As you can tell from those photos, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, to tell the truth.

If you’d asked me just 2 weeks or so ago, I’d have said: AWFUL. I HATE IT. I’M BORED AND LONELY. I MISS EVERYONE. I LIKED BEING THE EXPERT. I’M NOT CUT OUT FOR RETIREMENT. I MISS MY CLINIC. LET ME COME BACK!!!! Or words to that effect. And, believe me, P has heard all those words and more ad infinitum for the past few months. Poor P!

But, something has shifted in the last couple of weeks. I’ll try to explain. I like to write these progress updates as I know you all love it when I share my personal stuff, but it also helps me look back and see what’s been going on and, hopefully, make some sense if it. When you’re in the thick of it, it’s difficult to see, isn’t it?

It’s quite a long post this one. I share it not only because it helps me to write it down, but it in case something also resonates with you. It’s also a ruddy good illustration of how chronic illness can really f*** up your life and make decisions much harder than they should be.

A (not so) quick summary

I retired from the clinic work after 38 years pretty much in health, 25 as Purehealth Clinic full time, on 1st January this year. Oof, it was a tough decision and you can read all about it here, if you like. Settle in as it was a biggie!

Essentially, I have a chronic hypervigilance illness - MCAS - and I felt that, if I was ever going to get any chance of being well or certainly spending my last few decades on this Earth (hopefully) in any joyful, healthy way, I had to stop talking about illness and broken bodies needing fixing all day, every day. I had no idea if it was even going to help at all, but I know my mind just seems to assume every thing I was talking, reading or writing about was me somehow. A complete lack of safety.

It had to stop. I had to try.

So, I closed the test service, stopped patient work and focused entirely on more joyful writing here in the newsletter and trying happy things for a while. I did an interior design course, I learned how to make flower bouquets, I cancelled every subscription and stopped following everything to do with my old functional medicine life.

Obviously, it took a good 2-3 months for the emails and test results etc to come through and be dealt with, but it then started to settle down. The emails stopped. It went quiet. I’d got what I wanted.

I panicked!

At the same time as I retired, P’s job as a voice-over was really seriously munched by AI. It had been reducing for quite some time but it had been enough. Of course, just as we needed his income coming in, it just ground to a scary halt. He’s had a few jobs in but people are clearly using AI voices for most of the kind of e-learning projects that he used to do, mostly for European countries who needed a ‘posh’ soft deep male voice.

We even did some male and female voice projects and I did it! It was fun. P was quite impressed. Except with me building a website in between takes as he did the editing etc! But I got booked again, so I can’t have been that bad. The first project was to be the voice of a rather stroppy Italian woman. I’m saying nothing. (I am half Italian - probably - for those who don’t know).

Anyway, I now felt the pressure to start bringing some income in. As a young person leaving the care system, you learn that the financial safety net is all-important as there’s literally no-one to catch you or give you a handout. I still feel that to this day.

Job options…

I thought about doing the interior design as it’s been a love of mine all my life. But realised the MCAS makes me so unreliable, I would have the stress of trying to be well to make appointments for site visits etc. Much like when I had to give the patient 1:1s up years ago.

OK, I would get a job. Get me away from my screen, with people, out of the house more. Ditto.

I just feel I would most likely let people down, even in a voluntary post. In fact, I see that recently MCAS Action released some advice for PIP assessors dealing with MCAS claims for benefit help because they can’t hold a job down. Their main point was: they might look fine sitting on the chair in front of you, they might be able to look after themselves, walk, get up, wash, make meals etc right this moment, but there is no guarantee that they can do any of that the next day, or even the next hour; MCAS is VERY unpredictable.

Too bloody right. Here’s their PIP advice in case it’s useful for you. It’s pretty ruddy depressing because I recognised a lot of it. Never one to give in, of course, I did quite a lot of talking to people, researching on forums about how people hold down jobs, and they have to do all sorts of things like not eating for the whole work day in case they react, calling in and saying they can’t get out of bed today so can they work at home in the middle of the night or something to get their tasks completed. Ad infinitum.

Er, nope.

Ok, so back to working from home.

I thought carefully about what I really love and came up with several things, including flowers, cats, reading and writing. I had three main business ideas that I might enjoy but also be able to make a small income from:

• Start Looe Florals, a lifestyle, gifts and homeware online shop focusing on preserved flower bouquets, sola wood flowers, oils, journals, textiles etc - anything florally that made me smile, basically.

• Write a new joyful sort of newsletter, preferably paid for and eventually a printed posted-out version of a kind of Commonplace journal that you could sit and read with your feet up and a cuppa. Because I want one!

• Do a softer kind of Purehealth service, not doing case work or tests. Maybe teach some stuff, write more books.

I SO wanted to do the latter. You know me. I even invented and set up two ‘softer’ sites about fatigue and designed a year-long MCAS course to help turn people around. I started trying to finish the Hormone Plan and the MCAS Plan. I found it very hard to shift my mind from thinking about health stuff after all this time; it’s just obviously the way my mind works. And therein probably lies the problem, eh?

I thought about setting up a cat sitting service - but again, could I be relied upon to be be able to get to somewhere and might I react to the smells in another’s home? Probably. Plus there are some great cat sitting and home services here in Looe already and it’s only a small place. I didn’t think there was space for another one.

I considered pet reiki as I can do that from home. Health but for pets. Hmm, not sure. I’m not set up for pet visiting and it was playing with the pets I’d like the most, lol.

So, I started playing with Looe Florals, designed a logo, built a website, had some stuff printed etc.

I realised there is no florist in Looe and I have often wanted to buy flowers locally but had to use online services instead. I visited the local flower wholesaler and started practicing making bouquets. SO enjoyed it. But I worried about the wastage and cost of buying things, the chemicals on flowers (although happily, we have two local flower farms nearby) and, frankly, being well enough to go to the farms, make them and have them ready for when people needed them.

I realised after a while that I was more drawn to longer-lasting flowers from an eco point of view, though, and didn’t want the hassle of fresh, you know. I remembered I had made dried wedding flowers for two friends in my 20s, so I thought I’ll go back to that.

I began by making dried flower garlands. I liked that and they looked lovely. Hurt my fingers like hell, though, as I now have joint pain in my hands after all the years of massage and typing, plus MCAS attack, probably. So I made P make some. He was not best pleased. Not gonna work. Strike 1.

The idea had originally been to make preserved green foliage bouquets as the core item and sell dried, preserved and silk stems seasonally to go with them. I have had several of these over the years from Shida. And they’ve lasted a good couple of years. I set up a deal with Shida to buy their wholesale flowers and bouquets initially, was about to launch it, and Shida closed down suddenly and out of nowhere. What?! Strike 2.

So, I looked everywhere for similar things. Nothing came close to being good enough for me. Undeterred, I set up an account with another wholesaler and decided to make them myself. I bought lots of glycerine-preserved foliage and some preserved flower stems and started practicing making bouquets. Loved it.

But my body did not. I realised I was getting hand pain and rashes, then headaches. I was reacting to the ruddy flowers. Strike 3.

I put the stems away for a bit, continued working on my reactivity levels and thought: I’ll come back to that. A month later, I did it again, same reaction. They were so beautiful too. Bum. So I put them away again. I kept the ones I had made for myself.

Two months later, I got them out again. The stems had started leaking green dyed glycerine. What?!! I checked the bouquets I had made. Definitely some green beading on some of the stems. Bloody hell. I checked with the manufacturer and, although rare apparently - they sell thousands to high-end florists with no issues - we came to the conclusion that the stems just somehow don’t like the humidity of being right next to the sea or the temperature changes here. So, to continue - and not put green dye on someone’s oak sideboard - aargh! - I would need a dedicated storage room. Not going to happen. Strike 4.

So, I bought some sola wood flowers made with sola wood/tapioca instead and started trialling those. These work beautifully as natural diffusers and are simply gorgeous. Sustainable, effective and so pretty. Ok, I had found something. Yay!

I then realised I would need to sell proper essential oil blends to go with them as people would just use so-called ‘fragrance oils’ which are really naff and have no therapeutic value, probably toxic. You know me; I couldn’t countenance or encourage toxic nonsense in your homes. Toxic air fresheners, diffusers, candles etc have always been my No 1 bug bear. I have ranted about them for years.

I set off to find the best aromatherapy blends which would smell great but also do you some real good. I remembered my Joie de Vivre favourite happiness blend and started there. Then, I added Peaceful Night, something for fractious children, people asked me for a hormone blend, could I do anything for stress, allergy, would I make one for MCAS, arthritis etc etc. And, before I knew it, I was knee deep in health again lol. I can’t help myself!

I am a trained aromatherapist and aromatologist from years back. I’m good at it. I know my stuff. I realised this was more health-based than Looe Florally really - I could do it in my sleep and was enjoying it. I thought: well, people know me as Purehealth, so I’ll set the shop up as Purehealth & Wellbeing for now and see how it goes - I already had the shop set up so it was a good trial. Loaded everything up, wrote all the product descriptions etc. Fun. Launched it and you liked it. Sales dribbled in. I was playing with pretty tissue paper and sending things out to you. Happy days.

What else could I sell on my shop? Taking all the tests off meant I had 60 free slots - woohoo, let’s fill ‘em with lovely, useful stuff! Could I make some bespoke skincare like I used to? So, I researched the purest, most nourishing face cream, lotion, balm bases, the best carrier oils etc. Great fun. Beautiful, effective, non-toxic. Yay. I started making bespoke blends for people. Loved it.

My body did not.

I was reacting with bloating and gut pain - my normal reaction if I put something on my skin that my body doesn’t like for some reason. So, I was making stuff trying not to get any on my skin, tried gloves (reacted to those). I managed to make them using my glass stirrers etc and being very careful, but I couldn’t smell to check if they were OK or try them on my skin to check the feel and how they worked. P stands in again and has been daubed in all manner of different potions to see if it made him come out in a rash or anything. This is clearly not sustainable. So: strike 5.

I also realised I was slipping into talking about health all day again. Would this hormone blend help my daughter with PMDD? Well yes, but there’s also this factsheet on my website, have you heard of myo-inositol etc etc? I really can’t sleep, I’ve tried everything, will this blend help? Well, yes, but what’s your blood sugar up to over night and should you do some vagus work? Here are my factsheets and this supplement might help. Can you make me a cream for my arthritic hands? Can you do something about my husband’s vein problem? I’ve tried everything for my eczema, can you make me something better?

Ooh yes, I can. And loved doing it. Except I couldn’t touch it!

So, then I started adding sections onto the shop to help with various conditions I was starting to be asked about again. I added test recommendations and referred you to Emma, who will now do them for you, but the emails were starting again about what should I do with this, which test should I have, Emma doesn’t do this one, will you help me…???? Aargh.

Oh dear. I love to help as you know. Here I was getting deeper and deeper into the health weeds again. Oops.

Also, I found that, to get any sales of oils and flowers, I was having to promote again - writing more and more about health and on social media again. The exact opposite of why I retired in the first place. I stopped and trialled not doing any promotion for a couple of weeks. Would anyone just find my sites on Google, or remember to come to me if they needed something?

It seems not.

It’s my promotion that has always brought in the sales of things. I had 2 sales in 2 weeks. There are two reasons for this: one is that people just have no money at the moment with the cost of living crisis, obviously, and, as I suspected and AI confirmed quite unprompted during a chat about my business one day trying to find a way around all this, Google has downgraded my sites because they are natural health based. This was another big reason why I decided to retire. I stopped writing the A-Z, new books etc because people were just not finding them. A LOT of work but no eyes on it. Strike 6.

Phew. A rollercoaster, I told you. Are you still with me?

OK, so what next? If I couldn’t make Purehealth pay, when you already know me, I certainly wasn’t going to make Looe Florals pay enough without a ton of promotion. With it being a local business, I’d likely have to go to fairs and fetes, which I just can’t do yet. Plus, I’ve no money for stock! Strike 117!

Bugger.

Joyful Distraction

The last few weeks, I have just stopped. I went on retreat in a bid to calm my system down, I let go of the worry about earning and just wrote when I felt like it - the newsletter has been the only constant through all this (which we’ll come back to in a bit). I decided that even the limbic work I am doing for my reactivity has run its course. At some point, you have to stop focusing on that and start to live, you know, which is what they encourage you to do. It feels like that for me anyway.

I felt despondent, I can tell you. Lost. Purposeless, Depressed. Let’s just call it what it is.

Then, I picked myself up. Again. I have started to practice what I am calling ‘Joyful Distraction’. I am doing nothing to do with work at all, apart from writing when I feel like it, and not about health - hence my last post about Summery Tables! I am doing things I enjoy - true retirementy things, which amuses me: gardening, walking by the sea, reading (nothing stressful), writing, doing various crafts even though I am crap at them, seeing or chatting to friends and family, playing with flowers still, doing the house up slowly - and cheaply, eek! Just being, really.

Funnily enough, this coincided with the recent heatwave. It felt like Covid all over again, didn’t it? Even here in Cornwall, it was too hot to do much or even think much - and we were a heck of a lot cooler than most of you, bless you. MCAS causes heat intolerance and air hunger, so I thanked my lucky stars I was in Cornwall right by the sea!

So, I did pretty much nothing for a week other than read, rest and walk by the sea when cool enough. My system miraculously calmed right down. I stopped ruminating about my health. I just gave up worrying about the future, being sick, how I could handle it better etc etc etc.

