The Ins & Outs - January Garden Jobs & Buying a Sofa

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Jojo & Polly are back for 2025 and hitting us with all their intentions for the year ahead!Polly lets us know what jobs we need to be doing in the garden in January, while Jojo gives us the key things to look for when you're buying a sofa!This episode brought to you by The Pig Hotel. Book THE PIGs New Year Getaway and get a bottle of English fizz in your room on arrival on us and 20% off Potting Shed treatments during your stay. The offer is best booked online via the link below, but you can also ring Reservations on 0345 225 9494 and quote The Ins & Outs to book that way too. New Year Getaway with Ins & Outs Podcast - THE PIG. https://www.thepighotel.com/offers/ins-outs-podcast/InstagramPodcast - @the_insandouts_Jojo - @houseninedesignPolly - @pollyanna_wilkinsonProducer Andy - @andy_rowe_WebsitesJojo - https://www.housenine.co.uk/Polly - https://www.pollyannawilkinson.com/Pod Rowe Productions - https://www.podrowe.net/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push.

Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at OnePeloton.ca Hello Inns and Outies and welcome back to this new year, new episode of the Inns and Outs with myself Jojo Barr and the gorgeous Pollyanna Wilkinson. This week we are so excited to be sponsored again by our wonderful friends the Pig Hotels. As you know we stayed there last year and had the most divine stay and Polly and I are now die-hard fans and plan to crawl around every single pig in the UK and we'd love you to do the same and the pig are giving you a an opportunity to go and nab a

Getaway and a bottle of English Fizz in your room on arrival and 20% off potting shed treatments during your stay The offer is best booked online via the link in the show notes There is no better time I think than January and February to get away and have a night away with your loved one or your bestie. So do take them up on this opportunity because I cannot rave more highly about their hotels. They are just stunning and you just feel like you're just having a massive warm hug when you walk through the door. So the only job you've got to do is get on Island Book and decide which of their nine hotels you're gonna go and stay in.

Enjoy, send us pictures. I'm jealous, I really want to go again. I'm thinking I might take Colin, Mr. Big, Colin, that's what we call him now, his name. He's got my name. For his birthday in February, because I think that would be really nice, but I am in agony over which one to go to,

but I think I really want to try the one in the Cotswolds or maybe Bath. Yes, yes. Not too far away. The one in the New Forest, the original one's lovely. Oh, I want to go to all of them. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go for the Cotswolds one as well. So on this week's episode we are having a major catch-up on Christmas, New Year, we are setting our intentions for the year ahead and we hope that you are too. We are talking about jobs in January, so all the jobs in the garden that you need from Polly and I'm going to be giving you some jobs to do in the home. Of course it is January, go easy on yourselves and Happy New Year. So let's jump on in.

Hello, hello. Oh hello. Hello. It's you. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. How's my petal? Hello, hello. Oh, hello. Hello. It's you. Happy New Year. Happy New Year.

How's my petal? Oh, hello, mate. Oh, gosh, we've got so much to catch up on, don't we? It's been a month. We've got so much to catch up on. I just don't even... Where do we start midway through January? Well, should we have a quick debrief about Christmas? We won't spend

long on it but tell me how was... Let's not go too deep because I think probably it feels probably like a bit of a distant memory to most people now doesn't it Christmas? It does to me. Before we get started, there is a squirrel on my fat ball. I've got a big fat ball of lard in the garden. There's a squirrel just hanging out on it. It's like me with a wheel of cheese. There's just nothing you can do about them though, is there? You just can't, you just, you just can't do anything about them.

You just got to accept they are just what they are. Little bastard. He's so fat now. I fattened him up like a Christmas goose. Upside, not eating the tulips. So, you know, just keep, keep eating the fat ball. Leave the tulips alone. Anyway, Christmas, come on, give me the debrief.

