Review: Classic Canes Highland Cows Derby Adjustable Walking Stick

I recently purchased the Poppy & Petunia Groove Life ring and decided that the Classic Canes Highland Cows Derby Handle Adjustable Walking Stick would be a great combination! 

The walking stick is covered in tiny adorable highland cows and thistles. The handle is my favourite style - Derby- as it feels comfortable and is one of the few I can really grip. The stick is adjustable from 73-95cm. It is made from aluminium so is pretty light to use. 

As I am so short - 4ft 8” on a good day I purchase my walking  sticks from the stick and cane shop online. They are one of the few stores who will adjust the sticks as requested. Their sticks may seem more expensive but that is because they apply the 20% VAT as required as certain walking sticks are deemed fashion and are not exempt! 

I love my new walking stick. It isn’t flowery but it is unusual and cute. I would recommend Classic Canes as their walking sticks are well designed and last a long time. I would also never purchase my walking sticks anywhere but the stick and cane shop online as their customer service is great. 

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in this blog are my own. 

Review: Natural Amethyst Tower

I purchased two 75-80mm 6 point amethyst crystal wands from a small crystal wand/ jewellery seller BlushMint via Etsy. Each wand cost £14.62 (normally £19.49). 

The amethyst wands can be used as healing stones, crystal wands, part of the meditation or reiki process or as ring holders.   I chose amethyst as I love the deep purple colour, but amethyst stones are supposed to relieve stress and strain, balance the individual, calm mood swings, anger,fear, anxiety and irritability.  Amethyst can also activate spiritual awareness and has healing and cleansing powers. 

I love my two stones. I didn’t buy them for their magical/ spiritual properties but I do feel more relaxed when I am holding them. I love that they are not perfect but have inclusions and imperfections  that make them look more raw and interesting to look at and they are tactile too. I have photographed them in different lights and with different backgrounds to try and show how different they can look.  I intend to use them as blog props when displaying my rings and jewellery as they will display them  perfectly but I will also have them out on display as they are so unique. 

The wands arrived packaged securely in a Jiffy bag and wrapped in copious amounts of bubble wrap. My first package went astray but this was fixed very efficiently and quickly by the seller. I would/ will use this seller again in the future as her customer service is excellent and the stones reasonably priced and she sells beautiful hand selected pieces. 

I purchased the item myself and the views expressed on this blog are my own. 

 

 

Review: Groove Ring - Poppy & Petunia Katie Van Slyke Signature Ring.

I first saw Poppy and Petunia the mini highland cows on TikTok and have watched them ever since. I had never heard of silicone rings until Katie announced she was collaborating with Groove Life to design some Groove rings, one which would be based on Poppy and Petunia. Poppy is a mini high park and Petunia  a mini highland cow. 

Silicone rings are durable and comfortable to wear. Your finger won’t sweat when wearing it. They are made from medical grade materials. Groove rings also have a 94 guarantee that if a ring is damaged, cut, stretched or lost, they will replace it. 

Poppy and Petunias’ ring is a wide ring - 8mm, so the graphics are clear. The ring features their namesake flowers, two pictures of each cow and Katie’s signature. They ring arrived in a cute Jiffy bag and a tiny metal box which would be great to use as a travel ring case. Postage from the US took about 2 weeks and cost $10, which is quite cheap. I have been browsing  Etsy/ eBay and the average postage price for a ring is $20+!

 I love this ring. The combination of the two most famous mini cows on TikTok coupled with their namesake flowers is adorable. The ring is light and comfortable to wear. I spin mine round to see a different cow every so often so it looks like  I’m wearing a different ring! 

Can I recommend it? When I first started watching the TikToks and purchased my ring I didn’t realise she was a hunter. I just thought she was a farmer from Tennessee who enjoyed showing off her beautiful animals online. Now, as a wildlife animal lover I am conflicted as I hate hunting in any shape or form. I guess it’s up to the purchaser to decide but just because I bought, reviewed and wear (I paid for it so I am not going to bin it) my ring it doesn’t mean I support hunting. 

 I purchased the item myself and the views expressed on this blog are my own. 

Review: Z for Accessorize Platinum Plated Silver Healing Ring

 

I purchased the Platnium Plated Healing Ring from the Z for Accessorize rang in the recent Accessorize summer sale - £4.60 from £15. I haven’t been wowed by anything from this range for ages but this ring really jumped out at me in the photo and it is even lovelier in real life.

The ring design is elegant and understated. The ring is light and comfortable to wear. It looks great on its own or stacked with other rings. The stones are labradorite and rose quartz. They are beautifully cut and really complement each other. I am pleased this isn’t in gold plate as my skin is so acidic thanks to my fentanyl patches it would stain my skin, so at last I have found a ring that I love the design of and can actually wear! 

I have bought Z for Accessorize jewellery since it was first launched and more recently the Verneil range: even though I haven’t been particularly enthralled by their recent designs (apart from this one) I do feel they are well made and reasonably priced, especially in the sales. 

 I purchased the items myself and the views expressed on this blog are my own. 

Book Review: Rasputin and his Russian Queen The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra by Mickey Mayhew

Rasputin and His Russian  Queen is written by Mickey Mayhew is a non fiction novel, telling the story of Grigory Rasputin and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovona Empress of Russia,  the last of the Romanovs and the downfall of the Tsarist regime in Russia. I have always been fascinated by the Romanovs, why the Tsarist regime collapsed so violently and what happened to Anastasia. 

On the plus side the book is well written and Rasputin isn’t portrayed as this one dimensional evil person but as someone who is very complex with a multifaceted personality who is capable good and is very spiritual.  He also presents the relationship between the Tsarina and Rasputin quite concisely. This relationship is the main theme  of the book looking at the inner workings of their relationship, how Rasputin benefitted from it and controlled the Tsarina and how ultimately he caused the downfall of Romanov Russia. 

Sadly I don’t think this book adds much to the debate and the history narrative of the downfall into the collapse of Russia into Communism. Mayhew merely rehashed existing stories. There is a lack of citations and fact seemed to merge with opinion to create a piece of work which combines fact, fiction and opinion.  

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley UK  in exchange a honest review.

Book Review: Urgent Vows: An Age Gap Forced Marriage Mafia Romance by Lucy Monroe

Urgent Vows is the first in Lucy Munroe’s mini series Syndicate Rules. The mini series is based around Mafia storylines so expect lists of explicit violence, language, domestic violence and sexual scenes. 

Catalina is forced by her father, Francesco Jilani, to marry Svereu Genovese, a New York Mafia Don when her sister Madonna Carlotta runs out on her wedding day. The wedding goes ahead as planned and storyline shows how their characters develop as their marriage progresses.

I have read all of Lucy Monroe’s Mills & Boon Modern novels. The last few seemed forced, as though she wasn’t really enjoying writing them. The storyline/ writing style in this book seems more relaxed, slightly freer and more explicit than M&B offer. It seemed as though she really got behind, understood and carefully crafted the characters’ development. I don’t normally enjoy novels which flit between telling the storyline from the main characters point of the view, in the first person but I really enjoyed this novel and I am am looking forward to the publication of the other two books in the miniseries.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.