Hmm. So, what are all these ‘strikes’ telling me? Maybe they are not frustrating me at all, stopping me doing stuff? Maybe they are a message that I need to just rest my system. I need to not talk/write about health and I need to go back to my original point of retirement which was ‘less illness, more joy’ if you recall? I got distracted by needing to earn money and the excitement of starting a new business. I’ve been working solidly since I was 14. I find it very hard to do anything to look after myself - a very common trauma pattern from childhood, apparently - but I will ALWAYS look after everyone else. But my body seems to be showing me the way, if only I would listen!

So, that’s us up to date. Sorry if I waffled on a bit, but I found that useful at least, ha!

I plan to take the Summer off to rest, basically. I think I will probably close the shop or downgrade it in the next couple of weeks as it costs a fortune and just pulls me straight back onto health stuff and even at that level, it seems my system can’t take it just now. So, do get anything you need. I will leave the Purehealth site up for info but maybe downgrade it as that costs a fortune too. I might come back to Looe Florals at some point, I’ll see how the economy and my reactivity goes!!

The only thing I plan to do is work on the newsletter/commonplace journal idea - from above. I always have to write; it’s just in me. Probably on here at least to start with. Back to the ‘things that make me go ooh, aha, aah, oh!’ etc. I should have trusted my instincts, shouldn’t I, as it was the first thing I did when I retired, doh?!

Subscribe now

It’s been fun, though. It’s always a bit of a task to find who you are after retirement, I’m told. I’m a writer. I’m an MCAS sufferer. But not for much ruddy longer with the latter if I can help it! Thanks for listening - and for still being there as I work this all out.

A happy, restful and joyful Summer to all of us. Love,

Micki xx

Granted, we are very lucky to be able to stare at the sea from our windows and that’s usually more than enough. But sometimes you do actually need to go out of the house - which is much more difficult than it ever used to be as we always think: we prefer the view at home!

Anyway, I turned to the lovely Willow Crossley’s Seedlings newsletter on here this morning. There are usually beautiful photographs involving some kind of flowering, and today didn’t disappoint. I must confess that I’ve stopped my paid subscriptions for most of the newsletters on here, like Willow’s and India Knight’s Home.

The Seedling

Finding Joy Everyday

By Willow Crossley

Home

I'm a UK-based author and journalist. This is my journal x my Notes app - mostly books, food, interiors, clothes, shopping, home life, plus observations and enthusiasms.

By India Knight

Not because they are rubbish; both are beautifully written and very enjoyable, but more because they are so aspirational, it gets a bit on my wick. I got a bit tired of all the recommendations for clothes and home stuff that cost a fortune. Oh, look at this T shirt or dress, looks lovely, you click the link and it costs £100s. Not reflecting my life, or only really a life available to a privileged few. Maybe I’m just jealous, lol. Not really, though, as I’ve never really been into ‘trendy’ or materialism, to be honest. I like nice things, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not going to spend the same on a dress as I would a small car, you know.

You do you, of course.

Anyway, all that said. Willow’s photography of her recent flowering job in Amalfi, Italy (see..), did in fact cheer me up. Look at this table setting. Or ‘tablescaping’ as we’re meant to call it. Lordy.

Now, not only is it beautiful - the setting, the trees, the framing of the table, the gorgeousness of the cloth etc, but it struck me that we can all do something similar with a bit of thought.

Ok, maybe we’ve not got the Italian backdrop or the olive trees, but if we have a small patch of garden or a balcony - or even a nice park nearby, we can set up a picnic or Summer lunch table like this. We often used to take our dining table outside and dress it up, like this:

But all you really need is a fold down table and some fold down chairs. We’ve even used a wallpaper pasting table before. No-one’s going to see what’s under a nice cloth, are they?

You can get any number of cheap fold down tables of various sizes from Amazon, Argos, Ikea, B&Q et al. I am always looking for teak around here because of the salty air, so I was pleased to see one I could leave out all year if I wanted. More expensive obvs. Because: teak. We’ve actually got 3 of these tables from B&Q, which we’ve accumulated from various parties over the years. We just use cheap fold down, stackable chairs from Ikea with them.

I love the way they have hung a chandelier from a tree branch here - that’s becoming quite a thing; I keep seeing it everywhere. More likely, though, use a rechargeable table or floor lamp from the house. These from Argos look nice and would suit the colour tone in Willow’s picture as well as be useful and pretty in the house.

So, some kind of surface, a couple of cheap chairs, a rechargeable portable lamp. Now, we need a pretty tablecloth and maybe some nice cushions for comfy bottoms. Have you any in the house you could use - a throw or cushions from the sofa, maybe?

I think the reason Willow’s table looks so beautiful is the layering. So, a slightly darker larger cloth, topped with something more wispy and lacy. That looks like broderie anglaise to me. Not seen that since my nan’s house! I note matching napkins too.

The plates and bowls are good quality plain white and the glasses are simple and traditional.

What ‘elevates’ this table, though is Willow’s flowers, of course. But we don’t need to be world-famous florists. The point is abundance and single colour - white, here to tone with everything else. I think that’s why it looks so beautiful. Just choose two or three types of flower from your garden or local farm flowers. I realise that sounds posh, but I’m making an exception here to encourage supporting low carbon footprint local flower farmers - who are actually pretty good value because the flowers are more beautiful and last a lot longer. Check where your nearest flower farm is here - they often deliver and even have DIY buckets of flowers so you can make your own displays.

Or, what is around you - what wildflowers are growing by the roadside or nearby? Don’t pick everything, obviously, but a few bits from several patches is usually fine. If a man and a dog chase you holding a shot gun, not so much. If all there is is green stuff, that’s fab - green is the best, most natural colour to use. Go for a natural feel.

Remember: abundance. Get some height and width so it looks like you have loads of flowers. The trick is plenty of ‘white space’ ironically ie. not too crammed, so you can see through the top. Also, to vary the heights of various arrangements. Maybe the easiest way to do this would be to get some simple gypsophilia and pop in a few extra blooms.

If you do want to make some stunning flowers yourself, I like this lady - the low bowl or bud vase displays look great. You can make much smaller versions, of course. I’d do 3 smaller versions and put them down the centre of the table, or one larger one on a small round bistro sort of table. You could just use some simple white mugs or a couple of your bowls. Just tape a grid over them with tape to make a vase to hold flowers.

Anyway, I had to have a look for tablecloths, of course.

H&M does a broderie anglaise one for £14.99. Dunelm has a rectangular larger one for £20 and also a cheaper table runner if you just need a nod to lacyness. If you have got more money to spend and want real French lace, these are gorgeous from Etsy. I swooned. There are of course tons of cheaper options on Amazon. It’s only going outside so…

I think the cheapest way to put a block colour cloth underneath is maybe to use a coloured sheet. To make it feel even more luxurious and hide a naff table, you could fold something else underneath that so it feels lovely and luxuriously thick - a towel, a second sheet?

If you don’t mind a tiny red stripe, just look at this large tablecloth from Ikea for under a fiver! And napkins for £1.50. How do they do it? Economies of scale or it will fall apart after the first wash. Who knows? Or, I see Dunelm does a huge caramel coloured cloth - as in Willow’s for under £30. Lovely.

I do like those seat cushions to match, though, oops. See how it adds up.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that, if only looking at the pretty pictures, like me! If you do make a nice tablescape (ugh) over the Summer, do share so we can all see your talents and drool.

I’m well cheered up now :)

Speak soon, Micki x

Ones to Watch?

With all the mad world stuff currently, I don’t know about you but I’m avoiding watching the news and am focusing on happier stuff more. So, I was pleased to see this list of films to take your mind off things from , who I followed all last year as a paid subscriber. It was part of my bid to follow people I didn’t know, but whose writing made me smile. Anyway, quite a few films here that I haven’t watched or heard of, so I’m looking forward to investigating them.

HOME & HORT

101 Films To Take Your Mind Off A Crazy World

Something a little different today, which I thought might just might be needed…

Read more

3 months ago · 137 likes · 35 comments · JP Clark

We actually did a list the other day of nice, uplifting films we might watch again. Hope these inspire you too. When we had our retreat in Lytham many years ago, I used to put DVDs (old school!) into the bedroom so guests had something good to watch. This is my equivalent for myself!

• Matilda

• Up

• Paddington, 1, 2 and 3 - unusually all iterations are fantastic!

• Inside Out 1 and 2

• The Roses - which makes me squeal - David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are hilarious in it. And it’s so sweary - I love it!

• Tick Tick Boom

• Willy Wonka - really good!

• The Greatest Showman

• Moulin Rouge - one of my all-time favourites

• Ratatouille

I notice there are several musical films there, and I used to say I hated musicals! Perhaps you grow into them as you get older. Like gardening.

TV-wise, I confess I watched Rivals, both series - David Tennant again, fantastic in it, as was Danny Dyer. Made me hoot out loud and hide behind my cushion quite a lot. I am such a prude sometimes! I have never seen so many men’s bottoms on TV, honestly. Makes a change from seeing women’s bits all the time, I have to say, when the male actors are usually covered up and all you see is a bit of honed chessie. I didn’t get the casting of the Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell. Didn’t do much for me, but Aidan Turner - different story. Horses for courses. Appropriately ;)

I had never read any Jilly Cooper novels, actually, so didn’t quite know what I was in for. It had a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes though so I thought it can’t be bad. I loved it. So there.

Anyway, after my pink cheeks had returned to their normal Italian yellowy-brown, I then watch A Woman of Substance. Yes, I’ve been having a phase of ‘crappy, doesn’t take itself too seriously’ TV. I read these enormous books by Barbara Taylor Bradford when I was in my teens. To be honest, if there was a big book in the library, I was going to read it - I was such a voracious reader, always being told off for having my head in a book. I realise years later, of course, that this was a form of escape from the mad world I was in care-wise etc. I actually went on to do a degree in English, American and African literature, which I loved. But I stopped reading much after that as I was all read out. I’m only just now picking it back up again as voraciously.

So, I knew what I was in for with this one - very old fashioned 1980s fast-moving character-based nonsense. Brenda Blethyn was great in it, taking no prisoners, but I really felt for her too. Reminded me a bit of a 1980s female Succession but much funnier. I saw someone describe it as a mixture between Dynasty, Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones. I can’t speak for the last one as I’ve never watched Game of Thrones. I know! Am I the only person in the world who hasn’t? I will try it one day, but it’s not really my thing. Anyway, it had 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I tried it - a good easy distraction watch.

Ones to Read?

So, to the books I have been reading then. I’m switching between a few at the moment.

Non-fiction-wise, I am re-reading Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear by . It’s a classic and a best seller, all about not allowing daft fear to prevent you from following your artistic, creative dreams, and not buying into all the myths about being creative means suffering for your art and all that tosh. Which I agree wholeheartedly with. Too many of us hold back when actually we’re doing a disservice to ourselves, but also to all those who might benefit from our creative attempts.

Charming . Her tone is relentlessly endearing. It's like talking to your hippy-est friend…. Some great stuff about the power of ideas themselves, about how utterly useless emotions such as fear are when trying to do anything creative, and why we all have a right to live creatively ― The Debrief

I’ve also got The Sisterhood from ready. It’s described as ‘a love letter to the women who have shaped us’. which sounds just lovely.

Blurb: In this tender, funny and unflinchingly honest account Daisy examines her relationship with her sisters and what it's made up of - friendship, insecurity jokes, jealousy and above all, love - while celebrating the ways in which women connect with each other and finding the ways in which we're all sisters under the skin.

If it’s as amusing as Daisy’s usual writing, I am looking forward to reading it. I actually follow Daisy on Substack here. She runs the Creative Confidence Clinic, supporting writers. Can you see a theme here - creativity, and writing! And here’s a taster of her funny prose in her Daisy Mail. I wish I’d called mine Micki Mail now. It’s not too late…

At 41, I’m not entirely sure what, or crucially who I want to look like. I should be chic, by now. I should be wafting about in crisp, clean linen. When I wear linen, I look as though I’ve spent the last three nights sleeping on a Megabus. I used to love shopping for new clothes and now the experience makes me feel like Grampa Simpson. Why is everything three hundred pounds and brown? I do not like anything anyone wears on Instagram. I could ask Chat GPT for style advice, but I’d rather pour itching powder into all of the clothes I already own, and wear them all at once.

I’m with her with the crumpled linen look. I have never got the appeal either myself. £300 and brown! I chortled.

My fiction choices next. I just finished Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers, that one of you sent me, thank you, K! Really enjoyed it. It’s beautifully written - Clare has such a skill in finding the right way to describe things so you really feel them. It’s a sort of love story and mystery rolled into one with 1950s boring suburbia as the backdrop.

Beautiful... Small Pleasures is a sort of meditation on finding moments of joy (a solo cigarette, a melting ice-cream) in a context of wider sadness. ― Emma Beddington in the Observer Magazine

I did find it quite meditative actually. Check it out if you need a good read.

Following that, I have just started William Boyd’s Waiting For Sunrise, which I picked up in a National Trust book shop recently - always so many good books in those places!

I usually love William Boyd, but I’m not sure about this one yet. I love the writing, but I was a bit taken aback by the subject matter so far. I suppose after Rivals, I was not really wanting a story about a man’s sexual problems and his chats to his psychotherapist about them…?? It promises to morph into a love story and spy thriller in wartime Vienna and London, so I will continue and see what transpires..it’s worth it for his prose, to be honest.

If you’ve not read any William Boyd yet, try my faves: Any Human Heart and Restless. I’m sure I’ve not read them in the order they came out. I must get a list and do that. Anyway, I’ll continue with this one and see how I get on.

You Tube Recommendations

I’ve not been going out that much recently. Can you tell? So, I’ve not got any theatre or cinema recommendations for you this time. I have, though, treated myself to a You Tube subscription as I watch videos a lot - for work mostly, but now also for healing stuff - and I can’t bear the adverts! To be honest, we watch a lot of terrestrial telly on YT now as they all have channels. In fact, one of our sons is in charge of video content for ITV, don’t you know? She says like a proud peacocky step-Mum.