So, gosh, where, Paul, where do we start? You start me off. What did you, what did you get up to for Christmas? It was restful and quiet and the inbox was, was quiet too. So I feel replenished and refreshed. I watched a lot of TV I can't wait to talk to you about it but you catch me up on yours first because it sounds like it was more eventful. Well do you know what I have to say this

feels like the totally different year to last year and not that everything was going not in just my world but everybody I've spoken to since Christmas has said that it felt like a really lovely long break and I can actual break. So I feel like everyone was slightly burning out at the end of last year. Felt like last year was a, it was a tough year. I think, just for, I think everybody on a work, it just felt like everybody was working really hard last year. And, um, I think what with everything that's been going on in just generally world news, it hasn't been a sort of, it wasn't particularly sort of uplifting year.

And I think everybody really needed that time off. And it just, it was a really, I dunno, I just felt like I sort of really needed that break for all who've asked and who all have been so lovely and caring and all your lovely messages. Thank you. lovely and caring and all your lovely messages thank you. I obviously our last podcast at the lovely pig I was going through quite a lot with discovering the news that my dad has cancer and so he was given the prognosis the official prognosis on Christmas Eve and obviously to be told that on Christmas Eve was

pretty pretty horrid. The testing actually is a really long process. So the couple of weeks before Christmas, we were in the hospital, sort of in and out of hospital, in and out of hospital. Lots of testing. He wasn't well. But we got him home and he spent Christmas with us. And actually they put him on some sort of quite strong antibiotics and it sort of killed a bit of an infection that he had going on, which is making him feel like shit.

Yes. And then he was able to kind of we were able to sort of get him a bit better and back to himself. So where he still has, you know, terminal cancer, we are now sort of on New Year's Eve, we then sat with the oncologist at St George's Hospital, by the way, massive shout out to anyone at St George's Hospital. We are, we're very close as a family anyway, but this has made us even closer and we had a really beautiful, I mean, every Christmas, I mean, I don't know any family that doesn't usually have some eruption of some sort or an argument or things that, you know, go tits up or whatever it is. We are not, we are that family. So there's always sort of something going on at Christmas. This year wasn't that because of everything going on.

It was a time for us to really just sit back and say, my God, we're so lucky we've got to where we are with our health and so grateful for my dad and what an amazing, amazing man he is. And they've got wonderful friends as well. And their friends are just, oh my gosh, their friends are just incredible. We're just, I just feel Paul really, really bloody fortunate and very grateful.

Dad is now, he's at home. We're, we are just going through the final few tests to find out if he's fit for chemo, which he wasn't going to take originally, but he's now thinking, do you know what, let's, let's go for it. Mum's had a operation on her arms, she's completely sort of out of action but she's doing good. So there we go. That's a really tough Christmas my darling, I'm so sorry it's been such awful news. Obviously we've been talking in the background but I think I can speak on behalf of all any denouities when we're all sending lots of love and support. Thanks my darling. I mean kids just make Christmas so you know fun, it's rowdy, it's

fun. It's just the house is always noisy. And it was just brilliant. It was just brilliant. I have to say, though, it got to that funny window between Christmas and New Year, where it's sort of no man's land of like, what day is it? What time is it? Can I have a glass of champagne for breakfast? Yes! Of course I did. I was just polishing off anything. Made the mistake of drinking Baileys that had been in the cupboard open for quite a while. That keeps a long time though, that stuff's basically... No it doesn't, apparently not one oak. No, my stomach would tell you otherwise. So that

came out quicker than it went in. Glad to hear it. So that came out quicker than it went in. Um, and, so. Glad to hear it. That was a quick colonic, mid-Christmas. That was good. Ain't nothing wrong with that. No, do put your Bailey's in the fridge and consume within three months, apparently.

Who knew? Three months, God, I've probably got some rattling around for a couple of years. Well, that's the mistake I made. Onto the new year, my friend. Onto the new year instead. Go on, let's talk new year. Are you going like full on resolutions and punishment or what?

So I know we spoke last year about, I'm not big into, I have to say I'm not big into resolutions. I don't really agree with the whole, you know, new year's resolutions thing because I just think it's another thing that we could potentially break and then you're, I think there's setting intentions and then I think there's setting thing that we could potentially break. And then you're, I think there's, I think there's setting intentions and then I think there's setting resolutions. So, love that. Intentions are more like things I would like to move forward into the new year with.

