J'adore la Maison

It is a beautiful sunny Sunday morning here in Wickham, a welcome sight after all the rain we have had this week. The shop is full  but we are taking time out to tell you a little bit about some of the new products and designers that we have instore at the moment as we are very excited to be stocking them.

First up is the amazing glass range that are actually made from recycled beer,  juice and other glass bottles. The range includes goblets, flutes and tumblers and the fantastic company that are responsible for creating these masterpieces are Green Glass who are based in Cornwall.

The guys at Green Glass first came across the idea in Africa when they were were working on environmental projects in Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.  They decided to develop the idea on there return to the UK, “ We wanted our kids to grow up in a great place and we wanted to earn a living doing something that felt good”.

Green Glass in the UK started in 2000 in a garden shed within sight of the sea in Cornwall. (Yes we’re jealous of that too!) The company has been developed in partnership with the South African originators of the idea, Sean and Philip, who put all the hard work into working out the technical problems of such an ingenious idea.  “To say that Philip is eccentric is an understatement – he NEVER wears shoes – and that‘s not easy in a glass factory!”

How it’s done.

Every bottle goes through seven different processes in its transformation. All the equipment has been designed and made by Green Glass themselves – hence the Heath Robinson look!                                Each glass is cut, the edge ground and then melted to create a smooth surface to drink from. To make the glasses as strong and hard-wearing as possible they are then annealed in a long oven at varying temperatures for 2 hours. Once out of the oven the glasses are printed and sandblasted with funky designs. From start to finish it takes about 3 hours for a bottle to go through the process of transformation into a wine glass.

We think the glasses are great and our customers seem to think so too as they are flying out the door and the feedback has been extremely positive.

We also stock the candles that are made using premium lemon and thyme scented wax that has been hand poured into the glass, from St Eval (also based in Cornwall)

Another New product that we now stock are the lovely chopping boards by Marnie Moyle at Green Oak Furniture.  Marnie has emailed to tell us of an article featuring her chopping boards that is in the home section of The Times this weekend and we are very pleased to be stocking these beautifully handcrafted chopping boards.

Marnie say “Sustainability and the environment have been at the core of all work since its inception. All the oak is locally sourced, and for many reasons it is hand scrubbed rather than planed or sanded.”

Having attained a degree in Furniture Design & Craftsmanship at Buckingham University, and then an MA in Furniture Design, Marnie won awards leading her to show her work at the Milan and New York Furniture Fairs.

Those of you who have purchased items from our shop will know that we try to be environmentally conscious and our fair-trade newspaper bags are a constant talking point for many of you. We would like to say a big thankyou for your kind donations for these bags as this enables us to continue supporting this fantastic and worthwhile project.

Well the Sun hasn’t lasted and it’s getting a bit chilly too so I think its time for a cup of tea. Enjoy your day and we will be back soon to keep you posted with all the goings on at J’adore!

Ok, so normally in September we have a transition period to ease us into the autumnal weather but no not this year. It is freezing already. On the bright side my son is back at school and as of tomorrow my daughter will be a full-time year R pupil. We’ve had no tears over the past two weeks, she’s only been attending mornings but as she went to nursery from the age of 4 months she was definitely ready for it.                                                                       

As I left her on her first morning I handed her over to the teachers, who had been forewarned that they will never have come across a child quite like my little girl, and I ran before they could say actually we’ve changed our mind. I had already requested that she had the strictest teacher in the school. Extreme maybe, but my daughter had a gang at nursery. Their gang consisted of 3 little boys and my daughter and by the time they left they ‘ruled the school’. Don’t get me wrong, they were all lovely and one of them is actually in her new class but they were always getting into mischief. Funny but none of them seemed to know how the lovely new stickers that decorated the nursery toilet had removed themselves from the walls and climbed into the toilet. The children said that it must have been magic and maybe they wanted to go into the jacuzzi. I think it was then that we banned them from watching Flushed Away.

My Son is enjoying being back at school and within two days his new teacher had him sussed much to his annoyance. I however am very pleased and he does seem a lot more settled this year. The endless round of Birthday party invites have resumed and on Friday evening I found myself in a mad dash to the local supermarket for a last minute gift. Oh how I wished I had not taken the children. Before we went in they promised me that they would behave and I promised them that we would be quick. We were so quick in choosing the gift that I thought I would take a chance and head upstairs to the clothing department. To be fair they were pretty good until the time came to go back down. In my local supermarket we have what me and the children call the ’travelator’ A moving walkway that takes you up or down to the next level . Both children were in the trolley, one in the seat and one in the main compartment. We got onto the travelator to head back down. My son then stood up in the trolley with his armed outstretched Titanic style. He sang at the top of his voice to the tune of Mama Mia………………Mama Mia, you’ve got diarrhea, with a bra on his head and a smile on his face. All eyes were on us as we glided down the travelator I frantically tried to jog the trolley in the hope that he would lose his balance and sit back down but no, the wheels were locked onto the magnetic travelator and that trolley was not budging. I hung my head in shame as I paid for my goods.  I have never been an Abba fan.

