Trivets, Self-Deprecating humour and Bagels

Last week, I promised to give you my take on what “Kindness” (as quoted by Robert Waldinger) might mean. But I’ve actually had very little spare time to think it through properly…whether, if I had more, this would have made any difference to my answer is, of course, open to debate!

I've a feeling that in its simple and obvious form, kindness, like letting someone first through a door, picking up something that someone has dropped, offering to go to the shops, are all acts of kindness. And maybe it’s obvious, but being a parent and putting limits to one’s child is also a kindness, although not necessarily felt as such by the child…? Anyway, this week, before I start on product, I felt like taking another part of his talk, a piece right at the beginning, because I’m finding some of his conclusions exciting and they just keep coming back to my mind and, for me, they are either eye opening or highly affirming.

So, Bartlett asks Waldinger how the observations from the study have had an impact on him. He says, it’s very much made him take care of his own relationships, and that’s because, he says, “the biggest and most surprising finding in the study was that it’s our relationships that keep us healthier and happier”. That is not only surprising, but I wonder if it’s worth repeating. It’s our relationships that keep us healthier and happier.

And Waldinger continues “I’ve become much more intentional about calling my friends, about saying let's go for a walk, let's go out to dinner, let's make sure we get together. I never would have done that before, and particularly (not) as a man”. He says “I think women are much better, my wife is much better at calling friends. I had to teach myself to do that, I had to make myself do it. I had to take my own medicine, if you will, based on (the results of) what I was studying in my work life”.

Quite something, if you stop to think about it. Get your relationships right, and you’ll be happier, is perhaps not such a surprise. That you will not only be happier, but also live significantly longer, 12 years for men, on average, and 7 years for women, is a bit of an eye opener, for me.

Ok to product.

Sintra Range
Bryony Dyer, from Dexam, came to see me a while back and brought with her samples of a rather attractive range of Terracotta, called Sintra, in three colours, Green, Blue Ink and Ochre.

It’s been quite a while since we’ve stocked a range of terracotta, so I was very pleased she’d added it to hers.

The Sintra range comprises.

1.      A Wine Cooler.
2.      A beautifully shaped large Jug, 3 Litre capacity.
3.      Two sizes of Tapas Dish.
4.      A nice little Oil Drizzler.

The colours are good and pretty durable for terracotta. What do I mean by “pretty durable”. Well, there’s terracotta and there’s terracotta, and my guess is that this range is fired at a higher than usual temperature, which is a good thing, as it makes it stronger, less likely to chip and just a bit more practical.

So you can put this terracotta, not only in the oven, but also in the freezer and the dishwasher (both of which softer terracotta’s don’t like). But bullet proof it isn’t. When washed up and stored, if not entirely dry it can go mouldy on the unglazed areas, in quite a short time. This is easily washed off, but forewarned is forearmed. This is a normal characteristic of terracotta, they all do it, I’m afraid.   

I love the range, and particularly have my eye on the large jug, a very handsome piece and very reasonably priced at £25.00.

We are currently price matching at 10% off the RRP’s but for this weekend if you buy 2 or more pieces, we will increase that to 20% off (to be clear, this is not in addition to the 10%, it's instead of). (Actually 20.8% 'cos our software can't do complicated maths. Andi)

Tell us who you are if coming into the shops, or use code SINTRA20 if shopping online.

Magimix Power Blender Offers
Magimix have recently produced new models, called the Power Blender, in 3 sizes. Stephen, our account manager, came to Reigate last Tuesday to do training on them, which unfortunately I missed. But, having asked Paul and Em what they picked up on in the training session, the following list were some of the things they thought I might pass on to you:

1.      Quiet. Very. Unlike most other blenders this has the Quiet Mark. Only on its highest settings will you need to raise your voice at all.
2.      Square Jug design seemed to be highly efficient at producing a vortex, that drew everything onto the blade.
3.      The Jug is a thick Borosilicate glass, so incredibly strong and won’t stain or scratch.
4.      The square design makes it easy to pour from.
5.      The spatula that you have to use through the lid (as a stop, to prevent the blades gobbling that up as well) means even with Peanut Butter, you can get to every bit of the jug to persuade the little critters onto the blades.
6.      It’s very easy to clean by hand as everything comes apart.
7.      Dishwasher safe. So, you can put everything in the dishwasher.
8.      And of course, there’s the usual 30-year guarantee on the motor, 3 years on everything else

The Magimix offer is up to £50 off (depending on which model you choose) and receive free Blending Cups RRP £50 as well. So, if purchasing the Blender Power XL in Satin then you’d save £50 on that and get £50 worth of Blend Cups (by redemption).

Picnic Blankets and Bunting

We still have an over stock of Picnic blankets and matching Bunting…why you should want your bunting to match your picnic blanket, I’m not quite sure, but "there's nowt so queer as folk" and you just might, mightn’t you?

So the offer is Buy one, Get one Free, just make sure you add both items to your basket.

That’s it for this week.

The last word goes to P.K. Thomajan..

"Grudges get heavier the longer they are carried."

I trust you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend.

Kind regards

Andrew

Andrew Bluett-Duncan

Director