{"id":95754,"date":"2020-04-24T16:11:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T15:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=95754"},"modified":"2020-05-01T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T13:22:31","slug":"anyone-for-a-cookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/julia-roberts\/anyone-for-a-cookie\/","title":{"rendered":"Anyone for a cookie?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m sure quite a few of you have been doing a little more baking during lockdown, provided you\u2019ve been able to get the ingredients, but I honestly thought it would be me rather than my son, Dan, doing the extra baking! I\u2019ll tell you more about these yummy chocolate chunk and pecan nut cookies later in the blog, but first I wanted to share some of the fabulous shows and events we have on QVC over the coming few days.<\/p>\n

If you watch the gardening shows I present, you will know how much I love my garden, and I feel very fortunate to have had this outdoor space whilst the weather has been so glorious. When I haven\u2019t been working out the plot for the new book I\u2019m about to start writing, I\u2019ve been outside reading and enjoying the sounds and smells around me. This ceanothus attracts the bees so there is the constant industrious hum of them buzzing around while the air is heavily perfumed by my neighbour\u2019s white lilac tree, situated on our border very close to our \u2018al fresco\u2019 dining space.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

We\u2019ve had a few lunches outside, but last night, prior to the \u2018clap for our carers\u2019 at 8 p.m., we had spaghetti bolognese (made with Quorn) accompanied by champagne\u2026 again, I\u2019ll tell you more about that later! Our spring garden has been so pretty with all the de Jager<\/a> bulbs and a couple of days ago I noticed the first signs that our tree fern is about to unfurl its fronds. These furry nodules don\u2019t look particularly promising but I\u2019ll post another picture in a couple of weeks time and I\u2019m pretty sure you will be amazed.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

I have a couple of gardening hours with Micheal Perry tomorrow at 4 and 5\u00a0 p.m., which hopefully will feature the Thompson & Morgan<\/a> Gerbera Today’s Special Value if the stock lasts that long.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Our plants<\/a> having been proving very popular, understandably, as we have a huge variety and we deal with well-regarded growers. All our plants are direct dispatch so they do take a little longer to reach you, 7 – 10 days rather than 3 – 5 and there are occasional slight delays in these difficult times, so please bear with us.<\/p>\n

Talking of these difficult times, thank you so much if you\u2019ve felt able to contribute to our \u2018Giving Back<\/a>\u2019 initiative to help raise money for the National Emergencies Trust to help people in real need at this time. Our initial target was \u00a3125,000 (a donation of \u00a350,000 from QVC, plus a pledge of \u00a32 for every \u00a31 donated by you) but thanks to your generosity, we have now increased that target to \u00a3200,000 – please see the message from His Royal Highness Prince William<\/a> on our website for more information – together we can make a difference.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

So, lots of gardening shows tomorrow, but none on Sunday as it is The Great Beauty Event. We have a Judith Williams<\/a> Today’s Special Value for the day and lots of other favourite beauty brands featuring, including full-hour shows from: Doll 10<\/a>, Perlier<\/a>, Nails Inc<\/a>, Shay & Blue<\/a>, L\u2019Occitane<\/a> and Laura Geller<\/a>. I\u2019ll be with you bright and early at 9 and 10 a.m. Even if you\u2019re fully stocked with beauty products, they make a thoughtful gift for others and can be sent directly to the recipient for birthdays, anniversaries, thank yous and congratulations, which brings me nicely to the cookies and the champagne.<\/p>\n

As well as a full-time role in HR for a well-known department store\/supermarket, Dan\u2019s girlfriend Katie has also been studying for her Level 4 diploma in Paralegal Studies. Not only has she qualified, she has done so with flying colours, finding out this week that she achieved a \u2018Distinction\u2019.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Understandably, Dan is very proud of her and would normally have gone out to buy her some flowers but obviously that\u2019s not possible at the moment, so I came up with the idea of buying iced flower biscuits from an online company I\u2019ve used before. Unfortunately, they couldn\u2019t guarantee a delivery date so Dan said, \u2018let\u2019s make some cookies instead.\u2019 Fortunately, we had all the ingredients and Dan\u2019s first attempt at baking biscuits was as good as his first attempt at coffee and walnut cake a couple of weeks ago – maybe he\u2019s missed his calling! That was also the reason for the champagne celebration with last night\u2019s dinner. Incidentally, the photo of Katie was taken on her birthday before lockdown, in case you were wondering.<\/p>\n

I was also indebted to Katie this week because she coloured my hair for me on Tuesday. I\u2019d been putting it off as I\u2019ve never home-coloured before, but I was starting to run low on Color Wow and anyway, it was starting to get to the point where my \u2018roots’ were almost an inch. She did a really good job, applying with a brush like the professionals do – that should keep me going for a few weeks!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve now run out of my self-published full-length novels to offer for free on your Kindle, so tomorrow\u2019s offering will be the very unseasonal \u2018Christmas at Carol\u2019s\u2019 novella. At around 20,000 words – it won\u2019t take you long to read and might transport you back to happier times before the current upheaval started.<\/p>\n