Pretty Practicals

Possible problems with Paypal

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Several customers have reported to us that they are having problems making a payment using their credit and debit cards through the Paypal system.

If you have any difficulties, please telephone us and we can take your order and payment by phone.

If the telephone is busy or we are not in the office, please leave your name and number and we will call you back. If you require an evening call, please let us know and we will do our best to ring you at a convenient time.

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

French bed takes centre stage

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:35:00 +0000

I hope you have all enjoyed the summery weather that we've been having over the last week.

Dave and I decided to give the shop a refresh and moved everything around. Despite putting more country furniture and French furniture on display, there seems to be more space in the shop. Not sure how that one works, but I am really pleased with the results.

Here's the new view as you come through the door, immediately in front of you is our cutlery table covered with all the cutlery ranges that we stock together with cutlery baskets, table mats and a big bunch of fresh flowers from my friend Trina's lovely shop in Rhayader.

Look left and see a Chichester 5ft dresser laden with spongeware pottery

Look right and see a display of candles, painted accessories and kitchenware with tons of buckets and baskets below the table.

Here's the lovely French bed that sits in the middle of the shop, home to Mr and Mrs Bear and the most sensible cushions I have ever seen. These cushions are the width of a pillow, so they can sit on your bed and not only look lovely, but provide full width support for those times when you want to lounge around in bed reading, writing your blog entries etc.

If you have a look at the pictures that show the back of the shop, you can see some of our huge quilt and cushion collection, which can be found at our specialist quilt and bed linen site New Country Quilts.

Well, that's it, mini tour of our shop complete for now, time to put the kettle on and carry on working on the new version of our website. As I keep saying, it should be ready any time now, I can't believe how long it is taking to complete, but promise that it is worth the wait.

Chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Reclaimed pine furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:40:00 +0000

Some days it feels like the sun is shining on my corner of the world and everything goes right.

Yesterday was one of those days. Well yes, I realise that the sun was actually shining yesterday, but there was an extra bright glow in the office because after much searching, we have found some seriously gorgeous furniture made from reclaimed pine.

The beauty of reclaimed wood is that it has that lovely mellow patina that only comes with age (or so my Mum tells me!) and has the added bonus of being environmentally kind too.

This new range will be available to order from our new look website, which (fingers crossed) should be ready for you to have a look at by the end of this week ~ hooray!

Well, the only way that the new site will be ready is if I go and get on with working on it and as Dave has already made me a cuppa to accompany the work, I had better go and get on.
Chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Fabulous feedback

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:39:00 +0000

Painted florist buckets

I love to get feedback from our customers (even if it's to tell us that we didn't get something quite right) and today's feedback has been a delight. Two customers have just sent me messages to let me know that their orders have arrived safely and here's what they had to say.

Dear Elizabeth and all at Pretty Practicals,

I just wanted to give a big thank you for the items I ordered from you. I saw the metal pitcher in 'Period Living' and fell in love with it. It was exactly what I'd been looking for and had so far had no luck. When browsing your website I also saw the 3 florists' buckets and loved them too, so ordered them as well. Often when one orders online, the goods are never quite as good as the photos but in this case, they were far, far better. They arrived in perfect condition and beautifully packaged so thanks to whoever was responsible. Just thought you'd like to know how pleased I am and that I will be ordering more of your lovely things when funds allow!

Hi Liz, I just wanted to say thank you so much for rushing the 3 tissue box covers to me yesterday they arrived this morning just in time and will really make a special gift to our mum's at our wedding. Well, I'm off to get my beauty sleep... big day tomorrow! Thanks once again I will use your website in the future. Kind Regards Melanie Abrams (Soon to be Mrs Twinley!)

How can not be happy after two such lovely comments?

I hope Melanie (and her fiance) have a wonderful wedding day tomorrow and wish them every happiness in their future married life.

Painted floral jug

I hope you all have a good weekend, chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Two years on

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:12:00 +0000

I am a great believer in planning, experimenting and adapting to respond to changes. I don't necessarily do all these things as well as I would like to, but I do them all the same.

In early spring three years ago, I completed a new business plan outlining my vision for Pretty Practicals for the next few years. I carefully set about putting my plans into action and 15 months later (by late June 06) I was ready to present my business to the world. Although I had undertaken some serious market testing beforehand, Pretty Practicals was to be officially launched on 23 July 2006.

My parents have always been amazingly supportive of me and have followed, encouraged, supported, laughed with me and celebrated along the way.

