My lovely chiropractor Dr Ted gets so much pleasure out of torturing me that he gave me a present today.

Install this nifty Ergo Pro software and your computer will remind you every so often (you can change the settings to remind you after a certain length of time or amount of keyboard activity) to get up and stretch your back and neck. 

It’s made me realise just exactly how much pain and stiffness I carry around with me in neck and shoulders all day, despite Dr T’s ministrations, and comes highly recommended by the good doctor for all bloggers and people who spend hours each day at their keyboards.

Finally I’ve photographed the Sunjars and they’re now in the shop. 

Sadly, I have a horrible feeling we’re not going to be selling many, unless the weather in the UK improves dramatically.

Which is a shame because they’re super cool and I’ve really been enjoying using our one up on the deck.

You’ve probably seen them all over the blogosphere, but, just in case you’ve been having a life instead of reading blogs, they’re basically solar-powered frosted Mason jars. 

Apart from the fact that they look great in both a traditional or contemporary setting, I like the fact that they are, by their very nature, both completely waterproof and very portable. And the frosted glass feels smooth and nice.

Anyway, come and get them at mirrormirror, or, if you’re too stingy, try out Megan Not Martha’s fabulous homemade Sunjar instructions.

Megan came to our Fourth of July party!  That’s right, the owner of one of TIME’s 50 Coolest Websites for 2006 has been on our deck.  Who says there are no celebrities in Seattle. Of course I hardly got to speak to her, or indeed any of our other guests, because I was hostessing a party . But she seemed very lovely, though sadly was not wearing her Hallowig.

Hannah Tofalos is a young UK ceramics designer who’s been going from strength to strength since graduating in 2005. 

She combines clean modern shapes with traditional chintzy patterns and many of her products stack, allowing her to experiment with pattern combinations.  We first came across her at 100% Design – I think the first show she did following her degree – and we’ve been stocking her incredibly popular stacking eggcups and salt and pepper pots ever since.

We’ve now added her little storage jars to the collection.  They make a wonderful alternative to a jewellery box, or use them at the table for sauces, sugar or jam.

I’ve been shopping for quite a few new products recently.  It’s SO nice to have money to spend after getting rid of the PR company, so look out for more goodies in the coming weeks and months.

 

 

 

 

All the eggcup designs we are currently stocking

So, what do you think? Is there a market for grown-up piggy banks? As Christmas presents? I think they’re absolutely adorable and am seriously thinking about buying some of these for the site but have no idea how they might sell. And they’re going to cost a fortune to import. Tell me!

I’m indebted to Katey at That’s Hot blog for discovering Google’s new Notebook application.

It’s a cute little download which allows you to right-click on any link, picture or text that you see on the web and copy it to your online notebook. It’s brilliant for me as I’m always finding little references online to potential new suppliers or design ideas and had nowhere to put them before except my Favourites.

It’s just like having an online version of my offline notebook. For all my offline clippings etc. I use one of these lovely books by Capella Designs, available at a very reasonable price from mirrormirror