Heads & Dovetails
Gill is a mindset / life coach and and Jamie is known as the Worcestershire Cabinet Maker. They both love to chat to people and find out about their lives as well as chatting with each other about what has been going on, not only in their world but the world at large. Listening to their podcast is like dropping in on someone else’s conversation and you never know what you are going to learn. Some episodes they are chatting about life and other episodes they are joined by guests.
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From raised beds to Japanese artists
04/17/2024
From raised beds to Japanese artists
Being British Jamie and Gill just had to chat about the weather but it had allowed Gill to get out in the garden over the weekend and Jamie into his shed for a short while. Jamie tells Gill he really likes her new raised beds, having seen lots of photos on socila media of her making them. He says they remind him of previous times. Gill explains the reason for posting so many photos on Instagram of each stage is that so many peole have asked her in the past how she does them and to explain what the no dig method is and how to do it. Gill brings up one of her bug bears for discussion and admits that she's also guilty of over using the word 'So' and it drives her mad! So she asks Jamie, "when did we start answering every question with 'So'...?" Another current bug bear for Gill is that of house buying as several family and friends have been going through the tortuous process. They chat about how complicated the house buying system is here and how stressful it can be. Finally Gill is intrigued to knwo from Jamie what prompted his recent post about Japanese artwork. Jamie gives some backgournd and explains what it has inspired him to do, or should that be that he has got his Mum to do?
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From overnight accommodation issues to Patreon
03/27/2024
From overnight accommodation issues to Patreon
Gill and her husband Clive like to support small independent businesses when they can. Recently they spent a couple of night's away in 2 different pub type accommodation. The second one was holding a private 30th birthday event and their room right above it overlooking the glass dome in the ceiling. Consequently they got to 'enjoy' the disco lights and loud music! Gill and Jamie discuss the dilemma of a small business and the pros and cons of should they pre-warn guests when they book or what could be done to mitigate the situation. Gill goes on to tell how they made the best of the situation and the next day, with little sleep, they visited Rushmere Country Park (near the village of Heath and Reach in Bedfordshire) in the pouring rain. From heron watching to doing the sculpture walk and discovering all the beautiful sculputes hidden in amongst the trees, finishing off with coffee in the cafe she highly recommends it. Gill's been having quite the time with the car with this time the rear break light not working even after changing the bulb a few times. She bemaons the fact of spending a few hours waiting for it at the garage only to find after paying the bill for diagnostic work that it's not been fixed as they can't get the part and no idea when it will arrive! Jamie has been busy testing out his various versions of his briquettes and showing the result on social media as well as doing the 'day job'. They chat about whether making videos and being on Youtube are it. Jamie explains how he sees it as a 6 year experiment with YouTube to see if he can make a living from social media. This has lead Jamie to make the decision to join Patreon and they discuss the various ways of using it. Nothing is ever as simple as it looks when your not technically minded!
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From moments in time to vices (of the woodworking kind!)
03/06/2024
From moments in time to vices (of the woodworking kind!)
As Gill's son was born on this day she can recall every detail about day, even the weather. Jamie and Gill chat about 'time lining' and how we use specific incidences, like covid, to help us pin point when things happened and we cross reference that with other people's time lines. Jamie uses an example of how we might use things only specific to us so you might say 'no it had to be before then because I remember I was in my old car'. Jamie gives an update on his next briquette experiment and Gill is happy to report on some progress with their our subsidence issue and all that it will involve! She explains how they are thinking in advance of the work so have been busy moving some water butts and will have to move some plants. Jamie asks about the garden and how it's progressing ready for Gill's veg growing which leads her on to talking abiut wanting a circular saw. Jamie clarifies does she mean chop saw? Mitre saw? And needing a saw for several jobs has made her realise how she really needs a vice. Jamie offers up several solutions but in the end they both decide a work mate will do the job!
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From sleep and books to resin and socks!
02/14/2024
From sleep and books to resin and socks!
