Doggy Poo-chette! Recycled Placemats, Luminous Lamps, Bags Of Style & Picks For the Pops!

Doggy Poo-chette! Recycled Placemats, Luminous Lamps, Bags Of Style & Picks For the Pops! Good Morning Everyone! I hope that you have had a good week and that the sun has shone at least for a little while - next week will be better! I have had a wonderful time in Hove, a little decorating and interior styling (my lovely, new, amber glass vase above!), gardening and cooking - it was the perfect way to re-charge the batteries and what great timing as, I am thrilled to report,  today we re-open our doors!!!!  The government has decided that Homeware stores are now permitted to trade so I shall be behind the till at 9.30 this morning and am so looking forward to seeing our customers again! All of the safety measures are in place (it is most useful that we make our own Hand Sanitiser!) and we are ready to roll. We have rather smart visors too as, when I have visited other stores, I found it hard to understand people wearing masks - plus they are much easier to keep clean and protect the eyes and ears. Lady Ange is threatening to draw inappropriately on mine - honestly you can't get the staff! Although I do realise that it will not be the same as before, I am excited. To be able to chat to people again is a huge step forward and a return, at least in part, to normalcy. I am a gregarious creature by nature and so have found the separation from my fellow man rather bleak. I must resist the urge to make up for lost time and talk too much!. Fingers crossed that we do have some customers and I am not sitting by myself all day! Shop Now - Doggy Poo-chette - £14.00 Now this week we have the most charming new arrivals for dog owners. Discovered at the Design Show in Frankfurt, I wanted to purchase for my friend Emma and her pooch, the lovely Holly(pops) pictured here in a rare moment of calm. This is a large, leather key-ring in the shape of a very cute puppy's head and it holds and dispenses dog poop bags. Clip it to keys, the dog's lead or a belt, it makes me smile and comes in 5 really lovely colours that I have named for dog-walkers - Stick Brown, Sky Blue, Grass Green, Cloud Grey - oh and Fuchsia, just because it's a happy colour and easy to spot! I have canvassed friends to come up with a name that is as delightful as the design and they rose to the occasion with: The Pick Me Up Poochster; Doggone Poopster; Dogtastic Poop Pochette;  Poop Pocket and the rather marvellous Poo Purse (thank you Alison, you a have a magical grasp of language)! The jury's out, however they are completely irresistible! Shop Now - Recycled P.E.T Coaster - £2.00 Shop Now - Recycled P.E.T Placemat - £10.00 Also fresh to our shelves is a new collection of placemats and coasters. I was brought up NEVER to put down a plate or glass without a coaster underneath - my mother's stern rebuke still haunts me - so I am incredibly picky when it comes to placemats. They have to be rectangular and a decent size so that cutlery fits on them, but not too big as then they don't fit onto round tables. I was also searching for something new and innovative and I have found it! These beauties look like wool felt and they feel like wool felt but they are made from recycled plastic bottles. This means that not only are they good for the environment but are super stain-resistant( great for coasters!) and can be popped into the washing machine on a cool wash! Absolutely genius, very chic and I have selected 4 sophisticated hues - flame orange, denim blue, forest and pale grey. Suitable for vegans - so the GD approves and we are getting the blue for the sitting room and grey for the bedroom (coasters I mean, we don't dine in bed......... yet). Shop Now - Lantern Table Lamp - £199.00 Just in case you hadn't noticed, I am getting really obsessed with lighting at the moment. The reason is that I think the UK has been poorly served and always marvel at the choice when I visit the US., Italy or France. I am trying to redress the balance and bring in some really wonderful, contemporary lamps. This week's new arrivals are incredible and very hard to describe. I think that they look quite Japanese in style - a touch of origami in the angles - and are quite the most stunning table lamps. The fabric shades look like little hats and are mounted on matt black, metal bases. The banded colours of grey/orange & blue/sand are extremely