Wild & Stone Dish Cloths

I would love this to be a super glamorous post but it's not, it's a post about my quest for the perfect, sustainable washing up cloth and how by god I think I've found it. 

Eco dish cloths either work well but stain and smell or look great and last 2 weeks. But fear not, I've found you not one but two options. 

For my main kitchen sink I have gone for the Organic Cotton Dish cloth - get two one for the wash and one to be used. These hold their own, give good heft to whatever you are cleaning and don't get smelly or slimey. They are so good my mum ordered one and thus far she has been incredibly dismissive of all others I've tried often holding them between thumb and finger whilst looking pained. 

Then for the utility room sink which is mostly washing up the dogs bowls - they are fed raw so I like to keep these very specific - I have got these Swedish dishcloths. They are compostable, washable and really sturdy so as of yet, I've only used one from my pack of 4. 

Christmas Gift Ideas

Of course there is a beauty guide on it's way but for all those non-beauty bits there's this. Everything is in alphabetical order except for the first one because it's the most important.

Choose Love - buy things for people who have been forced to flee their homes with nothing. From children's coats, blankets and nappies, to hot meals, hot showers and tents. The Mother & Baby bundle is a food, clothes and hygiene pack for a mother raising her baby in a refugee camp. You can even get someone medical care. I often get cross with people who make me feel that what I do is a frivolous thing for women with no brains (it isn't) but compared to what these people are going through it is even having a bath is a total luxury. I'm thinking about every little thing I buy this year and where I can, I'm cutting back to get from here instead.

Beeswax Wraps - the ultimate stocking filler or present for someone you just don't know that well. Everyone I know got these last year. A clingfilm replacement that is easy to wrap, easy to post and is a small UK based company. There's nothing about this I don't love.

Black Dragon Press - I love my Agatha Christie prints from here - they look fantastic.

Blue Bowl - always my first port of call for any present and at Christmas I find I can usually do the majority of my presents here. From stocking fillers (these tassel earrings are beautiful and there's beard balm for your hairier other half) to kids stuff via really unusual things in between. The stationary is out of this world (we all know I can't resist a notebook) and this drum charm is stunning. Everything is carefully curated and thought about - the zip bags are handmade with vintage fabrics - I adore this jungle print.

Non-disposable razors

When I first became obsessed with plastic, and obsessed isn't an overstatement, it was toothbrushes and disposable razors that flipped the switch. It was the middle of the night, my third baby was about 5 days old, I was in the bathroom (they don't tell you this but when you have just given birth you spend a lot of time in the bathroom for various reasons I won't go into here) and I suddenly thought, 'those razors I shaved my legs with before I went to Abi's party [I was 15] is still out there somewhere, exactly the same, somewhere in the sea or in a landfill' and 'the toothbrush I cleaned my teeth with on our first holiday to Cornwall when I was 2... that's still out there somewhere'. Suddenly every nostalgic thought had a detrimental ecological effect attached to it. Watching my husband change our tiny babies nappy I thought of the nappies my dad might have (but didn't) change are out there somewhere.

I felt overwhelmed. But then I thought I'd just do one thing at a time and see how I got on. The first thing I did was order up some non-disposable razors for my husband and I. I searched on Amazon (not very good I know) and decided to get Jagen David Double Edge Razor, they come with a travel case which helps, and some Derby Extra Double Edge Razor Blades.

This has been one of the most successful plastic swaps I have to say. I was slightly imagining my husband would hate the razor and sneakily go back to using disposables but not at all. It's possible he slices his face a bit more than he did before but he's getting better. I know I shouldn't shave my legs (and armpits if you must know) but I don't have the time or money to get waxed and ideally I'd like to get it all lazered. So once I'm back at work I'll be saving for that. Until the though this has been great. I haven't cut myself, a razor blade lasts loads longer than a disposable and when they are too blunt to use I debobble my clothes with them.

So far the only problem I've come across is the disposal of the blades. I've been using an old plastic tub (from my Japonesque Brush cleaner). Not only is it much better for the environment it is so much cheaper. I mean £7 for 100 blades, £12 for the razor. For monetary reasons alone it's worth making the switch.

This is the razor and blades that I use but obviously there are loads out there so you can have a google around and see what takes your fancy.

Christmas Gift Ideas for Grown-ups

In my notes I've called this 'Present's for Grown-ups' because it's so hard to divide everything into categories all the time and it's not like when you are Christmas shopping you go 'Oh well I'll just buy for the men I know today, women can be next week'. These can be actual presents, stocking fillers or presents for those tricky-to-buy-for friends of the family who may spend some of the festive time with you. Also some great suggestions for house gifts if you are going to stay with people and want to avoid the usual wine/chocolate/panetone.

