Fly curtains hold a very special place in my heart. No regularly open door in Italy is without them, and it was through them that I first learned to view the world. When strange guests came calling, and in large Italian families there are many strange guests that you are urged to kiss and who pinch your cheeks until they glow cherry-red, I would hide amongst the strip-y stripes of fly curtain, chewing on them. As I grew older, I would spy on boys on motorini through them. I all-seeing whilst remaining totally invisible to them. The plastic strips would also make great fly swats.
So you see, fly curtains are incredibly romantic. Not boy-romantic, but life-romantic. I like the way the sunlight diffuses through them. But mostly of course, I like the way the flies stay out. Now, Italy is big on brightly coloured fly curtains made of semi-opaque, fairly hard (hence why they make good fly swats) strips. A bit like strips of hanging boiled sweets. Nice in Naples, where Farrow and Ball hasn't visited yet, but in my house: no. I didn't even really think they were necessary in this country until I got me a back door (glass, stable) which is nearly always open during fly-season. I.e. now.
I started looking for a fly curtain that wasn't awful. It wasn't easy. The most stylish I could find was by a German company using silver link chain. But even that wasn't great and cost £100. Then I went to a friend's barbecue and she had this great matt grey fly curtain. If Kelly Hoppen had a fly curtain it'd be this one. I did some research and tracked it down and ordered one too.
Officially it's called the Silver Slat Blind. I got mine custom made as our back door isn't a standard size. It looks great. The service was unbelievably superb - I struck up a correspondence with someone called Sue who was incredibly helpful - and I paid about £8.50 for it all in. I recommend it all highly. All from Holland Plastics.
Monday, 24 May 2010
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Secret holiday cottage in Devon
When I used to write travel pieces, people used to ask "do you have a secret place that only you know about?". And I'd lie a little and say "no". The lie was only a little lie, in that, obviously I wasn't the only one to know about my special cottage. But there was no way I was going to write about it and splash it across the papers so it could get booked up and then there'd be no room for me.
This has happened to me before. Many years ago I wrote about the Rasul Mud experience at the Elemis Day spa. This was a totally affordable little treat for two people and I never had any problems booking it. Then I wrote and raved about it and not only was there a six month waiting list but the price rocketed, completely pricing me out. Don't even get me started on the MaltEaster bunny shortage this year which I think is entirely due to me writing about them because of course I like to think that I am that important that I can trigger such an event.
When I first started going out with my boyfy-husband (boyfband? husfriend?), thirteen years ago, he introduced me to this cottage in Devon, just minutes from Dartmoor. It took me a few days to realise how completely special this place was. At the time, I was pretty entrenched in five star hotels (through work) and being flown first or business class. Even though I didn't live like this at all, going away meant a certain amount of luxe. This cottage isn't really about that. Parts of it are a bit ramshackle. But God is it wonderful.
For one, it's down a tiny lane so it's completely secluded. I'm talking peace and quiet like you got in the 1950's. You can't hear any traffic at all. But it's not secluded because the people (lovely, lovey people that are there if you need them but not if you don't) that own it live opposite. Children can play in the courty-yardy bit at the front. The gardens are spectacular. And there is a - walled - vegetable garden of about an acre that is the finest I've ever seen (and I talk as someone who has been to lots of National Trust places).
So why am I mentioning it now? Well the whole place is for sale. I don't want it to be sold. We've had the most special holidays there ever. Our eldest loves it. It's got a sort of magic about it even when it's raining. The thought that we might never be able to go there again (we went at Easter this year) or that our youngest won't remember it, makes me sad. But the owners are "getting old" (their words not mine) and it's a big place to look after. So it's very likely this will be the last year you can ever stay there and well, I thought I should be generous.
Also those of you with £2 million to spare might want to buy it. I envy you if you do because I am not sure there is a finer place. (To stay in the cottage is about £400 a week though!)
There is tons to do when you get there. Dartmoor, magnificent, moody, dangerous, is not far at all. Then there are wonderful villages to explore: Chagford, Lustleigh..I will write more about these another time because Chagford contains one of my favourite shops ever. And there's Castle Drogo nearby which is my favourite NT property of all time.
This has happened to me before. Many years ago I wrote about the Rasul Mud experience at the Elemis Day spa. This was a totally affordable little treat for two people and I never had any problems booking it. Then I wrote and raved about it and not only was there a six month waiting list but the price rocketed, completely pricing me out. Don't even get me started on the MaltEaster bunny shortage this year which I think is entirely due to me writing about them because of course I like to think that I am that important that I can trigger such an event.
When I first started going out with my boyfy-husband (boyfband? husfriend?), thirteen years ago, he introduced me to this cottage in Devon, just minutes from Dartmoor. It took me a few days to realise how completely special this place was. At the time, I was pretty entrenched in five star hotels (through work) and being flown first or business class. Even though I didn't live like this at all, going away meant a certain amount of luxe. This cottage isn't really about that. Parts of it are a bit ramshackle. But God is it wonderful.
