I've been trying to think of a way to add a little bit of personal stuff to Terracotta & Twine. I've read all the recommendations on the internet - 'behind the scenes Instagram Reels' being the most suggested but honestly, behind the scenes at the moment is mostly me sitting at a desk in a cluttered room because we're mid-way through renovating my new office. It's not very Instagram-able.
In fairness, I probably will start sharing 'behind the scenes' stuff once I'm moved into the new office because it's going to look incredible. So far we've painted it. It's black on three walls, and the ceiling. The other wall is beige because I need a plain wall for product photography.
I've got some black velvet curtains. There's gonna be a chair in the corner with a big fluffy blanket. I've started collecting lamps to go around the room. I'm cross-stitching bits from all my favourite TV shows to go on the wall. It's gonna be so good. I'm aiming for 'cave of cosiness' which I think I'm on track to achieve. Also, there's gonna be a shelf all the way across that bit where it switches from beige to black, to break up the sudden change.
This is what it looks like currently. I'm very excited.
Anyway, given that I don't have much interesting to share 'behind the scenes', I figured I'd do a kind of 'stuff I've enjoyed lately' post once a month. I'll try and make it a mix of things you can buy, incase anyone's looking for gift ideas or treats for themselves, and generally just other stuff that I think is good.
If it introduces someone to something they'd not heard of - great! If not, never mind, at least all the blogging will appease the Google gods.
GOOD OMENS
Angels. Demons. Apocalypse. Romance. A dusty old bookstore. A vintage car. History (kinda). It's incredible. I can't say much more without spoiling anything, but it's SO GOOD.
I've freaked out multiple people recently by demanding to know if they've watched Good Omens. The other day someone said they'd seen it and I got so excited I flung my arms out and sent a full glass of wine flying to the ground.
Please watch it and then if you have theories about the plot, come shout about them with me in an email. It's hard to really say anything more about why I thought it was awesome without spoilers which I realise makes this kind of a vague thing to put in this blog post. I didn't think this through very well, but never mind, I'm keeping it here.
ASDA WARM PUMPKIN PIE CANDLE
AND OTHER FRAGRANCE PRODUCTS BECAUSE I GOT CARRIED AWAY WRITING THIS
Last year I got a Pumpkin and Sweet Vanilla candle from Anthropologie that was absolutely incredible. The is year they seem to be making that scent exclusively in the 'over £70' price bracket which is far more than I'm willing to spend on a candle.
So instead, I treated myself to this rather large, pumpkin shaped, pumpkin pie scented ASDA candle for £8. Granted, it is now out of stock, but if it returns I highly recommend buying one for every room. I haven't even lit it yet, I just have it sat next to my desk and I can smell it. It's lovely.
If wax melts are more your thing, B and M do some gingerbread scented ones that are shaped like little gingerbread people and they're absolutely delicious smelling too. The scent doesn't last for as many burns as Yankee wax melts, but you should get a couple of days out of each one. I can't find them online yet, but I have just got some in store.
Oooh also, if making candles is your thing, we made Apple and Cinnamon candles a couple of years ago with soy wax and this fragrance from Cosy Owl. It doesn't have as good of a scent throw as the ASDA and Anthro candles, but if you're looking to bulk make candles, I thought it was great.
Also in Spring my best friend became obsessed with Gorse bushes because they smell like coconut suncream. I had no idea what she was on about, but I was desperate to experience it so for a couple of weeks I was just randomly pulling over whenever I drove past one to go sniff it. But I couldn't smell anything. Eventually we decided it was because she was in Scotland and they must have better Gorse. Anyway, she bought me a candle for my birthday called Spring Gorse which smells incredible and I only just realised what the connection was because I was about to write how lovely it smells and it just clicked in my brain what the scent is.
DOG SAFE BULBS FOR SPRING - MUSCARI
Gardeners - most bulb type plants are not safe for dogs. Definitely not the bulbs themselves, but also the plants that come from the bulbs. You probably already knew this, but, I needed to provide context.
All the usual lovely flowers you'll find popping up in Spring such as Tulips, Daffodils, Snowdrops, Bluebells, Iris and many others are toxic to dogs. When I got into gardening last year, I found this super disheartening because my goal is to only plant dog safe plants and it was looking like my garden was gonna just be bare in spring time.
Then I discovered Muscari. This is a type of Hyacinth (it's a Grape Hyacinth and is no relation to Hyacinth Bucket) that looks, in my opinion, a bit like something from outer space. It's rather unusual, which is a bonus in my eyes, but it's also safe for dogs and it's available in a range of colours. Which means that I can still have a colourful, varied Spring garden, it'll just be lots of different types of Muscari.
I've just placed an order for 335 bulbs from J Parkers - I've gone for 200 in purple, 75 blue, 50 white and 10 pink. I can't wait to see them all flowering in Spring!
NOAH REID
This month I went to see Noah Reid live. Those of you that are fans of Schitt's Creek will know him as Patrick and probably be familiar with his version of Simply The Best. But outside of Schitt's Creek, he's a full on musician with three really really good albums.
I find that when I'm having one of those days where my brain is struggling to focus on anything and I'm all scattered and tense, listening to Noah Reid just quietens everything and allows me to think. It's truly bizarre, I can't think of any other music that has the same effect.
It also creates really good atmosphere if you listen to it in headphones, whilst on a walk, whilst it rains, in Spring / Summer. If it's raining in Autumn / Winter you're gonna want the other Noah - Noah Kahan.
Anyway, Noah Reid live.
Noah Reid is funny. He's also a very good musician. I really enjoyed this gig - I drove 2 hours to get there in the dark and wet and almost cried three times because I hate driving in the dark and wet. But it was worth it.
Also he has a song about burning a cardboard box, which I guess I thought was probably a metaphor or something. But apparently not. Dude really got into burning cardboard boxes during the pandemic.
THIS CUSHION
It's a little pricy, but this cushion has ended up being one of the most versatile, useful things I've ever bought.
This month it's been a favourite because I had COVID and to try and avoid passing it to Josh, I've been sequestered away in the bedroom. We have a metal bed frame which requires about 50 regular pillows to comfortably sit up in bed without a bar digging in your back OR, one of these Urban Outfitters cushions. You can buy similar cushions from other places, but I can only speak to the quality of the Urban Outfitters ones.
I use this cushion to sit up in bed, we take it on holiday and use it in the caravan (our caravan bed is surrounded by three windows, it is absolute heaven to sit on the bed and read a book on a sunny day), Josh uses it to sit on the floor and lean against stuff quite frequently, I use it if I wanna sit closer to the edge of a seat but still have back support...it's versatile as fuck, it what I'm saying.
Spending multiple days mostly in bed would have been a very unpleasant experience if I didn't have this cushion. Highly recommend.
So yeah, there you gol There's five things I've loved in September (and will continue to love, there's no time limit). Hopefully you got something out of reading this.
Happy end-of-September-going-into-October!