When I was a child, me and my big family went to our little caravan in Hastings for three weeks every year, for many years, and this week I met my sister and mum, who were down there reminiscing! It was lovely to walk down the promenade on a very sunny day and we got all nostalgic buying rock from the antique rock shop. Plus, chatted to a lovely lady called Alison (who watches QVC) in the ice cream store near the amusements along the front. Biggest problem… No toilets almost anywhere! (Apart from one marvellous, very welcome, much appreciated, clean loo in a restaurant doing takeaways.) So if you go, be prepared!
It was really weird being there without cafés serving people outside, places to sit and have a coffee and the freedom we are all so grateful for. In any case, I had some super mum and sister time, and loved it. I’m getting quite used to having several days off a week and not working almost every day of the month! Lol. See my social media for some of the highlights of the trip 🙂
Also, I had one of my favourite things in the world, freshly caught cod and crispy chips – yummm – under the beady eye of the local seagulls down on the seafront. A great day, and I managed to stay out of the sun underneath a big umbrella for most of it! As you know, my skin and my ‘EPP’ do not like the sun. 🙂
Snippets
Dynamic duo
Butter wouldn’t melt! Beau is growing very quickly, isn’t she? She and her best buddy Daisy who now lives with her in Kent are becoming firm friends. I do miss them.
Outdoor time
Mum and sister live on a wonderful estate in Surrey, and it was a pleasure to go and sit outside near where they live to have an afternoon cuppa and a catch up. One day when I’m a grown-up and I get myself a place in London, it will be in an estate like theirs. A converted hospital with lots of wonderful grounds, tennis court, koi carp, barbecue, acres to walk in… lovely! Sigh. One day… Funny how the universe sends signals, isn’t it? Considering the massive increase I faced recently in commercial house insurance for my business in a thatched house with a woodburner (any tips let me know!) Consequently, some changes will have to be made this year following all the recent weird upheaval. Interesting times!
Vlog – the sing-a-longs continue a pace – and this week’s nightly dip into the world of #kitchenkaraoke included a bit of Glenn Campbell, which everyone seems to love, some Drifters, Streisand, Carly Simon and more! Go here to check out a few 80s classics. I have promised I will continue nightly for as long as I can!
WonderSkin lips!
Had great fun doing this last week, a new long-lasting lip tint from Wonderskin, which is in three shades. I’d get it just to have the experience of the peeling off process! (Those who remember my experiences with Gatineau Gommage know I love this type of stuff!) Find it here online.
Plus, check out the time lapse of the Dyson Air Wrap Today’s Special Value and join me for it tonight at 9pm. Don’t forget! (Friday 5th!)
Podcast – this week Claire Sutton gets the Will Gowing treatment and it’s very illuminating! Just love Claire! Go here for more!
Watch – Long Lost Families
I have a new guilty pleasure. Using a very big box of tissues for each episode, I’ve been lapping up Davina’s stories of adopted people getting back in touch with families they knew nothing about. “Born without trace, the foundlings”, is utterly riveting. None of it would be possible without the current massive database of DNA results. Do watch it, it’s heart-rending, emotional, and has an amazing feel-good factor running through its veins… Well, rather, through its very DNA!
I had my test done, and it’s interesting to see the fourth and fifth cousins who come up on the database matches afterwards. Of course, a fourth cousin means we had the same great-great-great grandparent. But given we all have four grandparents, eight great grandparents, 16 great-great grandparents, and therefore 32 great-great-great grandparents, there are a lot of options! But there is one little mystery in our family tree, which it might help solve one day.
My granddad Jimmy Cullip’s dad John Edward, born around 1900 in Mitcham, Surrey, had “father unknown” on his birth certificate. His mother was Emily Champion, unmarried. But just a few months later, she married Alfred Cullip and little John Edward later took the name Cullip. But was Alfred the real father or just doing right by Emily? Who knows! But as more and more people take these tests and the DNA gets added to the database, maybe we will find out one day who his real father was.
It matters, of course, because tracing the family tree on my mum’s side means we stop at John Edward, as we don’t know what his real surname was and cannot go backwards from there. And my uncle Jeffrey, mum’s brother, still has the surname Cullip, as do many of his many, many cousins! But it might have been something completely different! I find all this stuff completely fascinating, don’t you?
Book of the week – Camino Winds by John Grisham
The ex-lawyer and top author Grisham is back with a sequel to Camino Island, which I enjoyed very much. We go back to the Florida bookshop run by Bruce Cable during a hurricane, and follow the mystery of why someone winds up dead in suspicious circumstances. I liked the bookshop set up, and the characters stayed with me long afterwards, when I read the first book. So I’m very pleased to see the second one out now and I’m looking forward to it on audiobook! If Julia’s new one, Why She Died had been on audiobook, I would have read that next! Out this week from Bookouture online.
The week ahead on QVC
Friday – go here to see and buy the gorgeous Monsoon linen top with button detail at an amazing price – if it is still available! Then don’t forget to join me at 9pm for…
Saturday – …the amazing Dyson Air Wrap complete collection, on five Easy Pays, already available here – go buy it now, quick, quick! It’s already selling really fast, and no wonder at that price. Here is my time-lapse video of me doing my own hair with the Air Wrap itself, from straight to voluminous, curly and sassy in around about 4 to 5 minutes!