For one, it's down a tiny lane so it's completely secluded. I'm talking peace and quiet like you got in the 1950's. You can't hear any traffic at all. But it's not secluded because the people (lovely, lovey people that are there if you need them but not if you don't) that own it live opposite. Children can play in the courty-yardy bit at the front. The gardens are spectacular. And there is a - walled - vegetable garden of about an acre that is the finest I've ever seen (and I talk as someone who has been to lots of National Trust places).
So why am I mentioning it now? Well the whole place is for sale. I don't want it to be sold. We've had the most special holidays there ever. Our eldest loves it. It's got a sort of magic about it even when it's raining. The thought that we might never be able to go there again (we went at Easter this year) or that our youngest won't remember it, makes me sad. But the owners are "getting old" (their words not mine) and it's a big place to look after. So it's very likely this will be the last year you can ever stay there and well, I thought I should be generous.
Also those of you with £2 million to spare might want to buy it. I envy you if you do because I am not sure there is a finer place. (To stay in the cottage is about £400 a week though!)
There is tons to do when you get there. Dartmoor, magnificent, moody, dangerous, is not far at all. Then there are wonderful villages to explore: Chagford, Lustleigh..I will write more about these another time because Chagford contains one of my favourite shops ever. And there's Castle Drogo nearby which is my favourite NT property of all time.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Junior Style Sales
It's been a long time. That's cos I've been off busy consumin'.
Anyway, before I forget; there is a great sale of children's clothes that I've been going to for years and have got a large part of my eldest daughter's wardrobe at (now passing slowly onto daughter no. 2) which is the Junior Style Sales, the latest of which starts tomorrow.
More information about them here.
It costs a £1 to get in, and I've found them to be hit and miss. Sometimes I find so much stuff I want to buy I start shaking with the excitement, other times I come away with nothing, or just one or two pieces. There is stuff there I loathe, and more for those people who like to dress their children in labels like Dolce and Dior; but you can also find some lovely things. We've got some great pyjamas with space rockets on (and those style of pyjamas I think of as 'continental', i.e. stretchy cotton leggings with long sleeved t-shirt tops rather than flannelette buttoned up jobbies), lovely, lovely pointelle t-shirts (the sort that look like long-sleeved thermal vests but in great colours and are super useful) which cost about a fiver but were nearly £40 (forty pounds!!!) in the shops. Great sun hats. Fabulous cashmere jumpers.
In fact when I look at my children's most successful clothing pieces, they have mostly come from these sales.
Latest great buy was a pair of cashmere trousers for the baby in moss green which kept her snug all winter; well when she wasn't in her Patagonia bunny suit. And if you think cashmere for a baby is mad, you can't have ever tried it: it's beautifully warm, so they only need one layer, so you don't end up with a baby looking like a pass the parcel; it washes brilliantly, and yes I do mean in the machine (if you have a hand wash cycle that is and silly you if you bought a washing machine without one), and it's super soft.
I don't get to go as often as I'd like now that I live in Suffolk, sadly.
Anyway, before I forget; there is a great sale of children's clothes that I've been going to for years and have got a large part of my eldest daughter's wardrobe at (now passing slowly onto daughter no. 2) which is the Junior Style Sales, the latest of which starts tomorrow.
More information about them here.
It costs a £1 to get in, and I've found them to be hit and miss. Sometimes I find so much stuff I want to buy I start shaking with the excitement, other times I come away with nothing, or just one or two pieces. There is stuff there I loathe, and more for those people who like to dress their children in labels like Dolce and Dior; but you can also find some lovely things. We've got some great pyjamas with space rockets on (and those style of pyjamas I think of as 'continental', i.e. stretchy cotton leggings with long sleeved t-shirt tops rather than flannelette buttoned up jobbies), lovely, lovely pointelle t-shirts (the sort that look like long-sleeved thermal vests but in great colours and are super useful) which cost about a fiver but were nearly £40 (forty pounds!!!) in the shops. Great sun hats. Fabulous cashmere jumpers.
In fact when I look at my children's most successful clothing pieces, they have mostly come from these sales.
Latest great buy was a pair of cashmere trousers for the baby in moss green which kept her snug all winter; well when she wasn't in her Patagonia bunny suit. And if you think cashmere for a baby is mad, you can't have ever tried it: it's beautifully warm, so they only need one layer, so you don't end up with a baby looking like a pass the parcel; it washes brilliantly, and yes I do mean in the machine (if you have a hand wash cycle that is and silly you if you bought a washing machine without one), and it's super soft.
