{"id":111406,"date":"2021-11-19T16:00:56","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T16:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=111406"},"modified":"2021-11-19T09:03:45","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T09:03:45","slug":"bean-stew-with-beadle-and-sneaky-peeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/debbie-flint\/bean-stew-with-beadle-and-sneaky-peeks\/","title":{"rendered":"Bean stew with Beadle and sneaky peeks!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, I went to see a clever acupuncture and herbal medicine lady called Ivy, in a Chinese therapist in Sanderstead, just round the corner from my brother Glenn. So when I was done, had relaxed and been treated, I popped in to see my kid brother, whose nickname was Beadle when he was a baby! Beadle Grumpling, ha ha. It is nice to catch up with him whenever I can, having had so many years of staying with him and his family after I moved to Devon in 2016, and that only ended when lockdown began and I got my own flat near Mum. \u00a0Anyway, I really miss our little catch-ups. He is a lot like my dad was, I have to say, which \u00a0is lovely. \ud83d\ude42 Glenn had made some amazing bean stew and it was really hearty and warm. Had a nice chat to my sister-in-law, Boki, as well.<\/p>\n

Funny situation for me, this “being warm” thing. You may have heard me say on-air \u00a0just recently that I\u2019ve been sleeping in my bed socks (the Muk Luks<\/strong> aloe vera-infused Sherpa socks!) and even wearing a little cardigan in bed, so I\u2019m lovely and warm, even if I always have a slightly colder bedroom. Well, the acupuncture lady said how important it is for me to keep my body warm, and pointed at my ankles. I often go without socks, but I definitely feel the cold nowadays, so this week I\u2019ve been wrapping myself up a bit warmer. And to be honest, I feel so much better!<\/p>\n

We also talked about the timing of my meals and what I actually ate, and I\u2019m finding that if I don\u2019t eat after midnight and wake up a little bit hungrier, things seem to feel a bit better in my body. Now you might think that that is teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, after all, \u00a0doesn\u2019t everybody know that? Well, over the years, I have gone from having a very unhealthy relationship with food, to learning “freedom eating” thanks to a self-help product that was on QVC in around 1998\/99, and transforming how I feel about my own limiting beliefs around meal times. Basically, it meant listen to your body and act accordingly, as documented in my \u2018Till the Fat Lady Slims\u2019 book (that we sold on QVC once). But\u2026 everything changed in menopause, especially over the last three or four years (and, of course, running a part-time tearoom in Devon didn\u2019t help!). So it was lovely to revisit it all with Ivy and her recommendations to help my tummy bloating seem to be working well so far. Have also been drinking a lot more fluids, including the herbal drink specially created for me, which tastes a bit like celery, turmeric and cinnamon (yuck, I know!) Mind you, it doesn\u2019t help when I have to do chocolates on QVC because I definitely find myself wanting more the next day as well! Doesn\u2019t stop me enjoying it though!<\/p>\n

The big Hotel Chocolat<\/strong> coffee maker is here this weekend, too – see below! Would go very well with fluffy milk made in their Velvetiser, don\u2019t you think? I\u2019ll be launching it tonight (Friday 19th). Hard life!<\/p>\n

Ha-Harrr Blake-lad!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n

(Okay, that doesn\u2019t quite work. If anybody remembers a pirate program, Treasure Island possibly? Where the main peg-leg pirate used to say “a-ha Jim lad”! What was that program called?) Anyway, I looked after granddaughter Blake and her lovely little baby “brudda” Kaleb while son Brad and my daughter-in-law Kari went out last weekend for Kari\u2018s birthday. Blake wanted to play – a lot. First with her Lego playhouse, then her Barbies, then crayons and letters, then to play dress up, then play Pop-Up Pirate. It was very full on! Do you remember this game? (Blake is not a social media baby, so no pictures of her but this was us playing!) Quite old school and the closest to the sort of thing we played with his kids, remember things like Buckaroo and Ker-plunk?!! She has a great imagination and it was really good fun. So was her little baby brother\u2026<\/p>\n

Little Kaleb, aged two months, is an absolutely beaming baby and has such a sunny nature. It\u2019s just adorable when he tries to talk to you in baby goo-goo language, and he is growing fast. In the 94th percentile in most of the measurements, (you know – how they see how babies are getting on?), which makes it look like he\u2019ll be quite a big boy. Brad is 6′ but Kari is only 5′ tall! Glad I bought him a load of baby grows recently – Kaleb, not Brad ha ha.<\/p>\n

Not long now ’til Lolly comes down with Phoebe and we all have our family Christmas, two weekends time in fact, gosh how time has flown – we are nearly in December!<\/p>\n

Snippets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julien\u2019s fashions on a day full of stars<\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n

What a day we had last Monday, not only was Dannii Minogue<\/strong> on all day with her Today’s Special Value jumper, and Amanda Holden<\/strong> launched her vintage wall sign in the evening, but Julien Macdonald<\/strong> was here with his clothes. My goodness, he knows about fashion and I really enjoyed my show with him. Go here<\/a> to see the Big Deal jumper I am wearing – if it\u2019s still available, and shop his fashion range here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What with all the big brand beauty we are getting now, including a new Estee Lauder<\/strong> deal, see below, and all the fabulous big-name guests, QVC is definitely the place to shop!<\/p>\n

