Jay
Caretaker & storyteller
Caretaker, gardener, rescuer and reluctant referee when Bo and the hens have different ideas.
Lodge House Studios
Little stories from life at Lodge House
Follow Jay, Bo, Red and Grey through the everyday adventures, quiet rescues and unexpected visitors that make Lodge House such a special place.
Real little stories. Gentle messages. A world where every creature matters.
Welcome
Welcome to Lodge House Studios
Lodge House Studios creates illustrated stories inspired by our real lives in the Irish countryside. From working on the grounds and caring for our animals to rescuing injured birds and welcoming nighttime visitors, each story celebrates kindness, nature and the small moments that matter.
- Illustrated
- stories & comics
- Narrated
- short episodes
- Printed
- books & keepsakes
The family
Meet the Lodge House family
Four residents, one house, and a great many differing opinions about how the day should go.
Bo
Head of supervision
A loyal, curious Staffordshire bull terrier who believes every job, visitor and rescue requires his supervision.
Red
First on the scene
Bold, confident and usually the first to investigate anything new.
Grey
The quiet observer
Thoughtful, watchful and often more sensible than everyone else.
Stories
Stories from Lodge House
Short illustrated episodes from the garden, the gate and the fireside. New ones arrive as they happen.
Wildlife Rescues5 min read
The Little Bird at the Window
Something knocks at the kitchen glass. A small bird is sitting on the flagstones, and the whole afternoon goes quiet around it.
“Sometimes kindness is simply creating a safe place until someone is ready to fly again.”
Read the StoryWildlife Rescues5 min read
The Birds Always Leave
A box, a folded towel, a kettle on, and the walk down to the wall in the evening to let one more bird go.
“Sometimes loving them means helping them leave.”
Read the Story
Red and Grey3 min read
Red's Very Important Egg
Red lays one small egg, and the whole townland is told about it before eight o'clock.
“Small victories still deserve to feel important.”
Read the Story
Garden Adventures4 min read
Bo's Very Important Garden Job
There is digging to be done, a wheelbarrow to guard, and one small dog who will not let any of it happen on its own.
“Helping can sometimes mean simply staying close.”
Read the Story
Life at the Lodge4 min read
Everyone In From the Cold
The coldest evening of the year, a lit fire, and two hens who have decided that Bo's bed is now a shared arrangement.
“Belonging is sometimes as simple as making space.”
Read the Story
Life at the Lodge5 min read
The Fox at the Garden Gate
Something is standing at the far gate in the last of the light, and nobody moves.
“Some visitors come closer when nothing is asked of them.”
Read the Story
Bo's Adventures4 min read
The Wasp on the Doorstep
Bo goes nose first at a wasp on the warm doorstep, and spends the evening being sorry for himself by the fire.
“Even the bravest sometimes need comfort.”
Read the StoryRed and Grey3 min read
Red and Grey Inspect the Wheelbarrow
Two hens, one barrow of soil, and four minutes with nobody watching.
“Curiosity can turn an ordinary job into an adventure.”
Read the StorySeasonal Stories7 min read
The Nest After the Storm
The wind takes the low branch off the old ash in the night. In the morning there is something in the leaves.
“Caring for a place means noticing who else depends on it.”
Read the Story
Seasonal Stories4 min read
A Quiet Winter Evening
The fire is lit, the hens are in, and nothing happens at all.
“Some of the best days are the ones that ask nothing from us.”
Read the StoryBehind the stories
Real life behind the stories
Every episode begins with something that actually happened here. The drawing comes afterwards.
The wasp on the doorstep
Bo went nose-first into a wasp on a warm afternoon at the back door. There was a very sorry face by the fire that evening, a cold cloth, and a dog who was quite sure he deserved company for the rest of the night.
Inspired by a true Lodge House moment
Everyone in from the cold
Red and Grey worked out long ago that Bo's bed is the warmest spot in the house. He has never once objected, and by now nobody bothers to move anyone.
Inspired by a true Lodge House moment
Forest Journal
Stories from the woods, and the people who tend them
A slower kind of writing about forests: how they are grown, worked, watched and looked after. Not a manual — a journal.
“The acorn planted today may become the oak that shelters generations to come.”
🌲 Forest Journal6 min read
Why Sitka Spruce Matters
Forests for the Future, Episode 1. Understanding why Sitka spruce became the foundation of modern Irish forestry, and how it fits within a changing landscape.
🌲 Forest Journal5 min read
Climate Adaptive Forests
Forests for the Future, Episode 2. The forests we plant today may still be standing in eighty to a hundred and fifty years. How do foresters plan for a future they cannot yet see?
🌲 Forest Journal5 min read
Every Forest Has a Purpose
Forests for the Future, Episode 3. Commercial forests, native woodlands, mixed forests, urban trees, estate woodlands. Healthy landscapes need all of them.
Every creature matters
Care does not need to be grand
Life at Lodge House has taught us that care does not need to be grand. Sometimes it is returning a small bird to safety, leaving water out during dry weather or simply noticing the creatures sharing our home.
- Injured birds
- Fledglings fallen from nests
- Foxes that visit the grounds
- Garden birds
- Frogs, hedgehogs and bees
- Bo, Red and Grey
- The hedgerows and habitats around the property
We are not a wildlife rescue organisation. These are personal stories of compassion and responsible care at one house in the countryside — and, where an animal needs more than we can give, a call to someone who can.
Gentle messages
Every story carries something quiet underneath it
Kindness, patience, friendship, belonging. Never a lesson — just the thing you notice on the last page.
“Sometimes being small does not mean being alone.”
“Looking after a place means caring for everyone who calls it home.”
“The quietest moments can become the stories we remember.”
Coming to the studio
The Lodge House shop
Books, prints and keepsakes drawn from the same little world. Nothing is for sale yet — join the list and we will let you know the moment the first box arrives.
- Illustrated books
- Colouring books
- Art prints
- Greeting cards
- Calendars
- Bo, Red and Grey merchandise
- Digital story downloads
Join the list to hear when products launch.
The list
A new little story from Lodge House
Join us for new illustrations, countryside moments, animal visitors and behind-the-scenes glimpses from the studio.