So, what can I recommend for you? Do check out the Extras playlist on my YT channel where I often put things I’ve seen that I think you might find useful. I think there are about 20 videos on there so far and I am adding weekly or so.

Podcast-wise, if I do listen to any news or politics, which I am always fascinated by, it’s The Rest is Politics. I used to watch the Politics lunchtime show on BBC with my lunch, but it is just sound bites and point scoring; you don’t learn anything. I like to have Alistair and Rory’s proper commentary and viewpoints, which I always find, knowledgeable, thought-through and nuanced. I tried watching The News Agents, but they seem to revel in the bad news and are far too gleeful in their commentary for my liking.

(NB. I just - stupidly - watched the BBC Politics Live show as P already had it on, and previous Reform candidate Matt Goodwin was on it. What a very rude and obnoxious, divisive man. He constantly talked over the two women on the panel and actually said ‘Manners’ to one of them who dared to try and do the same across him. Beggars belief.

In fact, on this subject, I must share Carol Vorderman’s letter to the women of Makerfield with the very important by-election coming up there. Her gist: please don’t vote for a party and candidate who seek to ignore and denigrate half the population of Makerfield and the country: women. You can see her talking about it on her Instagram account here too.

I was actually just shocked at how difficult it was to find this letter - which says something in its own right too, doesn’t it? Why are we still fighting this kind of stuff in 2026?

Breathe…Sorry - just that some things and points must be aired and shared because it grieves me how many people are still behind men and parties like this. Sigh.

OK, back to calm now….

I’m really enjoying watching Tiny Homes, Living Big. I’ve always had a thing about small spaces and clever furniture. One of my life dreams was to live on a houseboat, actually. I never got to, but I am in a flat about as close to the sea as you can get, so I’m happy. It’s not so small, though. Or clever. Bum. I clearly have work to do!

We’ve just really started to work out how to decorate and design this flat - a big break after P’s BIG break last year (hip, spine, wrists broken after falling off the ladder putting very high curtains up, for anyone who wasn’t following me then.)

Anyway, I enjoy watching how clever people have designed minimalist lives in such beautiful, small homes. I watch these late at night sometimes when P has gone to bed. Tee hee. A guilty pleasure.

Oh, and back to TV on this subject: I am loving watching Interior Design Masters again. Although, is it me, but I don’t really rate any of them massively this year? Usually, I can spot the winner a mile off, but this year…bit meh? Maybe they’re just not my style. I still enjoy watching it though.

A good Summer read: magazines

I treated myself to Ideal Home magazine - 6 issues for £1 - for the Summer. There is nothing nicer than having a physical magazine to read outside in the sunshine with your sunnies on and a cold drink. I try and get one subscription like this each Summer.

Ok, I think that’s enough culture for one newsletter! I hope you found something there you fancy watching or reading. Do share anything I or others might enjoy.

Back shortly with a linky one, some clinic updates and another of my Pops of Joy. There’s always so much to share with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. A bientot, my lovely readers xx

Visit the Wellbeing Shop

Tons of health info at Purehealth

As promised, I have now added all my therapeutic oils onto the shop for you. These are carrier oils rather than essential oils. I’ve chosen ones that have real therapeutic value in their own right and are strong enough to actually do some work for you - most aren’t, I can tell you; I was quite appalled once I started trying to choose. As per, I have gone for one of my trusted suppliers from the last 30 years!

It was really tough choosing just a few - I could have stocked them all! But, I have gone for ones initially that I think offer the best all-round properties and that you won’t necessarily find easily (or as good, frankly) elsewhere. I spent ages researching each oil and have done a write up for each one and suggested uses and combinations for you - but you can always email me to ask, of course (micki@purehealthclinic.co.uk).

You’ll also see that I have added a Bespoke Blends option for you too, as I have already been asked if I can mix a few together and add other stuff. Already today, I have created:

• a blend to regenerate skin sadly battered by chemo meds (I incorporated some emotionally supportive oils into that, too),

• a gentle, anti-inflammatory face oil for rosacea and

• a balm for arthritic hands.

I’m in the middle of inventing a lotion for varicose veins and spider veins. Plus, I made one for myself and got rid of a sun spot :) There is a new lotion on the shop too.

The oils come in beautiful Italian glass bottles so look gorgeous in the your bedroom or bathroom too. I can’t help myself - it has to meet my exacting therapeutic and aesthetic standards!!

Here’s a quick run down of them, but you can check them all out here.

• Aloe Vera Oil The healing one. For dry, damaged, red, irritated skin and wounds of all kinds, this is natural aloe vera inner leaf gel macerated in sunflower oil so that all the properties of the aloe passes into the oil. No heat is used. It took me AGES to find an aloe that didn’t have citric acid, lactic acid, preservatives etc added to it - despite that they say it is ‘pure’. It is not. And it’s mostly been heat treated. I have recommended aloe vera for many years internally and externally as it is a fabulous healer and anti-inflammatory.

• Comfrey Oil The one for breaks, injuries and stiff, painful joints. This is a maceration of comfrey leaves at 20% in cold pressed organic sunflower oil. It's nickname is 'knit bone' which gives you a clue that it is great for breaks and fractures. It's very commonly used to help relieve knee and arthritic pain and stiffness, is extremely healing for wounds like bed sores and leg ulcers and will help any form of injury like strains, sprains, bruising, tendon and ligament issues.

• Raspberry Seed Oil The skin barrier repair, anti-inflammatory, sunscreen one. This is a really special organic, cold-pressed, unrefined pure oil that is very anti-inflammatory, full of antioxidants, has a mild natural sunscreen effect, repairs the skin barrier, locks moisture in, increases collagen, calms and nourishes the skin.

• Marigold Oil / Calendula The one for babies, children, dry, sensitive skin. One of my absolute favourite skin oils as it is so gentle and healing. This is a 20% 1:5 maceration of calendula flowers in organic cold pressed olive oil so a good therapeutic strength - most are much lower. It’s great for soothing any kind of irritation, like rashes - including nappy rash - sore, red skin, sunburn etc and also well-known for helping the itch and heal varicose veins including spider veins on the face. It’s cooling, moisturising and skin regenerative - helps build new collagen. Great for dry, chapped skin including cracked heels, eczema, psoriasis patches and sore lips. Doesn’t clog, absorbs well. Luurve this one.

• St John’s Wort Oil The one for nerve pain and damage. This a magnificent oil for nerve pain of all kinds, I've found over the years, so is useful for things like neuralgia, neuropathy, sciatica, toothache, injuries, post-surgery etc. I have used it myself to help regrow nerves when I broke my foot and for others to help calm diabetic neuropathy. It's also well-known for soothing wounds, burns and bruises, for tightening piles and varicose veins (or 'very close veins' as my Gran used to call them!) and for easing muscular pain like rheumatism, fibromyalgia etc.

• Arnica Oil The one for bruises, aches and pains. This is a maceration of 10% arnica flowers in organic cold pressed olive oil. Arnica is the traditional healer, especially good for bruises and after sports, helps to lower pain and swelling, ease muscle tension, rheumatism type pain and repair torn ligaments. Fab for tired and overworked bodies, basically.

• Coconut Liquid MCT Oil The liquid coconut one for soft skin and shiny hair. This is a fractionated, liquid, non-greasy coconut oil that doesn’t solidify in cooler weather like ours in the UK. I found it is a great, light oil for my face when I wasn’t able to use anything but coconut. The solid coconut oil drove me a bit batty trying to melt it, was far too heavy for my skin and I didn’t like smelling like a coconut all day! This absorbs quickly, is very skin-softening, non cloggy and has all the medium chain fatty acids still in it hence the MCT name. This oil is also really good for dry hair because it is one of very few oils that can penetrate the hair strand. It helps prevent the loss of proteins and makes hair more resistant to damage. Nice, shiny hair conditioner, basically!

Hope you like the sound of those. You can use most of them as is or added to your usual skincare to boost them. You can add essential oils to them or keep them pure and fragrance free. Check each oil page and the How To Use Essential Oils section here for ideas.

Enjoy, Micki

Allergy Shield for hayfever, sinuses, stuffy heads and congested noses (also feeling fed up with it!) and Buzz Off to help you keep the dreaded midges and mossies at bay this Summer. Definitely NOT your average essential oil blends and not the citronella fake rubbish that seems to have become ubiquitous and stinky in the shops, making me walk straight out again!

Allergy Shield Blend

A great blend to help you with respiratory allergies like hayfever, but also anything respiratory, inflammatory and infective like bronchitis, asthma, sinus congestion, colds etc. The oils are designed to calm an overactive immune response, help adrenal function and are decongesting.

Ingredients:

Black Spruce, Eucalyptus radiata, Frankincense, Lemon & Patchouli

How to Use:

Pop a drop on a sola wood flower near your bed and inhale overnight to help you breathe better. You could also put a drop on a tissue to put on your pillow or near you. 7 drops to 30ml of massage oil or cream and massage over your nose and chest. Add 5 to 6 drops to a bath or 10 drops in a burner. See How To Use guidelines here.

More info:

Black Spruce is most often used for coughs, colds, flu, bronchitis, catarrh, sinus congestion, asthma and allergies. It helps open the airways and clear mucous and congestion and works particularly well in steam inhalations, diffusers blends, aromatherapy inhalers and chest rubs. It has a fresh, foresty, uplifting smell that lasts for hours. It is also useful in treatment of stiff joints, achy muscles and is used to restore depleted adrenal glands after stress. It’s renowned for boosting self-confidence and morale. Note: you want a fresh oil as older loses its potency and changes composition - which is why I only ever buy small amounts of these blends to make sure they are fresh!

Eucalyptus radiata is much gentler and sweeter than the sharp eucalyptus globulus. It has a warming quality which helps dry out and move mucus so helps clear sinuses and a stuffy head.

Frankincense is used here because it is very anti-inflammatory, calming the mucus membranes and anti-catarrhal, so helpful for clearing the lungs. Interestingly, in Chinese medicine, the lungs are the seat of grief, sadness and detachment and frankincense is well-known to helping grief and sadness.

Lemon - very uplifting and helps to shift stuck lymph, encourage detox. It’s naturally antiseptic too so helps prevent or clear respiratory infection. The lemon in this blend is very smooth and not sharp like other lemons - the better quality does that.

Patchouli is very grounding and calming, also anti-inflammatory and anti-infective. A very deep oil.

Buzz Off Blend

A really lovely spicy and uplifting blend to help keep the bitey things away. Not like the usual awful fake citronella candles that make your eyes water! Can also be used as a moth repellant.

Ingredients:

Coriander seed, citronella, lemongrass, may chang, peppermint & spearmint.

How to Use:

10 drops on a burner inside, more if using them outside. For moths, you can put a few drops on something wooden or ceramic and keep in the wardrobe - might make your clothes smell of it so be careful if you don’t want that. Pop a drop on a sola wood flower near your bed or seat to keep the little blighters at bay. You could also put a drop on a tissue and keep it with you when out and about. Or, make your own candle: light a candle and wait until the wax has melted at the top. Blow it out and then add 6-8 drops of your blend. Let it harden and next time you light the candle, hey presto: a bespoke aromatherapy mossie candle! Repeat as needed.

See How To Use guidelines here. Note this oil should not be used on the skin - it’s for vapourising only as too strong for skin.

Tip: I have found that putting a drop of proper geranium essential oil on the soles of your feet will keep insects at bay really well. The oil goes right through your blood stream and they won’t land on you! Useful, huh?

Check them both out - and all the other carefully curated bits and bobs I’ve found you so far: https://shop.purehealthclinic.co.uk/Essential-Oils-c196901735.

New therapeutic base oils to follow soon. Enjoy x

My limbic retreat daily ‘plan’

I say ‘plan’ but I only had a loose idea of what I was going to do. I had resources with me and in mind, but I let myself just choose activities (or not) each day depending how I felt. I know many of us couldn’t afford to go away to a lodge but I have never spent money on myself like that and thought it was about ruddy time. I now plan to work out how to do it at home more!

I had deep sensory rest the first couple of days with sleeping, vooing, eye exercises, physiological sighing etc as per Primal Trust Regulate (see below). No screens, no chatting to anyone. Ooh lovely. It REALLY helped. I felt my whole system just rest.

After that, I spent the next few days doing more active limbic stuff like meditation, visualisation, EFT, WHEE, journalling etc - whatever I felt like - which including singing at the top of my voice to Adele and dancing round the (thankfully very private) lodge to Muse. Amazing how much that can help - that was my joy ‘injection’ if you like. I had a friend visit for a lovely natter so had some social connection - and so I didn’t go mad in my head on my own all week!

I ended each day by watching a success story to show my limbic system people DO get better from much worse positions than me. I always find those help. I also started reading just crappity simple fiction; nothing too taxing.

The last couple of days, I started thinking about purpose, the future and, as my sister put it, remembering who I am. I felt the itch to write, so I did some of that. Plus, I watched some more intensive videos on MCAS and healing generally. As usual, I so enjoyed the science of it all, just wish it wasn’t me suffering with it!

Overall, sensitivity was much lower, but I was a bit lonely and missing cuddles from Winniecat especially - don’t tell P! Pain levels went down, the jangling and tinnitus in my head stopped. I knew that because, when we got there, P said doesn’t the little waterfall sound nice? Er, what waterfall? Then I heard it on the third day - yay! My eyesight became less cloudy (??), my joints became less inflamed, I started to feel less flat, anxious and fatigued. The bloating never left and I still looked 8 months pregnant. Clearly my gut is my real nemesis. Was it ever thus. Anyway, not bad for a week.