I don't get to go as often as I'd like now that I live in Suffolk, sadly.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Moo mini cards
I've been meaning to write about Moo cards for ages. I love them. Specifically the mini cards. Since I first discovered them about two years ago, they've gone up two whole pounds in price, and they now cost £11.99 for one hundred.
What are they? They're tiny cards which you can either customise with one hundred different photos (good luck uploading all of them!) or one photo one hundred times, or two photos fifty times...you get the idea. Or you can buy the ready made packs and just customize the text at the back.
You can also customize the front with text
I use them as business cards (you can also buy a holder that fits onto your keyring) and also as family cards, which double up as gift-tags (I am so clever!)
Need I point out that if you do put them in a holder that attaches to your keys, do NOT have the cards printed with your address on them.
Moo does other, excellent products and the service is superb. If I ever get married, I'm going to have our wedding invitations printed out on the Moo mini cards. Imagine: 100 invites for just £12. Obviously no good if you like to faff about the denier of tissue paper covering your invitation. But I'm not that girl.
What are they? They're tiny cards which you can either customise with one hundred different photos (good luck uploading all of them!) or one photo one hundred times, or two photos fifty times...you get the idea. Or you can buy the ready made packs and just customize the text at the back.
You can also customize the front with text
Sorry can't work out how to flip image. You get the idea though.
(All images © moo.com.)
I use them as business cards (you can also buy a holder that fits onto your keyring) and also as family cards, which double up as gift-tags (I am so clever!)
These are the design on my business cards, cos I love a sixties pattern.
These are the ones we used for Christmas.
They also do packs - this one is for "little girls"
For our little girl's fifth birthday we got her the little girl pack above with her name on the back. She felt very grown up but promptly lost them somewhere in the house.
Moo does other, excellent products and the service is superb. If I ever get married, I'm going to have our wedding invitations printed out on the Moo mini cards. Imagine: 100 invites for just £12. Obviously no good if you like to faff about the denier of tissue paper covering your invitation. But I'm not that girl.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
The MaltEaster bunny
According to The Grocer magazine, in October 2008, this bunny was launched, by Mars, for the Spring 2009 market.
I never saw it. Did you?
It was/is aimed at the "25-44 year old woman". That seems improbably precise. Also not true since this is an ideal sweet for children but obviously they can't say that. It was also backed up by a 1m campaign which was surely a waste of money as I'd never heard of them. But then last year I had just had a baby so maybe was too busy stuffing croissants down my face to notice new chocolate launches.
I'm not a fan of Maltesers. Or I haven't been since I was about 22. They're really sweet, although I don't mind finding one in my Revels. So I wasn't really ready for becoming addicted to this.
It's not even cos it's cute. We have hundreds of feral rabbits in our garden and believe me when I say I'd shoot any one of them without a second thought if I had a gun. Which I haven't had since I was 18, but that's another story for another time.
So these bunnies came on display in my local Waitrose just as soon as the December page was turned on the calendar. At first I despaired. Easter egg-type things, already? Then I saw the hot cross buns and realised we really were, fully, on the flight path to Easter. My first Easter confectionery purchase was the two-pack Cadbury's Caramel bunnies. I like a bit of Cadbury's Caramel. The bunnies were 59p for two and I like that the damage is limited. By that I mean I'm the kinda girl (unfortunately) that can eat a whole bar of something, (well, up to about 100g, I'm not a total pig, but 100g is easy to consume in a day, especially if you have deadlines to avoid). So something small, treaty, but not diabetic-coma inducing is a good idea for someone like me. Incredibly, one Caramel bunny seems to satisfy me and I even sometimes go as far as sharing/saving the other for my boyfy-husband.
But then, because the MaltEaster bunnies were on special (two for £1) I bought them. They're not like Maltesers, or whatever it is about Maltesers that I don't like is remedied with this bunny.
Anyway, the upshot is that you should try them. For one, it's a chocolate that's not by Nestle - and that's getting harder to find. For two it's nice. For three it's like a giant, chocolate, jelly baby, albeit a bunny, but you get that moment of indecision where you feel slightly psychopathic as you decide whether you go for the ears or legs first. I always eat the ears first.
I will buy one and take a picture of it, if it can live that long, and put it up later.
I never saw it. Did you?
It was/is aimed at the "25-44 year old woman". That seems improbably precise. Also not true since this is an ideal sweet for children but obviously they can't say that. It was also backed up by a 1m campaign which was surely a waste of money as I'd never heard of them. But then last year I had just had a baby so maybe was too busy stuffing croissants down my face to notice new chocolate launches.
I'm not a fan of Maltesers. Or I haven't been since I was about 22. They're really sweet, although I don't mind finding one in my Revels. So I wasn't really ready for becoming addicted to this.