Now if I had been sensible I would have come over to J’adore. We have the most amazing cards and gifts for young and old and most of our wrapping paper is so lovely that people buy it to use as posters. The Christmas stock has started to arrive and it is a very exciting time for J’adore. We have managed to get over 150 products onto the website now and more are being added on a daily basis. Sue and Angela have been busy at the various trade fairs sourcing new products. You can tell when we’ve had a delivery from the Oohs! and Aaahs! as we unpack the goodies can be heard at the end of the square. We have two new members of staff, Southerley and Sophia  and our collection of pets is growing on a weekly basis but more about them another time.  At the moment the shop is so busy you cant move in here so I had better say goodbye for now. Do follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out the latest goings on at J’adore and try some of the recipies too. S x                                       

I am sure like me, many of you out there are now counting down the days to the start of the new term.   I didn’t begin the summer holidays like this. I was full of optimism and actually looking forward to not  having to do the school run.  Spending ‘quality time’ with my children. To do the things we never seem to get round to doing during term time.  But no they had other ideas!! By the end of the first week I was a nervous wreck reaching for the vodka of an evening and positively running into work just to escape the hideous little monsters. I am very lucky that I work in one of the best shops along the South Coast of England. I definitely come to work for a rest, regain my sanity and to surround myself in the loveliness that is J’adore.

I know some of you must be thinking I am being too hard on them. That they cant be that bad. They’re 6 and 4 by the way, but here a a few examples for you. We went to ‘Meet The Navy’ We went on HMS Argus the pride of the show as it has just had a multi million pound refit. We were quietly moving along in the queue having a look at the various guns and lights etc when all of a sudden a ships horn blared out right beside me. As I looked round I saw my two giggling away “That was us Mummy we did that.” “Don’t be silly” I said as a small finger pushed the tiniest of buttons and again the horn rang out around the dockyard. Then came the sailors running from all directions……………….towards us! My children had found the only button that hadn’t been disconnected on the brand new shiny ship! I now know that you are not allowed to sound the horn whilst in port! Apparently its a big No! No! I was also informed that nobody else had pressed the button during the previous open days by a very stern looking sailor.  ”Oops!”  I said as the culprits sat in the captains chair smiling away oblivious to the chaos they had caused.

Next came the fated Isle Of White day trip. By the time we had got to the ferry port (a 20 minute drive) we’d had 2 major family rows and a 4 year olds tantrum that was so funny we tried to film it for you tube. The children were excited on the ferry this being their first ferry trip (and now last) Yes I did notice the people gradually move away from where we were sat as we tried to reason with the children that it was not a good idea to use the whole ship to play hide and seek after all they weren’t the only people on board and the old lady with the long skirt didn’t want to be hidden under.                              They treated them selves to lunch at the garlic farm as I tried to explain that the crackers were only meant to be eaten with the samples of relish on offer. Chocolate Island became the scene of another spectacular Verruca Salt style tantrum from both children, I reached for a bar of cider flavoured chocolate in the hope of calming my nerves! By the time we got to Alum Bay the rain was more like a monsoon style storm and my fashionista diva sister gave in and purchased a lovely purple kagool. (A photo was sneeked at this point and has been stored for future blackmail purposes). We then gave up and came home early.  Monkey World. I thought it would be lovely to see  the monkeys take a picnic and have a relaxed afternoon. The monkeys didn’t want to play. The wasps attacked the picnic and us and all the children wanted to do is go and play on the play equipment. I tried to block out the squabbling on the drive home but was shaken out of my trance like state as a shoe (my sons) mysteriously launched itself out of the window…. by accident! Followed by a chorus of what are we doing tomorrow mum??

So there you have some of the tamer stories of our summer holidays. The strange thing is everyone says how polite and well mannered my children are. I personally think some mysterious force field distorts what people actually see when my children are about. Who knows perhaps they actually are nice. As for me, I am soooo glad to be back at J’adore.  We have the most lovely new stock and are getting ourselves into Christmas mode as it is only 15 weeks away. The website is looking fabulous and new products are being added on a daily basis.  We are sad that the lovely Chloe and Katie are leaving us for uni but excited for the things that we have planned for the not too distant future. When you visit come say hello I’ll be the smug one with the smile on my face knowing that the summer holidays are a whole year away! S x