I'm back! Our week away flew by but we had a lovely break and it was lovely to see all the family. I have been busy this morning sorting through literally hundreds of emails and checking up on stock that has been sold. Sale stuff is getting very low now in some things.

Devon and Cornwall seems to be a very into organic baby clothes and many of my suppliers are based down there. Unfortunately I did not get time to look them up a week just isn't long enough. Little Shrimp wrap dresses have been proving to be very popular and stock is disappearing fast so if you would like one of these gorgeous little dresses order now to avoid diappointment. The designs are just beautiful and quite unique to Little Shrimp so your baby will not be faced with the awful dilemma of another baby in the sam outfit! (My tongue is firmly in my cheek this only affects Mummy!)

Just a very short post to let you know that I am away for a weeks holiday  in Devon.Going to see the family its Jacob's 4th birthday which hardly seems possible it seems like yesterday when he was born.

Any orders placed this week will be dealt with immediately on our return next weekend.

Regards,

Linda

I have been busy this afternoon putting my new Fairtrade wooden jigsaws, mobile, building blocks and skipping ropes into the shop. here is the Dragon  a-z puzzle which was recently shortlisted for 'Gift of the year'.

 He is quite splendid isn't he?

I really like the coloured building blocks too very traditional toys which help little ones to be creative and use their imaginations.

Work on our house is carrying on apace but we are still in a complete muddle. Our bathroom is now finished and I have been transferring bits and pieces from all over the house. I am not feeling very eco friendly at the moment because I have been trying to be ruthless and throw out stuff that I haven't used for a long time. Consequently the bin is full of things like tubes of half used suncream that I have been hoarding. I am determined to try and declutter my house. There are some things sadly that are just not recycle friendly. I am comforting myself that a lot of these items were bought long before I started to think seriously about the toiletries and cosmetics that I use and they have probably gone off anyway.

My order has gone off for loads more jigsaw puzzles, skipping ropes, mobiles and building bricks and I am planning to have everything in the shop by next week. I am a last minute shopper at Christmas time but I have spoken to loads of people lat ...

I have been trying to decide what to buy Jacob for his birthday and it set me thinking about some of the kids toys around these days. So many are made from plastic and there is all the controversy about phalates in plastics. I found this information which may be of interest. Discard plastic toys manufactured in 1999 or earlier. After 1999 most toy manufacturers stopped using phthalates in their toys. It's also a good practice to purchase toys made of natural materials such as wood and cloth whenever possible as a) this is a more sustainable, earth friendly practice that keeps plastic out of landfills and b) is the only way to be sure toys don't contain phthalates.

Fairtrade doll

Monday again! Where do the weeks go? We are heading fast towards Autumn the time of mellow fruitfulness. With this in mind I have been reading The Soil Associations five reasons to go organic. To me they make a lot more sense then the recent condemnation of organic food which appeared in the press. So here they are-

 Five reasons to choose organic
Organic is good for you and your planet, is kind to animals and wildlife and allows us make a big difference - simply through the way we shop. With all these benefits, it’s easy to see why organic delivers such good value for money.

1. Better for your planet
Over 20% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from food and farming today. Nitrogen fertiliser manufacturing is the worst offender. To prod ...

Work continues apace in my kitchen and I am comforting myself that it will not be for ever and trying to focus on how lovely it will be when its finished. I have waited three years to get it done and this is the final leg. (Do I sound convinced?) Anyway enough of my moans.

I was reading the results of a Mumsnet survey published in The Guardian which found that almost half of pregnant women would refuse the vaccination for swine flu even though they have been recognised as a target group by Government health experts.  In July, a study in the US showed they are more at risk of complications if they get it and more likely to end up in hospital than other people. Six pregnant women died of swine flu complications there between 15 April and 18 May.

The authors of the US study, which was published online by the Lancet, said at the time that they were concerned pregnant women might not come forward for vaccination because of their fears for the baby. Today's ...

Chaos is supreme in our house at the moment we are finally having a new kitchen and knocking through into a building which is attached to the house. I have spent the day packing everything up in the kitchen apart from what I might need over the course of the next couple of weeks. Luckily it has been a lovely sunny blustery sort of day with no rain and we now have a velux window in the new utility room and its been stripped out already. I am just going to have to get used to everything being completely upside down for the next few weeks but work certainly seems to be moving apace at the moment.

I have managed to get a couple of pictures into the shop of the new soaps there is Rose Cream and Billabong they are scenting my office ...

Yet another wet day here in the Scottish Highlands I have been doing my accounts which is not my favourite task, luckily my husband keeps me on the right track. I have been adding the new soaps that I mentioned here last week but seem to be having something of  problem with the pictures not sure what the problem is but I will endeavour to put it right very soon.

I have been considering ways which we can reduce the amount of rubbish that goes into the dustbin weekly. Its not easy is it? So many items that you buy seem to be needlessly packaged in polystyrene and clingfilm. I'm thinking about some fruit such as nectarines and  vegetables like baby corn. We are growing a fair amount but I am going to strive to grow more next year. I make all our cakes, biscuits and bread so no packaging there. I save ice cream cartons and so on for freezing left overs and we use cloth bags so don't add to the mountain of plastic that goes into landfill. I usually b ...

Hello again from Sones Towers! I have been in the far reaches of Wick today and got back rather late but I though I would log on and say hello. Just finished packing up a parcel to send out tomorrow and sorting out stock lists etc. its a bit problematic keeping track of everything when there is a sale on and sizes are running out.

I shall be bringing two new soaps into the shop next week from Strathpeffer Spa Soap aimed at the Mum's Rose and Cream and Billabong I do hope that you will like them they smell delicious!

Anyway that's my home news! I have been reading about a recent story in The New York Times about womens rights which suggested that advancing women's rights is about advancing human rights. I could not agree more. I have heard an argument put forward that if other cultures mistreat women it's not something we should be concerned about  because it is their business basically. Women and girls are hit hardest when it comes to the worl ...