Bean stew with Beadle and sneaky peeks!

Last week, I went to see a clever acupuncture and herbal medicine lady called Ivy, in a Chinese therapist in Sanderstead, just round the corner from my brother Glenn. So when I was done, had relaxed and been treated, I popped in to see my kid brother, whose nickname was Beadle when he was a baby! Beadle Grumpling, ha ha. It is nice to catch up with him whenever I can, having had so many years of staying with him and his family after I moved to Devon in 2016, and that only ended when lockdown began and I got my own flat near Mum.  Anyway, I really miss our little catch-ups. He is a lot like my dad was, I have to say, which  is lovely. 🙂 Glenn had made some amazing bean stew and it was really hearty and warm. Had a nice chat to my sister-in-law, Boki, as well.

Funny situation for me, this “being warm” thing. You may have heard me say on-air  just recently that I’ve been sleeping in my bed socks (the Muk Luks aloe vera-infused Sherpa socks!) and even wearing a little cardigan in bed, so I’m lovely and warm, even if I always have a slightly colder bedroom. Well, the acupuncture lady said how important it is for me to keep my body warm, and pointed at my ankles. I often go without socks, but I definitely feel the cold nowadays, so this week I’ve been wrapping myself up a bit warmer. And to be honest, I feel so much better!

We also talked about the timing of my meals and what I actually ate, and I’m finding that if I don’t eat after midnight and wake up a little bit hungrier, things seem to feel a bit better in my body. Now you might think that that is teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, after all,  doesn’t everybody know that? Well, over the years, I have gone from having a very unhealthy relationship with food, to learning “freedom eating” thanks to a self-help product that was on QVC in around 1998/99, and transforming how I feel about my own limiting beliefs around meal times. Basically, it meant listen to your body and act accordingly, as documented in my ‘Till the Fat Lady Slims’ book (that we sold on QVC once). But… everything changed in menopause, especially over the last three or four years (and, of course, running a part-time tearoom in Devon didn’t help!). So it was lovely to revisit it all with Ivy and her recommendations to help my tummy bloating seem to be working well so far. Have also been drinking a lot more fluids, including the herbal drink specially created for me, which tastes a bit like celery, turmeric and cinnamon (yuck, I know!) Mind you, it doesn’t help when I have to do chocolates on QVC because I definitely find myself wanting more the next day as well! Doesn’t stop me enjoying it though!

The big Hotel Chocolat coffee maker is here this weekend, too – see below! Would go very well with fluffy milk made in their Velvetiser, don’t you think? I’ll be launching it tonight (Friday 19th). Hard life!

Ha-Harrr Blake-lad! 

(Okay, that doesn’t quite work. If anybody remembers a pirate program, Treasure Island possibly? Where the main peg-leg pirate used to say “a-ha Jim lad”! What was that program called?) Anyway, I looked after granddaughter Blake and her lovely little baby “brudda” Kaleb while son Brad and my daughter-in-law Kari went out last weekend for Kari‘s birthday. Blake wanted to play – a lot. First with her Lego playhouse, then her Barbies, then crayons and letters, then to play dress up, then play Pop-Up Pirate. It was very full on! Do you remember this game? (Blake is not a social media baby, so no pictures of her but this was us playing!) Quite old school and the closest to the sort of thing we played with his kids, remember things like Buckaroo and Ker-plunk?!! She has a great imagination and it was really good fun. So was her little baby brother…

Little Kaleb, aged two months, is an absolutely beaming baby and has such a sunny nature. It’s just adorable when he tries to talk to you in baby goo-goo language, and he is growing fast. In the 94th percentile in most of the measurements, (you know – how they see how babies are getting on?), which makes it look like he’ll be quite a big boy. Brad is 6′ but Kari is only 5′ tall! Glad I bought him a load of baby grows recently – Kaleb, not Brad ha ha.

Not long now ’til Lolly comes down with Phoebe and we all have our family Christmas, two weekends time in fact, gosh how time has flown – we are nearly in December!