Beeswax Wraps - I love these. I love them so much that they sent me some to say thank you for a review and I immediately went online and bought some for friends. If I could be bothered I'd find the timing that I Instagrammed my excitement at the post and then the receipt of my purchase. There's an hour in it max. Anyway, I love all of these and we use our Medium Kitchen Pack all the time and you can read my full review here. Any of these packs would make a really unusual house gift and I like Cheese pack but as a stocking filler the 1 Medium and 1 Small wraps would be great and men who have fires will love the Bee Bombs (a useful present that doesn't clutter up the house... who doesn't
want that?)

Christmas Gift Guide for Kids 0-10

For a while it was really hard to find decent, not-too-expensive, gifts and stocking fillers for children but thanks to shops like Flying Tiger this seems to be improving. Some of these presents would work as gifts for other peoples children, stocking fillers or presents for your own squad but rather than dividing into categories I've listed them alphabetically. I will be posting books separately so keep an eye out.

I know that most people say babies don't need stockings but if there are second, third, fourth children then how are you going to explain to the older ones that santa didn't bother with the baby? My tip is to fill the babies stocking with stuff it needs anyway - teethers, vests, Ella's pouches, weaning stuff can all go in.

A quarter of - yes sweets are bad but with Christmas being such a time of consumerism children are often overloaded with presents and actually are just as happy with a box of illicit sweeties. A Quarter Of is the place to go. Not just for kids their bags of friendship rings got me through the last pregnancy.

Animal Antics Ride on Dino - We all know a dinosaur lover and this is perfect for them. It's dressing up but with a little less faff. My nephews would go crazy for this. And they also do unicorns!

Biscuit cutters - I don't know why but I seem to have a bit of an addiction to these. The right cutter brings such simple pleasure and these are a great stocking filler.

Christmas Gift Bags

If you have girl friends that you buy Christmas and birthday presents for every year it can be hard to come up with ideas and it can get very expensive. I always love the idea of putting together goodie bags (or hampers) for friends which include lots of lovely little treats and if you are clever you can do lots of friends at once and not break the bank. I've come up with a lovely goodie bag, some ideas of what to go in it and then some budget options to help you out.

Beeswax Wraps

Once I'd started planning my War on Plastic I couldn't stop finding things that were made of plastic and it all became a bit overwhelming. Then I heard about Bees Wax Wraps and thought that was one way that I could make a start.

When we had the cottage in Norfolk I was really fastidious about the fridge and insisted everyone used clingfilm. If you are renting a house out you don't want a manky fridge and since then I'd been trying to think of something to cover food in the fridge other than a plate on a bowl which isn't always that effective. Now, I'm not sure I would use these in a rental cottage purely because I'm sure someone would wash them incorrectly but hey, I'd probably give it a whirl.

These wraps are squares of cotton covered in pine resin, jojoba oil and beeswax. They are 100% natural, the pine resin is antibacterial, they are reusable and biodegradable.

The War on Plastic

This may sound odd but for a while, in fact almost since I had Jim in 2015, I've felt a bit like my life was on hold. You are very much at the beck and call of a newborn baby and so therefore having a social life or any time to yourself is rare. I also sort of knew that we would have another baby and therefore there were lots of things there was no point in doing until after that had happened. Well, it's happened and finally there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Yes I have a newborn, a 2 year old and a 4 year old so it's not like I'm going all night raving in Ibiza (I've done that and hated it so I won't be doing that anyway but you see what I mean) but apart from my boobs, I've got my body back, I'm not going to be pregnant again, I'm not going to have another newborn. My life from no on is post-baby.

This has manifested itself in many ways but one of them is I have started my own war on plastic. I realise that, although I recycle and use a Brita FillandGo Water Filter Bottle, I've basically been ignoring the massive plastic problem. And it's not just plastic, I've looked into reusable nappies but have been too scared to try them. So I'm slowly but surely eradicating plastic from the house and have started using biodegradable nappies and though i'm still concerned about the amount of plastic in my bathroom that's all my stuff I feel like I'm making progress.

All the things I've found and am using I'll be reviewing on here and will be using the label 'War on Plastic', so you can see all the posts there. You can also see what's going on on my Instagram where I'm @corinnaharrod

Please let me know what you are using to wage your own war on plastic and any suggestions you have and good brands to know about - I'd love to hear from you. 