My limbic retreat diet

Diet-wise, I ate when I felt like it. I had my ground almond/flaxseed/coconut porridge with blueberries and a tiny sprinkle of coconut sugar every day for breakfast. A salad for lunch every day with our home-grown leaves, radishes etc with some kind of protein every day - mostly king prawns and tuna in olive oil (in a glass jar). I snacked on nuts, fruit and treated myself to a glass or two of wine and some crisps here and there. Because this was not an avoidance week; I’ve got more than enough of that going on already, thank you.

I ate meat every day for tea - only because I’d made a beef casserole with porcini mushroom stock to take away with me to save me cooking for the first few days - and it was so big, it lasted almost all week! I had to eat some haddock twice the last day as I was so sick of meat - I don’t usually eat a lot. BUT there a lesson here - meat does seem to make me feel better. Blood sugar, protein? I shall think about that. I don’t like eating meat for ethical reasons - I was veggie for a long time, so that’s a tough one, but I always feel better when I have it. Doh.

Emotional detox?

Interestingly, the last day I was in a lot of pain in my legs and head again so I’m assuming - as I didn’t eat anything wrongly, but MCAS, so who knows…? - I maybe sparked a kind of emotional detox as I feel more anxious now than when I went! In a way that’s a good thing. In fact, Mrs Universe sent me a video that popped up yesterday about this very thing - here it is in case it helps you.

Essentially, she makes a very good point towards the end that I have often said to patients when they ask: am I getting worse or is this a healing crisis?

If you have been doing a lot of self-care, good-for-you things and you feel worse, it is most likely a release of something or a change in biochemistry as the body starts to heal. For example, it could be an emotional detox or the change from CAM (Cell Alarm Mechanism / Cell Danger Response) to DOPA (Dopamine and related catecholamines) which happens in cells as the body moves out of survival mode to active repair. A kind of healing crisis, as we used to call it.

But, if you have not been looking after yourself that well, have been suffering acute stress etc, then symptoms could well be as a result of that and are more likely your illness.

You don’t really need to know, but it can be a helpful reassuring or wake-up reframe.

I just need to process stuff well I think, so that’s what I’m working on this week. It’s a never ending job, getting the sensitivity down, keeping well, isn’t it? I’ll be starting the Primal Trust Level 2-3 Emotional Processing mini series or maybe the Brad Yates videos that I talked about here.

Happily, at the lodge, I was also playing at being Mrs Dolittle! I fed goslings - five, swimming along happily with Mum and Dad, I checked anxiously every day there were still five! Also, ducklings (three plus Mum), carp (scary mouths!) roach (when they could get past the carp!), a heron who sat right by my lodge almost every day and was very effective at catching the poor roach I was feeding, two squirrels who visited every morning for their handful of walnuts and tons of birdies tip-tapping on the roof to remind me it was time for seeds. I had a great old time. Nature does it for me - and peace, clearly!

It was a glorious spot - here if anyone is interested. Not cheap but I managed to get 25% off for a late booking, and the last week before it goes up to Summer silly money - yay! We tried to buy a lodge on this site, actually, instead of living in Cornwall full time, but in the end, the sea won out. Lodges are never great investments, are they, but I was definitely re-tempted!

OK, hope that was interesting - maybe if you need such a break, think about where you might be able to go - I was 15 mins away from home, but it felt miles away without the real hassle of travel. With MCAS, you have to take everything with you - water filter, bedding, food, throws to cover washing-powder sofas etc. Thankfully, it was very pong free - these lodges always seem to be pretty good for pongness as all the lodges are cleaned by the same company who use very non-stinky eco stuff because of the lakeside position and conserving the beauty. They let a lot of the grounds run wild and I was surrounded by wildflowers as well as the animals. Bliss.

If you can’t go away, can you make yourself a sensory-restful nook or spare room anywhere? That’s what I’m thinking about now. I always have a sensory shutdown for 20 mins every afternoon as it helps me function for the rest of the day. This break made me realise that I sometimes need longer. I can’t afford lodges all the time - much as I would want to - and I do live in an a place right next to the sea which is fabulous for limbic healing - but I’m now convincing P I might need a sensory spare room or a garden retreat room. I’ll probably end up with a swing-seat in the courtyard, but all good!

Anyway, I came on here really to tell you that I’m back and the shop is back open. But that was a long-winded way of saying it! Thanks for your patience whilst I had a break, sweeties x

Subscribe now

Share

TL:DR: Even if it says it is coconut oil, odds are it’s nowhere near the first ingredient!

I’ve been scrutinising a lot of labels on beauty stuff recently as I’ve been deciding what to stock on the shop for you in SkinCare. I’m happy to say there are a LOT more natural, toxic-chemical free choices about now. I remember when I first ran H&B stores, it was pretty rare to get a true non-toxic range. Ditto when I was a free-from skincare awards judge. Unhappily, though, most of the High Street stuff is not all it seems. Not necessarily bad in some cases, but a bit misleading. What it is called and what the label tells you can be very different!

I was looking at some items in a well-known samples Beauty Box the other day, and I was pleased to see at least two ‘natural’ products in there. Weleda Skin Food was included. Couldn’t agree more - a fab cult skin moisturiser used by models and celebs, which I have recommended for about 20 years, I thank you.

Then, I was looking at a Coconut Body Oil. I shan’t say which one as I’m just using it as an illustration really. Not bad at all, but it did make me think that what the label says and what you would expect don’t necessarily match. You would think the main oil here would be coconut oil, yes? Well, you’d be wrong.

Here are the ingredients.

Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Isopropyl Myristate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract, Canola Oil, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed Oil, Gardenia Tahitensis Flower Extract, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Squalane, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Dimethicone, Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Benzoate, Coumarin, Benzyl Alcohol

So, the first ingredient is actually soya oil. There’s isopropyl myristate next, which is often synthesised from palm or coconut and makes oil less ‘sticky,’ helps hold fragrance and is moisturising. Then, we have coconut fruit extract and canola oil before we get to actual coconut oil.

Now, coconut fruit extract is great stuff, don’t get me wrong. It’s made from the coconut meat, but my knowledge suggests you use 1-5% of it in formulations and up to 10% of isopropyl myristate (IPM).

So, if we know that ingredients on labels are in quantity order ie. there is mostly soya oil, then IPM, then coconut extract et al, that would suggest the vast majority of this product is actually soya oil, no? I might be wrong, but it makes you think. I suspect the coconut fruit extract is there mainly to make it smell coconutty and to give it the right skin-feel.

There then follow quite a few nice other oils and extracts, but I would imagine there’s not a lot of any of them actually in it, you know. As usual, we have fragrance (parfum which can be synthetic or come from essential oils so always look to see if there are any essential oils in it!) and the preservatives bringing up the rear.

So, not a bad product at all, but it might be more truthful to call it ‘soya oil that smells like coconut and has some nice things that look good on a label oil’! I’m sure it’s lovely to use and a LOT better than most body oils out there, but it’s really soya oil with bits added to it.

I just thought that might help - especially for those with allergies and intolerances - would they check the label for soya?

More musings anon, Micki x

Subscribe now

Share

Share Pure Health & Wellbeing by Micki Rose

Leave a comment

TL:DR: If you need something quick and effective, get this and this. A fab combo. Read for more ideas below.

If you get hayfever each year, you have my sympathy. Thankfully, it is one allergy I have grown out of. I hope that happens to the rest!!

Since I’m away on retreat this week (see my last post), I am pointing you to all the blog posts I have done on hayfever over the years and to the Hayfever factsheet - where you’ll find tons of ideas and tips that will help.

You’ll have to forgive me for broken links nowadays. I am gradually get round to them, although there is a naughty part of me who just wants to ignore them and hope you let me off! Life seems far too short, you know. You can always find the links to supplement suppliers and how to get tests done on the My Faves page, plus as a subscriber to here, you will have been sent the supplement discount codes so do use those to save some money :)

Remember: You can now get your lab tests here. More on the new lab test service here:

OK, short and sweet post today - but a ton of info on those links for you. Hope they help and you have a very low polleny season x

Subscribe now

Share

Share Pure Health & Wellbeing by Micki Rose

Leave a comment

Just to let you know that I’m away for a few days this week on a healing retreat, aka in a lodge on my own, working on my limbic system with lots of meditation, vagus, visualisation and vooing! I’m sort of inventing a kind of ‘brain spa’ for myself - and maybe for you if I think it’s any good.

The shop will say ‘on holidays’ or something, so sorry about that - I won’t be able to pack and ship your orders sitting on my lodge deck floor finding my zen, I’m afraid.

I have pre-written and scheduled some posts for you whilst I’m away, so you don’t miss me too much ;)

Oh, and yes I will be taking my sola flowers and Intuitive Insight essential oil blend with me! You can get those on the shop - when it’s open again x

PS. I sent this out yesterday - massive apologies if you got an email! Doh. When I get back from my retreat, I shall sort out the shop. I was hoping to have it all done before I went, but hey ho, that’s technology!

Hi everyone. Just to say I am having some work done on the shop - migrating it to a new Woocommerce one on the Purehealth website. It has NOT been easy. If you get a message saying thank you for setting up an account at Pure Health & Wellbeing, massive apologies - ignore it. The migration service has cocked something up somewhere and I will fix it!

#mopsbrow #thisiswhyialwaysdoitmyself!!

Sorry, Micki

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

I have been spending a lot of time recently trying to develop meal ideas that fit with both my MCAS restrictions and diabetes. I’m right on the cusp, thank you PCOS insulin resistance that has worn my pancreas down over the years. With the MCAS, I’ve not been able to take anything to protect it, as I would give you, and neither have I been able to tolerate diabetes meds, even my own protocol, which is VERY frustrating as I know how well it works. Grr.

Food-wise, it’s pretty hard to find enough high protein, low carb foods to help me control it, but I’m doing my best! Exercise-wise, it is pretty hard to get enough to burn off the glucose after meals when you ache like hell most of the time and somewhere - it seems my joints just now - is inflamed in my body.

Anyway, we do NOT give up, do we? Here’s one idea I’ve modified in case it helps any of you. I really miss having something saucy (ooer, Missus), or just ‘wet’. A lot of my food is dry. Nomato sauces are usually made with peppers instead of tomatoes, but I needed no peppers. You could use onions and garlic, of course, but I react to those hence it being without them here.

Nomato MCAS/Diabetes Recipe

Modified “Nomato” Sauce (No Garlic, No Onion, No Stock)

This version uses celery for a savoury base and fennel to provide the aromatic depth usually provided by onions. If your blood sugar is particularly sensitive, use a 1:4 ratio of beets to carrots. For MCAS, the beetroot must be fresh. Pair the sauce with high-protein, zero-carb components like wild fish, grain-free beef, greens, courgetti etc.

Ingredients:

• 3 large carrots (peeled and chopped)

• 1 small beetroot (peeled and chopped)

• 2 sticks of celery (finely chopped — provides the “umami” base)

• 1/2 bulb of fennel (sliced — provides a mild, sweet aromatic hit)

• 1 tbsp avocado oil

• 1 tsp fresh ginger (peeled and grated)

• 1 cup filtered water

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp fresh thyme or rosemary (stripped from the stem)

• 1 tbsp lemon juice (add at the very end)

Instructions:

1. Sauté: Heat the oil in a pan. Add the celery and fennel. Cook on low heat until they are very soft and translucent (about 10 minutes).

2. Simmer: Add the carrots, beetroot, ginger, herbs, salt, and water. Cover and simmer until the carrots and beets are fork-tender.

3. Blend: Puree the mixture until smooth.

4. Acidify: Stir in the lemon juice for that essential “tomato” tang

   I’ve not made it yet, but it sounds like a goodie. Do share if you have any other ideas that really work for you.

Tapping for Health

Thinking of the MCAS sensitivity levels, I am continuing my quest to lower my reactivity as much as possible before my 60th birthday in October! I’m doing OK, or I was until that virus at Christmas, which seems to have really set me back. I’ve also now got the worry about neither of us earning anything - and stress is definitely my biggest trigger, I am finding. So, I continue my ‘healing work’ and share with you any useful bits as I know quite a few of you are following me and doing it with me - sweeties x

As many of you know, I have been a long-time follower of Tap with Brad. He does EFT on You Tube and has about 2000 videos, I think! So, you can always find something to help. I find his manner very gentle and he is always promoting looking after yourself so you can benefit others and the planet as a whole, as well as yourself. An aim that ‘aligns’ with mine. I put ‘aligns’ in inverted commas as it’s such a cliche term, isn’t it, but it does actually fit here? It’s what I am always trying to do - align my values with the work I do for myself, but also in service of others. Cos I’m a good girl.

Anyway, sometimes you need a programme to follow. Well, I find it helps me. I have finished the Primal Trust first two courses - if you are ever in fact ‘finished’ (inverted commas again!) with programmes that good. I will probably start again from the beginning with the new knowledge I have from completing it once. I’ll at least do the 40 day programme as I got waylaid off it half way through but was finding it a really good way of setting a daily practice, which I seem to need. Consistency works, for me at least. Follow this link to get a Purehealth discount and read much more about Primal Trust and brain/limbic retraining.

Back to Brad, though. He has a great tapping resource on Vibrant Health here, which I am thinking of doing. I feel I need to clear some resistance from healing - something is blocking me - and I find tapping with EFT or WHEE (as per the Healing Plan) really helps. But, I am starting with his free 5 day Best Self challenge to see how it feels. There is EFT within the Primal Trust programme, but I’ve always liked Brad and sometimes it’s good to switch things up to keep your brain interested and listening!

