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  Well hello again! It seems like ages since my last post but I suppose that’s Christmas for you. We’re all in that vortex of “the eighth day of the week” when nobody seems to know whether it’s Wednesday, Sunday, breakfast or bedtime. Luckily, whatever time of day or night it is, a nap or a bowl of trifle always seems appropriate for some reason. I have had far too little of the former and much too much of the latter as it happens but I’m hoping the balance will have been redressed by the time normality resumes… So how was your Christmas? Mine was hectic but lovely and I ..

  Christmas is a hectic time in households across the land. We’re trying to get organised whilst hankering after festive fun. Not because we particularly want to, but because we feel it’s our duty. If we hear a choir singing in the supermarket (as we race past) or catch a made-for tv Christmas-movie (always the best ones!), we’ve ticked the all-important box of embracing the festivities! Phew. If you don’t manage at least one such experience it can be highly damaging to your Christmas spirit. As can being a neat freak at this time of year. I’d rather be the world’s worst hayfever s..

It’s national Christmas jumper day today and the world is a brighter, happier place because of it. The children skipped into school in their festive sweaters, grinning from ear to ear. The playground was a awash with rosy cheeks and squeals of delight as they buzzed around with glee. Not only was everyone really excited to go to school, but this two year-old national fundraiser is also giving a much needed boost to Save the Children. I wasn’t much a fan of the Christmas jumper when they started to resurface in recent years, but anything that raises money for a great cause and I’m in. Oh an..

The shops are a-bustling, the streets are a-twinkling and we’re all now counting down the days. I think I have broken the back of my Christmas shopping and am feeling in a calmer place because of it, (aaaaand breathe) but there is still so much I could buy! It’s the stocking fillers that I can’t resist. Anything sparkly, knitted or fairy-ish and it’s in my basket faster than you can say bouncing baubles. The trouble is, I don’t have to go too far to find such items as they are under my nose every single day in our lovely showroom! It’s not like I can ignore the garden fa..

The word ‘December’ is enough to send pulses racing in our house so it’s no surprise to learn that we currently have two children literally bouncing off the walls! The decorations have been plucked from the loft and the tree is just days away from being bought and plonked in our lounge. We have made the first obligatory trip to see Father Christmas which I noticed was met with some degree of suspicion by Martha. She’s been here before that one, make no mistake. All I could think was “just don’t grab the beard, please don’t!” The Christmas lists are being checked and double checked..

  Full on fisticuffs, comedy tugs of war and a bit of wrestling thrown in for good measure? No, this wasn’t the “It’s A Knockout” Christmas special. This was Black Friday. Another nonsense idea stolen from America which turned out only to expose the greedy stop-at-nothing ones amongst us. There are few things more annoying than buying an important purchase only to discover days later that the price has been slashed by 50%. Grrrr. This, in part, is why we didn’t participate in Black Friday. This crazy event is so called as the day retailers start turning a profit, crossing from t..

Growing up we never decorated our Christmas tree until mid-December at the earliest. It was simply THE best day of the year, better than Christmas day itself! I loved standing at the foot of the stairs watching dad wrestle with the familiar dog-eared box full of ancient decorations. They were like old friends who we really could not wait to see! The smell and touch of the tinsel and its balding bits with last year’s sellotape still attached, sent my stomach in a spin. I loved digging out the several-times-repaired concertinaed golden ‘thingy’ that mum would stretch from one corner..

I can’t quite believe that December is just days away. It doesn’t seem five minutes since we were revelling in the glory of an Indian summer, strutting around in t-shirts as though we lived on balmy Mediterranean shores. Now, as Christmas looms heavily, along with the weather, it feelslike a different sort of ‘chilling’ all together. Brrrr. Everybody’s footsteps are that little bit quicker. There’s too much to do and not enough time!   In our house we’re mid-way through decorating the children’s bedrooms and deciding which furniture to sample next so basically it’s chaos. A ..

Christmas shopping is no longer something we’re just talking about. We are now actively doing it. Panic mode hasn’t quite set in but give it a couple of weeks and we’ll all be in the thick of it, despite swearing blind that we were going to be more organised than ever this year. It will be elbows out, shoulders forward as we wade into town en masse. Unless you decide to do it online of course, starting at Little Lucy Willow! I always go Christmas shopping with the best of intentions, I really do. “I’ll be home by lunchtime, done and dusted.” I never factor in the inevitable ‘de..

Decluttering before the re-clutter. Yes, that’s what I’m doing and I’m guessing I’m not alone. If you’re like me, you’re thinking about the ‘stuff’ you’ll have to get rid of before the new batch arrives in just over a month’s time, courtesy of a lovely white-bearded gentleman on a sleigh… So you’ve finally decided what should stay and what should go. You’ve crept out to the car in the dead of night with a bin bag full of goodies for the charity shop, only to be rumbled the next morning when your daughter spots a stray doll’s arm poking out of said bag. The school run is tempora..

As a new mum, I remember putting my teeny tiny daughter to bed in her nursery for the very first time and recoiling in horror that she would be in the dark, all alone. We decided to keep the landing light on as well as a small lamp in the corner of her room and have gone through more bulbs in the intervening years than I’ve had hot dinners. It was very strange to have that light on, meddling with our minds after years of peaceful slumber in the velvety darkness. However, such was our exhaustion it didn’t hamper whatever sleep our new baby allowed us to have!   As the children have g..

Now all the business of fireworks is done and dusted, I’m sure you’re all busy mentally preparing for the onslaught of Christmas shopping. It’s a daunting thought for those of us who haven’t even started. I overheard a lady telling her friend how she’d just bought her very last present – in September. Not only that, she’d got a cupboard full of wrapped ones at home too. My heart sank like a stone, how I wished it was me!   So now I’m compiling list upon list – and a list of my lists – as I attempt to make a start. What to get who? I can’t possibly buy ANOTHER variatio..

November means two things to me. Bonfire Night and Christmas shopping. The two couldn’t be more different. The first is all about unmaterialistic innocence. Warming hands by the fire clothed in woollies and wellies, sharing a hot pot whilst oohing and ahhing over a few dodgy fireworks. The second sees more money changing hands than the Las Vegas Strip – on a good day. Shops are packed to the rafters, all car parks overflowing and there are more bag swinging injuries to small children than A&E can cope with.   It’s no wonder so many people choose to shop online these d..

  It’s Halloween at last which can only mean one thing here at Little Lucy Willow. It’s Grand Finale Friday! Simply find our pumpkin and you could be the winner of a quirky colour-changing umbrella.   We’ve hidden our little orange friend somewhere on this website. To be in with a chance of grabbing our fabulous prize, all you have to do is follow the clue and track him down. When you do seek out the pesky pumpkin email us at [email protected] and tell us his whereabouts, along with your name. You have until midnight on Sunday to enter. Read the foll..