I can hardly believe how quickly the last two years have flown past and this week is especially memorable for me because as I start to celebrate my business's 2nd birthday, there is also a tinge of sadness thrown into the mix.

On 17th July 2006, just 6 days before I officially launched Pretty Practicals, my father passed away. In true Dad-style, a stiff upper lip will be shown by our family tomorrow, a thought or two (and more) will stay in our minds of how much we miss him and then we will celebrate as best we can, all the good things that he gave to us and to everyone who's life he touched.

At Dad's funeral, his closest friend Peter Baskett (who sadly also passed away earlier this year) paid tribute to him, these wonderful words sum him up to a tea. To read this beautifully composed obituary click here.

A new year for Pretty Practicals is just about to begin and I am planning a little party to celebrate, so watch this space and I will tell you all about it shortly.

As always, it's time to put the kettle on,
Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated. Image on this blog entry is property of Mrs Zorab.

Mirror tissue box cover

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:42:00 +0000

This pretty dressing table piece must be one of the most popular accessories with our customers. Almost as soon as we get them back in stock, they are snapped up and sell out again very quickly.

Our delivery this week was double the number of the previous one and guess what? They are selling like hot cakes again!

Well, it's Saturday evening on a typically wet summer's day, Dave and I have feasted on stew and new potatoes (and are now feeling slightly overfed) and are back to our computers. Not as sad as it sounds, we are so close to being able to launch our new look website that I want to just push ahead and get it finished. One or two of my friends have had a sneak preview and tell me that it is looking good and is easy to use... which is the result we have been aiming for ~ hooray!

So here I am, on the sofa surrounded by my cats (well it's wet outside) with early evening entertainment on the telly and I am being entertained, but somewhat cruelly at other peoples' expense. It's some bizarre kareoke thing.

I have never understood the appeal of standing in front of strangers and singing one's little heart out... no hang on, that's exactly what I was doing only two weeks ago in Hyde Park. The difference being that I wasn't on the stage, I was in the crowd with 30 thousand other people also singing their little hearts out.

Mama Mia has come to our local cinema this weekend, but Dave doesn't want to take me in case I start singing and dancing in the aisle, so I will have to wait and take Cecily later in the week (I'll report back on whether we manage to sit still and silently through it).

Well, I have finished my cuppa so it must be time to start a bit more data imputting,

chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Pretty Practicals at The Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:45:00 +0000

At the end of a hectic day at work I took a lovely telephone call...

Last year we supplied lots of mirrors, shelves, trays and a pink chandelier or two to a lovely lady called Michelle who was opening her first hairdressing salon in Brentwood in Essex called The Lounge. We chatted quite a bit on the phone last summer and I have often wondered how her new business has developed. Well, today she rang me to let me know some exciting news.

It is now almost a year since she opened her salon and things have been great and she is loving running her own business (hooray!).

Image courtesy of The Lounge, Brentwood.
She rang to let me know that the interior of her salon will be featured in The Hairdressers Journal magazine that is out tomorrow (11th July) and that Pretty Practicals gets a mention as supplier of the mirrors etc.

I have been to visit her website which has lots of pictures on it and I also spotted a discount voucher for first time visitors to her salon. Michelle and her team are at 41 Kings Road, Brentwood and can be contacted on 01277 232737.

Images courtesy of The Lounge, Brentwood.
I am delighted for Michelle that she is enjoying her work so much (and still with bucket loads of enthusiasm) and I think The Lounge looks just fabulous!

Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Congratulations Nadal

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Oh my goodness! What an incredible tennis match. I settled down this afternoon to watch a the final and over the course of the match was joined by both Dave and Cecily. Gripped by the entertainment unfolding in front of us, no-one wanted to head into the kitchen to create supper. So this evening, we finally sat down to eat fresh brocoli and cauliflower soup at 10.30pm. Nevermind, it was the most fun final I have watched for some time.

Just in case you missed the final moments of the match and Nadal's reaction, here's a clip courtesy of BBC Sport. Click here to view.

Chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

A weekend in Hyde Park

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:43:00 +0000

My good friend Michelle has wants a full report of my weekend in London...so here goes!

I took Cecily to London last weekend to two days of music in Hyde Park at the Hard Rock Calling concerts. We took a train to central London and having booked a hotel close to the train station, we wandered to our hotel and booked in. Early Saturday afternoon we took the 10 minute stroll to Hyde Park and found a great spot to settle down for the rest of the day.