Lemon aid<\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n

My lemon tree is coming on leaps and bounds. This is the one that lovely friend and helper Nicola gave me when she left to go back to South Africa, after helping me in Devon with the tea room and the dogs, a couple of years ago. Well this year, I have eight lemons on it! One of them is just going yellow and it\u2019s tiny, while the others are quite big and green so far, but nowhere near ripe. I think it may be Richard Jackson’s<\/strong> plant food<\/a> which has helped. Look at the spider plant next to it! Did you know it was good for house plants as well? These really love the brightness of my lounge windows, floor to ceiling and the ceiling is 11 foot high!<\/p>\n

Hospital number 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n

This week, I was back in yet another hospital for yet another check-up, but don\u2019t worry, all is well. Having started taking HRT, I got a resumption of menstruation, which apparently can happen so the doctor just popped me along to Leatherhead hospital for a little examination with a camera and apparently everything is fine. Reminded me of having my babies though! LOL. I\u2019ve never been to Leatherhead hospital before, and it\u2019s quite a nice cottage-type hospital and\u2026 No charge for parking! Wow, I couldn\u2019t believe it! This is the one that I would have gone to had I continued volunteering when they moved the vaccination centre there from Epsom Grandstand. If I was getting another job, I would definitely book that venue, very easy to get to and very nice staff! After my Epsom hospital trip for cellulitis from that insect bite, and St George’s and Saint Thomas’ for my detached retina, Leatherhead makes 4! Bit of a pain this getting older lark, isn\u2019t it?! I never even used to go to the doctors at all ever! Oh well, better than the alternative, right?<\/p>\n

Diamonique bee jewellery competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another one to watch out for – lots of you know I have put my name to a few bee jewellery designs, find those in stock here<\/a>. Well there\u2019s going to be a little competition soon, where you could win some of the bee jewellery, what a lovely present for yourself for Christmas that would be if you won! Details next week, don\u2019t miss it!<\/p>\n

Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I had a little bit of a film fest. First I went to see Mothering Sunday, and then I went to see Spencer. One after the other \ud83d\ude42 and I grabbed a nice coffee and a sandwich in between. I needed it because I\u2019d had a busy week, and this was my first day off in ages, and I enjoyed it. However, they were both quite depressing ha ha.<\/p>\n

We know the story of Princess Diana, well, Spencer is based around one Christmas at Sandringham just before she split up with Prince Charles, and I really could not get past Kristen Stewart playing Diana, rather than thinking I was watching the Princess of Wales on the screen. I\u2019m glad I watched it, I wouldn\u2019t watch it again, but I liked when some of the events happened that I remember for real originally. It is however almost entirely based at Sandringham, with some interesting peripheral (mostly fictional) characters.<\/p>\n

Mothering Sunday is jam-packed full of amazing actors including Colin Firth, Olivia Colman and Josh O\u2019Connor (Prince Charles in The Crown). It\u2019s a story of a house maid\u2019s affair with the young gentleman of the house, in an era just after the First World War when several of the families had lost their sons. There is lots of crying, and there\u2019s even more smoking. (There seemed to be so many scenes where it featured watching cigarettes being lit and puffed on! Extraordinary and a little irksome. I can\u2019t stand smoking). However, there was some brilliant acting in it. Again I\u2019m glad I saw it but I won\u2019t see it again. 7.5 for both.<\/p>\n

Podcast<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week, Will caught up with Alison Wagoner from Beekman 1802<\/strong>. Next week, you can catch him chatting to\u00a0Michaela Taylor of Gatineau<\/strong>. You can listen to all the podcasts here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vlog<\/strong><\/p>\n

Head on over to my Facebook page<\/a> to see my autumn leaves vlog this week, kicking up the fallen foliage in Banstead Woods and the gorgeous hues of November. Also just below it you will see a little blooper type post about a mince pie challenge, one which my sister helped me along with! She is so funny sometimes! Don\u2019t forget to follow my social media to see much more of this type of thing, plus early warning about things going on on QVC!<\/p>\n

Book of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n

I must recommend Murder on the Pier, if you love a 1950s cosy crime in the Agatha Christie vein, which transports you to the gentle days gone by in a quaint Sussex village, in book two of the series. Flora and Jack and their fellow villagers are chasing after criminals and murderers again. Talk about a lady in peril! Well done Merryn Allingham, nice work!!<\/p>\n

QVC top deals for the next seven days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong> (today) – go here<\/a> to see and buy what\u2019s left of the lovely WynneLayers<\/strong> luxe quilted reversible jacket.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong> – very excited about my 9pm and midnight launch tonight (Friday 19th) of the new Hotel<\/strong> Chocolat<\/strong> coffee machine with 20 coffee capsules and clever eco-press that separates the capsules afterwards so you can actually recycle these ones, which makes a change! You can use the Hotel<\/strong> Chocolat<\/strong> coffee capsules or use the Nespresso ones too. Really looking forward to seeing this work! Exciting too, as it’s the world launch, and it’s with us here first! Go here<\/a> now though to buy it. Here is Marissa showing me it when we met recently. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\"\"\n

And look out for a really special day on Saturday<\/strong> 20th, when QVC Unwrapped hits the screens. Lots of behind-the-scenes stuff and the cameras going where no cameras usually dare to go! I\u2019ll be contributing with a Facebook live at about 9:20pm, talking about the L’Occitane<\/strong> TSV. Oh my goodness, it\u2019s an amazing body care gift bundle (see below). Get ready to send those comments to me on our Facebook Live post on our QVC Facebook page. In particular if you could sift and gift, which three would you keep and which would you gift?<\/p>\n