Jamie overslept so was a bit late for recording this week's episode. Hence Gill and Jamie chat about how important sleep is to our minds and bodies. A lack of sleep can lead to other conditions being misdiagnosed which are actually symptoms of being sleep deprived. Gill tells Jamie about the book she was given for her birthday, 'Teaching the World to Sleep' by David Lee, following the webinar she had booked onto last year. Jamie asks about the type of books Gill likes to read which is quite a range from: fiction and non fiction, particularly biographies to more science based, philosphical books. Gill wanted to talk about the use of resin, which seems to be growing in popularity - both in items for the home such as furniture and coasters to driveways. She tells Jamie that she and her husband had considered it for their drive but after researching a bit more realised it was just adding more 'plastic/micro plastic' to the world! Jamie has a similar his view on it as well and avoids using it in any of his wood working that he does. He also explains how people end up using even more chemicals on driveways as it cracks to kill weeds and moss. Gill thinks that people need to think beyond single use plastic and consider the wider impact of using resin - an interesting topic for discussion! Jamie wants to talk about 'socks' and how many pairs he has and gets given (classic male present!). Whilst he loves colourful socks he explains why thin socks are not for him but for men who work in offices. He is very impressed iwth a new pair his wife has given him made from alpaca wool. He vows to go sort out his sock drawer that is currently rammed with socks!
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From car parts to car insurance.
01/24/2024
From car parts to car insurance.
Having had an 'advisory' for new brake pads on its service Gill booked their car in to get them replaced only to discover it needed a new caliper as well as the old one fell apart! The price of parts has rocketed and Jamie and Gill discuss the 'pros and cons' of new cars, buying them on finance and how buyers can be left horrified at costs to replace basic parts like tyres! We discuss the knock on impact of these rising costs as to why everyone's car insurance has increased so much. They discuss some of the possible reasons why cars are so differnt nowadays and need to be so big. With safety being a major issue cars have had to incoporate lots of safety features and part of that is the size of the required child seats now needed in the car - gone are the days of sitting on an adults lap! Not only have seats increased in size but so have the prams and pushchairs that would no longer fit in the car boots of yesteryear. Jamie has also been busy repairing his daughter's car and he often buys parts, after doing lots of research on the internet, from sites like Ebay to save money. We chat about the need for things to be more sustainable and Gill menaions her recent podcast on GillHB & Friends where she's been chatting to Sarah, a young entrepreneur who runs the online magaine, Lumera, that looks at sustainable fashion brands.
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From Happy New Year to drying logs for a project.
01/03/2024
From Happy New Year to drying logs for a project.
Gill explains why she doesn't do new year's resolutions but takes time to reflect on the year gone and focus on what she did achieve rather than what she didn't. Too many people end the year thinking about those things they didn't achieve! Jamie agrees and says it's better to simply let them go and look focus forward. Jamie asks Gill about how she finds people respond to her when she goes for her walks without a dog. She explains how it still means that she gets to chat to people for that very reason as they ask where her dog is and she's made several new friends. Jamie says he's realised (whether it's an age thing or not) that he perefers to be around less people these days and going to a noisy pub isn't for him as he enjoys more quiet time. Gill picks Jamie's brains about an idea she's had of how she wants to use a pile of logs, currently just piled up in the garden and asks his expert advice on how best to dry them. Seems a lot of patience is involved to get it right before she can start to use them for her projects!
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From Scams to flame throwing on furniture!
12/13/2023
From Scams to flame throwing on furniture!
Gill starts off the episode relating the story of hwo she very nearly falling for a scam whilst advertising her refurbished furniture on FB Marketplace. As a result of multiple attempts at the same scam she's deleted the adverts and going to research another avenue to sell them that feels much better to her. Flea amrkets and independent stores are on her research list - they take her furniture as stock, display and sell it and get a commission. Jame has possbily had a little too much fun taking a flame thrower to his furniture turning the wood black! And now seems to want to have a go at a lot more! And on the same theme of fires and flames he shares some exciting news that he has been contacted by someone in America wanting to find out more about his composting coffee and wood shaving briquettes that they can then implement with their city waste prgramme. They have a plan involving employing homeless people and creating compost and fuel and apparently Jamie is the only person they can find that has done this. Watch this space to see what happens in 2024!
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From technology and AI to Conkers laundry liquid!
11/22/2023
From technology and AI to Conkers laundry liquid!
Jamie has discovered that one of his videos on YouTube has suddenly get a lot of views and he has no idea why. He mentions how a chat with someone made him realise he was earning the equivalent of a mini pension from his channel. We discuss how fast things can change and what we think may earn us money in our old age with social media may well not even exist with the way technology marches on with things like AI taking over a lot of roles. With all the electric we now need or will need we swap stories about log burners and the future - will it involve returning to the things we did in the past? Gill admits even she's surprised she's turning into an up-cycler and eco warrior - using conkers to make laundry liquid thanks to Nancy Birtwhistle!
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From Sleep to Washing Machines!
11/01/2023
From Sleep to Washing Machines!