sophisticated and the size and shape make them a practical accessory for almost any room. I think that they would make very stylish bedside lamps or a focal point for the sitting room. I am purchasing the latter for my new desk in Hove as the blue will match the walls and the sand complement the polished brass. Gorgeous! Shop Now - Minimalist Urban Backpacks - £89.99 We took delivery of some extremely hip backpacks this week. The flurocarben-free PU outer coating makes them waterproof and look and feel like rubber. The minimal, streamlined, contemporary aesthetic makes them stand out from the crowd and, to be honest, these are quite the sexiest bags on the planet! We have 1 style with all the bells and whistles - reinforced back padding, padded adjustable shoulder straps, a rolled top to scale capacity, pockets for phone and wallet, external pockets for umbrella, etc and internal bottle holder. They each have a high quality, neoprene laptop compartment. The perfect bag for cyclists, for the office or simply to take to the park, we have fantastic colours of Honey Mustard, Dark Grey, Forest & Black. They are, quite literally, too cool for school! Now just a reminder that it is Father's Day on the 21st, so those of us that need to get organised had better do so this w/e. My own father is, sadly, no-longer with us however I always buy for my father-in-law, the evergreen Bob, so realise that buying for gentleman can be quite tricky and needs some thought! My stylish gift ideas include: Shop Now - Proraso Collection - From £12.50 Shop Now - Olverum Bath Oil - 125ml - £38.00 Proraso - an elegant collection of unguents from a Florentine Barbers founded in the 1930's. I love the Azu Lime Beard Balm or Aftershave Balm( depending of the degree of facial topiary). Olverum Bath Oil - Also dating from the 1930's, this is an incredibly invigorating experience and will give muscles an MOT. Shop Now - Bamboo Socks - £9.95 Shop Now - Leather Apron - £139.95 Shop Now - Barbecue Set - 18 Piece Stainless Steel - £49.99 Bamboo Socks - naturally anti-bacterial, soft, planet friendly and money goes to save pandas so it's a win, win! These are my favourite two designs and, frankly, I will never return to wool. If money is no object and Papa is a gourmand or griller then look no further than our Leather Aprons. They will last a lifetime and look extremely heroic! Likewise the 18 piece stainless steel BBQ set which comes in its own silver attaché case. It looks like it's going to be a summer in the garden with small groups of family and friends so BBQ's are the perfect way to enjoy time together! Shop Now - Secrid Wallet - From £49.95 Last year I purchased a Secrid Wallet for Bob and he was really thrilled with it. The future of wallets, it magically produces six bank cards via the rising mechanism so they are much easier to access and to replace. I have one myself and am now the fastest draw in SE22 - I can remove the card, tap on the payment machine, get the card back in the folder and into my pocket in less than 10 seconds! The great thing about this design is that it is ageless. All boys like gadgets, older gentlemen appreciate the clever innovation and my godson, who is 20, loved it because it is 'PENG' ( slang for cool or good!). Finally Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap for hands as soft as a sheep shearer’s (I actually shook hands with one once just to test the theory!). Shop Now - Mitchell's - Wool Fat Bath Soap Gift Box - 3 x 150 g - £10.00 And so my w/e will be spent at the store - working a whole w/e will be quite a shock to the system as I haven't done it for so long! Let us hope that the sun shines and the good people of East Dulwich venture out and inject some life back into our poor High Street.  I shall let you know!  Lola-Puss and I have left the Good Doctor in Hove as home visits - albeit mostly in gardens - are now back on the agenda for the NHS and duty calls.  I hope to find a garden or two of my own to visit and catch up with friends that I haven't seen for months - we will not recognise each other now that we all have long hair! I hope that you all manage to get out and see some friends and family, albeit with a 'bring your own' picnic! A glass of wine in the garden, great conversation with our favourite people and some decent nibbles - it could almost be a normal summer(apart from the 2 metres) Cheers to that! I send love - stay safe, Michaelx