Snippets

Julien’s fashions on a day full of stars

What a day we had last Monday, not only was Dannii Minogue on all day with her Today’s Special Value jumper, and Amanda Holden launched her vintage wall sign in the evening, but Julien Macdonald was here with his clothes. My goodness, he knows about fashion and I really enjoyed my show with him. Go here to see the Big Deal jumper I am wearing – if it’s still available, and shop his fashion range here.

What with all the big brand beauty we are getting now, including a new Estee Lauder deal, see below, and all the fabulous big-name guests, QVC is definitely the place to shop!

Lemon aid

My lemon tree is coming on leaps and bounds. This is the one that lovely friend and helper Nicola gave me when she left to go back to South Africa, after helping me in Devon with the tea room and the dogs, a couple of years ago. Well this year, I have eight lemons on it! One of them is just going yellow and it’s tiny, while the others are quite big and green so far, but nowhere near ripe. I think it may be Richard Jackson’s plant food which has helped. Look at the spider plant next to it! Did you know it was good for house plants as well? These really love the brightness of my lounge windows, floor to ceiling and the ceiling is 11 foot high!

Hospital number 4

This week, I was back in yet another hospital for yet another check-up, but don’t worry, all is well. Having started taking HRT, I got a resumption of menstruation, which apparently can happen so the doctor just popped me along to Leatherhead hospital for a little examination with a camera and apparently everything is fine. Reminded me of having my babies though! LOL. I’ve never been to Leatherhead hospital before, and it’s quite a nice cottage-type hospital and… No charge for parking! Wow, I couldn’t believe it! This is the one that I would have gone to had I continued volunteering when they moved the vaccination centre there from Epsom Grandstand. If I was getting another job, I would definitely book that venue, very easy to get to and very nice staff! After my Epsom hospital trip for cellulitis from that insect bite, and St George’s and Saint Thomas’ for my detached retina, Leatherhead makes 4! Bit of a pain this getting older lark, isn’t it?! I never even used to go to the doctors at all ever! Oh well, better than the alternative, right?

Diamonique bee jewellery competition

Another one to watch out for – lots of you know I have put my name to a few bee jewellery designs, find those in stock here. Well there’s going to be a little competition soon, where you could win some of the bee jewellery, what a lovely present for yourself for Christmas that would be if you won! Details next week, don’t miss it!

Watch

Well, I had a little bit of a film fest. First I went to see Mothering Sunday, and then I went to see Spencer. One after the other 🙂 and I grabbed a nice coffee and a sandwich in between. I needed it because I’d had a busy week, and this was my first day off in ages, and I enjoyed it. However, they were both quite depressing ha ha.

We know the story of Princess Diana, well, Spencer is based around one Christmas at Sandringham just before she split up with Prince Charles, and I really could not get past Kristen Stewart playing Diana, rather than thinking I was watching the Princess of Wales on the screen. I’m glad I watched it, I wouldn’t watch it again, but I liked when some of the events happened that I remember for real originally. It is however almost entirely based at Sandringham, with some interesting peripheral (mostly fictional) characters.

Mothering Sunday is jam-packed full of amazing actors including Colin Firth, Olivia Colman and Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles in The Crown). It’s a story of a house maid’s affair with the young gentleman of the house, in an era just after the First World War when several of the families had lost their sons. There is lots of crying, and there’s even more smoking. (There seemed to be so many scenes where it featured watching cigarettes being lit and puffed on! Extraordinary and a little irksome. I can’t stand smoking). However, there was some brilliant acting in it. Again I’m glad I saw it but I won’t see it again. 7.5 for both.

Podcast

This week, Will caught up with Alison Wagoner from Beekman 1802. Next week, you can catch him chatting to Michaela Taylor of Gatineau. You can listen to all the podcasts here.

Vlog

Head on over to my Facebook page to see my autumn leaves vlog this week, kicking up the fallen foliage in Banstead Woods and the gorgeous hues of November. Also just below it you will see a little blooper type post about a mince pie challenge, one which my sister helped me along with! She is so funny sometimes! Don’t forget to follow my social media to see much more of this type of thing, plus early warning about things going on on QVC!

Book of the week

I must recommend Murder on the Pier, if you love a 1950s cosy crime in the Agatha Christie vein, which transports you to the gentle days gone by in a quaint Sussex village, in book two of the series. Flora and Jack and their fellow villagers are chasing after criminals and murderers again. Talk about a lady in peril! Well done Merryn Allingham, nice work!!

