{"id":109898,"date":"2021-09-24T09:50:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T08:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=109898"},"modified":"2021-09-24T10:55:12","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T09:55:12","slug":"staycation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/julia-roberts\/staycation\/","title":{"rendered":"Staycation"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know some people get a little irritated by the term \u2018staycation\u2019 when referring to holidaying in the UK rather than going abroad, but we truly did stay \u2018at home\u2019 for the three days of annual leave I took last week, although once the weather perked up, we did manage to get to the beach on a couple of occasions \u2013 more on that in a moment.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been busy doing some more \u2018jobs around the house\u2019 in readiness for our new lounge sofas which, although a little later than expected, are due to arrive on Monday. It will be minus the co-ordinating scatter cushions, but that\u2019s another story! We decided it would be a good idea to repaint the lounge as it had started to look a bit \u2018tired\u2019, but we have kept it the same colour, which we both love, and which will complement the yellow of the sofas (fingers crossed). We managed to get that done in an afternoon, although towards the latter stages we were both flagging a bit. It was definitely worth it, as it looks much fresher now, and it also spurred us on to have a rearrangement of pictures on the walls. I\u2019ll take some photos for my next blog once the sofas are in place.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

One of the pictures we moved was the gorgeous print Sophie had done for us as a wedding present, with Chris and I sat on the end of the jetty in Mauritius the day after our beach wedding. To one side of it is our latest anniversary present from Sophie and Reece. Those of you who read my blog regularly may remember that for our first wedding anniversary, which is paper, Sophie had the lyrics of the Shania Twayne song that she sang for us printed up in hearts and framed \u2013 I love it! Continuing the theme, the second anniversary is cotton, apparently, and she had this made for us. I must confess it took me a while to realise what it was, but once you know, it is clearly the outline of the island of Mauritius with the heart over the location of the hotel where we were married. What a thoughtful and ingenious gift, which has deservedly taken its place next to our wedding gift on the purple wall of the family room.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

On the other side of the wedding gift, I have finally put photos in my Julien Macdonald<\/a> mirrored frames, which I bought back in May and Chris has hung them. I think we\u2019ll probably change the photos from time to time to always keep them interesting, but I\u2019m happy with the selection for now.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been doing quite a bit of sorting out and organising in my time off\u2026 you know, the sort of stuff you keep leaving for another day, but it irritates you because you know it needs doing. The shredder has been very busy after attacking my filing cabinet and I also went through a lot of photos that haven\u2019t yet made it into albums. I thought I\u2019d share a couple with you.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

You may have heard me mention a tiny kitten called Charlie who we had to hand-rear after discovering him in the back of an old washing machine. These photos were actually taken when we\u2019d had him for around three weeks. You can see how tiny he is by the size of his play mouse.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

In the same envelope of photos, I found these photos of me circa 1980 taken on a beach near Margate where Chris was doing summer season with Jim Davidson. I made the dress by the way, and the Broderie Anglaise trimmed petticoat which I used to wear showing just beneath the hemline, which was the style at the time \u2013 really it was, you ask Glen Campbell.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

There\u2019s no denying I\u2019ve always been a bit of a beach \u2018bum\u2019 which makes the success of my latest book even more satisfying. I came across photos of me as \u2018the woman on the beach\u2019 in locations as far flung as Hong Kong and the Bahamas, as well as much closer to home like the ones above. My latest one below was taken at Goring by Sea, near Worthing on Tuesday of this week.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

We returned there on Wednesday as it was another sunny day, but this time we had a guest. We were puppy-sitting Quin, Dan and Katie\u2019s dog and he had a whale of a time digging in the sand and dragging Chris up and down the pebbly shoreline. We\u2019re puppy-sitting again on Sunday, but we\u2019ll be playing host to Sophie and Reece\u2019s puppy, Baxter this time. I say \u2018we\u2019, but technically it will be Chris, as I\u2019m working at QVC on Sunday.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

I have an hour of L\u2019Occitane<\/a> at 11am, which includes the Today’s Special Value. For the first time there are two \u2018female\u2019 and two \u2018male\u2019 choices, but we\u2019re not the scent police so you just go for whatever appeals to your sense of smell. As always, it\u2019s a really good offer and would make fabulous Christmas gifts if you\u2019re trying to get organised early this year. My other hour on Sunday is 1pm and it’s Joules<\/a> \u2013 a coincidence, as that is the brand of our sofas arriving on Monday.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to get my 3rd Covid jab (the booster) as my local health authority invited me early because of my Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia. Funnily enough, it was on World CML Day, the 22nd September, selected because chromosomes 9 and 22 mutate to cause this type of leukaemia. It\u2019s my 10th World CML Day since being diagnosed in 2012 and I\u2019m grateful for each one I\u2019ve celebrated. It\u2019s thanks to charities like Cure Leukaemia and Blood Cancer UK who tirelessly raise funds for research into new types of treatment and more effective drugs, that people like me can live a near normal life \u2013 they are amazing.<\/p>\n

Speaking of charity, I\u2019m hosting an event next Tuesday to raise funds for the South-East Cancer Help Centre, who are there for people coping with cancer. It\u2019s obviously close to my heart as I know how shocking it is to receive any kind of cancer diagnosis, whatever the prognosis.<\/p>\n

And then next Friday it is QVC\u2019s 28th birthday \u2013 goodness me, where has the time gone? I thought I\u2019d finish with a photo of the original presenters from the 1993 Christmas card. It\u2019s all very different in today\u2019s world, but I hope you\u2019ve embraced all the changes just as I have.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Much love until next time,<\/p>\n

Julia xx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know some people get a little irritated by the term \u2018staycation\u2019 when referring to holidaying in the UK rather than going abroad, but we truly did stay \u2018at home\u2019 for the three days of annual leave I took last week, although once the weather perked up, we did manage to get to the beach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":109909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[247,21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nStaycation | Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/julia-roberts\/staycation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Staycation | Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I 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