What a lovely edition we have this week. I watched Caroline Quentin on Lorraine talking about her new gardening book ‘Drawn to the Garden’ and I can honestly say after looking at her Instagram and hearing her talk about her love of gardening I had horticultural pangs of jealously.

How lovely to be celebrating the colour red in this week’s magazine and it’s not Christmas!

I love red it’s a standout colour that certainly gets you noticed, what I refer to, together with any other bright block colour, a ‘Mail Online’ dead cert. Translated that means if you’re attending an ‘event’ and want to make the picture desk cut, go bright or go home.

If I could put back into my bank account, the money over the years I’ve spent looking for the prefect foundation I could have a weekend in Paris and take you all with me!

If there is one question on my Instagram that pops up again and again its ‘What foundation do you use?’ The problem is, that when we look at women’s faces in magazines promoting foundation, they haven’t been entirely honest.

How fabulous to read our lovely article about Olivia Colman. the woman’s humility when it comes to her exceptional body of work is beyond endearing. Going to the cinema is one of my favourite outings and the other night while watching ‘Argyle’ the trailer came on for her new film ‘Wicked Little Letters’, it looks hilarious, if you can get beyond the language, I’ll definitely be there with my popcorn giggling away.

Date night dinners how fabulous but just for a laugh I’m showing you a picture Mark took of me at ours – How romantic? Surrounded by building materials, an old kitchen door balanced on a box for a table, candle lit, music on, what could be better? Well, a new kitchen actually!

Well, I’m planning on a big mug of tea and possibly a ginger biscuit to help me concentrate on our piece about Bath. I’ve driven through but never stayed. There was always a rumour that The Royal Crescent was the backdrop for the wonderful ‘Who Will Buy’ scene in Oliver.

So, who has The Winter Blues? I used to have them but now, due to two reasons, not so much in fact I celebrate the six months we spend in drizzle, rain and the cold.

I’m the magazine reader who goes straight for recipes before anything else, I poke around Instagram for recipes, love Waitrose monthly magazine, new paper and instore ideas cards so intrigued by Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone.

When the world is trying to tell you something listen and recognise the signs. 

What do I see covered in this week’s magazine? Slow cookers and recipes. 

My Father was lamenting the demise of his, I replied, “Do you need one” And two friends, one a young male TV executive who doesn’t fit the slow cooker person profile I had in my head was talking about his like he’d just been gifted a Porsche 911. He went into minute detail about his favourite recipes, how he rose early to lovingly load his slow cooker before leaving for his commute into town. On returning he had the excitement of knowing he had a meal waiting for him and as he put the key in the door there was a slight whiff in the house, coupled with his cat (left by an ex-girlfriend) and Alexa of ‘home coming’. I was flabbergasted at his excitement but totally got it and now researching them so I can present one to my father for his January Birthday and buy one for myself.

I know we should never wish our life away but as soon as boxing day is over, I’ve mentally zapped to 2024. If I could wiggle my nose like Samantha from Bewitched, decorations would be flying in unison back into their see through plastic stackable boxes into the loft. And with the hatch shut I’d just be a couple of fireworks away from seeing in the New Year and getting on with it.

As we speed up to Christmas all I can see is the remains of our kitchen becoming less and less with the new one not being fitted until January 24. We live in a town house so living space is tricky at the moment, it’s a little like camping in your own home, but amazing what you can achieve with a kettle, toaster, Vitamix (makes and heats its own soup) hot sandwich press, single hot plate electric hob and an electric wok. Renovations are always a nightmare worse if you have children to consider but as it’s just the two of us, as long as we can sleep, wash and eat we’re good.

Well, it really is the time of the year when families get together but also that dreaded time you find the words leaving your mouth “Come round to ours for something to eat” and as you say it you know unless you’re an old hand at the art of entertaining and totally set up for fine dining it’s going to take time and effort. Or does it? Thank fully our article about ‘How to host like a pro’ has just slipped in to save your sausage but I’m going to add a few of my own thoughts because once in my life I wrote a book called ‘How to Entertain With Style’

The outside temperature dropped a little this week and I very nearly put the heating on, but as my father’s voice ranging in my ears, decided against it.

In an interview I’m not normally stuck for words but this week I was and although I spluttered out an appropriate answer in the end, I’m still thinking about it.

Slightly on the same subject, how many times do you say words to the effect “Just going to do some vacuuming” I seldom use the word ‘vacuum’ I say ‘Hoover’ yet like Sellotape and Kleenex they are product names we’ve appropriated over the years into a verb.

Hope you’re enjoying the various bursts of September heat. My two favourite months are May and September and both so far have not let me down. But guess who the pessimist was and put her fans, including the dog’s cool matt, in the loft?!

I am so happy we are talking in the magazine this week about Feng Shui.

An interior designer friend of mine back in the 90’s introduced me to this Chinese concept of establishing harmony between ourselves and our environment by harnessing the positive flow of energy within and outside of our homes.

Hope you are enjoying our bumper edition of My Weekly. I’ve done what we all do which is to flick through and get an overall impression, knowing I’m going to return and soak in properly everything our paper treasure box has to offer

 Well, after chatting a few weeks ago about plastering logos all over our clothes and accessories you can only imagine how glad I am to see a much larger article in our magazine which include some of those thoughts.