Charity Donations

We were very pleased to present the Piam Brown Childrens’ Cancer ward at Southampton General Hospital with a cheque for £210. The photo shows Karina giving the cheque to Jane Buchanan the Funding and Events Manager at the Piam Brown Ward.

We were also able to give money for a swing to a young patient recovering from Leukaemia, donate a sum to Great Ormonde Street Hospital and purchase a well, buckets and soap for a village in Africa.

In 2010 we hope to raise more money through Craft and Gift Fairs.

Thank you to all those people who supported us in this endeavour  - it really is worthwhile.

xx

New Stock

Gorgeous new stock has arrived! Brand new sterling silver pendants and earrings in Blue Topaz and Amethyst along with Pearls, Garnets and Tanzanite are amongst the latest jewellery on offer this Spring (yes it is already Spring in the Milford Designs collection).

This year we also have the attractive large gemstone bracelets in sterling silver which are the latest fashion to add to your wardrobe.

This year’s colours are bright, loud and gaudy in pinks, blues, reds and turquoise. This is reflected in our latest range of scarves.

Contact us if you want a party or a personal shopping event - it really is worth it.

See you soon.

xx

Red Red Robin

With the huge amount of snow that fell on us last week the birds in my garden were desperate for food. I sat down with a cup of coffee (actually several cups) and watched the birds over a period of about 2 hours as I did my paperwork. It was fascinating to see how many different birds visited.   I counted twenty- one varieties of birds altogether. Here’s the list:

• Thrush
• Blackbird
• Starling
• Blue Tit
• Coal Tit
• Great Tit
• Long tailed Tit
• Chaffinch
• Dunnock
• Robin
• House Sparrow
• Tree Sparrow
• Wren
• Jay
• Nuthatch
• Collared Dove
• Wood Pigeon
• Gold Crest
• Bull Finch
• Chaffinch
• Greenfinch

Unfortunately I was not able to take photos of all of them, so I will just show you Rufus - the Robin.

I was feeding them sunflower kernels, peanuts, niger seeds and a wildbird seed mixture. As well as the birds I have, today, watched my local squirrel taking the peanuts and burying them under the apple tree.

Wherever you are please remember to feed the birds  - it is as fascinating as having an aviary in the garden.

See you soon.

xx

Party Feedback

Thank you for all your feedback about parties and stock. We have slept on these ideas and developed them. Party hosts will now receive a free gift PLUS a £10 gift voucher for use at future events. The host will also receive a £20 discount PLUS £5 discount for every party booked on the night. (Some hostesses have been receiving up to £70 discount!). For your guests there will be bottles of Bucks Fizz and a party bag to take home with them PLUS they will receive up to 40% discount on some items if they book a party on the night. In addition hostesses, who have already had a party, will be receiving a more expensive free gift at their next party.

Following your feedback we also now have in stock some more expensive jewellery items for that special occasion or person. The stock is always changing so if you see an item you like, it may not be there next time! However we can provide a personal gift shopping service if there is that special something, you have always wanted, we can usually find it for you. AND if you want a personal shopping experience we can also provide that at a time to suit you -  so you can decide on items at your leisure.

It has been brilliant working with and for so many lovely people this first year and I hope to see some of you before Christmas. If you don’t manage to see me then do have a Happy Christmas and a brilliant start to the New Year.

xx

October Update

We have just received our new stock of pendants, bracelets and rings for Christmas as well as tea-lights from Germany. I always get excited when I receive new stock - like a child with a new toy - the pieces are so lovely.

If you are thinking of booking a party before Christmas please email me as soon as possible as places are now limited.

See you soon.

xx

Wonderful Sights

Last year my son had the opportunity to visit a friend in Orlando and it just so happened that a space launch had been re-scheduled. They got up very early and travelled to Cape Canaveral where the Dawn Space Probe was being launched. The nearest they could watch was on the beach 5 miles away.

Just as the sun rose, washing the waves in early morning light, the engines fired and there was a bright light followed a few seconds later by a thunderous roar.

As the rocket took off, there was an optical illusion, it appeared to be curving into the sky but it was actually going straight up - the curvature of the Earth made it look as though it was arching across the sky.

