Kindness and Good News: Silver Lining from a Le Creuset Breakup
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
Well, continuing the theme of last week’s newsletter, it’s been a week of fairly extreme challenges, that’s week two or is it three now? It’s all rather blurring one into another, but, looking on the bright side, (every cloud has a silver lining as my dear old mum used to say) it has made me even more aware of and grateful for the support I get from friends, colleagues and of course my family.
But, in fact, it goes beyond them, even to people I pass in the street.
Two mornings ago, whilst walking into work, I stood aside to let a man through a chicane in the path. He was being pulled along by his very eager and friendly dog. I needn’t have stopped, we could have squeezed past each other, but it was a respectful, kind and passingly thoughtful act on my part. Am I a saint? I don’t think I’m going to answer that one. Safe to say, there will be a number of people of my acquaintance who will have very differing opinions on this aspect of my character, canonisation won’t always be the first words out of their mouths, which, dear reader, you may find a little difficult to believe.
So, returning to my behaviour on the pathway that morning, with every passing year since Babette died I’ve been more and more inclined to do this sort of thing (as I also have, smiling at people I walk past, who I perhaps only vaguely recognise.) I do this, in part, because it was the sort of thing that she would do, in part, because of its benefits to me, and in part, because it’s a polite and thoughtful act.
From this chap, I got a smile a nod and a thank you, and I smiled back. And you know, that set me up for the rest of my walk into work. I had a warm glow of satisfaction, of having acted selflessly, except of course, if I look at my motives, in reality it only appeared selfless to the outside world.
In reality, it fed me, and my happiness index went right up, for far longer than just the walk into work. It was, in fact, a win win. My dog owner got to smile, to say ‘thank you’. I received a ‘thank you’, smiled in return and had a warm glow of satisfaction from such a brief and outwardly inconsequential encounter.
And I’m saying all this….why?
Because, since feeling down, I’m especially aware of things that bring me out of that place, and it usually doesn’t take much to do this. The example I’ve given you here is just one of many that have helped me keep my spirits buoyant for much of the time. I’m pretty certain I’m fairly typical in reacting this way.
OK, to product.
Le Creuset set to be broken up
One of my less successful buys from Le Creuset, in recent times, was a two piece set in the form of a Round Casserole 22cm and a 25cm Grill, which we bought in four colours, Volcanic, Cerise, Black and Meringue.
They’ve sold like curb stones, so, Em suggested to me that we split up the sets and sell them off at bargain prices.
So, that is what we’re doing.
And this weekend I’m giving you, my readers, the opportunity to buy one or both of these, before we discount them to those (un)lucky enough not to read my newsletter every week.
The 22cm Casserole at full RRP is £275.00.
This weekend you can buy it for £139.00, almost half RRP price.
As a guide, this is a good size for two to three people. Le Creuset say 2-4 but I think that four might be a bit of a push, possibly depending on how rich the casserole is, and what you’re having with it.
The other half of the set is the 25cm Grill, which is currently selling on Le Creuset’s own website at £105.00.
This weekend you can buy this from us for £79.00.
This, you can use on any hob (including Induction and Aga), but also on the BBQ in the summer. Unless of course, you are one of these strange people who use their BBQ in the dead of winter, in which case you may use it on the BBQ all year round. And, if this is the case, you are going to get even better value out of it!
Please tell us who you are if coming into the shops or use code LCCASS22 for the casserole and LCGRL25 for the Grill
Valentine’s Day
If you like to broadcast your sentimental nature with seasonal retail extravagance, we have a “whimsical range of romantic cookware essentials” that your other half may (or may not) treasure for years to come, but being of exceptional quality, will also have a practical benefit in the kitchen either way.
The Last word
Ok, well that’s it for this week, but a chance remark the other day reminded me that I’d never finished reading Hans Roslings book “Factfulness” and since I’d been meaning to do so for the last couple of years, and seem to be in a perpetual state of running short on time, I bought the audio book to supplement my paper copy.
This also comes with all the charts, graphs and graphics in PDF format that are actually much clearer than those in the book. So, as I’ve also not quoted from it in almost two years, I thought it time to remind you despite what you might see on the news, that the world isn’t entirely going to the dogs, as you might have assumed.
My new friend, Chat GPT, obliged me with a pithy summary of the book to give you some background on Rosling’s motives for writing it.
“Hans Rosling’s ‘Factfulness’ teaches a data-driven approach to understanding the world, countering biases that make us see things as worse than they are. He highlights global progress and encourages critical thinking, showing that while challenges exist, a fact-based perspective leads to better decisions and a more hopeful outlook.”
So, here are just three, out of dozens of other examples, that he uses to make his point. I’ll almost guarantee, that they will surprise and delight you.
- Literacy in 1900 was less than 20% of the worlds population. In 2016 (when the book was written) it had grown to 86%
- The percentage of ‘girls in school’ in 1970 was 65%. In 2015 it had risen to 90% (and boys 92%...barely any difference now)
- The availability of ‘clean water’ in 1980 was just 58%. In 2015 this had grown to 88%
I hope you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend, knowing that the world is in a better state then you'd imagined.
Warm regards,
Andrew
Leave a comment