Regular readers (hello Mum!) will know how much I love short stories. So imagine my dancing feet when I heard that Penguin were publishing two volumes of collections of short stories this month.
Continue reading The Penguin Book of the British Short Story
Autumn fashion continues apace but this time in full evening mode.
Continue reading Autumn Lookbook Part Two
What to wear on spectacularly dreary Autumn days is a point to ponder. In times of sartorial uncertainty (and when I need to smile) I consult my homemade book of fashion maxims written by yours truly, c. 15 years ago. It tells me: ‘Grey weather does not mean we forgo style’. Not a greatly poetic line, but we’ll take it, as it’s certainly workable.
When White Stuff asked me if I fancied picking a few pieces following my visit to their new Guildford store, I swooned with joy at the opportunity to work a little style into a grey November Sunday!
Continue reading Autumn Lookbook Part One
‘November skin’ – that’s a thing, right?
At least there’s something about finding ourselves firmly knee deep in Autumn (wearing boots up to the knees) that makes me think about skincare in more nuanced ways… with plenty of scope for luxury.
Continue reading November Skin
Every so often a shop opening attracts my attention, like the sound of a champagne cork popping in the next room, or a bright pullulating firework in the distance.
Continue reading White Stuff in Guildford
There is nothing tentative about this perfume. It’s like hosting a party at your pulse points. Plucky notes include ginseng (so uplifting, very important for November), a fresh zing from aloe vera and an almost woody horsetail trail that synergize into a striking and energetic scent.
Continue reading Clarins Eau Dynamisante
The Letters of Note family has expanded again!
I feel like an excitable gazelle clutching my copy of ‘More Letters of Note’: a beautiful book bursting with letters from favourite writers like Katherine Mansfield, Henry James and Sylvia Plath; a message from actor Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor; a curious note from Mozart to his wife Marianne… and that’s just for starters!
Continue reading More Letters of Note Review
I like to alight from a hectic week by setting a scented candle alight.
Continue reading Rituals, Ritual
Leftover food should not be an afterthought (especially when we’re talking about a particularly generous Sunday roast beef joint that I had for luncheon the other day.) Save what you can’t manage and allow to cool before refrigerating and livening up in a thick soup the next day. Dabble with a ladle, sluice your soup bowl and let flavourful frugality prevail!
Continue reading Beef Up Your Soup!
Some are busy spiralizing courgettes to make courgetti dishes (a portmanteau most succulent). Others use their spiralizers for carrots to bring style to quinoa.
So it’s with a cheeky felicity that I proffer these Chocolate Spiral Biscuits for your pudding bowls. (See? Spiral. Phonetically twinned!). Although that’s where the similarity ends.
Continue reading Chocolate Spiral Biscuits
