By: Blonde Two

Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t this the last weekend before the big C-Day?

I have managed to avoid some of the more annoying aspects of Christmas shopping this year; things like queues, irritating music, girls in short red skirts and overpowering wafts of perfume have passed me by as I have hidden either in the sea, on Dartmoor or in my office (what I like to call the dungeon).

You are probably in no more of a Christmas panic than I am, however should you be a bloke and looking for Dartmoor or outdoorsy presents for the Mrs in your life, here are few Blonde ideas:

Mrs Exhausted – Mrs Exhausted does it all, she has a full-time job, runs the household, organises the calendar and keeps you in your place. It is time for her to stop (just for a day of course) and relax. And what better way to do that than at Dartmoor’s Ilsington House Hotel Spa? We visited a while ago and Mrs Exhausted can too for prices from £20 per person. If you are after a way to earn some big-time brownie points, this is the pressie to go for.

 

Mrs Adventure – Now the thing about Mrs Adventure is that even though she loves walking, camping, swimming outside and even just sitting in the rain, she also loves having a warm bed and shower to come home to. Book her and her friends a night at the Foxtor Bunkhouse and she will be your friend forever. She will come home, tell you all about her mad-capped Dartmoor adventures and never even admit that she only walked as far as the pub.

Mrs Arty – You would know Mrs Arty if you went walking with her. She is the one who takes three hours to do a half hour Bimble because she stops so often to take photos, gaze into space and stare at minute details of lichen. What Mrs Arty needs is a piece of art from someone who sees Dartmoor like she does, and we Blondes know just the chap. We met Steve Cobbin after seeing his art on social media, we liked what he did, he liked what we did and he very kindly illustrated ‘The Non-Story of Ignatius Bowerman’ for us. Steve has a fabulous range of Dartmoor (and other) artworks for sale on Artfinder but you should also take a look at his website.

Mrs Hungry – I have eaten some great walking food this year. Fish and chips on the Isles of Scilly, pasties in Cornwall (obviously you aren’t allowed to eat them anywhere else), sausages on the beach and cheesy chips at Foxtor Cafe. But my very favourite munching thing this year has been the steak, ale and stilton pie at The Plume of Feathers pub in Princetown. ‘Oh my goodness!’ is all I have to say about its full, cheesy, gravy ooziness! Take Mrs Hungry up to the Plume and you will have a very happy lady on your hands (which surely has to be a good thing!)

 

Mrs Chilly Toes – Blonde One is the expert in body-heating solutions (I really think she should start her own online business) but I have one most excellent Christmas recommendation for the cold-foot in your life. The Bridgedale MerinoFusion Ski Sock is the warmest, most comfortable sock that I have ever owned. They must be quite hard-wearing too because I hardly ever take them off. These socks have now been tested after some very chilly sea swims and have not let me down yet. Gentlemen, you never need to feel the shock of cold feet in bed with you again!

Mrs Walking – This year the walking book for me has to be Christopher Somerville’s ‘Britain’s Best Walks‘. We have already told you about this fab commentary on walks from across the UK. Christopher is a guy who likes a pub, enjoys the scenery and isn’t adverse to a cream tea. Mrs Walking will love him!


Mrs Experience – Mrs Experience likes to feel that she is doing something a bit out of the ordinary, she likes to have a story to tell people and she likes to gather expertise. The best present for Mrs Experience is an invitation to go and do something new. We have a couple of ideas:

  1. Seaside food foraging with Rachel Lambert. We Blondes were lucky enough to meet Rachel and taste some of her delicious foraged grub whilst we were at the Walk Scilly walking festival this autumn. Rachel is lovely, very knowledgable and if Mrs Experience can’t make it to one of her foraging trips, she might enjoy reading one of her intriguing books.
  2. Navigation workshops with The Two Blondes. Now, we were supposed to be organised enough to be offering vouchers for next summer’s round of Blonde navigation workshops. We aren’t but do keep an eye out as we will be publishing dates in the new year. We will be able to promise Mrs Experience a Blonde day out to remember!

Mrs History – Now Mrs History can be a bit annoying to go for a walk with because she will keep stopping and trying to work out what everything is. Our best advice is to either put up with this or stay in the pub and send her out with a copy of Mary Ann Ochota’sHidden Histories‘. Britain is smothered in history and this friendly guide will help even the most curious Mrs History to understand it all better.

Mrs Dartmoor – We Blondes have discovered a strange phenomena; quite often when you write a book for children it ends up being adults that read it (CS Lewis would agree). This has certainly happened with this year’s Blonde offering, ‘The Non-Story of Ignatius Bowerman‘ we have had lovely feedback from all sorts of people and they have all been actual real grown-ups. So if you are looking for something a bit different for Mrs Dartmoor (or even Mrs Outside) I can recommend Iggie to you. I still enjoy reading it and I wrote it!

Now I don’t know if you have noticed but Mrs Exhausted, Mrs Adventure, Mrs Hungry, Mrs Chilly Toes, Mrs Walking, Mrs Experience, Mrs History and Mrs Dartmoor are all a bit Blonde. In one or other (or all) of them is represented in both Blondes. Sorry about that but we only know what we would like for Christmas! You can choose whether or not to take our advice, we know of at least one ‘Mrs’ who wasn’t too sure what to think when her hubby bought her Thunderpants on last year’s recommendation!