Fossil hunting at Charmouth beach

Last weekend I got to tick something off my bucket list that I have been wanting to do for ages. Go fossil hunting! In all my time down on the south coast I have never done it. The kids have been with Fred but I have always been at work so now was my time to join in the fun and see what we could find. We headed to Charmouth Beach, with our friends Becki and Rhiannon, as it’s renowned to be one of the best places to find an ammonite or two.

When we got there it was already filled with people scouring the rocks, digging around in the clay. I had no idea how big a hobby this was for so many people. We were complete amateurs compared to the people armed with hammers and spades who come regularly in the hope of being the one to discover then next big find. Ordinarily it is considered bad form to take anything from the beach or to go around smashing up rocks but here it’s the done thing.

Due to erosion and stormy seas the fossils which are quite easily found are at risk from being washed out to sea or worse, destroyed in storms and churned up by water and stones. So the public coming to find fossils is all part of the process of discovering the treasures. Anything interesting should be reported and pictured and of course if someone was to find an actual dinosaur bone then authorities must be alerted to recover it as best as possible.

There were no dinosaur finds for us but we did indeed find some ammonites in the slate stones, a little feint but there all the same. I was actually just as interested in the crystal that was to be found inside so many of the rocks. So much of it sparkles so beautifully and every rock is as interesting as some of actual fossils because of the layers of different colours.

Tilda and Ivy had a brilliant time and loved all the sticky clay, we couldn’t get Ivy’s welly boots off because she had pretty much filled them with stuff. We left the beach filthy, tired and happy with the few fossils that we found. The best tip is to come after there has been a storm when so much gets turned over. It’s worth a trip if you are ever down this way, there is also a shop filled with fossils and crystals and even a few dinosaurs that have been found at this beach.

I made sure to stay extra warm on the beach in my Centigrade coat. I have had this for a few years now but we have lots of other versions of this one with the faux fur trim.

What I’ve been wearing – Kim & Co Foil Brazil Jersey Jumpsuit

You may have seen already that we have a fab Big Deal from Kim & Co this week. I can’t resist a jumpsuit so I of course gave this one a test run for some of my shows this week. Kim is famous for her jumpsuits but this one is most definitely one for party season as it has all the sparkle. I think this is the perfect entertaining outfit because you can still easily deal with getting a big dinner on the table without feeling restricted but you can also hit the dance floor if you needed to and even manage a game of Twister with the kids!

It’s available in Regular length and Petite and also in 4 colours: Pewter, Navy, Black and Aubergine. I actually wore the Petite which gave me more of an ankle grazing length so I could show off my shoes more so the choice is there depending on how you prefer it to look.

Mmmmmm chocolate

Today is the big offer from Hotel Chocolat which I know so many of you will want to snap up but I wanted to let you in on a little secret. Myself, Dale and Will have all been challenged to come up with a chocolate that Hotel Chocolat haven’t done before. We are hoping to at some point be able to put them to the official board at Hotel Chocolat for judging to see if they will make it into a selection box!!!

We may have to wait ‘til the new year for that but in the mean time I wanted to share with you me getting to make mine with the help of Kiri, their fantastic Chocolate Development Manager. I wanted to create a Salted Caramel Peanut Crunch and I am not alone in saying it turned out blooming good!!! You can watch my video of me making it here on my IGTV. I even got to try my hand at tempering the chocolate which is incredibly therapeutic. Keep your eyes peeled in the future to see if we manage to get our chocolates into production!

Wet Brush – Disney Detangle Brush Set

Hair brushing when you have two girls with long curly hair can be a stressful time in many homes and ours is no different! The kids hate it, we hate it and it often ends in tears. We have got a number of brushes over the years, some great some not so great, so I am always up for trying a new one. We got to try out the Wet Brush set of Disney brushes which are designed to be able to use with wet hair and on dry.

We tried it both ways and are really pleased with how it worked for brushing the conditioner through both Tilda and Ivy’s hair. (Obviously I don’t have pictures of them for the blog from that as they were in the bath!!) It really helped to get through the tangles without ripping at their hair and scalp. The bristles bend nicely through as you go so not to snag as much as other brushes. The winner for the girls though was that it had two of their favourite Disney Princesses on them, Ariel and Belle. They have sold out in the other options but you can still get these two.

What’s coming up – L’Occitane Today’s Special Value Available Now!

In my opinion Christmas isn’t Christmas without getting one of my family members something from L’Occitane. My mum started getting us Verbena Shower Gel years ago as a treat and it’s become a bit of a Christmas tradition. So I was really pleased to see that Verbena featured strongly in the Fresh collection. This is a seven-piece Luxury gift and we have 3 options for you, the Fresh, Warm or Floral each with the most incredible products.

All the collections include Shea Hand Cream, Rich Lip Balm and the two gift boxes, one large and one small to split the kits if you want. The Warm collection then includes the Almond and Shea products, the Floral has Shea Rosemary and Rose products and as I’ve said already the Fresh is mainly my favourite Verbena.

It’s a tough choice but at this price you may want to buy more than one! The collection would be over £90 if you bought the products individually from QVC so for under £50 and with Easy Payments this is a great time to indulge. We will be bringing this offer to you on Saturday 16th November (launching on air Friday 9pm) but it is available now on pre-sell!

That’s it from me, as this goes live I am actually travelling to a girl’s day/night away which is something that I get to do once in a blue moon. This is actually a belated Birthday treat for Rhiannon and we’ve been looking forward to it for months. There’s 4 of us going so I will be sure to report back next week. We shall try to behave ourselves…….in all seriousness I expect we will just all want to indulge in a great night sleep!

Lots of Love

Katy xx

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