Anyway, just sharing what I’m up to as I know you like it when I do that ;)

What is Sacha inchi oil? I see this is trending everywhere and one of you asked me about it, so here’s a little info from Metabolics that hit my inbox this morning and reminded me:

Sacha Inchi oil is a highly nutritious food supplement that is extracted from the seeds of the Sacha Inchi plant, which is native to the Amazon rainforest. It contains 100% Organic Sacha Inchi oil produced by mechanical pressing of the seeds and fruit of the Plukenetia Volubilis trees found along the Amazon river, in Peru. Peru has over 2,000 hectares dedicated to Sacha Inchi trees.

This oil is rich in essential fatty acids, including omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9; it has the following composition: 45-58% is Omega 3 oil, 30-40% Omega 6 oil, and 8-12% of Omega 9 oil, making it an excellent source of healthy fats that are essential for maintaining overall health and wellness.

It has the most omega 3 of any plant based source.

Don’t forget to use the Metabolics link if you buy anything from them as it gives you 10% off. Subscribe if you’ve not got got the list of discount codes as it comes out automatically to all subscribers.

Talking of oils, I am about to list some new goodies on the shop for us. I have had very fun choosing an initial range of base and carrier oils I think are really fab but not the usual stuff you can get anywhere. I’ll announce them once I’ve got them ready. I thought we needed good therapeutic base oils to use with our essential oil blends - which you seem to be enjoying - yay! I’ve also got new Allergy/Hayfever and Buzz Off blends in ready for Summer. And I’ve invented a few new blends myself - including one for MCAS, of course ;) A crafty way of helping dampen mast cell activity for those of us who can’t yet tolerate normal supplements or interventions. I’m nothing if not determined!

I’m just wondering what to do with the shop, to be honest. I’ve had the Purehealth shop at Ecwid for such a long time. Initially, rules dictated many years ago that you had to keep advice and sales separate, but that’s no longer the case - never made sense and annoyed me that I had to send you elsewhere, but hey ho.

Anyway, the Ecwid shop has worked well, but it’s pretty old fashioned now. I have been exploring upgrading it but they are now charging silly money, so I am going to have to move it, I think. That’s why I’ve been a bit quiet; I have been trialling various systems like WooCommerce on the existing Purehealth site, have built new shops at Wix and Squarespace to see how easy those are, and have battled with Shopify. I even tried Etsy.

I love creating new sites, as you know - maybe I should have been a web developer in another world! - but it is quite time consuming and, of course, not one of them is as easy as it should be, or does everything you want it to without huge costs! I have to decide and start shifting everything in the next few days before the next annual cost is due. As with everything else, costs of websites are rising and, now I’m not earning much, I need to watch the pennies even more closely. Hopefully, the shop starts bringing in enough for me to continue with it as it is very fun and fitting my promise to myself of a gentler work life. But I do still have bills to pay.

I’m not sure I’ve told you, but P is a voice over artist and AI has really eaten his work over the last couple of years. Since Christmas - when I retired, of course - it has just disappeared. Great timing. Sod’s law and all that. Happily, I love working and am quite happy to continue to do something to keep some income coming in. I’m just hoping it can be the more gentle work of the shop and writing here, maybe a bit more consistently and some paid posts to help. Fingers crossed. If not, I’ll open up some patient work again maybe. That wouldn’t be a bad thing either; I miss it - and being the expert, you know. Feeds my ego, and my research/helping people needs ;). We’ll see. All good fun.

Anyway, watch out for new shop, or new oils at least. Coming soon to an inbox near you!

OK, so hope you enjoyed those musings this week. Please subscribe, share and heart for me so others find me - it all helps to keep me afloat and here for you.

Have a lovely post May bank holiday week. Meantime, I’m off to make some shop decisions! If any of you have any experience of them, do email and share to warn me off or encourage me x

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

TL:DR: You can now get lab tests here with more or less the same system I used to do - yay.

Since I closed the lab test service after running it for almost 20 years, many of you have been asking where you can get your lab tests done. I’ve done a few under the radar to keep you on track, and I have REALLY fought myself about just re-opening the whole lot again, believe me.

But I have resisted, like a good girl.

If I do the test service, the whole shebang starts and, before we know it, I am overwhelmed again!

I gave you some ideas on the My Favourites page, but you needed to use a practitioner to get most of the advanced ones I used to do for you, like the DUTCH test, GI360, Cyrex, OAT, Thyroid Plus, Adrenal Stress, Metabolomix etc.

I know that was a pain and I had hoped to have a service take over from me before I closed. I’m sorry it’s taken so long, but we are now there - yay!

That link will take you to Emma and her team who will look after you, she promises! Emma works in the same way - almost - as I did. So, you can order what you need, they will email your results to you - with a GP review, too - and will offer you a consultation with a discount if you need more help.

Which lab tests should I do?

Especially for Purehealth peeps, Emma is offering a free 10 minute call if you need to chat something through before you order. Just use the link or say you have come from me when you email or call them. I’ve warned Emma I’ve got some pretty sophisticated and smart patients and followers, but she and her team are more than up for the challenge ;)

I’ve put this link and info all over the website so you can’t miss it. I’ve kept all my legacy Lab Test pages up on the site too, so you have all my old recommendations for testing - the links won’t work, so forgive me. I’m changing them very sloooowly; it’s a huge job!

In addition, I am playing with adding links to recommended tests on the shop for you. Like we used to for some stuff before - you follow the link and order it direct as I don’t hold stock or facilitate the tests now. You can see the one on Menopause I did just this morning, if you like.

You’ll see there that I am also adding two or three of my fave supplement recommendations and links for you in each section. See my top supplement on Menopause, for example. I’m working on Gut, Allergy etc.

As usual, I’m not just flinging supplements on - I’ve added tons of info you just don’t get elsewhere to make sure it’s right for you all. For example, on menopause what is a SERMS supplement and, importantly, how to take it effectively? It was part of my research for the Hormone Plan (coming soon).

Don’t forget that subscribers get discount codes for my fave supplement suppliers in your welcome email…so, you know what to do:

Subscribe now

Essentially, some of those links are affiliate ones, so I get a (very small) bit of referral commission, which enables me to do the research, write important stuff and keep afloat now I’m no longer doing casework or tests. It costs you no more, but makes a MASSIVE difference to me - the difference between still helping you with the shop, research, writing etc or stacking shelves at Sainsbury’s - not that the MCAS would allow me to do that anyway, but you get my drift.

Anyway, I hope it all helps. Any queries or thoughts, just email me or leave a comment. What do you think - is that useful/a good thing for you?

Leave a comment

STOP PRESS. Just before I get into the shop stuff, I literally just had an email that my work to try to get a new test service for you all to be able to order the tests you need is about to come to fruition - stand by your beds! More info shortly…

First - you may notice that I am playing around with the look and structure of the shop a bit. I’m trying to find nice, easy ways you can find what you need. This week, I have split the books and wellbeing stuff into sections like Menopause, Gut, Fatigue, Allergy, Stress, Skincare, Essential Oils and Gifts.

And I have given you FREE POSTAGE OVER £40. Despite the fact that Royal Mail just increased their prices again! I send most of your parcels out on 48 hour tracked which now costs me a minimum of £3.65.

In fact, here is my shipping and packaging policy for your delectation:

So far, the feedback I’ve got has been great. I got a couple of orders wrong at the start in my excitement, sending pink sola diffuser flowers instead of ivory, which only one person wanted changed as they liked the pink anyway! But other than that, reviews are that people love the packaging; it ‘feels like a real treat to open’ and that it gets delivered quickly. And, of course, loving the products. As one person said last week: ‘keep at it, Micki, I am checking in to see what’s new every week! Loving seeing it evolve’. How lovely. As I say above #amdoingmybest!

Have you come across hypochlorous acid spray?

Apparently, I am late to the beauty party yet again, as these have been a little darling of the skincare world for a year or two. Oops. Often used for spotty skin or acne, but generally also as an anti-bacterial type of mist for hands or pretty much anywhere.

Anyway, I was wondering if it might work as a deodorant for those of us with eg. MCAS who can’t tolerate normal ones - thank you to Mitchum and others who ‘say’ they are ‘fragrance free’ but have parfum in! I mean, come on. Tons of us have complained and begged in the MCAS community as it was pretty much the only effective truly pong-free one we could tolerate. Did they care? No. Is it labelled wrongly? Yes. Is it fragrance free if it has parfum in it and stinks to high-heaven of something awful-floral? No IT IS NOT, MITCHUM.

OK, Calm down. But honestly, these companies really have no idea the effect their decisions can have on people, do they? I have come across several comments from people who no longer feel confident about going out so much in case they pong. Sigh. Get it together, Mitchum.

Anyway, necessity is the mother of invention and all that - so, of course I have invented one for myself using oils and magnesium spray, which has been working for me for a good year, actually. Phew. Not Pooh, thank goodness. I may perfect that one and put it on the shop for you.

I see dermatologists recommend hypochlorous spray as an antibacterial ‘layer’ for people who sweat a lot or who can’t tolerate normal - toxic - deodorants. So, I might play with it, maybe add some into my formulation. Obviously, the name gives us a clue that it may well smell of chlorine. It’s not chlorine itself, from the little research I’ve done on it so far. It seems it is a ‘natural’ antibacterial that the body makes in response to infection.

Anyway, before I go down too much of a rabbit hole of research (my fave as you know), I wondered if any of you have come across it or used it? Do let me know - email or comment x

PS. Too late! I found this interesting article in the NY Times :) This seems to be their fave, which I note is the same strength as the Napier one above too.

Leave a comment

Next, you might have seen that I have added a new Smell Training Kit onto the shop this week. I sent out a note about it. You can see all my more frequent notes here by the way.

One of you asked me to make one for them. So, off I went to research that next. I am SO enjoying this different kind of lab work! Did you know..

“a significant number of people in the UK continue to suffer from anosmia (total loss of smell) and parosmia (distorted smell). Recent research and reports from 2024 to early 2026 indicate that approximately 1 in 20 people in the UK currently live with anosmia, while as many as 1 in 5 experience some form of decreased or distorted sense of smell.

Ooh, that’s a LOT. I didn’t realise loss of smell was such a problem still - it massively went up after Covid. Hence, I thought I would look into it properly and invent something. Here’s a bit of the intro on the shop page:

Check it out - I’ve put tons of info and resources there too on how to smell train and to support neurological repair.

Next, I’m inventing some vaginal dryness suppositories as one of you has asked me for some non-toxic ones - the glamour! But SO needed - most I found, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to shove that toxic nonsense up my wotsit!

Bargain of the Week. Does anyone need an antifungal foot cream? I made a (fabulous, though I say so myself) mix for a chap recently and then realised he had high blood pressure so the red thyme in it was probably not the best for him even though it was a tiny amount.

Anyway, I have a bespoke mix, 50ml, for a bargain price if you need one. Base of the Pure cream, plus aloe, neem and an antifungal, anti-infection sort of essential oil mix. It’s quite strong for the ‘killyness’ ability, but it could be used anywhere on the body, except the face. Expiry Oct 26, good for 6 months at least. I could give it to P just to use up but it seems a shame to waste it if someone needs such a mix.

Normally £35. Cost £15 plus P&P - add something else to your basket whilst you’re at it - free P&P over £40! Email me if you’d like to baggsy it. micki@purehealthclinic.co.uk.

I am designing a cheaper lotion base and should get it onto the shop soon, so we don’t have to use the magnificently-nourishing Pure Face Cream to make such mixes unless necessary - bring the cost down a bit and be a bit looser to rub in and massage with. The balm would be fab for this too, but sometimes you just need a lotion, I know.

Anyway, neatly merging two stories rather neatly here, I then recommended a different approach to fungal athlete’s foot entirely, so here’s my alternative too in case it helps:

A hypochlorous spray: Clinisept+ Podiatry and Fulvic Nail Cream. The hypochloric spray is increasingly used by podiatrists - smells of chlorine but is not actually chlorine (see above). Fulvic acid is a rich mineral absorbent sort of cream - I often use it as the powder to bind toxins.

Teatree essential oil will also help, of course, but takes a lot longer. If using that, you would need to soak your feet daily in some bath foam with 3 drops of tea tree in, dry thoroughly and then apply a squirt of any cream or shake of powder with a drop of tea tree in it. A spray might be quicker!

So, that combo should work - but you need to be consistent with it. Any other tips you’ve used for persistent fungal infections, do share.

Leave a comment

Finally, a quick reminder that all of my ebooks and factsheets are still available for you on the shop. I’ve split those into three easy sections for you too. Most popular currently are the Gut Plan, Histamine Factsheet, Belly Fat Plan and Vagus Factsheet. I’m going to start work on finishing the Hormone Plan shortly - I’m missing my writing.

I’ve started doing quite a few Notes for you on here recently - all helps to get more eyes on my words. Do check them out. Recent notes include:

OK, so hope you enjoyed those shoppy type musings. Please do help me share my work more widely by hearting these posts and notes if you can. Thanks sweeties. More anon, Micki x

Subscribe now

Honestly, every single time I go into the Duchy garden centre round here (think: uber posh), I spy their beautiful botanical wrapping paper and remind myself I MUST get some frames and get them up on my walls. To be honest, P knows to take me here if I’m feeling a bit low because the beauty of the place and stock lifts my spirits every single time. Lovely. I hardly ever buy anything, though, I’m not MADE of money!

Anyway, here are some papers for you that you might like for your walls…

The Art File does some really pretty ones. Quite a few nice ones for children’s rooms. I particularly fancy this tiger one in my bathroom, I don’t know why:

I like this animal one too for a child's bedroom, maybe:

Willow & Stone do some nice botanical type ones. This would look great in a conservatory or a sun room if you have such a thing:

Or how about this for an interiors-obsessed friend (that’s me!)?

