Sunshine and clouds

Well, it wasn’t quite the Bank Holiday we were all hoping for weatherwise, but I hope you managed to enjoy it and were perhaps able to meet up with friends or family outside if you were well wrapped up! In fact, it’s been quite a chilly week with overnight frosts, so I’ve been bringing the Plants2Gardens helianthus plants (pictured above) indoors overnight just to be on the safe side! I think these are now sold out, but there are other similar options on our website. I’m waiting to plant them out until I’ve received my Richard Jackson Today’s Special Value (714960) launching on air tonight at 9pm, as it has not only Flower Power but also Root Booster, the latter being so important as we get into summer planting season.

My garden is looking quite pretty at the moment with the de Jager daffodils and tulips, self-set bluebells and all three of our ceanothus bushes in full bloom – you might just be able to see the enamel poppy beneath the honeysuckle-laden arch near the bottom of our garden where our beautiful Poppy cat was laid to rest.

On the other side of our garden the apple tree is in bloom (hoping for some fruit this year as we didn’t have any last year), the acer is in full leaf and the camellias are still hanging on. You can also see the Luxform lamppost from which I suspend the Grumpy Gardener fat balls – we have more and more birds every day! I ordered some and had them sent to my mum, so I hope she will soon have as many feathered friends visiting her garden as we do. She loves to relax with a cup of tea watching them. I’m awaiting the arrival of my new Kensington Luxform lamppost in the next couple of weeks, although I still haven’t decided what I’m going to plant in the base. Maybe I’ll get some inspiration this Saturday, as I have a couple of gardening shows.

My final garden photo features the tree fern, poppies, peonies pushing through and lavatera in the background, and also lots of forget-me-nots. I adore them anyway, but I thought they were particularly appropriate, as yesterday saw Kathy Tayler retire from QVC after almost 21 years.

I watched her final Morning Show with Simon Biagi and I have to admit to having a lump in my throat. I’m delighted that she is going to be spending more time with her family (I thought their recorded messages were beautiful and showed the love and pride they have for their mum) but I’m going to miss her terribly. We’ve had many a chat about the ups and downs of being a working mum and many other things over the years. She’s always been so much more than just a work colleague and I’m hoping that as she doesn’t live too far from me, we might be able to get together socially… when she’s in the country, of course. I did have to laugh at the photo of Catherine Huntley in the boat that we bought Kathy as her leaving gift – great picture Catherine.

One of the guests Kathy was speaking to on her final show was Keeley Aydin from Elemis. They were looking at the Pro Definition Big Deal – it’s my favourite at the moment as I have more of an issue with skin sagging rather than lines. It’s £150 worth of product for just a little over half the price, so a great time to be buying it.

So, my blog is entitled sunshine and clouds, but I’m not only referring to the ones up in the sky! Finally, after years of sleeping on a ‘flat as a pancake’ manky old pillow, I managed to persuade my husband Chris to give the Tempur ‘cloud’ pillow a go.

I’ve been sleeping on mine since the back end of last year and love it, and of the 135 reviews on our website, 100 of them are 5 star, so it would seem a lot of you do too. Chris has been waking up in the night with uncomfortable shoulders but since he’s had the new pillow, he’s been much more comfortable. Of course, it won’t be for everyone but that’s the beauty of the 60 day money-back guarantee – or should I say 60 nights? For a full hour of Tempur, do join me live on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

I also have a two-hour diamond show on Sunday with Laurie Wickwire, a former Permission to Pry guest on my Instagram, juliagroberts. This morning I’ll be chatting to gardening guest Tommy Cross (he’s asked me not to mention football, but I’m not promising anything) and next week I’ll be turning the tables on Will Gowing, who does the brilliant QVC podcasts.

Well, I need to finish shortly as I have my ‘mile a day in May’ to squeeze in before I leave for work. I’m hoping I might be able to increase the distance gradually as my ankle continues to strengthen, but for the time being I’m going to stick to my 5k pace and walk a mile, which takes just under twenty minutes. For each mile I complete I’m going to donate £1 to charity – haven’t decided which one yet but I’ll let you know.

Before I go though, I just wanted to remind you to grab the Women With Control Today’s Special Value if we still have your size. I wore these last week on Fashion on Friday, along with one of my favourite Together tops and a Joules jacket and I have to say they are ‘amazing’.

I was in the petite length, size M, but I’m also going to get them in the S as they are nice and stretchy around the tummy area AND they have that great support panel too. Today’s Fashion on Friday is Denim & Co. with the fabulous Glen Campbell, my first ever Permission to Pry guest.

I’ll be missing from your screens for a couple of weeks or so from the middle of next week, but don’t you miss the Benefit Today’s Special Value trio of mascaras on the 15th – my preferred brand of mascara. Ironically, I will also be ‘focusing’ on my eyes that day (well, one of them, to start with) but in a completely different way – more about that on my next blog in two weeks-time.

Until then, much love,

Julia xx