Baby Day

As the second child (of two) I always maintained you get a raw deal, no matter how much my mother tried to convince me that you love your children the same (I never felt un-loved!) and they both have certain qualities that the other doesn't and are completely individual etc etc. But I still doubted this even as I was pregnant with what would be my second son. How could I love anyone as much as Ned who is so incredibly funny and clever? Then Jim arrived and as the hormones flooded through my body I was worried that this new tiny person was going to replace Ned who was so big and self-sufficient, not small and sweet-smelling and needy like Jim.

What I actually realise is that we were both right. I do love my boys the same, my heart did expand and make room for Jim as everyone said it would (I hate that expression but it works) but my god I don't feel the same wonder I did with Ned. Jim gets moved from room to room, house to pram depending on what Ned is up to and then, when he's at nursery, depending on what I am frantically trying to get done. My two and a half year old and insomnia made sleeping while he napped an impossibility and the fact that I work for myself made me feel pressure to get as much work stuff done as soon as I could after giving birth.

As the weeks passed and I realised Jim was not getting any tummy time, hadn't really smiled (had he?) and I was grinding my teeth through my terrible sub-concious anxiety (related to my depression, often exacerbated by having a baby) and I thought 'the only person who is going to give you time off is you'. It's true. If I say I'm ok to work, then everyone around me will go with it and the older Jim gets the less likely I am to be told to put my feet up. And it's not really about me, yes I love Jim but I definitely feel less bonded to him than I did with Ned at this age, and that's because we never spend that much time together. Because he's nice and quiet when awake and undemanding of me, he wasn't getting the time he deserved.

So two weeks ago I decided that Wednesdays would be me and Jim days. We would hang out together. Yes the odd thing may come up and we need to take Ned to nursery and pick him up but apart from that we are not leaving Chiswick. We'll look at books, chat, cuddle, walk round the shops and in the afternoon we'll nod off together in front of an ITV drama. In a couple of weeks he'll start being left at the gym creche for an hour while I go to the gym and at the beginning of next year we'll start doing swimming lessons but apart from that Wednesdays are ours and so far the difference is already noticable. He smiles a lot and I am calmer and have a day that I really look forward to. This sounds mean, there are lots of days usually but being a self-employed mother-of-two married to a workaholic means that the weeks can merge and everything is a rush.

Because I have named Wednesday's Jim day, I don't try and work, I don't battle against the mountains of laundry and tidying, I don't do face charts and brush cleaning (for those of you who don't know I'm a make-up artist). Instead we look at little toes, blow hot potatoes on his tummy and sing and dance (mostly to First Aid Kit).

I don't want this to sound smug. I just suddenly realised that he was nine weeks and carted around like a bloody heavy handbag and all the time I was marvelling at how the time had flown with Ned. I was so caught up in trying to get everything done and be a working mum that I was neglecting the actual mum-stuff and I can never get that back... Take your time, I think a lot of mum's nowadays are too hard on themselves. Put your feet up and have a good old cuddle.

I used to sing this to Jim a lot when he was a couple of weeks old and feeding every hour or so round the clock - should have listened to what I was mindlessly singing.

UPDATE: The lovely people at the Counselling Directory have asked me to include a link here and in case you need it click here for the specific page on depression. Please, please go and check it out if you need support in some way - it is set up by people who have seen the gaps in the support of mental health.

Staycation

My sister and I keep procreating at the same time. Wonderful for us and our offspring but slightly chaotic and OTT for everyone else involved (especially my poor mother who spends the majority of her time on the M3). Since my father died we have gone on our summer holidays to France at the end of August and beginning of September. Initially to drink bucketloads of rose, smoke Vogue cigarettes and dance around whilst drunk to Tom Petty. Then whilst vast (me not Jess, Jess is one of those people who looks like themselves with a reasonable bump on the front) and ungainly. And then again with cheery 9 month olds who slept through the night and were reasonably happy in a 'baby cage' constructed by their dad's out of plastic fencing (they were fine).

See they love the baby cage

This time we weren't so clever. After a few false starts that would have fitted perfectly with out French holiday ambitions we have now managed to have one arrive in June and one due at the end of August. Yes I may have braved the Eurostar with a 2.5 year old and 6 week old but my sister shouldn't really be out of the country on her due date, even I can see that. So this year we are going to our cottage in Norfolk.

