January newsletter - better late than never!

January 2010 newsletter - better late than never!

Hello

What a January this has been - a real case of 'be careful what you wish for'. I'd been bemoaning the fact that we haven't had the toboggans out for years and then look what happens! The toboggans are nearly worn out and, in the garden, desperately hungry rabbits have stripped the bark off any shrub they can reach. The fallout in the garden could be huge, but there is an upside - I apologise for the quality of this month's photo (it was taken on my phone) but what a view. It's from the top of the Glenshee ski area a couple of weeks ago - absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and we skied in the sun on snow that could have been in the Alps.

The newsletter is a little late this month because I've been out on the road visiting manufacturers the length and breadth of Britain. I've had a fascinating and productive time visiting some of the great people that we either work with or have projects in the pipeline with. I love seeing things being made in ways that have been around for generations - it's one of the priviledges of my job - and I absolutely love working with these companies to take something from an idea to a finished product. Lovely people, lovely things. I can't tell you exactly what I've been up to but suffice to say that there should be a lot of fabulous new things joining our range during this year.

In this month's newsletter - a new arrival on the website that I've been looking forward to for ages, new Soap Saucers in stock, it's a girls' month for our track listing at Spotify, there's a recipe for a really delicious rich, wintery casserole and a final reminder for our January Sale.

Wrap up warm!

Caroline Hoyer Millar

Diary note for our local customers ...

Just to let you know that invitations are going out as we speak for our Clearance Sale which is being held here (Inchyra House, Glencarse, Perth PH2 7LU) between 10am and 6pm on Tuesday 9th February. Well worth a visit if you can - there will be loads of end of lines and clearance stock that isn't in the web sale.

All welcome - coffee/tea/cakes/biscuits in aid of the MS Society - please bring your friends!

This will make you feel better ....

Lavindin Grosso

I am so pleased to be able to tell you about this. If you know anything about lavender, you will know that lavender essence is something entirely different from lavender water or anything else derived from lavender. We are extremely pleased to introduce something very special to Twice - Lavandin Grosso from the south of France. This is the very highest quality lavender essence which we have sourced directly from the Ardeche in France. It is usually only available in a very few local markets.

Apart from the luxury of dropping the essence into the water for the most soothing bath or onto your pillow at bedtime (a very few drops are enough) it has many, many traditional uses. From helping with sleep and colds and headaches, through to skin ailments, circulation problems, muscle aches and joint pain. In France Lavindin is commonly rubbed onto the skin to help with all kinds of swelling and pain and as an antiseptic. Should be used sparingly - I have a bottle that I've had for years and it's still going strong. Unlike many essential oils, Lavindin can be used neat and straight from the bottle and you can also use it with carrier oils.

And it gets better - because by sourcing our Lavindin directly from the Ardeche we have been able to keep the price very low (other companies are charging as much as Ł10.00 for 25ml).

Ł20.00 for 90ml

Back in stock - why not stick some of our Soap Saucers in your present drawer?

Our vintage saucer soap dishes fly off the shelves whenever they're in stock - and it's not surprising really. They are the perfect present drawer staple - whether you're going out to dinner with friends, you need a present for a teacher, or you just want to say thank you to someone, these little saucers fit the bill.

We source vintage saucers, pop a Trevarno Organic Lavender & Geranium 75g soap on them and wrap them beautifully. I've just put a few more on the website today - so grab them while you can.

Click here

Sale ends 31st Jan - still time to bag a bargain .... click here to go straight to the Sale

Garden Storage
Sacks (set/3)

Were Ł17.50
Now Ł10.00

Bread Basket

Was Ł8.50
Now Ł6.50

Embroidered
Organza Cushion

Was Ł24.00
Now Ł20.00

Up to 25% off
Hand-Embroidered
Bed Linens

We'd be interested to hear your views on workshops ...

I'm starting to think about putting together a few workshops over the next few months. It would be very useful to get a bit of feedback from you to get an idea of what topics you might like us to cover, whether you feel we're a bit early (workshop bookings almost disappeared last year due to the recession and we had to cancel many of the days) and, finally, a bit of a plea - the biggest cost in putting together our workshops is printing and posting the information leaflets. If we could do this by email we would be able to hold/reduce the prices and offer more days - if you are interested could you let us know if you would like to be put on our email list for workshops? Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Click here to give us your feedback.

Girls rule on the playlist ....

The girls have it this month. Here's a bunch of fantastic tracks, some new, some old:

You're So Vain - Carly Simon
Johnny Got A Boom Boom - Imelda May
In These Shoes? - Kirsty MacColl
Empire State Of Mind - Alicia Keys
Where You Lead - Carole King
Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) - Big Brother & The Holding Co, feat. Janis Joplin
You Got The Love - Florence & The Machine

If you haven't already got Spotify in your life, just click here, follow the instructions - and welcome to a whole new world! If you're already converted, click here to go straight to the playlist. More tracks in next month's newsletter.

Deery me ....

We are lucky enough to get venison fairly readily here in Scotland and I think that it is becoming more widely available across the UK. It is a delicious and healthy meat, with a rich, wintery taste and I thought I'd give you this recipe which I cobbled together for a casserole this weekend. (Admission: this is not a picture of my venison casserole - it was all eaten!)

2kg venison, cubed into roughly 1-2" cubes
750g shallots, peeled
250g streaky bacon, chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
1 pint beef stock
1 bottle red wine
500g mushrooms, any kind, sliced (you could put in some reconstituted porcini mushrooms too for extra taste)
10ish juniper berries, lightly crushed
Olive oil

Put the olive oil in a large casserole dish and heat. Add the shallots and fry until they are lightly browned. Add the bacon and fry for about 5 minutes until slightly coloured. Remove from the casserole and turn the heat up high. Add the venison about a handful at a time and cook quickly until turning brown. When all the meat has been browned, return it all to the casserole together with the bacon and shallots. Add the flour and mix until well incorporated. Add the beef stock and then the bottle of wine and season. Bring the pan to the boil and then move to the oven at 160C. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours and then add the mushrooms and juniper berries and cook for at least another 2 hours. Like most casseroles, this is even better if you make it the day before and re-heat it when you need it.

Serve with lashings of creamy mashed potatoes and veg.

This will serve at least 8 people.

Hello, what's that I see ....

We're very chuffed that Country Living Magazine have used two of our Vintage Covered Notebooks in the poster for this year's Spring Fair.

Sadly, we won't be exhibiting at the fair this year (it very annoyingly clashes with the end of term) so I'm going to miss seeing our notebooks all over the Underground - oh well, maybe another time.

Twice will be at these fairs and sales in the near future ....

9th February, 10am to 6pm - Twice Clearance Sale, Inchyra House, Glencarse, Perth PH2 7LU

5-7 March - Right At Home Exhibition, SECC Glasgow

And finally .....

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