Despite it meaning we were going to have to carry even more stuff, I sensibly took a waterproof backed picnic blanket, which we lay on for most of the weekend. The weather in Wales on Saturday wasn't very nice, but London was experiencing a proper English summer's day ~ it was hot! Liberal amounts of sunblock applied, we were then entertained for 7 hours by a variety of artists (some of whom I like more than others) including Eric Clapton, but actually I spent the day chilling out and relaxing. A lot of the music was a little more country style than I would have chosen to listen to, but I really enjoyed Jason Miraz and John Mayer

Sunday was a better music day for me, every artist that played entertained me more and more and by the early evening when KT Tunstall took the stage I was up on my feet and dancing. The Police ended the evening with their last UK performance (ever!?!) and I was catapulted back 27 years to my college days (I'm not going to share those with you as I wasn't necessarily the best behaved young lady back then!).

The Police gave us 90 minutes of superb entertainment, I sang my little heart out and bopped til it was time to go back to the hotel. Despite the band sporting a few (or more) grey hairs, they had as much energy as I remember from 1981 and I was just as enthralled by their performance. Here's a youtube video that I found whilst looking today So Lonely filmed by JacoStoned

It was a lovely weekend and a great way to celebrate my birthday (I bought these tickets much earlier in the year as a birthday present to myself).

Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Painted furniture Summer Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:51:00 +0000

We are delighted to see that the sunshine has finally arrived in Mid Wales and to celebrate summer, we are offering 10% off all painted furniture items ordered before 1st August 2008.

Browse through our painted furniture ranges which include French furniture, country furniture and painted items that are ideal for shabby chic homes.

Many of the pieces in the painted furniture ranges are made to order and can take up to 10 weeks for delivery, but as with so many of the finer things in life, they are worth the short wait.

This offer excludes the Versailles and gilt ranges. To take advantage of Pretty Practicals summer painted furniture sale, orders must be placed and any required deposit must be paid before 1st August 2008.

For further details visit the website at http://www.prettypracticals.co.uk/ or telephone on 01597 811321.

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Quiet moments

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Cecily and I had a wonderful weekend in London and came home on Monday full of energy and completely exhausted at the same time.

Now back at work I have been doing one of my favourite tasks of taking photos of some of our goodies, including this bistro carver chair and gorgeous knitted throw.

Whilst I was busy creating a rather nice 'arty' shot, I discovered that there is a lovely place to sit just outside our unit, in the shade of a tree and surrounded by wild flowers and grasses that are growing there.

Part of me knows that I ought to cut this little patch of grass and make it very neat and tidy, but it is teeming with wildlife who are enjoying the variety of vetches and clovers growing amonst the tall grass. Perhaps I will leave it a little while longer before I cut it all down and give the wildflowers a chance to seed themselves for next year.

Dave and I are still working on the new version of our website; it seems to be taking forever, but I know that a little extra work now will make it even easier for everyone to use and I am really pleased with how it looks so far. I will keep you posted and will announce a launch date in due course.

As always, my tea cup needs a refill, chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Entertainment abounds

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:30:00 +0000

Liz's image of Collier Campbell fabric called Folk Dance

This week everything is happening! It's Wimbledon, Glastonbury, Nelson Mandela's 80th birthday celebrations (none of which I am attending), it's also Hard Rock Calling at the weekend, which I am going to!

I am leaving Dave here to hold the fort, whilst I take Cecily off to London for the weekend to spend a couple of nights in a hotel and the day times in Hyde Park listening to an amazing array of artists perform.

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to get tickets to Live 8 and Dave and I had an incredible weekend away and I danced until my feet ached and then danced some more. This time, Cecily and I will be bopping away for two days to the music of (amongst others) The Charlatans, Sheryl Crow, KT Tunstall, The Bangles, The Stranglers and The Police.

Now the time is almost here, I am getting very excited. Cecily has a good camera on her phone, so I will ask her to take lots of photos and post them once I get back. Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you have a good time.

Chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Beautiful Photos by Paul Willetts

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:52:00 +0000

Oh and another week slips away! Where does the time go?

For the last couple of days Cecily has had a friend to stay with us, so she has been busy showing him the local area, in particular they went to the Elan Valley. Paul was really keen to go and visit our local beauty spot as he is a photographer.

For such a young man (he's in his early twenties) he has travelled extensively, taking his camera with him and I am so impressed with his photographic skills, I wanted to let everyone know about his website.
You need to click on the right hand side of each image to bring the next in the series.

The title of this blog is a link to his colour photograph showcase and some of his black and white images can been seen at Paul Willetts black and white photos

Paul can arrange for any of his photographs to be printed (some of them as really big images), framed or provided as block canvas prints. His contact details are on his site.

