{"id":101077,"date":"2020-11-10T14:48:12","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T14:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=101077"},"modified":"2020-11-10T14:54:25","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T14:54:25","slug":"that-was-the-week-that-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/alison-keenan\/that-was-the-week-that-was\/","title":{"rendered":"That was the week that was\u2026."},"content":{"rendered":"
The last time I wrote to you we weren\u2019t in lockdown, Donald Trump was still President of the USA and I had a washing machine that worked\u2026 Whether change is for the good or just necessary for us to move forward, it can be difficult to accept or understand. I\u2019m not a political animal, and fully appreciate everyone has their own views on the world and the way it\u2019s managed, but I\u2019m just praying that all lockdown restrictions will only run until the 2nd<\/sup> December so that as many folk as possible can have Christmas with their loved ones. I was lucky to have seen Lucy and Honey just the week before when we spent a sunny afternoon on a Pumpkin Trail. I know, I wasn\u2019t at all sure what that was initially, but a number of households in the village had used pumpkins and other props to create the titles of popular children\u2019s books and then displayed them in their front gardens and windows.\u00a0 We had a map so we knew where the houses were and we had to write down each of the book titles as we guessed them. The sun shone, the rain held off and the displays were very impressive \u2013 I never knew just how versatile a pumpkin could be! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n We also had a visit from Sam and his lovely girlfriend Elise. They\u2019d spent the weekend in Salisbury off roading in his Land Rover, and came to us for Sunday lunch.\u00a0 We\u2019d not seen them for a while since meeting Elise\u2019s parents for dinner at their home. We had hoped to return the compliment, but will have to hang fire on that for a while. As I was working that weekend, Colin made the roast beef dinner which was delicious, but I made dessert. Do you remember Angel Delight?\u00a0 It was Sam\u2019s favourite as a child and a great way of getting milk into him. He may be 31 years old now, but he still loves it, especially butterscotch flavour and decorated with sultanas. You\u2019re never too old\u2026 Sadly I\u2019ve not been able to see my youngest Jack, but we do talk regularly and FaceTime and hope to sort something out once lockdown is over.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n My sister Jenny came over for a few days, and along with a wonderful trip to Wisley Gardens, she did an amazing job of sorting out my airing cupboard for me. She is the queen of organization and has also done wonders with my wardrobe, encouraging me to recycle my clothes and get rid of things I\u2019ve had for over five years! I bought some amazing Periea Storage Boxes<\/a> from QVC a while back and so we utilized those along with the brilliant Space Bags \u2013 all my remaining summer clothes are now neatly stowed away in the top of the wardrobe and I\u2019ve got room to hang my jumpers up! Small pleasures.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n Unfortunately, our visit to Dorset to see our lovely friends Roz and Chris has had to be postponed, along with a weekend\u2019s stay with Joe in Norfolk, but I know how lucky we\u2019ve been to be able to work around the restrictions and safely see family and friends throughout the summer. Reading your comments on the blog, it\u2019s very clear that not everyone has been as fortunate and I hope very much that the end of this year will see these limitations lifted and give everyone a chance to be with the people they\u2019ve missed the most.<\/p>\n\n There\u2019s been a fair bit of clearing up in the garden going on here, and I managed to re-pot three of my roses and split my calla lily bulbs so they could be divided into two pots. I\u2019m keeping everything crossed they\u2019ll be okay in their new homes and I won\u2019t have killed them off. I\u2019ve also had to re-creosote all the garden furniture I renovated in the summer. I was a bit surprised that the two coats I\u2019d spent hours applying earlier in the year had faded quite so quickly, but hopefully this latest application will protect them over the winter. We\u2019ve also had a huge pair of wooden gates delivered that Colin has hung and so I creosoted those as well! I love the smell of creosote \u2013 it reminds me of my Grandad Timms and Great Aunt Ivy.\u00a0 They were both avid gardeners and as a child I spent a lot of time exploring and playing outside in their gardens. I have also harvested our first crop of olives!<\/p>\n\n You may remember the photos I posted of the two olive trees in our back garden \u2013 the oldest bought for us as a wedding present five years ago by Roz and Chris. While we were in Kos, we spoke to a chap who made fabulous things out of olive wood and he told me how to \u2018brine\u2019 olives. The newer tree has a huge number of olives but they\u2019re all far too small to pick, but these look perfect. I have to change the salt water each week, but hopefully they\u2019ll be ready in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n Talking of which, if you love chocolate, you\u2019ll definitely want our Today’s Special Value from Hotel Chocolat<\/a> that\u2019s already available on pre-sell. Item number 809948 will get you a 130 Piece Luxury Chocolate Selection<\/a> in a Gift Box and bags.\u00a0 You won\u2019t know yourself when you see the incredible collection that includes Salted Caramel, Rocky Road and Peanut Butter flavours along with many more premium and original options. There are 22 individually packaged selections, plus a huge gift box too so you can separate them out as presents if you like. The three Easy Pay interest-free instalments mean just \u00a314.99 per month, plus P&P – a big saving on the recommended price of \u00a369.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n And from food to fragrance, I wanted to give you a heads up on a fabulous collection of Shay & Blue<\/a> perfumes that will be available on Wednesday the 18th<\/sup> November. Dom de Vetta has put together an incredible mix of magical fragrances for under \u00a350 \u2013 some of your favourites in there too, so I hope you\u2019ll be able to join me for the launch on Wednesday at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n