It's not even cos it's cute. We have hundreds of feral rabbits in our garden and believe me when I say I'd shoot any one of them without a second thought if I had a gun. Which I haven't had since I was 18, but that's another story for another time.
So these bunnies came on display in my local Waitrose just as soon as the December page was turned on the calendar. At first I despaired. Easter egg-type things, already? Then I saw the hot cross buns and realised we really were, fully, on the flight path to Easter. My first Easter confectionery purchase was the two-pack Cadbury's Caramel bunnies. I like a bit of Cadbury's Caramel. The bunnies were 59p for two and I like that the damage is limited. By that I mean I'm the kinda girl (unfortunately) that can eat a whole bar of something, (well, up to about 100g, I'm not a total pig, but 100g is easy to consume in a day, especially if you have deadlines to avoid). So something small, treaty, but not diabetic-coma inducing is a good idea for someone like me. Incredibly, one Caramel bunny seems to satisfy me and I even sometimes go as far as sharing/saving the other for my boyfy-husband.
But then, because the MaltEaster bunnies were on special (two for £1) I bought them. They're not like Maltesers, or whatever it is about Maltesers that I don't like is remedied with this bunny.
Anyway, the upshot is that you should try them. For one, it's a chocolate that's not by Nestle - and that's getting harder to find. For two it's nice. For three it's like a giant, chocolate, jelly baby, albeit a bunny, but you get that moment of indecision where you feel slightly psychopathic as you decide whether you go for the ears or legs first. I always eat the ears first.
I will buy one and take a picture of it, if it can live that long, and put it up later.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Ear Muffs
Whenever it gets cold, I wish I'd spent more time trying to find something to keep me feeling warm and looking stylish. My quest for ear muffs was largely fuelled by
a) my six year old wanting ear muffs
b) 'muff' is a word you just can't get enough of
c) the freezing weather, I no longer look good in hats.
I started off with Celtic Sheepskin and its ear muffs because our slippers, and my little girl's boots come from there. But its earmuffs are £52 and there's a waiting list.
There's a company in Suffolk (where I live) that also does them: Nursey Sheepskin. Its earmuffs are £45 but they've been out of stock for weeks.
a) my six year old wanting ear muffs
b) 'muff' is a word you just can't get enough of
c) the freezing weather, I no longer look good in hats.
I started off with Celtic Sheepskin and its ear muffs because our slippers, and my little girl's boots come from there. But its earmuffs are £52 and there's a waiting list.
Celtic Sheepskin's Ear Muffs
There's a company in Suffolk (where I live) that also does them: Nursey Sheepskin. Its earmuffs are £45 but they've been out of stock for weeks.
Nursey Sheepskin's Ear Muffs, probably not the best colour choice for this model.
After this recent freeze-your-ears off weather I did a real load of research into this, determined to find some ear muffs that were cheaper. In the end I found a company in Winnipeg, Canada: www.furhatworld.com, that did them in sheepskin...and fur. I ordered the cheapest ones they did, which are in rabbit fur. So look away now if you don't like the thought of bunny fur, but I eat meat, I catch fish and I really don't have a problem with rabbit fur. Warning: the site also has ear muffs made from other fur: fox and mink so don't go looking if you get offended by that stuff (in which case: I hope you also don't eat meat cos otherwise that's just massively hypocritical). So they arrived today and they're great. They were $40 for two pairs, including p&p (so £13 each). I got a pair in black for me and red for my daughter. They look great on her, not so sure on me. They don't look anywhere near as big or fluffy in real life on an adult, but I think they're a great find and would make lovely, not break-the-bank presents for someone, not least cos they come in quite a few different colours.
Rabbit earmuffs from www.furhatworld.com
Monday, 14 December 2009
Great new cleansing oil
I have never been a wipe off with tissue or cotton wool girl. All the skin care specialists I really admire - Erno Laszlo, Liz Earle, Jo Malone (the person rather then the company which is now owned by Estee Lauder) and Eve Lom - advocate the use of water to remove cleanser. I agree. Add hand hot water and a flannel and you have all the exfoliation you need.
A few weeks ago I got sent this from Beauty Naturals. Although I test products blind (as in, in plain containers, not blindfold..) like the next person, I'm seduced by fancy packaging. Which this ain't got. I was in the middle of testing a heap of other products so I just stuck it in my cupboard and thought that I'd use it when I got desperate, which I did, pretty soon after.
So I started using it. It's fab. I honestly think it may be the best cleanser ever, all things considered. I adore Eve Lom's grainy (it just looks it, but the 'grains' melt on touch), oily cleanser in a pot that you dip your hands into. That smells expensive - incomparably - because it is expensive. I love Neal's Yard's Wild Rose Beauty Balm. But that's also expensive. This is just £12 for 100ml (yes you can buy cheaper but it won't be as good and look it's organic!). Don't be afraid cos it's an oil. Try it.
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