Well what a week it’s been! My goodness me I don’t remember the last time I went and did so many things within seven days or so! Fawlty Towers at the theatre. An adult panto near Bristol, with some of my QVC gang (see the top picture and below). And we said goodbye to one of our lovely colleagues who left QVC after 26 years. Plus of course a very busy weekend last weekend…

This weekend we had the rare occasion of my mum‘s descendants mostly all being in one place for a big family group photo! So lollipop came down with hers, for the weekend and stayed at mine. We got a big group shot which will be a canvas for Mum’s wall – I’m not allowed to show it obviously, because of how many of their non-social media kids are in it, but here’s a picture of my daughter lollipop and the Nanna she adores, my mum Lesley, for whom the day was arranged, plus little Phoebe (with her face blanked out, naturally!)

Plus we got this one of me and my siblings, minus Glenn who was away on holiday and wasn’t coming over from Sweden for the rest of the year so we thought we’d do it this year anyway. Mum really loved having us all together 🙂

It was in the water garden/barbecue area of our flats, and the kids were absolutely fascinated by so many things: including ponds, tadpoles, old trees they could climb on, trails through the woods, and each other, plus they had a bouncy castle. The ages range from the youngest great grandchild, Ophelia who is still just a baby at a year and a half, to me at 63! That’s mum’s five children, 16 grandchildren and in total she has 21 great grandchildren as well! 

Maybe next year we’ll get everybody. 36 of the 46 turned up I think! 46 descendants, imagine that! 

Anyway a lovely time was had by everyone and well done to the girls for helping to arrange it! Mum was chuffed.

SNIPPETS

Lorna N me for tea!

Had the most amazing afternoon tea at Dotty’s tea house in Carshalton this week when Radica and Monique joined us, the auction prize winners from the Medical Detection Dogs charity event in June. Lorna bought them a special present each, of an anti-mosquito hat, only sold in America at the moment! And we had a good chinwag about all things QVC. Both ladies were kind enough to support us when we did the fundraiser in London and they both won the prize! And thank you to Barbara at Dotty’s for looking after us!

Anne’s Leaving Do

Look at this massive group who all turned out to cheer and clap when Anne Dawson, my lovely colleague, walked in the door of her leaving do, in a bar opposite QVC, after she had finished her last show. 26 years of being on QVC and she’s going off to do something really exciting – have a look on my newsletter if you get it, for more details, and see below for more info about the do! Good luck lovely lady you will be very much missed!

Sodbury Sweet Emporium

James Murden really is Mr Chipping Sodbury, given all the businesses he runs there. One of them is this! A wonderfully old school sweet Emporium. I must say hello to lovely QVC fan Pat, who works there; do go in and say hello if you are in the vicinity, it’s right in the middle of the High Street! A wonderful array of old school sugary treats. And a window full of QVC ornaments that work perfectly!

Exclusive – on this week’s newsletter (sign up to get yours in the inbox every weekend), three exclusives! The funny little puppy barking at me for the first time as I played with her on the floor! James Murden does Beyoncé! Plus what Anne gets up to next… 

Watch –

Fawlty Towers – at the Apollo theatre!

In 1975 just six episodes of this amazing original TV series were issued. It took another four years before the much anticipated second series of six hit our screens and I remember the moment it aired, when the whole of dad’s Sunday cricket team gathered around the 32 inch TV (seemed so big in those days!), to watch the show in 1979!

Well now the essence of this iconic program is captured on the stage in this extremely accurate rendition, created for theatre.

The actors and actresses chosen are really close to the original. The John Cleese character is superb. And some absolutely brilliant comic turns in the Major and Manuel. The only regular character not featured was Terry the chef, Polly’s boyfriend, but the deaf old woman who lost her money (Helen Lederer), the Germans, the hotel inspectors, and the spoon salesman and more, are all played out magnificently. Absolutely loved it. Might go again with mum one day. Went with my mate Andrew as above! Highly recommended, 8.75 out of 10!

Here is a taster, featuring the current cast at the Apollo in London.

Also – wow.

Watch the harmonies by these two (here). Just… wow.

Plus of course to go and see James in Sleeping Beauty at Chipping Sodbury Townhall, until Saturday the second, two performances in the evening!

Blooper – just had to tell you this, it’s a funny rather than a blooper. So Ali Keenan and I were sitting watching the panto, and James came out with the Sleeping Beauty spinning wheel prop. “Watch this for me gang”, he says, “and when anyone gets near it say (something about step away from the prick..)“, – talking about the NEEDLE of course! Lol. So the audience shouts it back. Literally three minutes later, someone gets near it, and the audience starts shouting something unintelligible, and Allison and I look at each other and say, what are we supposed to say? And then killed ourselves laughing because we’ve got menopause brain and forgot within three minutes, that we were supposed to say “leave the prick alone!“ You can imagine what the rest of the panto was like! Oh my goodness it was such fun.

