December Favourites – Ruth Crilly

Welcome to this month’s random selection of “things I’ve really loved”. There’s a full video version further down the page and I do highly recommend you watch it if you’ve a spare ten or so minutes. It gives you an extended ramble about each of the bits and pieces I’m about to talk about whilst also bringing them alive in full technicolor and Doby surround sound.

(I have no idea about the last two things I just promised, it just sounded good.)

I did want to include “dried flowers” in this month’s favourites but ran out of space – it is an unwritten rule that I never go beyond five items – and so you have that to look forward to in January. Honestly, my passion for dried stems has gone slightly out of control and yesterday I had to force myself to cross Milsom Street in Bath so that I wouldn’t casually pop into the flower shop again and find myself leaving with a box of desiccated poppy heads or an armful of pampas.

Instead of the dried flowers I included some really good eye drops. You’re welcome. Let’s get cracking with this month’s spoils, shall we?

One of my only Vinted purchases that has been successful (I am now the proud owner of three skirts that are too small and a Stella McCartney jumper dress so large I could fit two of me inside it) but boy do I love it. Beautiful colours, the finest silk and the perfect fit, I have bought loads of Equipment shirts over the past couple of decades but this one is my favourite.

Bonus was that it cost me £18 on Vinted and looks as though it’s hardly been worn; Equipment shirts are usually hundreds of pounds. I have now saved this as a search on Vinted to see what else comes up in my size (small).

Interesting to note that the two successful second-hand purchases have been a) items I actually needed and b) items I had previously tried on, or from a brand where I knew exactly which size I needed. I suppose this isn’t interesting at all, just common sense.

Never thought I’d be writing so enthusiastically about eye drops but I have to say that one of the significant after-effects of my laser eye surgery has been that I do now have dry eyes. Intermittently, and it’s not something that ever really affects my day in any sort of serious way, but it’s definitely there. More than any feeling of scratchiness or soreness, I tend to get the feeling that I have gumminess on my eyeballs that I can’t quite get rid of – that stuff you get in the morning, the residue or whatever you’d call it, except that it’s not just in the morning.

I know that I desperately owe you those follow-ups to the first eye surgery post I published (it’s here) and I will get onto those straight away after Christmas, but suffice to say for now that the eye dryness isn’t something that would put me off laser surgery. The benefits significantly outweigh any downsides or annoyances, of which there are only two.

Anyway, these Hycosan Extra eye drops are the absolute best. I’d been using Thealoz Duo, which seem to be widely recommended, but the Hycosan are a different level of instant lubrication and relief. Both the Thealoz and the Hycosan are preservative-free, which is apparently very important if you’re going to be using eye drops long term (though it does mean you need to use them up within the stated time) but I’m pretty sure that the Hycosan are slightly thicker. I’ve done some very basic tests with both drops on the backs of my hands and the Hycosan has more “slip”, to steal a beauty term.

I find that I only need to use the Hycosan every other day, once a day at the most. The Thealoz were a twice-daily affair at least, which was how I knew the Hycosan Extra were working harder for me.

I picked up my drops from Vision Express, but they are on Amazon here (affiliate link) for slightly less if you want the convenience of having them delivered. They really are one of my most satisfying discoveries of recent months!

At this point I can’t even begin to estimate how many hours I’ve lost on the Pooky website, creating various lamps that I don’t even need. Actually that’s a lie: I did need one, but I’ve bought that and it’s now happily down at The Dorset Nook waiting for the next lucky holiday guests. It’s the time I’ve spent looking at lamps since then that’s more of a problem!

Here’s the thing I find irresistible (and I know this is a really niche topic but stay with me): not only can you mix and match different bases to hundreds of different lampshades, the website shows you exactly what your new little lamp would look like with a perfectly executed digital render. It’s just so incredibly satisfying. Not only does it appeal to the side of brain that constantly needs to be forming something new and unique, it brings my design to life with minimal effort.