And, and therefore there's no pressure if I don't, but I, I think I always believe in a good kickstart. So I think, I don't think it has to be an intention for the whole year, but I always think like setting intentions, mood boarding, vision boarding, which is what we spoke about last year. I've I actually did mine yesterday. I did. Yeah, I set up family health is very important. There's my am I allowed to talk about these things? I don't know whether I should be talking about them. Of course you can. It's your intention. The more people you tell, more accountable you are to it. I'm sure Dr Swart said that.

So if I put this out here, obviously they say if you put your intentions out there then you make yourself accountable don't you? So on my list of intentions this year, and it was on my list last year actually as well. And, but the ball started rolling last year was my book. So my first book that's on there. The next thing is my design course. What design course? I'm going to do a house nine design course. So you can sign up on your own web or like with a co, with a company. No, myself. TBC? Yep, two months myself.

Yep, what are yours? What are your intentions? Have you done anything yet on your new boarding? I shall be vision boarding this weekend. Okay. But actually, much like you, with this resolution thing, this year, I have no appetite for it whatsoever.

I've always, every other year felt like, oh, I want to be much, do lots more exercise, be healthy and actually, I'm taking much more of like a paganistic view of life this year, which is that actually new year doesn't start till spring, which I subscribe to fully in terms of what's happening in the garden as well. So actually, I'm approaching January and February

as very much being very gentle. I'm slightly obsessed with my aura ring. You've got one as well, don't you, pal? But it's amazing. The two weeks. I was one that told you about it, pal. How dare you? I know.

But the two weeks that I was off for work, so your aura ring, it tells you whether you're stressed, like how much of your day you spend in stress and how resilient you are to challenges at the moment, as well as tracking your activity, which I'm infinitely less interested in. But the two weeks I was off, where I wasn't sat in front of a computer and

responding to emails and picking up the phone and doing the school run and all of that stuff, it just showed how much better, healthier I was, not from a sort of weight point of view, but from a mental health point of view, it was sort of saying you're really well rested and you're prioritizing your sleep. And it really made me think actually, so one of my intentions is to slow down, but to slow down in a sort of very mindful way because I think it's sort of being very careful with what you spend your energy on, right?

So I think I'm not gonna slow down with work. We've got the book launch in three weeks. But I think it's just going gentle really. So will I do some exercise? Probably haven't really set any goals. Will I try and drink a bit less booze? Well when I call, didn't I call you a couple of days ago? You were on your Peloton.

I was on the treadmill, which has finally been moved into the house. So it's, I've gone for the gentle approach. And actually I think the one thing I will share on the vision board, because it's the only thing I've landed on, is the intention for my year is creativity. That's my intention.

So I want to make things, I want to do more pottery and painting, and just generally be creative. Because I think you and I both, our work thrives when we have had a creative outlet with it as well. Absolutely agree. Well, you start off in this industry as a creative and then you end up when you're running a business

becoming a manager, a manager and being anything but creative. And I keep trying to like get back into it. And that's why I'm loving having like our own product and all these collaborations and things because I can still be, you know, I can still be creative and obviously on projects and stuff but I love the idea of a creative output

not just in design. So you're saying almost like pottery or learning a new craft or like you know needling or I don't know what. Well needling. What's needling? Needle craft. Noodling, needling. Noodling, noodling. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about pal which is all on the same thing is mammograms. Yes. Because actually it was an outie message me actually

about the fact that she had got an early mammogram in her 40s, because you know the age limit has changed. I think it used to be 40 and now it's 50 that you get invited. I'm gonna go and get a private one. Yeah, but even my GP was saying it too, particularly if you're on HRT, for God's sake, go and get a mammogram. Yeah, I need it's on my to-do list But again, this is what was so classic

Isn't it you put these things on a list and then it gets pushed down the pile of work comes on top health as well Health helps me so I am let's all go get mammograms this year. Yes Let's do it. It's booby checks. You can get a check. There's a booby check app Gosh, I can't but it's called it's and it sends you textoby checks. You can get a booby check. There's a booby check app. Gosh, I can't remember what it's called. And it sends you text messages to remind you to check your boobies. So, anyone else got that?

It's really good. I'll try and remember the name of it. Do you know, you can't get one privately until you turn 40 though, because obviously I'm waving at 40. This is the year of the 40. Oh, that's the other thing on the intention. Go on.

