I'm probably the only person in London that occasionally has to move a large washing up bowl, stuffed with orchids in their pots, out of the shower and on to the bathroom floor so that I can have a wash XD

One of my housemates likes to grow orchids, and they do look lovely on the bathroom windowsill as he's got whites, purples and yellows so we have a nice mixture of colours. They don't need to be watered frequently but you do need to give them a nice long soak on occasion, so every so often they can be found in a big bowl in the shower tray.

Orchid Necklace by ElizabethSMurray

I stumbled on this shop while looking at orchids on Etsy and I loved it so much I had to feature it! Every piece is made with stamped silver and polymer clay inlays. The details are incredible, such as getting the right shade of blue on the kingfisher, or the little purple speckles on the petal of the orchid above.

Have a nice evening everyone!

Link to Hope

You might remember that last year I posted about Christmas shoeboxes made by myself and my Mum.

This year the charity, Link to Hope (they changed their name from Link Romania as they support people in several countries in Eastern Europe, not just Romania) is running their Christmas shoebox campaign again.

Today I finished off all my buying for my shoeboxes, once again I'm doing two family ones and two elderly ones. I got nice warm socks and woolly gloves along with some sweets and shampoo. There's also a wind-up torch for one of my elderly shoeboxes at home as my Mum ordered a bunch of things off Amazon.

Both boxes have a mixture of useful bits, personal essentials, and fun things. Useful things include notebooks, a pencil case with pens and colouring pencils (especially good for children who are attending school), and mugs. Personals are the socks and gloves since winter is coming, as well as toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap. And then fun things include a travel box of dominoes, a yoyo, stickers, colouring books and playing card packs.

I've now got to wrap them up and stick £2 to the paperwork to help cover delivery costs.

I decided to post this up now as shoeboxes need to be done and with an Area Collector by 5th November. If you'd like to join in this year then check out the Shoebox Appeal, check there's a Collector in your neighbourhood, and start shopping! It can be a bit on the expensive side, especially if you're like me and get carried away XD But I consider it to be my equivalent to monthly charity donations, and it's nice to think that people who struggle during the winter are getting things that make life a little easier.

Photos will probably be coming next week, assuming me and my Mum remember XD