Goodbye January!

Well hello again! Thank you for joining me for another blog. I hope you’re well and that January has treated you well. I know a lot of people have been saying that January has dragged but in all honesty it seems to have flown past for me. I’m not entirely sure why but perhaps it’s because there’s a lot on my to do list… funny how time speeds up when you feel like you’ve got lots to do isn’t it?

January, for me, means that it’s time to make some marmalade and, seeing as I missed the chance last year, I made a huge batch the other day. I’ve made quite a lot of jams, jellies and marmalades in my time but for the first time ever I seriously miscalculated the amount and didn’t have enough jars ready. I have to re-boil and pour into extra jars a couple of days later. I made 14 jars in total and half of that has already gone to my Dad… it is his absolute favourite, so I make it mostly for him.

For the last few years I’ve been using a recipe that uses the whole Seville orange, where you cut up the flesh instead of just using the juice and the peel and it sets really well and gives that nice, properly bitter flavour. It does mean I missed a few pips, mind you, but I guess that all adds to the home-made feel! Ha! Anyone else make their own marmalade? Do you ever add anything else? I did consider doing a batch with some ginger as my Dad loves it but I’m not sure I’ll have time whilst the Seville oranges are still in season.

We are starting to plan for our new bathroom, which is sort of exciting but it’s going to be a massive job where a wall has to be moved and it’s all a bit daunting from this side of it. We need to make some decisions and then get the ball rolling properly. We FINALLY did a second coat of paint in the downstairs hallway at the weekend, which meant we were able to put the coat hooks up. I will never again underestimate how nice it is to walk in the door and have somewhere to hang your coat up. I have a minor obsession with coats and jackets and they’d just end up strewn all over the place.

I’ve also been loving some of the cold but sunny weather we’ve been having lately.

I love it when I’m out walking Monty… yes, I have to wrap up but there’s something so refreshing about the cold air and the sunshine. Here’s Monty enjoying a walk, jumping around with a stick… he prefers jumping around with them like an idiot to actually playing fetch… silly dog!

I want to chat about a few exciting things coming up at QVC now. The first is a foundation that is now available with us from EX1. It is Invisiwear Liquid Foundation and, after trying it, I heartily recommend it.

If you’ve read previous blogs then you may know that I never used to wear foundation at all because I hated the feel of it on my skin. The product that changed my mind on this was IT Cosmetics CC Cream. I stick with that one mostly but wanted to try this new brand out. Well, I am very impressed… the formula is lightweight so it doesn’t feel all cakey and it went on so smoothly. I have a lot of breakouts and it covered those nicely which meant less concealer too. Also, the biggest annoyance for me is shades in foundations… there really are very few companies who have shades that work for people as pale as me and when they do they can often make you look ghostly. This wasn’t the case here… the 01 shade was perfect and kept my skin looking alive! I definitely think you should try it if you’re pastey like me but there are lots of shades to choose from.

Now, how about a little sneak peek ahead to a Today’s Special Value to come on the 8th Feb? It from Dyson and it’s their Cyclone V10 Animal Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. Perfect if you’re fed up of your heavy upright vacuum or, like me, if you struggle to get all the dog (other pets available) hair out of all the nooks and crannies in your home.

It’s a really powerful machine without a cord to hold you back and lots of different attachments and ways to use it. Another reason I love this is because I only ever use a vacuum to dust or get rid of cobwebs up high in the house and this makes it so much easier than getting my corded vacuum and using the tube bit on the back… you’re not tethered to the ground. My vacuum is actually from the Dyson Animal range but a considerably older model as we bought it a few years ago. We got it before we had Monty but were advised to go for the animal option because of my long hair and I have to say I’m really glad we did… especially after getting a fairly long haired dog!

We have the video on the website still, demonstrating this vacuum from the last time it was on air so if you’re in the market for a new model then maybe go online and have a watch and then make sure you’re ready for the 8th February, when this will be on an amazing Today’s Special Value price!

Right, that was quite a lot of rambling for me… lots to chat about. Let me know how January has gone for you… did you go dry or vegan or anything? I confess I didn’t and I think I ate more sugar than I did over Christmas but hey ho. I’d love to hear how you’re getting on. Oh, and please do remember I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I did try to respond to messages on all three so please do give me a follow and say hello if you fancy. If you want more Monty in your life, then my Instagram stories is the place to go!

Take care,
Kathryn x