Haskins Garden Centres are encouraging gardeners to get out into their garden to combat any undue stress over the festive season.

Haskins recommends the following gardening activities for mindfulness and enhanced wellbeing:

  • Plant potted bulbs for spring colour as the perfect antidote to winter. Tulips are ideal to plant in November and can often boast a rainbow of colours.
  • Plant Daffodils in preparation for their sunny yellow to grace the garden in spring.
  • Simple, manual tasks such as deadheading and weeding can help calm the mind and lift the spirit.
  • Scent is a powerful sensory that can help connect the individual with nature. Roses and Lavender are soothing and have been proven to help lower blood pressure.
  • Create a mindfulness journal by taking a break in the garden and writing down what gets noticed – this might be the passing of a bee or droplets of rain falling off a leaf.
  • For those without a garden, make the most of a balcony, patio or kitchen window by creating a small herb garden. Picking these herbs will help the individual connect to the plants.
  • Choose houseplants such as Calathea and Aloe Vera to remove toxins from the air and Cccti to help aid restful sleep patterns.
  • Ignore the clock – don’t set deadlines to achieve gardening tasks. Use the time to distract from the time-poor strain of modern life.

Lisa Looker, brand director at Haskins, commented:

“We’re firm believers that gardening brings endless benefits to the gardener, both mentally and physically. It’s the perfect antidote to the stressful world we live in today, especially when the festive season can seem overly fast-paced and pressured. Just getting out into the sunlight can improve your mood, due to enhanced exposure to vitamin D and fresh air is also good for your health. Take a break from Christmas planning, shopping and wrapping and enjoy some peaceful time in the garden.”

Lisa added: “Let’s not forget that real pot-grown trees and real cut trees when added to a living space, are proven to have a beneficial effect on health and wellbeing. So even when we’re suffering from festive stress and colds, Christmas trees can help clear the airways, helping us to breathe more freely. The aromas of native plants such as evergreens have a soothing and rejuvenating effect and introducing holly into the home can help ease hypertension and high blood pressure.”

Real cut trees will be available from Monday November 19. For customers that prefer artificial trees, these are also available.

Why I love Haskins

Like Zoella, I’m a huge lover of Haskins, especially at Christmas time. It’s so magical and it’s where we go with Dave’s family to pick out their tree every year. They have a lovely restaurant as well, where you can enjoy a festive Costa hot chocolate and cake, or a delicious freshly-made pizza.

Same Zoë, same.

I had a little dig through my hard drives and found these photos of me at Haskins in 2011!

 

I’ve never done one of these posts before, but I thought it would be fun to put together a list of things I’d love to find under my tree this year. For me, it’s not about spending a fortune, I just love finding the perfect gifts to make my loved ones happy. In fact, some of my favourite presents (both received and given), have been thoughtful, inexpensive ones. I pride myself on being somewhat of a gift-giving wizard and have achieved happy tears on a few occasions, which is quite honestly the most wonderful feeling.

Ever since I was a kid, folding down the pages of the Argos catalogue and losing myself in the sparkling wonder of the Boots Christmas gift set aisle, I’ve loved making a Christmas wish list. It doesn’t matter if I don’t receive anything on it, it’s just fun to do.

So, without further ado, here is my Christmas list for 2017. Yes, it looks like it was made by an 8 year old and no, I don’t care.

Mermaid blanket

I know I’m super late to the party here, but I’ve wanted one of these for ages. I can just picture myself snuggled on the sofa with Dave and the kittens, with toasty warm feet and mermaid-like splish-splashability.

Kangaroo pouch cat-cuddling hoodie

I’m sure it will come as a surprise to ABSOLUTELY NO ONE that I want, nay need, one of these.

Cat hoodie

Amazon, £23.99

Rose gold Moderno organiser

I’m a sucker for beautiful stationery and anything that promises to help me be less of a flailing mess. This ticks both boxes.

I will likely use until March and then forget all about it, but LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS.

Lush Christmas goodies

I’m not a massive bath-lover. I’m a bit weird about being in water full-stop (specifically having my feet in it). Hot tubs are a no for me. Swimming? Well, swimming can just do one.

But now we’re in the new house and I finally have a lovely bathroom, I really want to turn it into a little oasis of calm – and I really, really want to start liking baths. What better way to achieve this than by indulging in loads of gorgeous, festive Lush bath treats like this little cutie?

Snowman

Lush, £4.25

iPad Pro

One of my plans for 2018 is to add new designs to my Honeybee Cards range. I’ve been asked by a local bridal boutique to design some wedding ones (SO EXCITING!) and I also want to do some seasonal MH ones, for those who might find the festive period hard. Oh, and I’d like to perhaps sell some of the designs as prints, so let me know if that would be of interest to you!

So the plan is to kit myself out with a design tablet (I’ve also looked into Wacom ones, but would take any recommendations!) and really build Honeybee Cards in a big way.

Obviously, I’m not expecting anyone to get me such an expensive gift, but this is a wish-list after all.

Olympus Pen

One of my other goals for next year is to seriously improve my blog photography and work on my Insta game. I know this camera just screams BASIC BITCH, but I’ve heard plenty of good things about it from blogger friends. Plus, it’s pretty.

Priorities.

Sushi class

You probably know I’m obsessed with sushi. Dave and I have had a go at making it before, but we can never seem to get the rice quite right. There’s a great local cookery school called Flavours, that offers sushi classes (among many others – seriously, if you’re in Bournemouth, definitely check them out!) and I think it would be great fun to actually take a proper class and build on our sushi skills.

Perfume

Perfume is one of my favourite things to get for Christmas. I always like to have a new fragrance for a new chapter in my life and 2018 is going to be a huge year in terms of exciting projects. I love looking back on different times in my life – starting new jobs, certain special occasions – and being able to associate a scent with that time.

This is actually a perfume I’ve worn before (it was my ‘starting a career in marketing’ perfume), but I’ve decided I’d like it to be my fragrance for next year too as it’s just so gorgeous.

My 2018 scent is going to be Gucci Bamboo.