Jamie and Gill both listened to Diary of a CEO's podcast with Tim Spector on ultra processed foods and how this impacts on our lives these days. They chat about how clever marketing from big corporates can havre us fooled into believing things are healthy when they're not. As they discuss modern life Gill talks about a webinar she attended all about sleep - it was entitled "Sleep in people living with the symptoms of menopause'. However it went into depth about sleep and how we need to get the 'scaffolding' around sleep correct to aid women suffering with symptoms of the menopause. We are a society now where a large number of people are sleep deprived which results in all sort of issues from mis-diagnosis of ADHD in some people to depression. Gill learnt how some of the things we think will help us sleep are actually myths. Jamie mentioned at the start of the podcast that he has a story about his washing machine! So to end the podcast he tells his tale of woe that actually ends up with a good outcome for the planet and no new washing machine purchased!
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From Click Bait to Balance
10/11/2023
From Click Bait to Balance
Jamie jokes about the number of listeners they have and decide they aren't using the right title to create click bait to increase numbers! He explains why click bait is so important and how he has fallen prey to it on YouTube many times only to find the video is terrible - so it does work! Many of the videos are created with great technical knowledge and Gill and Jamie discuss how long it would take them to achieve similar! Gill starts a discussion about how angry and anxious people seem to be all over the world these days and how many additional stresses we now deal with. Gill says she thinks it's really important to find more balance in things that happen to us and life in general. Anyway they're checking out their 'click bait' title to see what happens and if they can dramatically increase their listeners!
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From the weather and tomatoes to friendship groups
09/20/2023
From the weather and tomatoes to friendship groups
Being typically British Jamie and Gill start by chatting about the weather and how it's creating challenges over the last couple of years for us growing veg! Jamie's tomatoes haven't been ripening and he's discovered that he shouldn't be watering them as much so Gill gives him some extra tips to speed up the process. They finally get round to chatting about friends and friendship groups and how they can change and the stresses that they can create. Jamie says he doesn't really have many friends as he has big family whereas Gill chats about how she see friends move in and out of my circles - sometimes in a close circle others further away.
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From inspirational (or maybe not) to comparisons
08/30/2023
From inspirational (or maybe not) to comparisons
Gill's been thinking about what does inspirational mean for her and maybe others. She chats with Jamie about how people can see things very differently: one person posts about how they've coped in a 'trying time' in the belief it will 'inspire' others but it can actually make some people feel worse about themselves. How this can then lead us to compare ourselves with others without really knowing the other person's full story. Jamie went away to Bath for the weekend and bought himself a 'pre-loved' jacket. He loves it and says how he's been comparing it to the prices of new ones, which aren't for him. Will his purchase unintentionally inspire others to buy 'pre-loved' items? Gill and Jamie also discuss their lack of the 'need to go on holiday' compared to others and how some people, like farmers, never even get the chance to have a holiday.
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From de-cluttering to different points of view
08/16/2023
From de-cluttering to different points of view
Jamie has been busy sorting out, organising and de-cluttering which has left him with a dilemma about what to do with the items. He has a complete set of classic novels but as a set not worth very much, however, after some research, selling them individually they are worth more. Or does he offer them to his daughters? We chat about the problem of sorting things out when someone has died and doing it now with our own 'stuff'. Also can you pass things on that you might not need instead of throwing them out? Jamie is using some old paving stones from hsi borhter to trim aaournd an edge and in exchange he had some old iron downpipe and guttering that was perfect for his brother's house. Jamie was celebrating having reached 2992 subscribers and Gill had commented that she wanted him to get another 8 subscribers. Jamie didn't quite understand why to start with then did the maths then understood why Gill had said that. It's all about seeing things from a differnt point of view. They talk about why they think it is important to see other people's point of view as that helps you to understand them better.
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From Women only retreats to men only spaces
08/02/2023
From Women only retreats to men only spaces
Continuing on from our 'men only' discussion in episode 31 we are joined by Honor Davis-Marks who runs a women only online membership club and retreats at her gites in the South of France. She shares what she thinks for women and why. How her retreats are as much a holiday as a safe place to share stories and feelings - interesting observation is that it is enough often around the table at meal-times that women open up. She's had men commenting how they would love to have a similar experience - but is this the answer or is it far more complex? Jamie shares his experiences of running social woodworking clases and what life is like being the only male in a family of 5 females and how sometimes he can feel shot down in flames so retreats. Gill and Honor question are we, as women, part of the problem, could we do more to acknowledge what men deal with? Do men find it easier to talk to women in the right space? Would they come to a retreat / workshop facilitated by a woman? They all discuss the many natural ways in the past that enabled both men and women to open up and chat have disappeared, even family habits have changed that mean those opportuniteis to open up have disappeared as well? As Gill says ulitamtely the only way we'll know or find a range of answers is to ask a range of men / males of all ages as there is no one way fits all.
