{"id":106236,"date":"2021-05-20T13:02:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T12:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=106236"},"modified":"2021-05-27T15:45:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T14:45:34","slug":"not-quite-running-with-the-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/miceal-murphy\/not-quite-running-with-the-bulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Not quite running with the bulls!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a famous event that is held each year in the town of Pamplona in Spain in which bulls are run through the streets and locals and tourists run ahead of them in a display of brovado and with a hit of adrenaline. It\u2019s a tradition that has gone on for many years. Indeed, a quick check on the internet has informed that running with bulls is something that used to happen in England too, in Stamford, until 1837.<\/p>\n

The reason I mention it is that I did something similar recently, but in a very Irish way! Bear with me on this one. No, I wasn\u2019t running through the streets and I wasn\u2019t taking my life in my hands being chased by bulls. Instead, I was at home visiting and went running a few mornings along the country lanes were I grew up and all I had for company around every corner were fields full of cows. So I guess technically I was more \u2018running in fields of cows\u2019 more so than \u2018running with the bulls\u2019.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

I have to say it brought back an overwhelming amount of nostalgia and childhood memories. These roads and lanes and fields were the same roads and lanes and fields that I walked through and played in as a child decades ago. The smell of the country air, the cow manure and the wet soil as the sun warmed it up releasing its earthy aroma were like heavenly scents. Genuinely. I told some of my family this and they looked at me askance as though I were in the grip of a delirium. The cows also gave me a few sideways glances as I bade them a good morning.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

There was such beauty in the landscape and everything was so lush and verdant it felt a little overwhelming. I don\u2019t know if it is because I live in a built up cityscape but I was awe struck at just how beautiful my hometown was. I saw it in a way I never did when I was growing up there. I wonder if this is the same experience for everyone who returns to their homeland after being away, or is it because of my age (it\u2019s the big five-oh in a few weeks! How am I turning 50? Let\u2019s leave that for another blog though!), or is it simply that I do come from a place that is breathtakingly beautiful? Either way, it was a wonderful experience to be in the landscape and appreciating it.<\/p>\n

Regrettably though, the reason for my visit wasn\u2019t such a pleasant one. My mum has been back in hospital again for the last three weeks and so I have been back home for a week to see what I can do to help. A difficult task in the time of Covid. I am double vaccinated and doing regular rapid flow tests and I am extremely vigilant about hygiene and masks etc. So I headed home as I was needed to help out my sister, who has been shouldering a lot of the weight of mum’s care by virtue of geography – she lives near her. Not fair I know, and something I think about and worry about every day. I have huge pangs of guilt about my sister\u2019s burden and not being nearer so I can do more but also about the fact that I want to be here (in Ireland, where I am writing this) with mum spending every minute that I can with her while I still can.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately mum has something that no medicine can cure and that is simply old age. There are those who say that growing old is a privilege and I know that it is, because I\u2019ve known those who didn\u2019t get the chance to see it but someone much cleverer than myself once said that \u2018growing old \u2018ain\u2019t for the faint hearted\u2019 and boy isn\u2019t that the truth. It is painful to witness and, I imagine, even more frightening to experience. I was lucky with this visit, as the hospitals had just started allowing one short daily visit by one person each day wearing PPE. So I got to see her and hold her hand and brush her hair and make her feel like she was loved and cared for and not so alone. A relief for both of us.<\/p>\n

So whilst it has been great to see the motherland it\u2019s been painful but precious to see the mother too! I\u2019m leaving to return to London today and whilst I love living there and have a great family of friends and colleagues at QVC I really feel like, for the first time, I will be leaving a big piece of my heart with my family here at home.<\/p>\n

I am so lucky though that I am able to return to London to a job that I love. I never stop giving thanks and showing gratitude for that. So I am even more grateful that this weekend I have so many great shows, including a launch of a Todays Special Value from Dyson on Friday evening. It\u2019s the Dyson V11 Animal Cordless Vacuum Cleaner<\/a>. With its digital V11 motor and an LCD screen, it is designed to deep clean homes with pets! You get up to 60 minutes of fade free power so you really can take this wherever cleaning is needed, regardless of whether you are near a power socket or not! I\u2019ve use this myself at home and it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest corbels vacuums on the market.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Like all things designed by Dyson, it has such a beautiful, sleek aesthetic and is perfect for picking up animal hair, dust and debris everywhere in your home!<\/p>\n

It is also available to pre-order right now<\/a> on the website with a saving of nearly \u00a3100 compared to our regular QVC price and available on five, yes five, Easy Pay interest-free instalments.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Why not join me for the pre-launch at 9pm on Friday 21st May and then again on Saturday 22nd at 5pm? It would be lovely to have your company.<\/p>\n

Then on Sunday 23rd May at 5pm, I have a full hour of Korres<\/a> who are also bringing us a Today’s Special Value. I love these guys and this brand. With this Today’s Special Value they are giving us the opportunity to try several of their great fragrances in one go.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

There are three fragrances in total including a brand new Chamomile Tea fragrance as well as their bestselling Sea Salt and one that is perfect for summer, the crisp, fruity, Red Apple fragrance.<\/p>\n

Each fragrance comes in a Shower Gel and a Body Cream so you can subtly fragrance layer, which in my opinion as a fragrance lover is one of the best ways to wear your fragrance in the summertime! You could also easily divide this into three great indulgent gifts.<\/p>\n

All of that and we also have an Auto Delivery option too where you can get the entire Todays Special Value, at the same price, delivered to you again in 60 days, so you never need to run out!<\/p>\n

Join me in Sunday at 5pm for that!<\/p>\n

Time for me to start packing and saying goodbye to this lush and verdant land that is home. I also need to say goodbye to the cows who have become so accustomed to seeing me running, and taking pics of them this week. I\u2019ll be winging my way across the skies today and onto your screens tomorrow (Friday).<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Until then, take care of yourselves (and any of your older relatives too).<\/p>\n

Miceal Xxx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a famous event that is held each year in the town of Pamplona in Spain in which bulls are run through the streets and locals and tourists run ahead of them in a display of brovado and with a hit of adrenaline. It\u2019s a tradition that has gone on for many years. Indeed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[265,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106236"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106236"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106482,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106236\/revisions\/106482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}