Yes Norfolk. Where the sea is at it's warmest in October and mind-numbingly freezing at all other times and there is usually at least three days at a time of teeth rattling wind a week. And I've managed to book work right on the middle weekend which will involve me, a newborn and my long suffering mother driving to Wiltshire and back...

There are many things that I'm quite looking forward too. It's three hours door to door (traffic permitting). You can take your own car. Shopping for a baby is easy. But I'm going to miss the heat, the swimming pool and the rose. One thing that will be amazing about going to Norfolk, however is the food.

Yes I know that Norfolk isn't necessarily famed for it's food, though samphire and lobster should probably get a mention here, but whilst pregnant I didn't eat any shellfish (prawns are the only thing that I've had terrible food poisoning from) so I am planning on eating my body weight in potted shrimp and seeing if I can get hold of some mussels though I think it's not the right time for them. There are some lovely (ridiculously priced) deli's near us where they sell cheeses that walk home by themselves which again, I haven't eaten for over a year. The fish platter at the local pub is incredible and something Joe and I share when we have a (rare) date night. All of this will hopefully make up for any dubious weather, probable sobriety and average croissants.

Potty Training part 1

I've never felt like I've failed as a mother. I had an epidural, a decision I believe a lot more women should feel able to make, it didn't affect my son and I was less traumatised by the whole thing afterwards which is better for him I think. I breastfed for 6 months but gave him top-up formula bottles from 6 weeks when it became clear that he was a hungry boy that wasn't getting enough. With this next bump I am planning to do top-ups from day 1. He started going to half days at nursery when he was 16 months and has enjoyed it and his speech has improved (his sharing hasn't). He has a dummy which I'm hoping to stop soon-ish and he had a bottle at bedtime until he was just under 2. He still has milk before bed if he wants it and a whole big sippy cup full in the morning, sometimes two.

He's a very happy, I think intelligent, little boy and has been deemed the politest boy the nursery have ever had. I think he is very adaptable to growing up (he accepted the switch from bottle to sippy-cup with little complaint) and is good at letting me know what he needs. So at 26 months when he would repeatedly cry in the mornings and struggle against having a nappy put on whilst shouting 'I don't want nappies anymore' I thought it best to start potty training. Originally I had planned to wait until he was at least 2 ½ so we could get it done in three or four days because he would have a better understanding of what was going on. But he was successfully using the training seat when sat on it and so we went out and chose some Thomas the Tank Engine and Peppa Pig pants and went home to start.

It started well with a few accidents but mostly success but a weekend away from home with certain unanticipated distractions and he completely relapsed. Hated going to the loo and said he wanted his nappies back. Having been a firm believer that once you had started you had to persevere I didn't want to quit but when he was just happily walking around in wet trousers on day 5 having just refused to go to the loo I though 'enough is enough'. I would never have started this early without him wanting to give it a try - it was making me frustrated and this frustration was beginning to show and I don't want this to become an ordeal for both of us that goes on for months.

So he's back in nappies and I feel like a failure. Yes I do think he's too young and I probably should have stuck with that belief. Was I selfish thinking it would be better to get this done before the new baby arrives and we move house? He's adaptable but those are big changes. Will he now be off the whole idea until he's 4 (too old in my opinion though some may disagree)? If he hadn't had a disrupted weekend would he have stayed on track or was success actually just luck because it was just me and him? Though I am always supported by my husband potty training is such a personal thing (many an hour spent playing in the bathroom over the last week) that I now feel very alone with my decisions. I'm not sure how long it will take me to pick up from this.

The Cottage - The Finished Bathroom

So it has been ages since I have written an update about the cottage and that's because all of a sudden it was finished and we had a one week slot when Joe was free to get everything moved back in and it's all been rather surreal. The finished cottage is absolutely beautiful and I can't believe I ever doubted our decision to extend the bathroom. What we have now is a gorgeous family bathroom that is actually fun to be in, with a huge bath and enough room for the little boys to have a full-on fun bathtime rather than squeezing in one at a time.

So here is what it was like before...

This is taken standing in the doorway

Taken from the same angle as the above photo

The whole bathroom from the new doorway

It is so light and airy now. I'm particularly pleased with the flooring which is Unnatural Flooring in Savannah which we also have in the downstairs bathroom. Incredibly easy to wipe clean/dry, warm and comfortable for bare feet or for babies to lie on and really smart looking and (supposedly) long wearing. I also love the long brick shaped tiles which make the bathroom look as big as possible.