QVC top deals for the next seven days

Friday (today) – go here to see and buy what’s left of the lovely WynneLayers luxe quilted reversible jacket.

Saturday – very excited about my 9pm and midnight launch tonight (Friday 19th) of the new Hotel Chocolat coffee machine with 20 coffee capsules and clever eco-press that separates the capsules afterwards so you can actually recycle these ones, which makes a change! You can use the Hotel Chocolat coffee capsules or use the Nespresso ones too. Really looking forward to seeing this work! Exciting too, as it’s the world launch, and it’s with us here first! Go here now though to buy it. Here is Marissa showing me it when we met recently. 🙂

And look out for a really special day on Saturday 20th, when QVC Unwrapped hits the screens. Lots of behind-the-scenes stuff and the cameras going where no cameras usually dare to go! I’ll be contributing with a Facebook live at about 9:20pm, talking about the L’Occitane TSV. Oh my goodness, it’s an amazing body care gift bundle (see below). Get ready to send those comments to me on our Facebook Live post on our QVC Facebook page. In particular if you could sift and gift, which three would you keep and which would you gift?

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Sunday – well look at this! The L’Occitane Full of Festivities seven -piece collection, my goodness me it’s great value. And I love the stocking bag that goes with it. Go here to see and buy it now or join us, including at 9pm on Sunday night if there’s any left! Another wonderful beauty gift from QVC!

And join me Sunday night for Christmas gift ideas at 9pm featuring the brand new TSV for Monday which is the super bedding set below.

Big Deals are available on air for usually a week, they may be longer online if stocks last. New ones every Sunday night! Subject to change!

Tili ceramic diffuser with lights and timer mode
SFIXX set of two USB rechargeable LED magnifying glasses
Tili metallic make-up organiser large vanity case
Prai Ageless Throat & Decolletage velvet gifting collection
JM Fashion by Julien Macdonald sparkle knit jumper with stud details
Helene Berman hooded faux fur coat with zip
Centigrade longline faux fur coat
Elemis Superfood Overnight Supercharged Skin four-piece collection
K by Kelly Hoppen ripple waved mirror

Go here to see and shop them all

And here are the new Big Deals launching on Sunday 21st at midnight:

Cozee Home Fluffie hooded cape wrap
Korres three-piece Mediterranean Miracle Milk collection
My Home Stories velvet palm leaf embroidered bedspread
Dr Esho the Ultimate Lip Doctor three-piece Kit

Now back to the Today’s Special Values for the rest of the week:

Monday – as mentioned, it’s the Silentnight Air Max bundle with topper, two pillows and duvet. Get those beds ready with a lovely fresh feel for your long-awaited guests this Christmas, with a brand-new bedding set! Then at 9pm join me and Marie-Francoise for the launch of the…

Tuesday – …the Kipling Tomee premium large shoulder bag, and believe me it’s large!

Wednesday – time for the return of Tweak’d and the supersize scrub and supersize conditioner set. So kind to your hair, and one of the best ways of trying it in offers like this.

Thursday – it’s a big one and the return of massive beauty brand Estee Lauder, with their huge value four-piece Heroes skincare collection, going on sale earlier in the week.

Friday – its Black Friday! Go here to shop our wonderful bargains, there are a couple up to 50% off! One of the best sellers is the Gatineau 3D DefiLift Lifting Cream, if you have problems with sagging skin on your face, definitely go for this one as it’s such a massive reduction – down to just £36. Get yours here. Watch out also for their big seven-piece anti-ageing Age Benefit Elixir collection, going online about mid-week.

The big TSV for Friday is a new luxury faux fur heated throw from Cozee Home, with lots of settings. So good for this time of year. And I can’t wait for my top tech show at 8pm Friday night as well!

Friday 9pm – sees the launch of a new cosy coat from Centigrade with faux down and a detachable hood, more about that next week. 🙂

Next week – supper with my old school friends and my big annual shopping day with close family. And lots more deals in the run-up to Christmas. 🙂 Just 5 weeks left!!

Best wishes,

Debs

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