Here we are, already five days into 2024, which cheers me as I’ve always been a little superstitious about years that have odd numbers in them!  Does that make me odd?  Probably, and a little daft too, because last year couldn’t have been better really, with our two family weddings, and my foray into the world of retirement!  So how was your Christmas?  I know that some of you were with family, and others spent the festive period on holiday, so I really hope it all went according to plan and you were truly relaxed by the time we hit the countdown for New Year?  

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Here we are – just a couple of days away from Christmas and I’ve still got a list as long as my arm of things to do!! How can that be?  😊  That said, at least the tree is up, I only have four more presents to wrap, and I’ve finished writing my shopping list for the Christmas food so not too shabby.  The housework can wait until tomorrow as the family don’t arrive until the 23^rd!

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I thought I would start this week’s blog with a quote from Shakespeare, not just in deference to the BBC’s ongoing tribute to the Bard’s monumental talent, but because I have been entertained right royally this last month in a myriad of different ways! And of course many of us will take up the role as we entertain our families and friends for Christmas – what are your plans? Thank as always for continuing to support me here on the blog – I so enjoy hearing about your lives and it’s even nicer that we can keep in touch in the interim via Instagram and Facebook. I was staggered to see the response to some of my more recent posts and it really does cheer me to feel so connected to you.. 

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Hi there, I do hope you enjoyed the rest of October, and I imagine you’re as shocked as I am to hear that there are only seven weeks to go until Christmas!   I bought myself an Air Fryer Christmas Recipe magazine that I’ve been poring over this last week and am hoping to make my own mincemeat and Christmas pudding this year – do you make your own or buy them?

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There’s a fantastic quote from Benjamin Franklin: “You may delay but time will not!’  and by crikey that’s true!   Last time I wrote to you, we were two days away from the second of our big family weddings and now it’s just a memory, but WHAT a memory! How lucky are we to have witnessed both our sons marrying their loves in the same year 😊 More on that in just a moment.  

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Well it’s been at least a couple of weeks since I last wrote, but I did want to thank you as always for keeping in touch here on the blog.  I loved hearing all about your holidays, the house renovations, and getting a few more TV and book recommendations.  Thanks also to Gillian for her fabulous memory of flying on Concorde while working for British Airways, it’s so good to share these things 😊

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Hello there and thank you very much for the overwhelming response to my first two blogs of the year! It meant so much to me to hear from you after all this time and to know that life continues to be pretty good for most of us, with some marvelous milestones achieved by others – congratulations!

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Welcome! So glad you’ve found me here on my new website and I hope you’ll enjoy this week’s missive. Fingers crossed all is well in your world and you’ve seen a bit of sunshine? Hard to believe we’re through July already – a month that’s been far more grey and wet than most of us would have liked! And that’s what I’ve always loved about being lucky enough to holiday abroad – the promise of sunshine for at least a week!

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And just like that… I’m retired after 23 years of presenting at QVC!  Even now I struggle to get my head around retirement, as it always seemed to be something other people did!  As far back as I can remember I’ve always worked: I started a paper round when I was nine, worked the weekends and school holidays in my teens, and had my first ‘proper’ job in London when I was 16 years old.  

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