Getting Smells Out of Shirts

OK so this is possibly a bit too much for some people but for those of you who have noticed a slight niff from the armpits of old shirts as you are ironing them help is at hand. Add a dash of clear or white vinegar to your wash (I keep some clear Sarsons Vinegar under the sink for household stuff - it's great for cleaning glass) and it magics the smell away. (Thanks Ma for this tip... )

The Cottage - November 2013

One room that has been causing us head and heartache is the downstairs loo. Although I hate the expression, The Cottage was my late mother-in-laws 'baby' and the downstairs loo is completely wallpapered by her in pictures and postcards. Like this...

The first thing all friends and relatives have said to us is 'you're not going to change the downstairs loo are you?' To which we immediately responded 'No'. But the further we got with the building work the more we realised that not only would it look very outdated when the rest of the house was finished but there was a damp problem.

I jokingly suggested I take all the (super-glued) pictures down and put them back... and was taken up on that offer. Yikes. Thankfully my mother-in-laws goddaughter works in film continuity and offered to help. So we spent a very cold but therapeutic Sunday in November doing what we could to preserve as many pictures as possible. We've mapped out where everything was and removed what we could and I'm actually quite looking forward to patching the holes with pictures and postcards myself. This is how we left it...

The rest of the cottage is looking fantastic - the floorboards are beautiful and we're almost ready to start doing the stuff that involves me making a decision - like the kitchen and the bathroom but here's where we are in photos...

The dining room and kitchen

Sitting room through to extension/study

The sitting room from the extension

The new bathroom

As you can see from the last photo we decided to make the bathroom bigger (you can see the previous posts about the bathroom here).

And just in case you wonder why we are doing this Joe climbed up on the scaffolding and took some pictures of our view from the house and then from the seawall back to the cottage (which you can see as its the one with the scaffolding).

At the end of the garden is the seawall... then technically the sea. But this is Norfolk so it's a marsh

The Cottage - October 2013

As soon as I stepped out of the car I realised that from now on I'm going to have to label these posts with their date. It's all moving so fast and so dramatically that you need a timescale to be keeping up with everything.

We'd been on holiday, we'd had work, we have a baby so it took a while but I eventually managed to get up to Norfolk to meet with the builders and to see the progress. And my god what progress - I stepped out of the car and saw this...

Please note lack of roof! I'm now reliably informed (by the builders) that the roof was off for only a couple of days but it was pretty shocking to arrive and see (even though I knew it would be happening at some point).

The builders have not only been moving at a fast pace but their work is AMAZING (they are not reading this) and they pretend not to mind that I can't make a decision about anything.

So... they've gutted the place (as instructed). There is no roof, no plaster in the whole of the upstairs, all the lintels have had to be replaced and we've discovered that the extension is basically not attached to the rest of the house (thanks previous-builders-that-husband-won't-let-me-name). Decision on bathroom layout still to be made but had a great meeting about the kitchen and think we have something decided that will make it a lot more usable but I need to go away and think about it all (obviously).

The back...

The dining room into the hall

The main bedroom with new lintel

View from the third bedroom

Middle bedroom

The kitchen...

To see a layout to help get an idea of where these pictures are then see here for the floorplans.

The Cottage - Everything Out

My god having said I would be updating you on how our cottage in Norfolk is going I haven't... But I am now and I'm splitting it into two posts rather than one HUGE one.

The whole idea of doing the cottage up was quite difficult to manage. It was Joe's dad's cottage and he was very unwell and not keen on changing anything... at all. Still we made plans and agreed that work could go ahead from the beginning of September 2013. Then sadly on 4th August 2013 Joe's father died which not only stopped us in our tracks but made money issues very murky in terms of probate and our plans for the cottage get a whole lot bigger. When we initially made plans it was to do what was necessary, freshen everything up and yet keep it as close as possible to what it had been so it wasn't too strange for my father-in-law. Now that he has gone we are able to completely re-do everything and ensure that we can bring the cottage up to rental standard.

We were so shell shocked that we only managed to pack half the cottage up before we had to leave it all to movers to do the rest for us. It was very strange - we were there for the funeral, then went away for two weeks and the next time we saw it, it was... well you'll see in the next post what it was like but when we left we hadn't made any decisions. Now, we are decisions a-go-go...