Can I suggest that you make a cuppa, sit down with your pc and take a lovely break whilst Paul's amazing imagery whisks you off to other places?

Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

CATALOGUE AMENDMENT

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:54:00 +0000

Page 11, FRENCH STYLE CRACKLE GLAZE DISPLAY CABINET Item number FN009, should read 120 cms high.

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

High Rise Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:14:00 +0000

A little while ago (only a few blog entries back), I told you about the three tier planter that I had chosen lots of plants for and promised a photo of it planted up. Well here it is... I shall take progress pictures throughout the summer.

Seeing this image makes me realise just how many weeds there are in the front garden, so I am off to clear the gravel of greenery... chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Pretty Practicals in the Press

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:25:00 +0000

This month some of our items have been featured in the glossy monthly magazines.
Pretty Practicals image

Period Ideas have focused on pretty florals and chose the Florist wall clock and our Katie padded hangers.

Suppliers image

Ideal Home magazine showed our cream vintage style display shelves in a get the look feature. And the good news is that they are actually £99.00 not £120.00 as shown in the magazine.

Suppliers image

There are two more items due to be featured in magazines this month, but as they are not on the shop shelves yet, I will wait until they are published to tell you about them.

Hope you've had a good weekend, chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Country Chic accessories

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:43:00 +0000

I just love it when our weekly delivery is chock-a-block full of my favourite accessories like this painted metal jug and this week has been a bonanza week for me!
The jugs are back in stock, as are some really pretty little French style coasters. We have been waiting for ages for some cream pierced metal serviette holders and they arrived too - yippee.

Dave has excelled himself in his work on our new look website, I would love to be able to show you, but sadly it has to stay under wraps until it is completed.

Anyway, it has to be a quick blog entry this evening as The Apprentice final is on any minute, so I need to make tea and settle on the sofa,
chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Painted furniture, painted bedroom

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Hooray, Cecily will be back home from university, for the summer holidays, in just 10 days time! I can hardly wait to see her again and I can't wait to show her the makeover I have done on her bedroom.

Having finally finished painting and decorating her bedroom (which seemed to grow bigger and bigger each time I went in there to do a bit more), I decided it was time to tackle the furnishings, so...
Out with the old bed and tatty furniture that she opted for (or put up with) whilst at school, because I have bought her some lovely painted bedroom furniture from our shop including a French bed (a kingsize so she can stretch out as much as she likes) and new bedside tables.
She's going to sleep in crisp white cotton bedlinen and I've found some really cutesy rose print pyjamas for her. Coo, I love being the clucking mother hen!
Pyjamas available shortly at New Country Quilts
Her bright pink Cecily Rose chair will remain as she got that only for Christmas this year, but I haven't added any other bright pink accessories as I think those finishing touches need to be her choice once she is home.

Well, it's late and it's as dry as a desert in here, so I'm headed off to the kitchen once again, chat soon, Liz

All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Flying visit

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:33:00 +0000

Phew! What a mad dash last weekend was... I drove to my mother's house on Friday for the evening (and stayed overnight), so that I could see my little brother and his family. They were visiting my mum for three days on their way to holiday in the sunshine. It's been about 18 months since I last saw my brother (at the memorial service for my father) and I'm unlikely to see him again for a while as he lives in America with his wife and children. It was lovely to see them all again and his children, whom I haven't seen for 6 years, have grown into beautiful, bright and happy people.

Saturday lunchtime I headed back home again via the large garden centre in Hereford. Here I spent a pleasant hour selecting dozens of annuals to plant into a 3 tier jardiniere in our front garden. For my birthday early this year, I asked for gardening tokens, so this lovely shopping spree was actually my birthday present from mum and my sister. Once the plants are all in situ I will take some pictures.

Since I got back from my jolly, Dave and I have been working together again on the new look website... I hate that it takes so long from 'can we make it do this or that?' to the finished product, but continue to be amazed that Dave will merrily work away, creating a page, changing things as I request them and not grizzle at my inability to be decisive about layout, colours etc.

I am really pleased that I have found some lovely quilt designs to add to our growing collection at New Country Quilts (our specialist quilt and bedlinen website) and some gorgeous blankets and throws which have now arrived with us. In the next day or so I will get my camera out and get snapping, so that I can put them on the website.

Thursday this week sees the start of Big Brother season, okay now I have a problem... do I admit that I actually do watch BB or do I pretend that I don't and have to keep a secret all summer? Hmm, looks like I've let the cat out of the bag already. That said, I promise I won't prattle on about it for the next few weeks.