Have you had any wonderful experiences? Write and tell me about it.

See you soon.

xx

Empty Nest? Time for you

I was thinking of all those people who have just become empty nesters because their son or daughter have just gone to university, college, gap year etc. A few years ago I was also in that position. There are some people who would welcome the space, some who couldn’t care but I bet for the majority there is a heartache which was once filled by your child. If you are going through these feelings, speaking as someone who has been through this twice, time will make it better and you will be surprised that you will start to enjoy your new found freedom. You will grow in ways you never imagined and, by the time the child returns, they will be a different person and so will you. Your relationship will have changed, just as it did when you waved them off to school when they were five years old, and it’s something to look forward to.

I am not intending to counsel anyone but I found that all of a sudden I rediscovered the local library - so much so I now devour books - sometimes reading what I call ‘chewing gum’ books in which I don’t have to think to hard about the plot but thoroughly enjoy the writing and others with a little more bite. My personal taste has always been non-fiction books of any kind from science to biographies. I also read several books at a time depending on what I feel like.

At the moment I am reading ‘The Beach House’ by Jane Green

A wonderfully ‘comfortable’ read with real characters.

The other book (non-fiction) is ‘The Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell

This book leads you along sociological paths to discover how successful people have evolved from differing backgrounds.

So if you feel like someone who needs to rediscover themselves try reading!

See you soon.

xx

New Forest Drift

Today was the day of the New Forest Drift (round-up) in my part of the New Forest. All the ponies are rounded up and checked each year. Each pony is wormed and branded and their tails are partly cut in half which denotes that they come from this area of the New Forest.

It is quite a spectacle to see all the horses running and driven into specific corrals by people standing in the roads and horsemen galloping behind them. The new foals are sold - many for riding ponies and then, when the agisters are happy with the condition of the ponies, they are released back onto their feeding grounds.

See you soon.

xx

Lost Cat

Last week I was just helping my son get ready for the new university semester and we found by tea time that Pebbles had not turned up! In fact she had not turned up for lunch either! Worried we went around the village calling her name. By 7 pm I decided to ask the neighbours if they had seen her. No-one had.

It was at that moment I realised what a huge part of our family life she is. I was listening out for her bell running after me from gardens that we passed but there was nothing - however all the other neighbourhood cats came to see me. I met a black kitten, a ginger tom and a white and tabby female - they didn’t know where Pebbles was either. Had she left home? Did we not love her enough? Had she been catnapped - because she is so beautiful.

At 8pm I returned home to find she was there rubbing against me and purring fit to burst. Someone (!) who shall remain nameless had been looking for things in the cupboard under the stairs - a place where everything is stuffed - old shoes, suitcases, a old rug, holdalls etc etc - you must have a place like it - and that someone had found what they wanted, turned round and in that short space of time Pebbles had sneaked into the cupboard (to look for mice - obviously) and someone who is now in the doghouse had closed the door leaving Pebbles in the dark. No doubt she looked for mice and then settled down to sleep for the next few hours. It was only when she started pounding on the door (with her paws made into fists no doubt) that she was finally heard.

So all’s well in this family  - the final member completes the jigsaw. She hadn’t left home and she has forgiven us.

See you soon.

xx

Thoughts on being a grockle

I thought I would walk along with the tourists (grockles in this part of the world) so I went down to Lymington Quay - past the shop that sells shellfish, where a local cat queues along with the people - but he’s no good when it comes to paying for the prawns he likes.

I walked down along the cobbled street until I reached the quay where people were eating lunches, children were throwing crab lines into the water and others were eating ice creams.

If you wait by the quay you might see the elderly train trundle down to the ferry terminal taking people to and from the Isle of Wight.

Or if you want a smaller boat you can have a boat trip along Lymington River into the stretch of water that separates the mainland from the Isle of Wight.

Of course you can always moor your boat in the river and take your dinghy out to your mooring.

A friend of mine spent 22 years climbing on and off her boat, from a dingy, and now she is older she was wondering how much longer she could do this - then good news she got a mooring alongside one of the jetties.

So no more balancing in small boats.

See you soon.

xx