Conversations through the middle

Life from a (slightly) more mature perspective

Interiors – comfy knitted throw, velvet chairs and traditional accessories

This cuddly knitted throw is by Tesco and is part of the company’s autumn winter range. I love the cable detail and though you can’t get a great idea of its size in this image you just know it’s going to be big and warm. I did take my own photograph of this at this year’s Christmas in July a couple of weeks ago but alas, my iphone has stopped working and I have lost everything on it (but that’s another story). The matching cushion is below – I don’t love that half as much as I can just see my dog pulling it to pieces.

These retro clocks are by the Dot.com Giftshop and should be online soon ready for Christmas. They remind me of the clock on the wall in my junior school, only that one wasn’t a pretty pastel colour.

Also from the Dot.com Giftshop, these butter dishes and storage canisters caught my eye. I forgot all about butter dishes – we always had one when I was growing up but I never use them. Perhaps I’ll have to treat myself now though as these are so pretty.

With winter not that far away (or is it here already) these sunny colours will inject a tropical twist into your home. They make me feel happy just looking at them and the chair and stool are so soft and velvety to touch. They are from Oliver Bonas and are available in all the colours you can see swatched on the stool below.

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Beauty – get the buzz from Neal’s Yard Remedies

Neal, star of Neal’s Yard Bee Lovely

I love a good story so when there’s beauty with a story attached, then I’m all ears. And this is a honey of a story. 

Bee Lovely from Neal’s Yard Remedies is not only a fresh and sweet smelling body care range, it’s also a range with a purpose, going hand in hand with a campaign to protect our bees, which are in serious decline due to the destruction of natural habitats and increased use of pesticides.

A percentage of money raised from the sale of Bee Lovely body lotion, bath and shower gel, hand wash, hand cream and balm will go to support four charities: Friends of the Earth and its Bee Cause campaign, Biobees, Landlife and The Bee Lovely Grant – which offers help to bee-friendly initiatives across the country.

The products themselves are gorgeous – the organic mandarin and orange essential oils just jump out at you with their freshness, while the organic honey gives a heady sweetness. And they’re all suitable for children over the age of three so all the family can use and enjoy them.

Back to the bee campaign. Neal’s Yard first got involved with this a year ago but the response was so great the company has decided to relaunch the initiative but on a bigger scale. The hand cream that launched last year as a limited edition is back and £1 from every tube sold goes to the chosen charities. There’s a petition going around calling for the banning of pesticides – including a group called neonics that are apparently 7,000 times more toxic than DDT – that will be presented to Downing Street when it has 100,000 signatures. Last year a similar petition saw more than 92,000 people around the world sign up their support.

Neal’s Yard has also collaborated with Sam Roddick (daughter of The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick) on a book Help Save The Bees to coincide with the Bee Lovely launch in August. This is a brief explanation of why bee populations are declining, how to recognise different bee species, information on bee-friendly plants, how farming could help and how we, ordinary members of the public, can help put a stop to this disastrous decline and encourage the growth of wild bee populations.

The book is also peppered with quotes such as the proverb “No bees, no honey, no work, no money,” or this from the UN Environment Programme: “Bees are the canary in the coal mine – so intrinsically interconnected with our eco system that their disappearance is a warning signal. Protect them and we protect our future.” Sobering words indeed.

You can sign up to the petition in store or online at www.nealsyardremedies.com/bee-lovely. 

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People are strange… shoe hell

I was in London on Friday and I’d been walking round for hours. My feet were burning thanks to all the walking and my sandals – which are usually quite comfortable, but not, I now know, for that many hours – were cutting into my toes. It was all I could do not to cry. I need a pair of new shoes and knowing that the Marks & Spencer sale had just started, I figured I’d find some there.

I hobbled to M&S at Marble Arch and spent a painful half hour checking out the sale stock, hope growing fainter that I’d find what I was after – navy slingbacks with a wedge and no cut-out toe, in their comfy sole range, or failing that just some comfortable shoes or sandals that weren’t totally flat. Eventually I found a pair of navy suede sandals but the front totally covers the foot, so there’s no bits to dig in and pinch. The heel is a heel rather than a wedge and it’s a little higher than I wanted, but they were comfortable and I was in soooo much pain.

I paid for them and instead of putting them on in full view of everybody on the shop floor and thinking about the poor shoppers who would have to put up with my smelly feet if I did, I went to the loos. They were a state, the cubicle was swimming in water (?) so I couldn’t change into them there. I put them on in the main open area of the loos, next to the sinks, and the looks I go from people queueing! You’d think I’d stolen them. The fact they came out of an M&S carrier bag didn’t carry any weight. I was a little embarrassed so on leaving said to a random woman in the queue ‘That’s better’. I couldn’t believe it when she glared at me.

Now maybe I’m being a little paranoid but I swear she thought I was a shoplifter. What happened to solidarity, or at least, good humour? We all know shoes can be a total pain in the feet, we’ve all suffered from them, so why the attitude? I fully expected to be stopped by security guards when I left the shop, but luckily they were less judgemental than the woman in the queue and I left without having to explain what I’d done.

I don’t think I’ve had a reaction like that before. People are usually cheery and friendly – yes, even in London despite what the city’s reputation would have you believe. That made me wonder, are people becoming ruder? Could it be because of too much stress, the financial situation or sales fever? I know I’ve spent too long thinking about this and I need to let it go, but I was shocked at the reactions. Has the same thing happened to you? I’d love to know.

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