And it lasted as well! And I only did it at 95% dry, as opposed to 80% dry, which they recommend for longevity. Here I am before:
And after:
As I said, don’t miss it!
Sunday – it’s amazing, Gatineau – one of my favourite targeted skincare brands – is back with a four-piece Collagen Hydrate and Glow skincare collection, and I’m launching it on Saturday night at 9pm. Cannot wait!, including Gatineau’s newest anti-ageing solution – Perfection Ultime Daily Shield SPF 50+, their bestselling, top-rated serum for smooth, plumped skin. Then, a choice of either the cult moisturiser for mature skin, Age Benefit or the newly updated and iconic, Melatogenine MorphoBiotique to tackle fine lines and wrinkles. Finally, the ever popular original Eye Make-up Remover Floracil in a supersize, which can also be used as a cooling, soothing compress for tired and irritated eyes. Can’t wait to present it this weekend!
Big Deals old and new
Also the Big Deals end every Sunday night, here are the current ones…
Silk’n LED transforming mirror with speaker and magnetic 5x mirror
Thermapulse Relief Wrap
JML Chillmax Air personal space cooler and humidifier
This Works AM and PM two-piece Skin Boosting collection
Polaroid Pop Instant Print digital camera with extra 20-piece pack of prints
Sensica Sensilight Mini RPL 50k Pulses hair removal system
Go here to see and shop them all
And here are the new big deals launching on Sunday 31st at midnight and lasting only one week:
SBC three-piece Summertime Skincare collection
JPE Fit-Over Catty sungalsses
Cook’s Essentials 1.8L compact mini airfryer
Monday – at midnight on Sunday I will be bringing you the Silentnight Ultimate Luxury cotton Feels Like Down pair of pillows. Really premium!
Tuesday – another TSV launch for me again at 9pm on Monday for the new Nails Inc offer – the six-piece Live Your Zest Life collection and bag. Go here to see and buy it as it is already on sale!
Wednesday – time for a fresher fridge, with the Ecoegg 16 Fresher for Longer discs with two holders, a great way to keep food lasting much longer in your refrigerator!
Thursday – Amazon is back with the Echo plus speaker together, with an Echo Spot AND a smart plug, at another brilliant price. And the Spot is a limited run too, the little round bedside table one, I love mine! But I actually can’t do without Alexa in my life at the moment!
Friday – Kipling’s deal is the Anzo premium triple compartment bag. If you like organisation you will love this one… and the price!
Friday 9pm – then it’s time for the WynneLayers crepe dolman tunic shirt dress. A really low price for a Marla design! Wonder if it will last ’til Saturday evening when I am back after three days off.
Next week – finally a trip to my home in Devon. Lots to sort out down there and I can’t leave it any longer, it will be nice to see the place after such a long time!
Best wishes and have a great week! Don’t forget to join me for my nightly sing-a-long on my Facebook page, socials are below.
Love Debs
X
PS – Keep in touch on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
6 Responses
Looks as if you had a great day in Hastings, with your Mum and Sister. Great you had the chance To enjoy the lovely sunshine. My toes curl in horror at the mention of Hastings, as I spent 10 yrs of my life in a convent boarding School, and hated most of it……not that we were ever allowed to escape into the Town!!!! We might bump into the opposite sex, and that would be a sin of the highest order!! Anyway very glad it bought some lovely memories back for you.
Love your new Puppy, and Daisy looks very content, with the new arrival, Labs are so lovely. I have one geriatric Border Terrier, and a 3 yr old Spaniel X, I think with a Great Dane by the size of her feet.!!
Thanks for keeping us in touch with what’s coming up, the Dyson looks great. Take care Debbie.xx
What size is the kipling bag on thursday?
Hi Debbie,
That’s lovely you were all able to have a meet up by the sea and it not be packed! Some of the photos are dreadful! You just fear for a second wave before we’re out of the first.
The house that your mum and sister live in sounds like a stately home! Love to see it! Not surprised you like to visit!
I hope you’re not on the move again Debbie after all your work on the business. It’ll be lovely to get back to it again. Enjoy x
Hi Debbie, I love the dress you are wearing in the air wrap video, I’ve seen you wearing it on qvc and since then been franticly looking for it on every clothes programme, without success and wondered if you could put me out of my misery and tell me where it’s from…
Hi Debbie I just love reading your blog you would love my dog Bella she is a bichon she has really helped me in this lockdown great company.
I have been watching Long lost families I watched the repeats last night I always cry when it is on even though I have seen it I find it very so sad be fascinating how they can trace people.
Keep up the good work and stay safe and well.
Love Mavis
From a Devonshire dumplin’ to an incomer!!! Oh so rude always a pleasure to see you on screen. I have been trying to find a blog for Alison Young only to learn via another website she has been incapacitated. OMG do give her my best wishes for a speedy recovery. I was labouring under a misapprehension that could email her for advice regarding my granddaughter’s skin problems. So will have to search elsewhere. Please keep safe and take care everyone E.C