Well, I'm off to carry on adding items into the database of the new website, it's a long, slow task but a great opportunity to review everything we sell and remind myself of how much I like them. And I think probably a cuppa is well overdue, chat soon, Liz
All images copyright of image owners and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Special Ops

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:53:00 +0000

I've had some news, sort of not good news, followed by very good news indeed...

My sister (my inspiration, my mentor, my friend) was taken poorly yesterday and was rushed off to hospital to discover that, without any warning, she had developed appendicitis overnight! The doctors took her off to the operating theatre and in the small hours of the morning (last night) they removed the offending object. This morning, my amazing sister has got up and showered, feels fine and all being well, she will be back at home tomorrow. She is hopeful that she will be allowed to go on her planned rather special holiday to Corfu on Monday!

Now if this had been me taken into hospital yesterday and had an invasive proceedure during the night, I would still be lying in the hospital bed moaning and crying. Would I be up and about, showering and thinking about coming home? I don't think so! Would I be contemplating going on holiday next week? Absolutely not! She is just incredible, she's so fit and healthy, so active and full of life that I guess she has just bounced right back. She has yet again proved to be a complete inspiration to me. I wish a full and speedy recovery and send her all my love.

Dave and I have been working flat out over the bank holiday weekend and since, my fault really. I casually mentioned a while ago that I would like to revamp the website, so that our new ranges of furniture, spongeware etc are easy to find. As a temporary measure, Dave changed some of the catagories on the existing site, but unbeknown to me, he started to write a whole new look site for Pretty Practicals and he presented the bare bones to me late last week. Since then we have been working together to build on the skeleton site and create something that we are both happy with. It seems ages since we did this task, we both really like this process of sitting side by side working on different aspects of the same project.

I don't have a very good sense of spatial awareness, at least not when I am just looking at a page full of programming code (remember The Matrix?) and sometimes I accidentally delete a vital piece of coding thinking that I am changing one part of a page, only to discover that I have just wiped out two whole days worth of work. It's a good job that Dave knows that I am prone to doing this and very carefully makes copies of every stage of his work.

Well, it's still going to be a while yet before I can show you the new look site, but I'll keep you up to date with our progress.

Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Romsey country chic furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:20:00 +0000

I have sourced some furniture that ticks all my boxes for the
perfect country chic look. Not only that, but it is made from reclaimed pine, so it is also that litle bit more environmentally friendly, hooray!

Our new Romsey range has a very lightly distressed paint finish with natural wood tops and comes in white, soft cream, soft sage green or powder blue.

The Romsey bedroom range has a single, double and kingsize bed and lots of different size wardrobes, chests of drawers and dressing table.

Romsey double wardrobe with drawers

The dining room furniture has a wide choice of dining tables, dressers and sideboards.

I love the Romsey freestanding kitchen furniture, regular readers will know that I yearn to replace my outdated and battered kitchen (and these pieces would be wonderful in it).

The living room furniture in this range includes some clever coffee tables with drawers for extra storage, bookcases, television and video units and console tables.

I love the look and feel of this range and I think you can tell that I am very excited to be stocking it!
Well as always, it's time for the kettle to go on, chat soon, Liz

All images in this post copyright of the supplier and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Poppies, peonies and visitors

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:35:00 +0000

Summer is definitely on it's way in our corner of the world, the garden is full of flowers (amongst the weeds), their little jewel colours twinkling away all over the place.

Yesterday I listened to the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend, wet and windy and just the kind of elemental assault that would destroy the delicate petals of some of my favourite blooms. So in an attempt to ensure that summer stills gets to shine in our home over the weekend, I picked a handful of flowers and brought them inside.

Because I wanted to show you how gorgeous these flowers are, I took a few pictures and then realised that I might just get a couple of them printed onto canvas to use as wall art.

On Friday evening, I was sitting out on our back steps and a spotted one our regular garden visitors. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing...

7.30pm, it was still light and Philomena (yes, we name the hedgehogs!) came trundling up the path and headed straight for the cat food bowl. We see our spikey friends from early spring to early winter on a nightly basis, at least 5 of them that come each night (there may be more, but the most we have seen together is 5), but they do at least usually wait for the cover of darkness before they devour the contents of the cat's bowls.