It's my 40th year, so, you you know the festival of poly commences now. What are we doing for your 40th? What's happening for your 40th? I don't know I'm a bit scared of having a party because I hate the feeling of people not coming. Oh my god you do not. I do not not not from like a lacking confidence point of view but I think there is a change in culture I read this fascinating article about this, that people don't come to things they're invited to anymore. It's almost like people think it's okay to cancel. Oh, like that.

Would you say generally, thank you. Generally there is a, there has been a shift in culture where people think it's okay to treat, uh, invitations as, as kind of like, I'll decide on the day whether I feel like coming rather than making a commitment to attend. I completely agree with that. I feel myself doing it is very true. Yes, I'm definitely guilty of it too. So it's not, you know, I'm certainly not perfect,

but it's an interesting concept. And I would, there's something about inviting loads of people to come and celebrate me and then hoping everyone turns up that makes me feel a bit sick. So I don't think I'll do that. Well your Innis and Outies will come. That would be enormously fun wouldn't it?

Let's do it. Speaking of an event with the Innis and Outies, February the 9th, you and me, Henley Literary Festival. I'm interviewing you. I've also never been and I'm a local to the Henley Literary Festival and I'm interviewing Polly about her new book. So this is fun. and I'm a local to the Henley Literary Festival and I'm interviewing Polly about her new book. So this is fun. I'm really looking forward to that.

It's at the Barn and the Bottle, Sunday night for Feb. Tickets on sale now. Okay. Come and see us. Come see us guys. I mean, I feel like that should be all your outies. Get those tickets in there. Where do people go to buy that, Paul,

on the Henley Literary Festival? They can go to the Hen Henry Literary Festival website. Okay. Tickets are very reasonably priced. And it's an amazing initiative to come see them. I mean, I don't know what I'm meant to be asking you, but can I ask you anything? Whatever you like, pal.

Is it about the book? Well, maybe ask someone about the book, given it's the book event, but you know. Gosh, I need to see the actual, I need to get myself the book, don't I? Well, yeah, it's not out yet, is it? So I'll have to, I can't even send you an advance copy. I don't have one.

No. Gosh, how exciting. Big thing. Big things. That's the biggest exciting thing. And it is now to thank you for everyone that's pre-ordered. I have no idea because I've never written a book before, but pre-orders are the most important thing because they count towards sales in your first week, which, you know,

all the kind of rankings and things that are based on pre-orders are the most important thing because they count towards sales in your first week, which all the kind of rankings and things are based on pre-orders. So if you have pre-ordered or you were thinking about pre-ordered, I'd be enormously grateful. It's available on all good sellers, online sellers and your local bookshops. Thank you. Amazing. Can't wait to see it. Well done. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals.

No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your best with Peloton. Find your push, find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. Paul, so what else is on your, I know we're talking about, have you got any other intentions for this year? Work-wise, what about work, Paul? Let's get in the studio. The squirrel is back on the fat ball. I'm good. I can't look at it.

It's. Do you know, I have to say it's so lovely looking out the window and there's just like a bed of snow and it just has become like the norm. It feels like I'm in the holiday. It's so good, isn't it? But also this is good news. I'm really happy to see all this frost and snow because it's killing the pathogens. It's killing the slugs. All the all the things that cause problems in the in the spring. The frost is killing. I have a confession. I haven't planted any bulbs. That is outrageous. Because

we got a planning through yesterday for the garage. You buried the lead there you old sauce bag. We're coming back to the bulb thing though, but oh my god you got the planning. So you got a yes. You got the lead there you old sauce bag. We're coming back to the bulb thing though but oh my god you've got the planning so you've got a yes you've got the green light. I've got the planning through for the garage which is so bloody exciting so it feels like it's suddenly quite real because that took a while longer to come through than we expected and we're going to be starting hopefully at the end of this month on the garage. Now I don't know for anyone that didn't hear me say this the first time the plan is that we're going to do up the garage, move into it, and then we're going to start the main house.

So this is kind of like the first domino of like, it's fallen down. And somebody is meant to be sending me my garden plans. Somebody's getting them. Somebody's getting them. They're finished. They're all polished up. Polly and the team have been designing up the garden, but obviously they've had to have the house. The thing that delayed it is actually not from Polly and the team, it's because I didn't have the plans,

the extension, the elevations of the main house, the extension ready for her. So she obviously needed that, because Polly's such a perfectionist, that she wanted to put the extension in the CGI's, which I'm absolutely buzzing for because obviously for me, it'll bring the whole house to life. I'm very pleased. That is going to go front and center on my damn mood board, I tell you, on my vision board.

That's what should be going on the center of my vision board. Back to the matter at hand, why doesn't getting planning permission mean that you can plant your bulbs a month ago? Just out of curiosity. Because it doesn't feel like it's that important because the whole of the outside of the house is going to be covered in builders crap and skips and I could maybe plant one pot that I would put somewhere. You can plant your front borders. Stop shirking your responsibility. No, pal, I'd have to sort the entire, if I put anything in the front,

no, because the front borders are all, what's it called? They're all my hydrangeas. It's full of hydrangeas. I mean, the ones adjacent to your drive. No, it's an absolute weed, it's a weed fest. It's an absolute fucking weed fest. Well, could you put them in some pots or something?

If you guys could see what I could see now, it is shambolic out there. You know we had that crazy wind before Christmas and it's completely ripped down our wicker hurdling. It almost looks like something from a Blair Witch project. Just piles of sticks everywhere. I know everything looks dead at this time of year but it's almost like planting a few tulips would probably just look a sticks everywhere. I know everything looks dead at this time of year, but it's almost like planting a few tulips would probably just look a bit crap. And we're polishing a turd there. I'm massively polishing a turd. And I do think a lot of tulips will come up from last year

because we did dot a lot around the place and there's a lot of daffodils, whole heap of daffodils. The daffs will come back, tulips are hit and miss. But I mean, if you, well, you know, they're better in the ground than sat on a shelf but if anyone's are getting lots of people panicking because they've haven't planted them you can do it in sort of early January but for God's sake they need to go in in early to mid

January do not start yet February you've missed the boat yeah so I could I could literally get maybe two nice planters, just pots. I mean, if you've got some pots kicking around, shove them in. Stick them in there. But anyway, so that's really exciting news for me for the new year. I love that we're going to pass the Renault Baton. Mine will finish and yours will start. That's good, isn't it? It's probably not a bad thing that they're going on one after the other,

because it would have been absolute chaos. It would have been chaos. It would have been very chaos. Yeah, I think mine's due to finish in four weeks. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, have been chaos. It would have been chaos. Yeah. I think mine, mine's due to finish in four weeks. Oh my gosh. Yeah, catch us up. What's the, where are we at? I mean, we're nearly there now. They're cladding the outside of the house, which I'm really excited about because we're going with kind of like a weatherboardy, a sort of taupey weatherboard. So the whole house, which is currently this sort of 1950s red brick is going to change. The look will change completely to something quite like California night

gas or maybe New England. So that's happening. And then we're really into final bits now as in all of the floors are down. So we've just had your beautiful buttered toast Chauncey's buttered toast, the house nine, down in the living room. So that's all down, which is really exciting. So there's no more dust, which is incredible. I had a deep clean by the cleaners before Christmas and it was like the biggest treat to myself.

How lovely. And we're designing your sofa for your living room at the moment, for your snug. Yeah, because the sofas were really stressing me out. And actually I wanted to talk to you about this for the sake of the all of our innies actually because picking the right sofa is really stressful in terms of I want to make sure it's really comfy. There is nothing worse than spending money on an uncomfortable sofa. I think picking sofas, it's a really hard decision. I think it's a big, big, it's a big, big investment, a sofa and you want to get it right so luckily you've got me to help you with that. Is there any but do you have any tips for picking them because I

understand you know I'm lucky to have you but is there the sort of foam sofas and spring sofas and and then obviously you've got the question of the velvet versus the fabric versus the covers? Nowadays most sofas are made with such brilliant fabrics. Fabrics have come on such a huge way that if you people worry about velvet marking and and and staining and things like that the fabrics, velvets now that are made on sofas you know high street sofas are incredible they are fireproof, highly the

Martindale test they are like hundred thousand,000 rubs. They don't tend to mark so it's not like one of those. What would I be on the Martindale test? Depends how much you rub your bum around like that. How many rubs do I get? That's genuinely the funniest thing is that it's the thought of your bum rubbing against the sofa 100,000 times. They do it with a machine, obviously. They don't make a poor man sit there and do this.

Challenge accepted. But you give that a good go. So, velvet, they're so great these days. So fabrics, I wouldn't worry so much about. Obviously, it's sort of the color. You obviously want to make sure your color goes with the color scheme and everything. But the cushions themselves, that's really important. So a lot of high-st street sofa companies come as standard,

which is usually a sort of foam. Foam is where it's just quite cheap. And then as soon as they start adding Dacron, foam and Dacron is a sort of mix of feather and foam. That's when you get that, the foam is there to keep the rigidity in this sort of form. And the feather is obviously there for the softness and the comfort.

If it's a feather only filler, like if you imagine a pillow, it would literally sort of fall off the front of the sofa. It would be like, you'd be constantly having to pluff it back up again. So you do need foam in a sofa cushion and there are companies like Arlo and Jacob who allow you to choose how much of that you want and how much you don't want. Some people just want to get... So actually, the older you get, you'll find the older generation, they want it to be a bit firmer. They don't want to squidge into a big foam, you know, feathery seat cushion and find it hard to get out of. They want something that's sort of, they can comfortably sit in upright with a high backrest. But us lot, you know, younger lot, well I say younger, we're in

the middle now, but I'm starting to want to go a bit firmer. But you want, you know, you're happy to kind of have the bit of a bit of maintenance where you give it a bit of a, you know, pluff afterwards because you like to sink into it. So what is it when my current sofa, which will be going because it is it is teal, it's the sofa of shame, it sort of slumps down and I have to give it a really big thump to get it to stand up straight. What's that? It's not got enough foam in it. It's just too much feather, not enough foam.

So if you're looking, if you're shopping for a sofa, you're going online and you're looking, what are the things that are like like you want it to have some fame some feather? Like what should the base be made of? Oh the bay? I mean again, this is all about the quality You want it to be a proper frame base? It wants to be you know a really well upholstered sofa Okay, cheap listen guys the cheaper you go the worse the frame is gonna be it's gonna be a poor quality cheap pine It's not gonna be of good quality cheap pine. It's not going to be of good quality. It's going to be quite light. You can tell by the weight. A sofa, when it gets delivered, should be so heavy that you would not be able to lift it without help.

You literally will be like, it's so heavy because it's made of solid wood. And then you've obviously got the material that's made up with like foam, feather, polyester. Yeah. All of that is heavy. It is bloody heavy. The cushions themselves, the foam and feather cushions are bloody heavy. So if a sofa or a chair arrives and it's so light that you could literally pick it up by yourself, the likelihood it's a really cheap crap factory made thing. And it won't last. I'm afraid it just won't last. Such a cost thing though, isn't it? The sofas are a real investment and obviously cost per use.

They are, but guys, you spend so much time on it. So like just buy cheap. I've run out of money. Buy cheap, buy twice. I know, but I'd almost rather you just kept your teal sofa and save up. I will, I will. It's an investment piece.

I would also say if you are buying a new sofa, just try and go and test it. Like go and sit on it if you can. It's different if you're getting it made up by me because I'm telling you it's the most bloody comfortable sofa you've ever sat in because I've designed it. I made the most enormous mistake in a previous life where I bought a sofa but it had really low armrests and I didn't notice until it arrived, because you're so busy thinking about the color and whether it's the right size,

I wasn't focused on the armrests. And they were so low, they were almost sort of hip height when you were sat down. So you couldn't kind of lie on it or rest on it. And returning a sofa ain't easy. So there's a lot to think about. So thank you, dude, that's helpful. That's a helpful masterclass there. So anyway, that's what we about, so that's helpful. That's helpful to master class there.

So anyway, that's what we're doing in your living room. We're doing your sofa sort of living room setup because you've got a lovely living room. It's sort of finished, but no furniture in. Well, it's just a lovely, it's more of a ballroom at the moment, actually. It's just a big empty room. The kids can put the slide around with their socks on.

It's a great room to just sort of slide up and down with socks on. Yeah. Did you know that you can do, you can do pilates in a pair of socks if you because you know you can um you go on all fours and then with socks on you can almost do like the mountain climbers. Oh slightly slidey slidey I could definitely do that on the new floor. Yeah yeah there you go. Go and use it. Yes I've got a bedroom with no furniture and a living room with no furniture and um I have no furniture and everything else room with no furniture and I have no furniture and

everything else looks absolutely gorgeous. But it's looking cracking so feeling grateful and I have doors I mean that's stop it with the luxury builders can't see me while I get dressed in the morning now bonus absolutely sad about I think. Unlucky for them. Now look dude I'm mindful it's January we should have a quick chat about what to do in the garden. Maybe not your garden, because it's about to get trashed. Come on, tell us, what do we need to be doing in the garden, Paul? Very important. To be honest, not a lot.

Oh, good. One less job. But a bit. If you've got wisteria, you're going to prune that now. OK. You do that January, February. I assume that you pruned it in July, like I told you to, but frankly, even if you didn't, the job's the same. Just prune it all back to three buds. So all of the branches, three buds. You are gonna feed the birds,

which I know you're very passionate about, Jojo. Make sure that you smash those water baths, water bowls, water baths, make sure that they have access to them. Don't walk on the grass if you can avoid it, because if you walk on like frozen or crunchy grass, it damages it. So, you know, try and avoid grass if you can avoid it because if you walk on like frozen or crunchy grass it damages it So, you know trying to avoid it if you can and you could buy some seeds You could sit in an armchair by the fire with or without a glass of wine I don't know if you're doing dry January or not. I support your decisions either way, but you could buy some seeds

Okay, you know for the new year. That's it. That's what I'm gonna give you. It's a light work month So could you put it all off until February if you so pleased? Feed the birds regardless, please. Oh definitely feed the birdies but you know, you don't have to buy your seeds now you could just browse flirt with the seeds and You could you can prune your wisteria in early February if you wanted to. Oh, fruit trees, another one to prune now. And climbing roses. It's just a big pruney sort of a time, January and February, but you know, there's no rush.

Go gentle. And roses, you can really hack back, right? Oh yeah. I know we always say this, but you can really go for it. Tough as old boots, those roses. OK. I'll talk more about that another time. But in other words, just go easy on yourself this month.

Get in the garden if you feel like it. If you don't, don't. Love that't love that good what about house January feels like quite a busy housey month it is a busy housey month well first of all it's packing away the Christmas decks which my god takes a really long time and you keep finding them I don't have anyone else like throughout sort of the beginning of Jan I might damn it missed one damn it there's another one yeah and you're just I'll put them in the loft eventually here's a little tip for you if you've got any leftover winter candles, so say you've

got your nice white company you know winter candles, yeah and you're only halfway through it, pop it in a freezer bag, yeah, stick it in the freezer, yeah because it will hold the smell until next year. Hey good tip! Yeah so don't go throwing it away and don't just stick it in a cupboard because the smell will, it's like perfume, the smell will go so if you put it in the freezer bring it out next year and it will be good as gold And then just get some nice new candles out with some new scents I know like a long time ago when we had that lovely chat with dr. Tara Swart She even said get new smells around your house and keep changing your smells because it's really important

It's it sort of fires up your brain So get smells in your study or in your bedroom or in your living room and just light them. You know, don't have candles that sit around in the cupboard not being used because they will go off. I have a question about this one because actually, an innuendo question, I was saving it, but I might as well, you've brought it up. Do you have any preferred go-to? The question was, do you have any reasonably priced candles or diffuses that you like you recommend?

I'm a huge fan of I'm quite funny about smells. I've got very very very sensitive nose and And therefore I don't like anything sort of woody or like cedar or vanilla or sweet. I love Really sort of fresh, almost spa-like smells. I like smells that sort of invigorate and I find quite sort of comforting or that almost have a cleanliness smell to them. And therefore I love, I think they are gonna be

quite expensive because usually the smells, again, I think if you buy candles that are well-made and they're gonna hold a better smell and therefore you don't need to burn them for as long to release that lovely smell and even when they're sitting there unburnt they're going to make the smell they're going to make the room smell nice so you are spending a bit more on them but I love Neom I love Dalesford Organic yeah Plum and Ashby they're lovely there are some really nice candle brands out there, but find your scent. It's like anything, like find your smell,

because I don't think necessarily all smells suit everybody. So it's very personal. So let's just quickly wrap up my love this week. By the way, innies and outies, next week we're gonna hit you with a major, that was a really big catch up, so thanks for staying, sort of tuning in because you're probably bored, senseless. But next week we're going to come back and be useful to you, I promise.

And we have an absolute mega load of questions from you guys. So we're going to do a quick fire Q&A next week. We are literally just going to fire out answers to all of your in and out these questions. But that this week leaves us just with one last thing. What is in and what is out, Polly? What is in? I'm going to say what is in is channeling one's inner green witchiness and that's agreed that the new year is actually spring. So this is a time of just being super kind

to oneself. I don't want to hear any of this self-flagellating, you know, you must lose X amount of weight nonsense. It's January, gentle January. That's what I'm going for. Well, I did read something the other day about the reason that we really should be starting, you know, in spring as opposed to like now is because we're still as animals, we are mammals, red-blooded mammals. We are meant to be in hibernation to like now is because we're still as animals we are we are mammals red-blooded mammals we are meant to be in hibernation mode right now we are not meant to be sort of out there ready and raring so actually but I do also think I understand

actually why people do dry jan because I like you say take the pressure off yourself if you want a glass of wine have a glass of wine if you don't don't you don't have to but but take the pressure off yourself to feel like you have to do Dry Jan or you can't just have a drink or you know. So yeah, I agree. I managed two days on Dry Jan. Oh, I've done five days. No, six. I've done six days.

I think that's the longest I've ever had a drink ever. Because I was away with my team and they were all on the gin and tins in the gin tins on the train and then everyone was having a glass of wine I felt like I didn't. Yeah. No you can't not you can't not have a drink. What is in for me is can I just say I'm going to say it sorry guys but listen if you are planning a home renovation get your team involved now because you're going to have to give yourself a good

four to six months to really prepare before you stick a spade in the ground. And I think too many people, we're getting a lot of inquiries at the moment, loads of good inquiries, but they're all like, yeah, I'm starting the build in March. And I'm like, why are you contacting me now? Because this, this it's, I need, I need, guys, we are booked up, the studio is booked up for like four months before we can even start on a project. And therefore, if I'm only starting in March, I'm gonna need three months of designing.

So you're looking, prepare yourself if you're gonna work on a project, give yourself time to design. Do not start on a project without a really good plan and a good team in place. Yeah, you want your architect, interior designer, and garden designer all at once. I'm gonna use this opportunity to also say,

here comes the plug. Just be strict. Oh no. The architect does the house, the garden designer does the garden, all of it. It's not architect does all of the paving and the pathways in the layout and the garden designers do the plants. Garden designer equals outdoor architect equals does all the outside. So you've got three roles there. You've got your architect, interior

designer, garden designer. All need to be involved at the same time. 100%. And you need to give yourself time in time. Time is in, time is in. in time is in time machines if it's too late also Okay, good. Okay. So and out out what's out pull out your mood boards and start setting your intentions Love that Intentions no resolutions intentions now resolutions in intention intentions. Okay. Okay. Oh, I tell you what's in

out resolutions in intention. Intentions, okay. Oh, I'll tell you what's in. Your boobies in a vice. Go and get your boobies in a vice. Get your boobies clamped in some glass. Go on, everybody go book your mammograms. Come on, girls. In mammograms.

In mammograms, catch it, catch it, catch it. Boobies, boobies, boobies. Look after little boobies. Then we gotta look after our girls. Gotta look after our girls. Gotta look after the girls. Got to look after our girls. Got to look after the girls. OK, my loves. I think on that note, it's time to say adieu.

Happy January, everyone. Happy 2025. Let's do that. Let's be having you. Let's do that. Green, the color of true elation. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you.

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