They have lots of series and collections, such as birds:

And flower studies:

I’m always partial to a William Morris myself - especially as our flat is late 1800s. You can get tons of different designs. How’s this for punchy? They do the same design in lots of different ‘colourways’. I use quotation marks there as it’s such a daft word, isn’t it? P always laughs at me when I say it and regularly asks me what ‘colourway’ we need. Sarky gitbag.

Or punchier still with a bit of glam thrown in - how about vintage gold chinoiserie? Now there’s posh. There’s tons on Etsy like this:

OK, hope those inspire you a bit to go down gift wrap-shaped rabbit holes and find some yourself. You could use three different but tonal designs of any paper, frame them and hang them as a triptych. Lovely. For more on frames see, the last post where I put a video for you.

If you want more from me, do subscribe and check the Notes tab. Don’t forget to heart and restack the posts as it means more people are likely to find and enjoy them, thank you sweeties. Later alligator x

Share

Leave a comment

Archive is free. Lordy, I noticed that Substack was automatically putting every post more than 2 weeks old behind a paywall! Oops. The whole archive is free currently, my lovelies, sorry about that! I’ve now switched that naughty button off. Doh.

Meningitis reassurance. Heart-breaking for the families who have lost someone and worrying, I am sure, for people in Kent, although I am pleased to note no new cases have been reported for four days (as of yesterday). A little perspective for future in case it helps.

My understanding is that it’s not like Covid at all and you’re unlikely to need masks or catch it easily by being near someone on the bus. It’s not very contagious and you’re only likely to get it really if you are sharing cigarettes, vapes, drinks, kissing someone who has it or dancing and singing in a club, as appears what happened in Kent. I’d also suggest maybe strengthening the immune system a la Covid factsheet if you feel yours is a bit low.

Faith In Nature Fragrance Free range - is not available via the FiN site itself, but is available via Amazon and H&B. Why not on their site, heaven knows? I’ve been having a bit of a tussle with them, actually, as I bought a 5l aloe shampoo from them and, when it arrived, it smelt very floral. I checked the ingredients on the site - the usual ones, odd - and then on the packaging itself - very different! I assumed an error, but no - the ingredients have changed but the old ones are still on the site. So, please be careful if buying from them. All a bit odd, as they’ve been great over the years.

Oh, and whilst I had them, I complained about them putting oat into almost all of their products now, but they did at least put the discontinued fragrance free back - if not on their own site!

Talking of skincare, drum roll please……The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that I have put a new bespoke cream and balm onto the shop for you. Yay. They are both fantastic used as they are, but I can customise them in all manner of ways for you so they are completely handmade, with love, just for you.

Here’s some blurb. You can see them both in the Face & Body section of the shop here, read more info on them and treat yourself to some. P has very much enjoyed watching me go all ‘mad scientist,’ mixing potions with my glass stirring rods, funnels and whatnot, with my pinny on and a hair net! Good job he loves me!

Botanical Face & Body Cream

A fabulous light, but nourishing cream, suitable for all skin types and can be used on your face or body. Full of antioxidants and organic plant oils and butters. Suitable for babies and children above 3 years old and during pregnancy.

You can choose to have it fragrance free with no essential oils (full ingredients on the shop page) or I can make a bespoke one to suit you. Comes in a blue glass jar to protect the ingredients from light. This is not corn free, sadly - that is proving quite difficult to get in a cream, but I’m working on it! For you, the Skin Oil would be fab as it acts like a kind of serum; I use it myself.

Pure Fragrance Free

The cream is made from sunflower oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut oil with natural emulsifiers and waxes derived from coconut and beeswax. Added aloe, rosehip and borage oil to really nourish and feed your skin properly and a tiny bit of safe preservatives as you have to have some in a water-based cream to stop it going off.

Everything scores 1-2 on the EWG (Environmental Working Group) Skin Deep directory for toxicity and safety in cosmetics (I checked, of course!) except for benzyl alcohol, which is 4, and that is because, in larger amounts, it can irritate skin. Here, there is a tiny amount - you can always tell how much there is of something in a product from how close to the top or bottom it appears in the list. Top means more, obvs.

Bespoke Blend

You could use this beautiful cream just as it is, but I can add all manner of extra things to it to customise it especially for you. For example, anti-ageing, skin issues of all kinds (rosacea, eczema, spots, dry and tight etc), encourage sleep, lower anxiety, mood boosting, balance hormones, or for your body: soothe arthritis, help heal a wound, cellulite, cracked feet etc.

Or, use the even purer, three-ingredient, well, two really..

Botanical Face & Body Balm

This is pure jojoba butter mixed with sunflower oil to loosen it and preserved with a little sunflower Vitamin E. That’s it. Very pure and so effective. TGF safe.

Jojoba is very close to the skin’s own sebum, is extremely nourishing - and is quite rare. Took me ages to find a pure butter that would work on skin on its own for people who need very pure, allergen-free stuff, like me!

It’s a luxurious butter that absorbs very well without leaving that oily feel. It’s very nourishing and hydrating, leaves skin feeling really soft and cared for. It will also moisturise and help repair damaged hair.

Pure & Fragrance-Free or Bespoke

You can use the beautiful hydrating balm as it comes, or I can customise it for you by adding any number of extra base or essential oils, powders, antioxidants etc. For example, anti-ageing, skin issues of all kinds (rosacea, eczema, spots, dry and tight etc), encourage sleep, lower anxiety, mood boosting, balance hormones, or for your body: soothe arthritis, help heal a wound, cellulite etc.

Some tester comments from a few people I convinced to try some…

I loved both the cream and the balm. Both absorbed better than I expected with them being so full of oils. Had no smell - a little coconut fragrance in the cream, maybe.

Feels lovely on my skin, I could feel it nourishing it when I used it before bed. My skin felt soft and not at all tight in the morning, which is unusual for me. I can see this will work for me. Thank you!

I used this on my usually very sensitive eczema for a few days to test it for Micki. No irritation and the redness definitely coming down. Micki did add some extra German chamomile as an anti-inflammatory, which does smell quite earthy, but not floral, which I hate.

Oh my goodness, that balm is to die for! I thought it would be gloopy and thick, sit on my skin, but not at all. It soaked in almost as well as the cream. Micki also made me a balm for my dry, cracked skin on my feet and another for my arthritic hands. I will definitely keep on using them. How nice to have someone make it just right for you!

Check those and the evolving Face & Body section on the shop here.

PS. I just thought as I was about to send this out - I have a couple of 20% off special offers for you on the shop currently - go check ‘em out!

PPS. And I forgot to tell you - shipping is now free over £40!! I hope that helps x

Next, if we can gain any good news from the awful Iran conflict, here’s at least one: the roll-out and availability of plug-in solar panels has been significantly speeded up. This means people can literally plug in so-called balcony panels to start generating energy at home. Great news. Although sad it has taken a war to bring it forward.

Talking of tech, fascinating article on choosing alternatives for the big tech companies if you want to - and, for me at least, that’s a no-brainer. I’ve been working towards it for ages, although to do any kind of business nowadays, that is REALLY hard to do - especially if you have a chronic illness which keeps you indoors a lot!

I’ve certainly noticed Google search is now terrible compared to what it was - especially for natural health as it favours mainstream views massively. And I certainly don’t like the AI summaries at the top, which as I predicted the minute they were introduced, deter people from clicking onto anything further down the page - decimating businesses like mine in the process, which depend on people finding you. It’s called - excuse my French - the ‘enshittification’ of the internet and services we rely on. There is a theory that Google has deliberately made the search worse to make sure you keep on the search longer. I would NOT be surprised.

Have a read anyway. I have never liked having to be beholden to anyone, and I certainly don’t like being beholden to big tech bros who are sucking up to - let’s be honest - blatantly fascist wannabe dictators.

Ooh, lost my rag a bit there. But come on! And I know I am on here writing to you from Substack. Not as bad - yet - but I’ve got my eye on you, Substack…

I’ve started doing quite a few Notes for you on here recently - all helps to get more eyes on my words. But some really useful stuff so do check them out - they will be in your feed. I’ve also started to learn how to do ‘proper’ good-looking social media posts now I have a bit more time. I don’t really like having to do social media, but I’m concentrating on Pinterest and You Tube mostly, but copying them to the Facebook page and group - both of which are still active - and Instagram as I know quite a few of you follow me in those places and I don’t want to ignore you. If I could get everyone in one place, how lovely would that be!! I can’t help it, I have such a tidy mind.

Anyway, recent notes include what to plant in March, a rant about living with MCAS, a why people might get worse graphic I saw on Linked In and a kindness story. Check them out.

OK, finally a beautiful pop of joy for your homes this week. Introducing the Tulipière. At the height of Tulip Mania in the 17th century, when a single prized bulb could cost more than a house, these vases with single spouts for each prized flower were commissioned from DUTCH artists, often in Delft painted porcelain.

You can get them still - for thousands of pounds if you want an original (see Ebay)! But, happily, you don’t need to pay that much. They come in nicely-minimal rectangles…

The traditional multi spout one…

Or I see this one on sale currently with 4 spouts so you don’t need many flowers either. I think it looks a bit like a heart!

Obviously, they can be used with any flowers you like once tulip season has finished. Beautiful, and a nice sensory anchor for when you feel anxious or need to change the way your brain is thinking. I use this technique as part of my brain retraining. Just notice what you are thinking, cancel it/say: “no, that’s not right any more” or whatever feels right for you, move your gaze slowly around the room or place you are in and let your eyes slowly gaze at a beautiful object or colour - replacing negative with a positive.

OK, so hope you enjoyed those musings this week. Please subscribe if you’ve not already and share it with others if you think they’d also enjoy it, restack so others can find me, and give me a little heart to know you’re reading. Any private questions or comments, message me or email: micki@purehealthclinic.co.uk. I’m still here. Just a lot quieter!

À bientôt, my lovelies x

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Getting the CFS Basics Right

There are loads of different avenues to explore in chronic fatigue/ME cases. Below are some of the most common that cropped up clinically. Many of these are foundational issues, which often were missed or not corrected before trying to find deeper, more complex answers. I often had to row people back a bit and get these foundational bits sorted first - and often that was all that was needed for a significant improvement. Not always, but often.

So, look into:

Allergy and intolerance – it is amazing how a sensitivity to food, inhalant or something can completely drop you and no-one ever believes me, but it turns up all the time.

Even mental health symptoms. My first ever patient came in with really severe fatigue and depression she’d been hospitalised for several times. I was terrified! But, she begged me for help, so I did the foundational stuff of taking pressure off her system by removing the most common allergens of wheat and dairy at the time. She changed dramatically within two weeks. I never forgot that. Lesson well and truly learned and I used that knowledge for the next 30 years!

Note that chronic fatigue is one of the top gluten-related disorders; not just coeliac disease, but more usually CFS is a feature of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity in my clinical and testing experience. It turned out to be that in my own case. Just sayin.. Read more about GRDs here. Nowadays, removing wheat and dairy for that first lady would probably not have been enough - I would automatically go for gluten and dairy now, sadly. Things have worsened.

Adrenal fatigue. This is almost always a part of it. Check and correct. Read all about adrenal fatigue here.

Underactive thyroid. An obvious one to look at. Cold, tired, listless. No brainer. Check and correct.

In fact, hormones in general - adrenal, thyroid, sex hormones especially testosterone and oestrogen in both men and women - all need to be considered as they can have a massive impact.

Anaemia. Of course. Which leads onto…

Nutrient deficiency. I have often seen a lack of nutrients, especially in teenage cases which, when corrected, solved the whole problem. No nutrients = no energy.

White spots on nails? Just had a growth spurt? Puberty kicked off? All vulnerabilities in my experience. There are many nutrients tests but, effectively, I find the red blood cell minerals especially magnesium (not serum), Vitamin D and fatty acid levels are most key. If all are low, you’re probably malabsorbing.

So then you look at whether you are producing enough stomach acid or digestive enzymes, and at the gluten as above, which is a major cause of malabsorption, of course.

Going deeper

Ok, those are the main foundational keys.

Then, there are the more in-depth things to check including viruses, parasites, liver, mitochondrial and methylation issues etc, all of which you can read more about in the relevant sections on the clinic site. Apologies the links to tests are still there - I can’t quite bring myself to change all the pages yet, to be honest! Such a HUGE task.

The underlying cause of chronic fatigue

ACE Disorders, childhood or adult stress and trauma and nervous system dysregulation is showing up an awful lot as a key factor in why people develop what I term ‘hypersensitivity’ illnesses later down the line, usually in their 40s.

These illnesses are where people have become sensitised to stressors more than normal, the amygdala in the brain is too-turned-up, if you like, and it causes real physical illness including food/chemical sensitivity, anxiety disorders, chronic fatigue, chronic pain and all manner of glandular and hormonal imbalances. Have a read of my factsheet on ACE Disorders and Trauma-Triggered Illness here and the Healing Plan below where I wrote down how I improved my own illness. Read my Central Sensitivity Syndrome factsheet too.

Don’t be tempted to dismiss this like I did for several years. I know it sounds odd, but it is proving to be a real key for many so humour me and read those resources anyway, see what your score on the questionnaire is. If it’s not that: great; you can at least rule it out. I’m almost tempted to start moving limbic system and vagus work to foundational for chronic fatigue as it crops up so often now.