They are amazingly good at clearing up the back yard, we often put out a chicken carcass for the cat's to pick the last of the meat from and guaranteed that by the morning, not a bone is left in the yard. The hedgehogs will wander off with half a carcass if they can. Some nights it is too dark to see the brown hedgehog, but we can see the white chicken bones moving off down the garden path (it's almost a ghostly vision of the bones seemingly floating above the ground!). Dave realised that somewhere in our garden there must my a great pile of bits of bone, I wonder what the archeologists will make of it in years to come.

Well, the weather forecasters were right, today it is pouring with rain and very blustery out there, I had hoped to spend a couple of hours in the garden today, but that's looks unlikely. So I have settled down on the sofa with laptop to hand and will enjoy my garden via my photos instead.

Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Country Summer Looks

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Every season brings a new look, new variations on a theme; so here are our thoughts for interiors for summer 2008...

Gingham Lamp

Colourful ginghams, spots and stripes
Accent items in fresh red and white, blue and white and bold lollipop brights. Lampshades, cushions, tablecloths and even cutlery and tableware can add a splash of summery cheerfulness to your home and garden.

Rosebud duvet cover set at New Country Quilts our specialist soft furnishing website.

Little floral prints
From dresses to accessories, bags to bedding, ditzy little flowers in abundance provide a light and feminine note to our homes.

Chichester painted furniture Farmhouse Table

Good Wood
Painted furniture with natural wood tops and handles, the warm colour of pine, beautiful oak and rich mahogany. Mix and match painted pieces with furniture that displays the natural beauty of the wood grain for a traditional country look.

French style dressing table

All things French
Our love affair with chic French interiors continues with fresh blue toile de Jouy fabrics, vintage signs and lots of beautiful reproduction French furniture (and a little of the sunshine from the French Riviera would be nice!).

Whatever your favourite style... let's hope this summer is a glorious one.
Chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Back in Blogland!

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:55:00 +0000

Cherub bust
Hooray, hooray, hooray! My blog is working once again... a technical gremlin got into my blog system about 10 days ago and it got progressively more difficult to upload pictures and finally it just ground to a halt a few days ago. Dave has finally managed to sort it out, but I now have to do something hideously complex to put images onto my blog. Do I care at about the added complexities? ... no siree, it is great to be back in the world of chatter once again.

Thanks to Jayne over at Country Cottage Chic for letting people know that I was having difficulties and if you haven't discovered Jayne's blog yet, it is well worth a read. She is jolly creative and has loads of energy so is regularly out and about doing things.

Today has been an endless task of uploading images to the website and creating adverts for items (this is not the most interesting, fun or stimulating part of my job, but it is an essential one, so I won't moan too much) and after almost 10 hours of it, I finished for the day and am delighted to be able to blog for a little bit.

Parisienne house tidy
Last week was totally different to my usual routine, I spent two days doing local deliveries, well actually not so local, two of them were over 100 miles away, but that's almost local when you consider that the 'local' Sainsburys is 50 miles from home! Unfortunately, one was 100 miles north and the other 100 miles south, but I did get to rent a huge van to drive, which was good fun!
One of our suppliers usually delivers to us on a Thursday or Friday, but last week they arrived on Monday afternoon (which was great because we were able to get people's orders out to them earlier than usual).
A friend has hurt her back, so I helped out in her shop a little towards the tail end of last week, it was nice to be able to help her out a bit as she has always been so supportive to me.
We had friends to stay with us over the weekend and although I couldn't spend very much time with them, it was lovely to see them. But all in all, my usual gentle routine was sent to ruin, so this week I am looking forward to getting back into my usual work rhythm and domestic routine.
Country chic spongeware mug

And as usual, my tea mug is empty, so it must be time to put the kettle on, chat soon, Liz
All images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2006 - 2008 except where stated.

Hampton Oak

noreply@blogger.com (Pretty Practicals) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:02:00 +0000

Hmm... there is something up with my blogger system at the moment and I am unable to publish blog entries, so here I am writing a blog that I know no one will be able to read for a little while. But here goes...
Hampton solid oak sleigh bed
I have been having great fun over the last week or so sourcing a couple of new ranges of furniture that will give you even more choice. These lovely new ranges have a distinctively country feel, but I think I will introduce them one at a time.

The Hampton collection is made from solid oak with a dark oak finish. The bedroom collection includes a sleigh bed, a choice of 4 wardrobe sizes, chests of drawers, dressing table set and bedside tables.

I have started listing this collection on the website and have completed the bedroom furniture and over the next few days will finish adding all the dining room furniture.

Hampton solid oak extending dining table

Well, I'm off to do a bit more listing, chat soon, Liz