‘Did we enter a prize draw?’ said Adrian, wandering into the bedroom vaguely waving a piece of paper. (gotta love the royal ‘we’…he never enters anything!)‘Yeah. We did. Why?’
‘Well, looks like we’ve won something.’
And so we have. A two-night stay at The Mullion Cove Hotel on The Lizard in Cornwall. Veeery nice. Very nice indeed. I’ve been trying to materialise a free/cheap as chips summer holiday for all of us but, once again, I haven’t quite pulled it off.
‘I suppose you and James could go,’ said Adrian slowly. Never has man looked quite so dejected. ‘Oh, don’t be a numpty.’
Adrian and I rarely go away together. Come to think of it, we rarely get to talk to one other – despite living in the same house. Maybe it’s Fate. Maybe I got it just right after all. J
And, you know, sometimes it’s the little things that cheer you up, that keep you going. I don’t really want or need anything material but, even so, little surprises, nice things, are…well….nice. A disc arrived in the post today with literally hundreds of pictures from our Israel trip. So, while I should have been working, I spent an hour just scrolling through and smiling. Or, in this case, laughing.
And a pack of Lillipops IcedSoothies. They’re intended for pregnancy really – to help alleviate nausea and the symptoms of morning sickness – but with flavours like grapefruit and tangerine, lemon and mint, chamomile and orange, we’re going to be fighting over them (and no, nobody’s pregnant in this house!).
Also, in the post lately, a pack of Sun Believable self-tan. As regular readers know, I’m deeply (or rather palely) Celtic…skin the colour of ice (or, as an Italian bloke on the beach at Pisa once said: ‘Vous avez le peau comme une bouteille de lait’). Yup, we were speaking in French – don’t ask me why. No, he didn’t get very far with that kind of chat-up line.
Anyhow. I don’t care so much nowadays about the deep tan but sometimes it’s nice not to gleam out too far in the crowd and so I am always on the look-out for a decent self-tan. Last year I was all over Xen-Tan. This year, I do believe Sun Believable has nudged the Warrior Princess aside (and no, News International has nothing whatsoever to do with it – at least, I don’t think so).
And a couple of bottles of Righteous salad dressings (thanks to EnglishMum and her lovely blog). I like this bunch. They’re a small young company, using only natural 100% vegan ingredients. And the two we tried – lemon seed and mustard; ginger and toasted sesame seed - were both delicious. In fact, I have just this moment had a late brunch of white beetroot, red onion and broad beans with the lemon seed and mustard dressing - and very righteous I feel too. 
What else? I’m trialling Dermaquest Skin Therapy – a feather-light serum packed with hyaluronic acid and botanicals (and pleasantly free of unpleasant chemicals). I’ll keep you posted.
I’m still loving the beach bag I was given in Israel by Baram. These guys recycle huge advertisements into bags and book covers and so on. Mine has IRISH BUSH on it, which just amuses me mightily, because I am deeply childish.
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| Mrs I Bush and Rosie on the beach at Tel Aviv |
And if there are any enterprising souls out there, take a look at Gitta Bags (and get them imported to your country PDQ). These are just the neatest bags for parents with babies or young children. We met Hagit, the designer and owner of the company, in Tel Aviv and she gave each of us a bag, taking in account the ages of our children. One opened up to form a changing mat with a baby gym that popped out over the top. Another was a rucksack aimed at small children, with spaces for crayons inside. The imagination, quality and attention to detail are incredible.
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| This isn't the one I've got but it's still pretty neat, huh? |
Okay, so that’s my latest trawl. Small things. Nice things.