Summary

My advice, generally, would be to keep it simple and go through the foundational issues I’ve mentioned first before you get all complicated about it. I’ve learned over time that it is easy to miss the obvious and get bogged down in really complicated factors when actually the easy stuff corrected resolves most issues. It may be then that you can see the wood for the trees a bit and narrow down anything that still needs work.

More Chronic Fatigue Resources

There is a fabulous resource here which might help. It is a pretty comprehensive rundown of testing and treatments involved in chronic fatigue. There is also a brief but useful primer on Chronic Fatigue here from GreenMedInfo.

TL:DR

If even this article is overwhelming you, start the limbic and vagus work and begin to calm your system down. Begin the 40 Day Regulate Programme (new Feb 26) which gives you a daily 4-7 minute video with exercises to follow. I wish I’d had this and hadn’t had to do or even write the ruddy Healing Plan! Use code PUREHEALTH10 to get a special Purehealth 10% discount.

SO hope this post helps x

Share

Keep reading for an unboxing video later where I show you the new parcel postcards and brand look etc - I’m not very good at filming them yet but I thought you’d like to see anyway!

So, today, I thought I would show you some Drops of Joy from the shop. I rather like that now I’ve thought of it! I have added several new essential oil blends into the Wellbeing section for you - and they are fab, though I say so myself.

Plus, I’ve added some new info on how to use them for best effect. The sola wood flowers have gone down a storm - I knew they would. Effective and beautiful, what more do you want? They are very absorbent, so you just put one drop of a blend or a single essential oil onto the base - depending on what mood or feel you are trying to create in your room - and it will permeate through the wood beautifully.

I always try to have something on my desk that makes me smile. Today, it is a dish of hot pink strawflowers and a dahlia with a drop of Energise blend on. It perks me up and helps me think clearly. It’s very cheerful, I find. In the afternoon 3pm drop after lunch, it particularly helps to stop me wanting to lay my head on the desk and nod off!

And if you want to know why I have a load of strawflowers, I’ve been having a go at making garlands…is very fun!

Not that attractive hanging off the handles of my office cupboard, I’ll grant you, but imagine on a beam, an old fireplace or across a child’s bedroom. I am experimenting with how a drop of an essential oil blend lasts on them to subtly fragrance a room - l am thinking Children’s blend if they are a bit fractious or Peaceful Night blend for us! Anyway, it seems to work pretty well. An alternative/addition to the sola wood flowers maybe? Eco, non-candley and cute. Do you like the look of them?

Anyway, back to drops of joy. So, here’s the new range of essential oil blends so far and a quick run down of each one:

Joie De Vivre

The original drops of joy, if you like. Our top seller; we call it our Happiness Blend. Restores optimism, contentment and lifts the spirits.

Peaceful Night

Our ‘mallet in a bottle’ to help you get a good night’s sleep. Eases anxiety, calming.

Lunar Cycle

A wonderful blend to help balance hormones. Eases PMS, cramping pains, irritability and helps support the menstrual cycle and menopausal imbalance.

Rose

Very balancing feminine oil for when mood or hormones are messing about, after a tough day.

Energise

A spicy blend to revive mental and physical energy. This is the one currently on my desk..

Harmonise

A balancing, grounding oil to help restore mental and emotional equilibrium.

Five Element

A really special and unusual one. Balancing the Five Elements in energy medicine. The theory is if one is out of balance with the others, illness occurs. I used to use this in the massage clinic room a lot.

Intuitive Insight

My meditation oil. Fantastic for supportive meditation and clarity of thought.

You can get all of those on the shop here. I’ve almost run out of the beautiful Rose blend already, so will have to get some more in!

Here’s the original clinic range from years ago, I’m just wondering which of these to add next. Any thoughts welcome - which would help you most?

Children’s

The happy blend for children. Calming, peaceful, uplifting blend to ease fractious little ones.

Defensive Qi

Brilliant all-round immune booster. Kills air borne viruses and bacteria. Excellent for warding off colds and flu, eases catarrh.

Children’s Bug Beater

An immune boost for little ones over 36 months getting recurrent infections.

Decongest & Clarify

Wonderful decongestant.

Allergy Shield

To help prevent and ease allergies, hayfever.

De-Stress

A very supportive blend for those feeling unable to cope with daily pressures, for nervous tension and anxiety.

Purify & Refresh

A real pick-me up. Encourages detoxification. Helps to banish cellulite.

Tone & Soothe

Very soothing for tired, achy muscles.

I think deffo the Allergy Shield, Tone & Sooth for aching, Children’s and I ALWAYS have Defensive Qi in my handbag to inhale ever since Covid!

Ok, finally, as promised here is a little view from Behind The Scenes in my office and me unboxing the parcel stuff I designed. Enjoy - ignore the mess and my crap filming technique but we’re ‘keepin’ it real’ as they say!

If you hear some banging on there, by the way, it’s P tiling the shower room floor which has started to crumble and is a tad painful when you step on it in bare feet - the bare minimum (literally) for a shower floor!! I only heard it when I listened back to the video, apols x

Ok, hope you enjoyed that. If you want more from me, do subscribe and check the Notes tab. Don’t forget to heart and restack the posts as it means more people are likely to find and enjoy them, thank you sweeties. Later alligator x

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

First, thank you for your lovely messages of support - and orders! - for the new shop products. I am so blessed to have you all in my corner. And, to be honest, it’s ruddy good stuff. So, I is pleased :) You particularly seem to like the gorgeous sola wood flowers I use around the house. And I still have 4 gift boxes left if you need something for yourself or a mother figure in your life. As a Mum to Winniecat but no Mum myself, I always get myself something. From Winnie, you understand.

OK, to the interesting bits and bobs. Hope you enjoy them…

One of you asked me about a little 14 month old having recurrent chest infections this week. Here’s my reply in case it helps anyone else.

I would think about what is suppressing his immune system (usually dairy at that age, could be coeliac, NCGS), give him lots of probiotics to re-set his gut and nutrients to help him. See the factsheet here - esp for Under 3s section: https://purehealthclinic.co.uk/health-a-z/children/

There’s a good overview here in case is useful: https://www.verywellhealth.com/recurrent-respiratory-infections-in-children-4778323

Osteopathy can also help. This is London, but gives the gist: https://www.babyphysio.com/baby-chronic-respiratory-conditions-osteopathy-treatment-london-belgravia-clapham-osteopath-axa-bupa/

For a practitioner, see the Favourites page on where to find good ones: https://purehealthclinic.co.uk/my-faves/

Next, someone asked what computer I use as they were getting very stressed choosing from the plethora of choice out there to replace a worn out laptop. Clearly, you all think I know muchly about many things. You are correct! Here’s my quick reply in case it helps you:

I was burning through a laptop every 2-3 years, so I got a mini PC computer, which is very portable - P shifts his in and out of the voice booth daily and he has the same one. It's quite old now. It's Intel NUC. Has been fab. P, who is my IT department (!), says look at Geekom mini PCs which seem to be really good at the moment! I don't touch Apple as I don't like the way they make you upgrade all the time. I do Android, and on phone.

I bought a new stainless steel cat litter tray a few weeks ago. Stainless steel! I never knew they existed and I’ve had cats ALL my life. I bought it because Winnie’s bathroom is now right next to my office desk and I was wrinkling my nose a lot at the pong.

Hang on a cotton-pickin’ minute…did you say Winnie’s bathroom?! Er, yes. I did. We have three bathrooms in this flat (apartment just takes too long to type, sorry D). - I mean, come on, who needs 3 bathrooms? Well, it turns out, we do. We have a main family bathroom which I use a lot for, er, baths. We have an ensuite in our bedroom. And we have an ensuite for the spare bedroom.

I think the builder had a family of teenagers when he was converting this building as it is bathroom-heavy throughout, apparently. Nuff said.

Anyway, so the old plastic litter tray needed replacing and my research on ‘less-pong litter trays’ led me to stainless steel ones. I think they probably originated in Japan, where many Japanese people have cats in their tiny apartments. Oh I used ‘apartment’ there. How strange. I think maybe because they are usually uber-cool and so well designed in eg. Tokyo, that a flat is not right. Anyway, I digress.

I bought this litter tray and I’m so pleased with it. Winnie even likes going through the cat flap, isn’t tracking as much litter everywhere in her paws as the mat seems to do a good job and, happily, Mummy’s nose is no longer going to need very strong anti-wrinkle cream.

Culture Club

Some fab stuff I’ve read and watched recently. The AI Confidential series with Hannah Fry was fascinating, if a tad scary. Not dry tech at all, more investigative journalism, which I always enjoy. I think sometimes I’d like to have been an investigative journalist - I love digging into stuff. I have used this in natural medicine throughout my career as I have never just accepted the norm, as you know!

In contrast, I sang and foot-tapped throughout the excellent Take That documentary on Netflix. I did actually feel smug that I never bought into the Gary-shaming and I always thought he was a quite brilliant pop song writer and liked his voice. Anyway. Have a watch if this is your era. I enjoyed it.

I’m planning to watch the new Louis Theroux Inside the Manosphere documentary, which I think is out on 11th March. He’s looking into just who is influencing our boys and the ultra-masculine trend. I’m sure it won’t be an easy watch, but I do think Louis is fantastic at giving people just enough rope to show their true colours. Nice mixing of metaphors there, Micki ;)

I watched Idris Elba’s new Hijack on Apple. Because, well, Idris Elba. But I thought it was a bit crap and it only got 47% on Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter, meaning quite a lot of people agree with me. But Idris Elba, so.

A few I watched a while ago. I so wanted to like Down Cemetery Road, based on Mick Herron’s novel, as I love Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, and it is produced by the same people who make the fabulous Slow Horses. But, Meh. Didn’t do it for me, I’m afraid. I though Emma’s character was a bit over done. Pluribus, also on Apple, I really enjoyed. It’s irritatingly slow at times, but that’s part of the point. A black comedy. I do always feel they go on a bit, though, don’t you, these series? Just need a good edit and 3 or 4 fewer episodes!

Anyway, that sounds like all I’ve done for weeks is watch TV. Not quite true. Although it has been raining a lot…

Shelf Care

Books next. Given all the news at the moment with Iran and what’s happening in the Gulf, I feel we need books to calm anxiety. Sigh.

Anne Lamott’s Almost Everything might be a good choice. It’s quite a short book with each chapter focuses on one topic. The aim is to help us rediscover hope in a world which seems dark and uncertain. About right just now then.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is a novel that is described as ‘an emotional wallop’ and it certainly is. On the face of it, it is about a young man who has lost all hope and wants to kill himself and his best friend, but is ultimately very hopeful. Read it and weep. Literally, probably. But you’ll also be reminded that small simple actions can give people real hope and their lives back. Cathartic reading if you feel anxious and hopeless.

Finally, how about Notes on A Nervous Planet from Matt Haig? This is a good one if you are becoming addicted to social media, watching the news or need to get back to living your life. “This book might even change the way you spend your precious time on earth.”

Talking of reducing screen time, I am really liking this Analogue Bag trend. Have you seen it? It’s essentially a bag that has lots of analogue (ie real!) things to do in it so that you choose to do one of those instead of scrolling. Think: crossword books, crochet, a book, a real newspaper or print magazine, a sketch book etc. Basically, something else to do with your hands.

I’ve been doing this for quite a while. P has actually told me off for having so many magazines, books and bits around the house - I’m usually ultra-tidy, but they give me comfort to look at them somehow. He is addicted to his phone, so he can bog off, you know! I might get a nice basket to put them all in, though, just to get my revenge. There’s an excuse.

The irony that so many people are sharing on TikTok what’s in their bag does amuse me, though!

Anyway, what would you have in your bag? Give us some unusual ideas we might not have thought of..

Leave a comment

Word of the Week

Cicchetti. Never heard of this. It’s a kind of traditional Venetian tapas and apparently bars serving them are springing up all over the place. Well, London, mainly. Here’s a beautiful one in Covent Garden. So pretty. I would be pressing my nose up to the window like a little middle class Italian-tapas-hungry orphan!

Basil - can you keep yours alive? I can in mid Summer, but if you struggle, check this out. I shall never water it from the top again!

Is it Spring Yet?

OK, so we’ll end this missive with something gardeny. Those of us who are lucky enough to live in Cornwall know that we get Spring earlier than anywhere else in the UK. Why do you think we move here?

But, how do we know that? The Bloomometer. Of course.

Eh?

Each year six nominated champion Magnolia campbellii are monitored in six different Great Gardens in Cornwall to record the date they come into full bloom. The moment all six champion magnolia trees have flowered with at least 50 blooms on each, spring has arrived in England.

On Friday 27 February 2026, the magnolias bloomed and spring arrived.

What an interesting way to tell when Spring has sprung. You can read more about the Bloomometer here. And do watch the video - another example of the eccentric Brit type you know I love! I did chuckle.

We’ve actually sat in the gardens of that hotel and on that very beach. It is stunning. The hotel itself I remember being a bit odd, old fashioned maybe for our tastes. But the location is wondrous. It’s on the Roseland Peninsula. We wanted to live there, actually, as it’s one of our favourite parts of Cornwall. But we’re not millionaires yet, Rodney.

We often drive to our fave village there - St Mawes - which I just found on a Google search used to be called the St Tropez of England. Taking it a bit far, but it is gorgeous.

This perspective is actually from some benches and this is exactly where I was sitting when I was getting some food back in a couple of years ago. I’d been to the shop and managed to buy a boiled egg, some corned beef (all I could find with the fewest ingredients in) and some of the heavenliest cherry tomatoes I’ve ever eaten! Happy days.

OK, so that’s it from me today. A nice eclectic little mix of interesting things for you, I hope. If you want more from me, do subscribe and check the Notes tab. Thank you so much for following me - it makes me happy that I can ‘natter’ on with you and I never take your attention or time for granted, trust me!