This is also why I spent at least seven hundred man hours designing my car when I ordered it a couple of years ago. There was an online configurator with a really accurate render of your order and it visibly updated each time you clicked on an option or clicked it off again. The level of customisation on offer was unbelievable – ten different types of wheel, endless exterior paint and interior leather or fabric colours, eight steering wheels, three types of roof, different shapes of seat with options for heating or ventilation or for embossed logos or for something called “deviated stitching” where you could have all of the seams on the leather stitched in a thread colour of your choosing…

It was ridiculous. I lost days. Weeks. Became obsessed. The lamp obsession is infinitely cheaper all round and so I’m not going to feel apologetic about it. Just let me know if you ever need lamp advice because I’m now a certified expert. I could do a degree in Pooky bases and another one in lampshade sizes, types and fabrics. Fancy a bold and brilliant lamp for your bedroom? Let me present you with my red and pink creation, proudly named “Candy”, with a bright red Wobster base and pale pink shade…

Or perhaps you’re eyeing up the neutral silk pleated shade on exquisite carved natural wood base to the right of Candy? (Thinking of this one for my cabin.) I have around eighty lamps in my storage folder. And I won’t come out and directly say that I’m angling for Pooky to do some sort of “edit” with me where I put together my favourite combos but it wouldn’t be far off the mark.

I’ve now bought five Pooky lamps, over the years, all have been excellent. If you are thinking of ordering and want a helpful tenner off then using the link here (affiliate link) will get you £10 off your first order.

Pooky Discount Code Link (affiliate link)

I try to completely switch my phone off over Christmas and New Year, moving my social media apps to a hidden little folder on the furthest screen away from the home one, breaking that habit of opening things up for no reason and then losing half an hour doing pointless scrolling.

There are two things I return to the land of the internet for: one is for the Soho Home sale and the other is for Me + Em. I have gathered some of my very best wardrobe staples from the annual winter Me + Em sale and bagged them for a fraction of their original price.

The sale has already started – you can browse here (affiliate link) – and they add more and more as the Christmas holidays progress. I am signed up to their mailing list and so usually get a prompt when they’ve added more stuff or made further reductions. If there are pieces you’ve had your eye on over the year but haven’t been able to justify then it’s a good time to dip in and see whether you can get the coat/dress/trousers of your dreams for a price that’s within budget.

Me + Em sale (affiliate link)

It is a very strange thing, the land of social media, especially for those of us who have worked in it right from the start. Many of us old-school bloggers or “original influencers” have different pockets of entirely different followers and subscribers, dotted around the place, who only follow on a singular platform. It’s sometimes difficult to remember that those who watch on Youtube will have no clue about the stuff I post on my Instagram page and on Instagram stories, where the most immediate and regular updates happen.

Same for my blog readers (who are now you, my Substack readers). Many would have no idea that I’d just chopped my hair off or that I dressed as an Oompa Loompa last week to visit a chocolate factory, because all of that stuff mostly goes onto Instagram. One of my aims for 2025 is to be better at making good use of the content I’ve spent time creating: uploading my Instagram videos to Youtube, for example, or making edited versions of them to pop here onto Substack. It would be nice if one piece of video content could somehow serve all three platforms, I just need to work out some kind of schedule!

Which brings me onto my new cabin and how it’s going to totally revolutionise my work life. Magically, when I step into this oak-clad haven, this room of my own, this professional retreat, this quiet church of intense concentration and zero distraction, magically I am going to become the sort of person who can look at a printed-off week-to-page calendar and fill it with a sensible amount of engaging content and also see exactly how that content can be transposed to suit various audiences.

I’m telling you, it’s going to happen. I just have to believe.

Anyway, the cabin is actually done. Expect a full tour in January and then, no doubt, a long stream of posts detailing what I would have done differently, how I decided on the paint colour and where I got my rugs, lights and furniture from. Betcha can’t wait!

God I went off on a right tangent there, apologies. I always try not to discuss “behind the scenes” stuff when it comes to the social media part of my job (rather than the book-writing part, or the running-a-holiday-let-part, or the admin-of-running-multiple-businesses part) but I think that it’s relevant. You might all have some useful feedback for me that you can leave in the comments! In fact, let’s do a poll to round things off nicely for the year. Bit of market research.

This is the last Tuesday post for two-and-a-half weeks and so I shall wish you a very Merry Christmas here and now, and a happy New Year. I can’t thank you all enough for your support in 2024 and hope for joy and good health for you and your families and friends. See you on the other side!

Video treat – grab a tea and take a moment: