Weleda Gardens Open Day

Earlier this month we visited the fabulous Weleda gardens on their open day, if you haven't heard of Weleda before they are a world leader in holistic natural cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

With gardens all over the world it feels like such a privilege to have one so close to us, I have visited the gardens before for one of Weleda's insight days but wanted to take the children so they could experience the gardens and see the wonderful flowers and plants.

First off my daughter and I made flower crowns, I had never made them before but it was super easy and so much fun. We chose our flowers from the selection they had and then carefully wound each flower onto the wire.

After we'd made our flower crowns we walked around the gardens, the plants were all labelled so you could tell what they were, some more deadly than others.

It was such a wonderful day and I enjoyed watching my children walk through the flowers, looking at the wildlife. We spotted some ant hills in the polytunnels and saw the bees that live in the gardens, we couldn't help but stop to spot the many butterflies and moths in the wildflower meadow too.

I use Weleda on a daily basis, my favourite products being their foot balm, arnica shower gel and skin food they smell great and work so well.

If you haven't heard of them before and are looking for more natural products to use as part of your beautify routine then do check them out.

A Creative & Crafty Blog Meet at Breadsall Priory

On Sunday, I was invited to a Creative and Craft event at Breadsall Priory in Derbyshire. It was a great chance to meet up with some other like minded bloggers for a chat and to find out about some great products and businesses in a truly beautiful setting.

On the day, I decided to go with a vintage look, with some vintage Ralph Lauren and Marks & Spencer glammed up with a joules top and accessorised with a Sun Jellies bag, shoes and necklace.

On arrival to Breadsall Priory we were shown to a beautiful garden room for a selection of drinks, before being shown to our table for afternoon tea. The afternoon tea was stunning, with beautiful cakes, sandwiches, and scones with plenty of clotted cream and jam.

Even me, with the sweetest of teeth couldn't manage all of the the cakes, thankfully though the lovely staff bought them to our room so we could finish them in the afternoon.

After tea and cake we made our way to the Morley room, a beautiful and bright airy room which I can imagine would make a gorgeous backdrop for a wedding ceremony, especially looking out into the stunning gardens.

First up, we had a talk by Annette from Weleda, a brand I already adore and have lots of time for. We got to try some of their bath milks, hand creams as well as learn about how they work. I bought some foot balm to help prepare my summer feet.

Then we got on to making and crafting, with some hoops supplied by Korbond and lots of scraps of fabric, we set about designing a picture on fabric. I am a real novice when it comes to something like this, I am normally found crafting with paper, glue and children in tow. So it was great to find something new to try.

We also had  talk from Jen from Lunar 21 and Alice from Bless Your Arts Boutique and Phil did a great talk on Polyvine, they do some great products so I will be looking a bit more into this.

It was a lovely few hours and I only wish it could of been longer, there was so much more to learn and craft and talk about so I look forward to the next one.

Thank you to Samantha and Kat for organising and Breadsall Priory for hosting us, and their wonderful little goody bags I am looking forward to popping back to use the leisure facilities.

The day raised £100 for the Mollie Makes Crafternoon For Comic Relief  too, so as well as being fun it was helping a worthwhile cause.

Blog Roll from Sunday

Kat
www.akraftykat.co.uk

Emma

www.lilyallsorts.com

Charlotte
www.englishgirlathome.com

Hannah
www.daintyandivory.blogspot.com/

Phil

www.fireflyphil.wordpress.com

Samantha

www.crafternoonteahostess.co.uk

Claire

www.ninjakillercat.co.uk

Alice 

Bless You Arts Boutique

Jenn
www.lunar21derby.org.uk

Mother's Day Treats

Looking for something to treat that special mama in your life on Mother's Day? Well, I have a few tried and tested goodies for you.

First up, is this fabulous flower delivery service, Wild Flowers Company deliver gorgeous flowers to your door, weekly or monthly. A great idea that keeps on giving, the flowers are all sourced from British suppliers and the stunning bouquets are a delight to receive - From £28, pop back to my original post for 20% off!

Next up, if you have a mama in your life that likes baths and all things natural then this Weleda Wild Rose Bath Cream is for them, this luscious bath cream is beautifully silky and leaves your skin feeling wonderful and moisturised, the bottle is also super pretty - £12.95.

With spring on it's way the fabulous Sun Jellies have a great new range of bags and their shoes and jewellery is always a hit, you can find my review of the shoes and bag for more information. Prices starting from £10.

And finally, the fabulous Yumbox, this is a great lunchbox for busy mums, whether they are out for a picnic, at work or just want something that you can pack in the morning and take with you to ensure you get a balanced lunch. They even have a mothers day offer of free P&P so check them out, it's a box that can be used day in day out and looks great too, for more check out my previous reviews of the Yumbox and Panino. £24.95

Now, I wonder if this is a big enough hint of what I might like, a girl can never have enough bags, shoes, flowers, bath stuff and lunch boxes right.

Weleda Citrus Hand and Nail Cream Review

In the goody bag from Weleda last week there was a tube of the Citrus Hand and Nail Cream, having struggled with awful dry hands for years and tried many hand creams I was instantly impressed with this.

The cream itself smells fantastic, the citrus is fresh smelling and it reminds you of summer. It is really thick and creamy and although goes on a little greasy feeling it soaks in really well.

My hands have never felt so soft and they stay soft, a problem i've had with other hand creams. My nails feel healthier too, this sounds a little cliche but my hands look younger and healthier.

The great thing about Weleda is they use nothing nasty, no parabens or harsh chemicals just natures finest (they explain this better here). The tube is a great size to pop in your handbag and although it costs a little more than some other hand creams on the market a little goes a long way and because it works so well you simply don't need as much throughout the day.

Weleda Insight Day

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited to one of the Weleda Insight Days up at their UK head office in Ilkeston. Having worked just up the road for the last 9 years I felt terrible that I didn't know they were there.

Weleda is a brand that most of us will have come into contact with at some point in our lives, my memory is always of their Calendolon Ointment (now Calendula Skin Salve) that my mum called magic cream, it was her go-to antiseptic cream for bumps and scrapes.

On arrival at Weleda, we were taken into a lovely open space with tea, coffee and drinks whilst we chatted and waited for the day to start. An introduction to Weleda and how the business started was the first of many 'i never knew thats' from me. Rudolph Stiener, who I knew of from the Stiener schools, was the person that helped start Weleda.

Off to the gardens, again I never knew this is where they were, having driven past them several times.  We were greeted by Michael Bates who was a gardener at Weleda for 30 years before retiring, his wealth of knowledge on the plants, how they work and the whole Weleda philosophy knew no bounds.

I think we all stood in awe at the information being presented to us, I know I have much more of an appreciation for plants now than I had before. Have you ever taken the time to look at the leaves on a plant? How they change as you move from the roots to the flower, if you hold up a St Johns Wort leaf to the light it has tiny holes in it. Amazing stuff!

There were so many wonderful flowers in the garden, including the beautiful Chamomile flower, the properties of this useful flower know no bounds. I promptly had a cup of chamomile tea when we got back after hearing of its medicinal properties. On the flip side, we also saw poison ivy and a few other not so pleasant plants.

And finally onto the flower I know best, in relation to Weleda anyway, the beautiful calendula flower (part of the marigold family). The plot with them on was vibrant orange and beautifully swaying in the breeze.

Afterwards we got to see a demo with one of the other gardeners, she showed us how they take the plants and turn them into a tincture. I got to be one of the helpers and was pretty proud of my chopping.

After lunch, which was not only beautiful but from my the deli local to my work, it was divine and a lovely break in the day.

In the afternoon, we got to test lots of Weleda products, trying them out and learning about the lead plants (the one which is is the main ingredient). My favourite has to be the Sea Buckthorn. I am really excited to have found this, in fact I am hoping the Sea Buckthorn Juice might help with my Fibromyalgia and the tiredness.

All of the different smells were amazing, I am really looking forward to using the citrus hand and nail cream which we were lucky enough to get a sample of, a review will be up later of this great product and some others too.

Overall what I learned about this company and what they do has made me all the more determined to get me and my family using more if not all natural products.

NB. I was invited to the Weleda Insight Day and received a bag of goodies, however no payment has been received for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Midlands Blog Meetup

This weekend I was lucky enough to meet up with some other Midlands bloggers, a gorgeous bunch of  lovely individuals who it was a pleasure to meet.

Organised by Kelly of To Become a Mum and Emma of Frugally Peachy the day was wonderfully relaxing and really well organized.

The food at The Malt Cross was amazing and it is a really lovely venue, I will definitely be taking hubby and the kids back at some point in the near future.

We also got to meet a couple of ladies from The Body Shop, they brought some new to the market items and some old favourites. We all got to try and ask lots of questions, it was really informative and great fun.

I brought a few things afterwards, including the most gorgeous smelling Chocomania™ Beautifying Oil and some Hemp Hand Protector, lots of people have raved about this and it seems to be working well after just a few days. I had forgotten about The Body Shop and I will certainly back for more goodies.

There were several great supporters to the day including Weleda, Swizzles Matlow, Poddle Pod, Baked by Me there was also a great bundle to win with lots of goodies which was won by Sarah of Seriously Shalow.

I am really excited to be able to offer a Poddle Pod to my readers soon so keep your eyes peeled.

All these pictures are courtesy of Emma at Frugally Peachy, I was too busy talking to really take any and for that I am not sorry. I really did get to talk to so many lovely ladies, and am now following loads more blogs too.

Till next time ladies x