Subscribe now

Pls send tip. Need new basket ;)

À bientôt, my lovelies x

This is the first in a new section called ‘Goodies’. Not the 1970s comedians, I assure you, (I never did get them myself - too young, of course), but good stuff I recommend.

I’m playing with curating a small (loosely botanically-themed) wellness range on my existing shop alongside all the books and factsheets - not least as it is paid up ‘til Summer and I have 60 empty product slots now the tests have gone! More books and factsheets to come soon when I have had a good rest and concentrated on my own health for a bit.

I’ve updated the look of the shop a bit and simplified it now we’ve not got all the complicated tests on there, so it will look a bit different, softer, I hope.

I found our old Purehealth Dispensary catalogue the other day. This was in the days before t’internet shopping, bless. I honestly couldn’t better a lot of it - goodness, I am crowing, but I really did know my stuff even then. This was 24 years ago! I loved our dispensary in our Uppermill clinic. Some of you will remember it, I’m sure; it was very popular - a kind of mini health shop in our clinic.

Look at this fabulous range! I can see my favourite Detox Box (which I STILL recommend in the Gut Plan etc!), homeopathic Weleda and Heels remedies, Bach flower remedies, curated supplement ranges from Nutrigold, Biocare, Higher Nature and Archturus.

Wellness-wise, we had lots of the stuff I am now listing on the shop for you - non-toxic skincare, bespoke hand made oils, balms etc that I made to order, essential oils, herbal oils etc.

The final range was superfoods, freefrom foods and non toxic household. We even had lightboxes and visors for sale and hire, portable bottle water filters, relaxation tapes, a whole range of books and natural alarm clocks and more. I notice we sold a lot of the non-toxic Anne Marie Borlind skincare and makeup range, then, too. I’ve not seen that recently; I’ll have to look it up and see if it’s still around!

I was in charge of curating the range and dispensing, and P was in charge of stock ordering and ran reception. This was all in between us seeing nutrition, massage, facial, hypnotherapy etc patients. Ooh, it was such fun!

Just call me Arkwright..

I love retail and I reckon, if the MCAS was gone or better-controlled and now I’ve managed to drop so much of the clinical work, I would probably open a little health shop with one of those old-fashioned counter services, remember? I could be like Ronnie Barker (Arkwright) in Open All Hours. But hopefully not as mean or rotund!

Anyway, for now, I’m staying away from too much overtly ‘healthy’ stuff as I promised myself time for my own healing, but concentrating on lovely things that also do us good, physically, mentally and emotionally. You can purchase through me, or I’ll give you links to get them elsewhere.

I’ve listed a starter range of 18 products on the shop so far and I’ve got several more to add yet. Plus, I’m planning some limited editions once a month or so for you.

Do give me some feedback. Is this a nice thing for you, do you like the idea? It makes me happy playing with beautiful stuff that does us, our loved ones and the planet some good - I hope it does you too.

Leave a comment

Today’s Goodie

Actually two for you as one is a limited edition for Mother’s Day so get in quickly.

Raspberry Linen Gift Set

A beautiful floral linen raspberry garden Makeup Bag Gift Set with products handmade by local Cornish artisans. The raspberry colour just makes my heart sing, and then combine it with a sumptuously-soft bamboo cleansing cloth and a locally-made citrus and sea salt soap, well: gift Heaven, I think!

A beautiful gift for anyone who has mothered you in some way - an actual Mum, a friend, a teacher. Or, treat yourself. I have - I’m a mum to my cat Winnie, and that counts!

The Garden design white-on-raspberry bag, from the very talented Cornish textile artist Helen Round in Rame, is the perfect size for all your make-up essentials and has that all-important waterproof lining in navy, plus a long-lasting brass zip. Helen also supplies the super-soft face cloth, almost too nice to use! Size: 17 x 14.5 x 6 cm (6.7 x 5.7 x 2.3 inches)

The soap is handmade in Cornwall by the makers at Trevarno Farm. It contains orange and rosemary essential oils, plus mineral-rich sea salt, leaving your skin feeling healthy and silky-smooth.

GET IN QUICKLY!

I’ve only a few of these gift sets, and once they’re gone, they’re gone! Don’t forget to add gift wrapping if you’d like me to make it look extra gorgeous for you.

Next, we have…

Luxury Sola Wood Flowers

Sola wood flowers are a fantastic, beautiful alternative to diffusers or oil burners. I use them around the house to with a drop of essential oil on to fragrance rooms gently. I think they are just so pretty!

Sola wood flowers are handmade from the Shola plant, nothing else, so very pure, sustainable and no two will look exactly the same. The natural colour is ivory, but they are easily dyed. The sizes vary but are mostly 7cm or 8cm diameter.

These particular sola wood flowers come from Thailand, renowned for its craftsmanship. I tried several suppliers and the flowers definitely vary in quality! These were the best, and the best value, I thought - they are sold to florists, who need good quality for wedding bouquets etc. They are very light, eco friendly and highly absorbent so essential oils last on them.

How to use

Arrange them in decorative bowls. I like one beautiful flower in a small bowl so you can admire the craftsmanship and they look so real! Or pop a mix in a large bowl. You can glue them to wooden stems and add them to real or faux flower arrangements, although I’ve not tried that. Personally, I add a drop of a favourite essential oil blend either between the petals, or if the oil is coloured, on the back stem just in case. It will carry the aroma and release the therapeutic oil for months, gradually becoming less and less strong.

Extra info:

Compared to fresh and faux flowers, sola wood flowers are by far the most environmentally conscious choice. They are made from renewable wood and are free of damaging pollutants and chemicals. If composted correctly, they will break down without a trace.

Here’s a fascinating video showing how they are made in India. And here are the essential oil blends I’ve listed so far that you might want to use on them.

OK, hope you like those. Do let me know. It made me happy finding them, so I hope they make you and your loved ones happy too - as well as the planet :)

Oh, and do let me know any glitches or feedback on how the shop is working, please. My eyes have gone completely batty after staring at a screen and calculating prices, shipping etc etc for days on end ;)

If you want more from me, do subscribe and check the Notes tab. And if you’re not yet subscribed - why not, are you mad? Here’s the button x

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Or, is that just me?

I think there are some beautiful tea towels around and it makes for really inexpensive wall art. Here are a few I found recently you might like. There are quite a few photos in this post so you might find the email runs out, so click to open it in your browser or view it in the app. :

A kitcheny type one from Nordic Nest:

A cheery one for the kitchen from Ulster Weavers:

A more arty one, full of sunshine from Stoff Studios:

Something understated William Morrisy for a hallway, maybe, from Dunelm. They have a few William Morris ones I think would look great hung together. Much cheaper than panelling or wallpaper!

A whimsical one, maybe for a child’s bedroom from Dunelm again:

Another kitcheny one I liked from Ulster Weavers:

One for the bathroom from Holly & Co:

Finally - for now, you can even get your pet’s portrait on one and frame that. I think that would be a beautiful commemorative gift for someone who’s sadly lost their pet maybe. From Studiohop.

If you’re not sure how to go about framing, here’s an Insta reel I found for you - a frame, double sided tape and you’re away. Ikea do some good, cheap frames.

OK, hope you liked that idea. I’ve inspired myself to get some up soon as we have no pictures on our walls at all yet!

If you want more from me, do subscribe and check the Notes tab.

Buy me a coffee if this made you smile

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

YourHealthBasket - use mickirose when you register to get to see advanced products and get 10% off your orders.

All new (and existing) subscribers get the discount codes list when they subscribe.

You know I like to share healing success stories as it gives us all hope that we too can get well. I go on about Primal Trust, mainly because that’s the one I’m doing currently and I think it really is great. But there are other programmes, including Gupta, which I also rate. Here’s a quick success story from Gupta to spur you on. You CAN heal. We CAN do it! Enjoy x

As I say on my Limbic/Brain Retraining page on the A-Z, it really doesn’t matter which programme you choose - just start! Use the links on that page to get discounts if you join anything, by the way.

If you still don’t know what limbic retraining is all about and how the cell danger response is keeping us frozen in a protective, inflammatory mode, get yourself a cuppa and sit and read this. I promise. It will start to make sense.

Why Your Chronic Illness Won't Heal: The Nervous System Connection

Here’s a quote from it to start you off…

Next, please do ask your health professionals about having the Stockholm Test done for prostate cancer. I think it is one of the most important tests to have come out in the last decade. From TDL, the lab who does it in the UK:

Prostate cancer has officially become the most prevalent cancer in the UK (January 2026), with more than 64,000 men diagnosed in 2022, a 21% increase in diagnoses from 2021. [Ed. this is probably not surprising, given the recent emphasis on diagnosis in the NHS].

There are known recognised disparities in diagnosis and treatment across the UK, a national prostate cancer screening programme in the UK is under review – but whilst screening cannot alter the incidence of cancer, identifying and treating disease at an early stage does significantly increase the chance of survival. Survival rates for men with Stage 1 and Stage 2 prostate cancer are close to 100%.

Stockholm3 is a validated blood test that combines genetic markers, proteins and clinical data in an algorithm that predicts risk of clinically significant prostate cancer in men aged 45-74 years with a PSA level greater than 1.5 ng/ml for whom no previous diagnosis of prostate cancer has been made. The suitability and usefulness of Stockholm3 as an early risk test, used in both primary or secondary care is becoming well recognised. In patient populations that are diverse, the test performs equally across ethnicities. Apart from a health economic benefit giving reduced costs, data from results for Stockholm3 tests show lower referral rates for both imaging or prostate biopsy.

Note that. The Stockholm test can help you determine if it is a prostate cancer that needs early intervention, and that stage 1 and 2 prostate cancer has an almost 100% survival rate. It’s a no-brainer. See more on the Prostate Problems factsheet on the A-Z. Apologies, by the way, that many of the links on the factsheets are now defunct as they point to the test service - but the info there is all good!

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41107178/

Did you know Feb 17th was a new Chinese year? If you are into that sort of thing. Literally the end of one cycle, and the beginning of another.

Here’s some info:

In the Chinese zodiac, February 17, 2026, marked the close of the “Year of the Snake” and the start of the “Year of the Fire Horse” considered one of the most dynamic, rare, and potent energies in the entire 60-year Chinese zodiac cycle.

Roughly translated, this means that the energy on the planet is shifting and we can align our energies to shift with it – leaning into the last day of the Year of the Snake to shed old skins:

• Old thought patterns

• Outgrown beliefs and habits

• Emotional heaviness and grief

• Physical clutter

• Versions of yourself that no longer feel true

• Anything else that no longer fits.

Funnily enough, on that day, I stood watching the sea thinking that it was time now to move on from this illness persona and start stepping less gingerly into this life of more joy I feel drawn to. I went home, feeling lighter and ready to leave the past behind in some way. Then I saw this in the evening and thought: Oh! Maybe there’s something in this Chinese new year thing after all! Pure coincidence, probably, but I liked the serendipity. Anyway, it must be true as they wrote about it in the National Geographic!

If this releasing old and welcoming the new sounds like something for you, here’s a release ritual (which I adapted a bit) from Vibrant Blue Oils:

Releasing Ritual

1. Prepare. Find a comfortable space in your home.
   

2. Gather. Grab your journal, a pen, and your chosen essential oil blend. [Ed: I would choose frankincense myself].
   

3. Align. Deeply inhale the oil with the intention of releasing what no longer fits and calling in what you desire. You could then place a drop of frankincense on your third eye (between your eyebrows) to help open and enhance intuition.
   

4. Reflect. In your journal, write down everything you’re ready to leave behind in this new cycle.
   

5. Release. Burn, bury, or discard this paper with gratitude. You can also visualize cutting energetic cords with certain people, patterns, objects, or past versions of yourself.
   

6. Activate. On a fresh page, write your intentions for the coming year as if they’ve already happened. What do you want to attract and experience? Write it in present tense as if it has already happened.
   

7. Seal. Place a drop of essential oil on this page and keep it somewhere you’ll see it often as a reminder of your path forward.

Lovely. Even if you don’t believe in the Chinese zodiac etc, this is a good journalling process to do, I think.

Collared jumpers are a ‘thing’ for Spring apparently. Oh I am a poet and didn’t know it ;) Loved this list of some of the best from Stylist magazine. Some of the prices are a bit eye-watering for my budget anyway. But, happily, some are around £25-30. Phew. Not this one from Whistles, sadly, as it is my fave.

Was it me who initially thought that read ‘collard jumpers’? Tee hee. A nice joke specially for our US readers there ;)

Nice thinky question from James Clear next for you:

If you wait, will it get easier, or will you just be older?

Ooh, deep. I also liked this one from the same newsletter:

The sidelines are safe, but sterile. Nothing grows there.

#notetoself on that one!

Having suffered migraine myself (no longer for me, thank you God or Mr Universe!), I am always interested to see new treatments for it. I thought this overview of new approaches from Knowable magazine was good. Drug approaches rather than alternative ones. But, trust me, in the throes of a migraine, you want the fastest, strongest mallet to knock you out, so meds it often is! If you can tolerate them. I couldn’t, so had to suffer. Gosh, just the memory makes me shiver!

For more on the natural approaches, check my Migraine factsheet out here, and the much more comprehensive Headaches one, much of which is also appropriate for migraine or chronic head pain.

OK, hope you liked those bits and bobs. Sorry, was a bit health-heavy today but I still have a lot of interesting stuff coming into my email inbox! I did throw some pretty jumpers in and I’ve got a Pop of Joy and some more Culture Club coming up for you shortly.

If you want more from me, do subscribe and check the Notes tab.

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Share

Tip jar

À bientôt, my lovelies x