The prince was utterly brilliant, played by Grant something, and James Murden was really funny. I hope you’re signed up to my newsletter and see the exclusive this week, because that’s where I’ve put a video of him ‘Putting a ring on it’ LOL. Must do that kind of outing again sometime soon. Haven’t cried with laughter like that for absolutely ages!

Vlog – it’s got to be Anne’s leaving do part one and two on my Instagram. Have a look at this! In the union bar opposite QVC in Chiswick. Yes, Anne Dawson my lovely QVC colleague LEFT this week after 26 years. She’s going off to a new era. The turnout was tremendous, bless her heart XX

See Pt 1 here and Pt 2 here.

See how many previous QVC faces you can spot who also turned out for lovely Anne! Good luck my darling pal. 

By the way over on my newsletter this week, delivered into your inbox every Friday, what Anne is going to do next and where you can see her do it!

Book of the Week – More Jane Tennison! Lynda La Plante is brilliant, we all know that. Loved Tennyson, now reading Hidden Killers. As a very young Jane Tennison becomes a detective but has to overcome several obstacles in the very biased 1970s London. Really really clever writing, loving it!

Also really liked, ‘It’s Always the Husband’, by C.L. Taylor. Callie has visited retreats for you several times over the years. She’s a very, very accomplished successful crime writer, and this is no exception. As a touch of “Big Little Lies” meets Dr Foster, set in a small town in the UK, this plot kept me guessing! Very good indeed!

QVC TOP DEALS FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS

Friday (today) – go to qvcuk.com and search ‘today’s special value’ to see and buy what’s left of the Sanatier Faberware bamboo sharing board, hopefully still in my two shows at four and six! 

Saturday – time for the nails inc seven-piece gel effect collection with bag, two choices I believe!

Sunday – a garden stories collapsing hanging egg chair! Great price 🙂

And a new offer of the week – the Dyson Airstrait, in Jasper-plum, with a case! Weekly special value. 

Big deals ending Sunday night

Go to this section of our website each week to discover the current ones which often end on Sunday nights if there are any stocks left!

Big deals are available on air for usually a week, they may be longer online if stocks last. Occasionally they last a couple of weeks but there are new ones every Sunday night so come back again and see them on the link above. 

Next week should include:

– style – Moda in Pelle Feadrina loafer for regular size feet

– garden – Garden reflections spiral lantern

– extra – I absolutely love these and hopefully will get to buy them this time instead of missing out like I did on the last TSV, the Kochblume eight-piece multipurpose microfibre cloth set

– beauty – beauty bio glopro micro stimulation tool with replacement head

– main – Gail Hayman anniversary pewter lip lift Trio

Now back to the today’s special values for the rest of the week – 

PLEASE NOTE – these are correct at time of writing but maybe subject to change.

Monday – launching Sunday night at nine, a fabulous HP Smarttank all in one 7305 printer, check out Lee Hohbein‘s social media for more!

Unusually, Lee joined in with my #Thursdaybantz this week, live on Thursday night, and talked about his printer deal! Find out more here, plus all my news for the week in my Thursday night Facebook live.

Also at 7 pm, first Monday of the month, the menopause your way show! With me 🙂

Tuesday – NassifMD firm and smooth targeted three-piece collection.

Features his famous exfoliating pads, worth getting just for that, for instant results – wait to see the price!

Wednesday – the fragrance time with the Floral Street brand and an EDP, and a second item which is a mist.

Thursday – it’s a centigrade cotton rich breathable raincoat

Friday – Samsung Galaxy smart watch 8, in two different diameter sizes

Friday 9 pm – Ruth Langsford time with the V-neck cotton rich jumper, hyper affordable.

And going on sale midweek, the Gatineau lift, define and firm four-piece collection!

Do find out more on Andrew Bagley’s page on Facebook, on sale from the 6th of August!

Plus all about the exciting new eye product going on sale today! (See it here).

Next week – QVC live hours are changing! Live ends at 11 pm each night with repeats thereafter until we are alive at 9 am again. This is to allow some important content to be filmed in the middle of the day. Watch out for more details. And back down in Devon for another wonderful retreat at my place (retreatsforyou.co.uk) with a memoir tutor! By the way if you want to just come away and write your own thing, be looked after for four days, all meals provided, and no chores, in your own cozy room, I’ve got a space on the 1st of September. Do ask! retreatsforyou.co.uk/events

Or come to learn how to write your own novel in October, details on that page as well. Go on, don’t be shy!

Best wishes

Debs

X

Ps  I support medical detection dogs. We raised over £2,300 in our June event. Find out more and donate on this link.

PS want to subscribe to my newsletter? Click on the newsletter button at the bottom of this blog. If you are AOL, Sky or Yahoo, you may have to add me to your contacts in order for it to come through, and sometimes even then it doesn’t. So if you can subscribe with a different email if you don’t get it between Friday night and Sunday night each week, that might help. One lady told me she didn’t get the first one but she did get the next ones. Exclusive content just for my newsletter posse! Thank you all 🙂

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