Dining room and kitchen in the process of being emptied

Sitting room

Sitting room into the office extension

Still Very Pregnant

I feel bad because I haven't blogged for ages. It's not that I haven't been cooking and eating, I have, but I haven't been cooking anything new or exciting. I've mostly been using my maternity leave (started 3 days ago) to bounce on a Pilate's ball and drink Raspberry Leaf tea in an effort to make the baby to get a move on. I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow and if you were to look uncomfortable up in the dictionary there would be a big picture of my balloony face wincing back at you. I'm also trying to slow down on the eating a bit, I'm hungry all the time but, well I don't want to go into it but lets just say I'm not going to go in there with a full stomach (hopefully).

So, I thought I'd put in a few links here to what I have been eating, reading, doing...

A few friends have been coming round for tea so I've used this as an excuse to continually be making my Mumma's Ultimate Coffee Cake, it's been incredibly well received by all so far, even those not keen on coffee and because it uses margarine and it's the only thing I use margarine for I may as well keep making it until I run out! I think I'll make this after I've had the baby too as its really quick and apparently there will be visitors and it is so quick that even if I can't make it I should be able to boss Joe from the sofa.

Mostly I've been re-making tried and trusted recipes that are quick and tasty. We have my cousin staying with us for a couple of nights and so this evening I'm going to make the chicken part of Jamie's Stuffed Cypriot Chicken and serve it with tomato salad, green salad and mini conchigliette pasta with lots of butter and garlic salt. She's at university at the moment so feels the need for some salad - this chicken is the perfect accompaniment. My pudding of choice for when we have people over for supper has been thanks to trusty Nigella and her Instant Chocolate Mousse - pregnancy friendly and the perfect vehicle for double cream.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been filling the freezer up with easy-to-cook comfort food in 2 person portions so when we come back from the hospital we have something to eat. I also have fish fingers, chips, peas, bread etc in there ready to go. Have managed to freeze all Joe's favourites so I'm slightly worried that if I get kept in the hospital for a couple of days I'll come home to find that he's eaten it (it's sometimes like living with Homer Simpson: 'the freezer defrosted so i had to eat everything'...). So the main things in there are Macaroni Cheese, Spaghetti Bolognaise and Piquant Basil Chicken

I have been reading a few baby books but find the whole thing rather over-whelming. How can you possibly remember everything when you have a pregnant brain and can't put anything into practise yet? I really loved A Perfect Start: Or coping with the first months of parenthood by Christine Hill and Joe actually read it too and wasn't too pained by the whole experience. Because there is so much information I've now been alternating ready a baby book occasionally during the day and a non-baby book at night (baby books just before bed are a sure cause of anxiety dreams). At the moment the baby book is French Children Don't Throw Food by Pamela Druckerman which Joe bought me by accident and I thought was for older children but has some great advice, and the non-baby book is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, recommended to me by a friend for my holiday to France so I uploaded it onto my trusty Kindle and then never got round to it - it's fantastic.

I've been trying to look after myself too - pregnancy is not unstressful on the body so I think a bit of TLC is just what's needed. For the past four months (and indeed in an hours time) I've been having massages with Agnes through Return to Glory. Incredibly good value for money and having someone appear on your doorstep so you don't have to heave yourself out of the house is a big deal when you get this big. I've also made sure that my skin has been moisturised - my two must have products have been Embryolisse Baume Riche and Origins Make a Difference + creams. You don't need to be pregnant, these are perfect for this time of year if you suffer from dry/tight skin.

I'm not big on having my photo taken so there haven't been any bump update pictures but there is the occasional one on Instagram so if you use it then follow me there @corinnaharrod.

So thats it really, I will update here when there's any news of an arrival... or a non arrival if it's really late. Then hopefully I'll be back in the kitchen soon - strange to think that by this time I'm usually elbow deep making flavoured vodka, pickles, chutneys and jams for Christmas. This year it'll be 'thank goodness for the Internet'!

Lovely Products from French Chemists

Here's a video I made for my other blog when I got back from France with a horrific cold. I get massively overly excited by French chemists (as do most makeup artists) and here's my haul from my latest visit.

Garden Envy and the Hydrangea

I know I'm probably biased but I am totally in love, and envious, of the garden at my parents house, which at this time of year looks so beautiful that all I want to do is sit in it (which is what I've been doing thanks to a week-long dog sitting stint). I thought I would take beautiful pictures of it and you would all be amazed and then I remembered my camera's not that great and my photography is shocking so here are the pictures but they in no way do the garden justice at all... even a little bit. I hope my mother isn't cross with me for posting these...

In other breaking news the hydrangea that we discovered under a huge shrub in our garden in London in April and moved, loves it's new position and is an amazing colour.

Hydrangea on the right (incredibly sad peony on the left... still quite sad) in April

Hydrangea in July