know anyone; thinking back, I was insane. I worked and saved up a month’s rent. I worked for a few months at Matches in Wimbledon but realised that wouldn’t pay the bills. So I applied to all the places I wanted to work; I was punching above my weight, but I got a call from Liberty London to manage the men’s wear department. I didn’t particularly want to go into menswear, but that didn’t matter; it’s a great shop with a fantastic atmosphere.

Once there, I worked my way up and was asked to be part of the revamp of the personal shopping department. It was fascinating and showed me how important it is to build relationships with people while creating a wardrobe with them.

Clothes are not just pieces of cloth you put on your body. You could witness how they made these men and women feel. Also, at first, it was a little intimidating, but they needed me to get the whole wardrobe for them for six months, everything, and there wasn’t a budget; they wanted to look good. I’d see them two or three times a year, knowing so much about them. I knew their children. I knew where they were on holiday, everything. The more you create a friendship, the more they will trust you and the more successful you’d be at picking the right things for them because you know their personality. I worked there for about six years.

Then I went to Alexander McQueen, their Bond Street store, which I was a manager for three years . It was still luxury retail but with a completely different international clientele. We would shut the store for celebrities and work with more high-profile people. We had staff that could speak Russian, Chinese, and Arabic; it was so different from Liberty but fascinating.

When did you decide to move to Rye?

Genevieve. We had our first child when I worked at McQueen, and a few years later, we started thinking about schools, buying a place and leaving London. We had visited Rye a few times and just loved it. So it made complete sense when a house on the High Street came on the market. It was a big doer-upper, a Georgian townhouse. It had been a holiday let, so it was in good order, but it was lacking soul. So that was a big project; we moved to Rye and did that up for five years.

We had our second child and raised two kids there. We decided we had done the house up and wanted a new project; with a bit more of a garden. So we started looking around; we found a place that was almost falling down. A lady had lived there for about 60 years and had not done anything to it. She was given the house as a wedding present by her parents-in-law. She sounded like an incredible lady.

There is a lot of her energy there; I’m not really into that stuff, but I feel she’s pretty happy and settled about it. We have ducks, chickens, cats and a dog. She loved her animals, so I feel she’s happy. I heard she particularly loved her birds and would drive to Channon’s Country Store in Rye every day for her sacks of bird feed.

It has three acres with a meadow, an orchard, and a garden with woodland at the bottom. So, we bought the house; it needed complete restoration. It’s a Tudor house with Georgian and Victorian additions. The earliest part of the house is roughly 1440. Unfortunately, the council wouldn’t let us touch it until we put forward our plans. That took two years before we could start working on the building. It was cold for a few years; some windows were out, and all needed replacing.

We were living in it from the start; every penny had to go into the house. So if we rented, that money was depleting, and we didn’t know how much it would cost because we were still finding things we needed to do. In hindsight, I think that was ridiculous. If we had known, maybe we would have talked ourselves out of it; who knows? But, luckily, we found specialist builders with experience working on ancient buildings; who had previously worked on National Trust properties.

When we ripped out the ceilings, there was a beautiful big peak ceiling above it. The doors were covered with Formica; when you ripped that off, there was a beautiful door underneath. They had poured concrete on top of all the brick floors. It was amazing to lift the concrete and reveal the red brick. It took weeks to chisel that off, but the damp issue went once that all came up because the house could breathe.

It took about five years to make the house livable. I put the garden in myself, dug it up; it is my first proper garden. My mum was a keen gardener; I was exposed to it when I was young, and I think many people do that. They have a break in their youth, but that seed is still there. The garden is trial and error, with more mistakes than successes, but that’s how I have learnt.

How did you get started on Instagram?

Genevieve.  So the house took up a lot of time and energy in managing the project, and I was raising the kids. As everything settled and the house started to come together, I suddenly had some time. I decided I couldn’t commute back to London; it didn’t balance with family life.

Then lockdown happened, and I started taking pictures, just for myself on Instagram, gardening, cooking, and a few antique bits. It was interesting seeing people’s reactions and what they were interested in. People liked relating their connection to a particular cake or antique. “Oh yeah, my mum used to have that!” I’ve been car booting since I was little. Even in London, I would go around all the markets and charity shops on my days off. So as we went into lockdown, I started talking about that.

I’ve only been on Instagram for about 18 months. I just started taking pictures and showing what I’ve found at car boot sales, and the antique side of it resonated with people. Not more, but in a different way than cooking. I don’t know if it is as simple as there aren’t as many accounts revolving around that. But those items can remind us of our own family stories.

I’m fortunate; people email me, telling me long, intricate stories about their family or background linked with a piece I have spoken about. Also, it is helpful because sometimes I don’t know what the item is, and I’ll ask, what is this? I’m not an expert or an antique dealer; I just like old things. So the account becomes more interactive.

“People often say that they feel like they’re sitting catching up with a friend, but I’ve never met them. People are watching in America and Germany; some say trying to learn English as well; I think they shouldn’t listen to my English.”

Sometimes I’ll buy things because they’re just beautifully made, but I might not have a use in mind for them, so often I’ll ask, what do you think I should use these for? Then the ideas people come up with are great. So I suppose it’s a bit of a community, which is nice. So I had no plan for my account; it has just organically evolved into something I never planned.

Then I got approached to do some content creation on Instagram for businesses, and I realised this hobby could turn into something I could do as work. I enjoy doing it because it revolves around stuff that I love, my house, my garden, food and styling. I take on work when I have the time and say no to things I don’t want to do.

“I never rehearse Knick Knack Chit Chat episodes; I rarely pre-record them or start again unless I say something terrible. Even when a basket fell on my head, that was embarrassing, but people like those bits and they get the highest amount of views.”

The formula to a great Knick Knack Chit Chat episode appears to be your passion for your interests, like your garden.

Genevieve. Because I’ve always liked gardening, a big reason for moving to this house was I wanted to grow vegetables. So early on, we focused on getting the garden in order before we could work on the house. It started as a pile of rubble; I thought the first thing we did was create raised beds. So I could have a modest kitchen garden outside the back door that I could use in the Winter and keep away from the chickens.

It is excellent documenting that, showing the things that didn’t work as well as the things that did. I’m not a horticulture expert, but I know what has worked in the past. When you have kids, you often don’t have much time; with lots going on around you; you want to focus on what will work and achieve the most successful crop. My first mistake was trying to grow everything, which I couldn’t do and didn’t get much out of it. Whereas now I kind of stick to four things, then do them well, and that’s more time efficient.

We planted some heritage varieties of apple and pear trees, and this is the first year they are starting to fruit. So it is going to be a while before we start juicing. We also grow raspberry, we have a quince tree, and at the back, we have woods. So now we’re foraging for mushrooms yearly; my husband’s really into that; every morning, he takes the dog down into the woods; he even puts down markers for prime areas. It is like treasure hunting.

I like to start a Knick Knack Chit Chat episode with a drink; sometimes, it is seasonal, maybe a gin martini at Christmas. And at the end, I always say what I’m cooking for dinner and where it has come from. Then I ask people, what are you having for dinner? The formula worked, so I am going with it!

I started this account with no followers, with no intentions of doing anything with it. I didn’t want to use my name, and I was truffling for treasure.

“Working on my account is fascinating to me; finding a way of gardening, cooking and things that traditionally, I would never be able to make money from because I’m not a professional in any of those things. But I’m doing things that make me happy, and I’ve been fortunate enough to turn this into some income.”

• If you don’t follow Genevieve, AKA Mrs Truffle Pig, on Instagram already, be sure to take a look.
Instagram

• Find Genevieve’s Christmas Chutney recipe in Extra.