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From boxes to 'men only' retreats.
07/19/2023
From boxes to 'men only' retreats.
Jamie and Gill talk all things boxes. From Jamie talking about old cardboard boxes to making a memory box / frames for two of his Dad's pipes his cousin has just found. Talking boxes reminds Gill of when she worked as a sales administrator in a cardboard box factory and the trauma of the Tiny Tears boxes! 18mins 50 secs - Jamie remembering his Dad and the emotions that brings leads them into chatting about what prevents men from opening up and talking about their concerns and feelings in the way women do? Gill mentions her friend Honor (@honestlywithhonor on Instagram and Youtube) who runs 'Women Only' retreats in her gites in France and what would need to happen for that to work for men? Traditionally men went to the pub to chat or did a sport but what do they do now as suicides are on the increase? What sort of environment would encourage them to open up? Is it easier for them when they are doing an activity like golf, woodworking, gardening at the allotment?
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From patios to litter!
07/05/2023
From patios to litter!
Both Jamie and Gill have got jobs to do which involves mixing cement! Gill had an 'Aha' moment when weeding between the large number of flagstones she has that instead of weeding she could just re-do the mortar between the flagstones! Whilst Jamie is busy sorting out his patio to aovid flooding. It's also Gill's turn to have a real rant about litter! She explains that she walks up her lane each day and is forever collecting litter that people just throw out their car windows - with Budweiser and McDonald currently at the top of the litter leaderboard. Gill is shocked at the amount of unused sauce packets that are discarded and they chat about the amount it must cost the various fast food companies as well as the enviromental impact! Talking of her walks she also tells Jamie about her surreal conversation, early on Sunday morning, about black-out blinds and sound waves with some illegal ravers on the Common that had kept her awake all Saturday night.
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From nettle tea to red clover
06/21/2023
From nettle tea to red clover
Jamie attempts to persuade Gill about the benefits of nettles from nettle tea to nettles on her pasta! They chat about the benefits of foraging for your food or simply picking it from the garden straight to the pot, not only are there benefits in doing so to our mental health but also to our physical health. And being British they can't avoid talking about the effect the weather and climate change have when you're growing your own food. Jamie and Gill both agree that nature holds a lot of answers and remedies for our health over taking a pill. Talking of nettles reminded Gill about the perils of going for her early morning walk along country lanes!
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From RHS Chelsea to Air Layering Bonsai
06/07/2023
From RHS Chelsea to Air Layering Bonsai
It's all about shows and festivals in this week's episode! Gill was lucky enough to be given tickets to go to the Chelsea Flower Show with her husband Clive for the first time this year. Jamie, having seen it on TV, wanted to know what it was like for real. Gill and Jamie talk about the various show gardens and how the gardens have changed over the years to reflect helping nature and how people are changing their perceptions around how gardens should look. Jamie describes what he's been doing differently with his garden and how they are both bringing more wildlife into their gardens. Gill goes on to decsribe the amazing displays in the Pavilion one of which was a bonsai display that made her think of Jamie - as he has an interest in all things bonsai. Jamie enthuses about his growing passion for bonsai and what he has learnt about 'air layering bonsai' from watching Peter Chan (HeronsBonsaiUK) on YouTube.
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From time rushing by to pausing in nature
05/24/2023
From time rushing by to pausing in nature
Jamie and Gill chat about their different perceptions of time particularly over the last 2 weeks, they've rushed by for Gill but seem to have gone more slowly for Jamie. They wondered why there is a difference in perception, both of them have been busy but what had happened to each of them in those two weeks changed the speed at which they perceived it had passed. Gill talks about a friend and her new partner and how different generations can have a view about time on the same subject - their elderly parents thinking they should hurry up to the next stage and not waste any precious time, whilst their adult children think, what's the hurry there's plenty of time it only seems like yesterday you met. Gill and Jamie chat about how we live in a 24 hour society and how many people are always living in the future, desperate for their next holiday, the next thing in their lives and getting burnt out int he process. In comparison Gill and Jamie compare notes about how they have chaned their lives and make time to press pause, go for walks, explore their local area, notice things in more detail and do something creative as their form of meditation in a crazy world.
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From the Coronation to Sashiko stitching
05/10/2023
From the Coronation to Sashiko stitching
After the weekend celebrations Jamie and Gill have a quick chat about the coronation before Jamie shares his good news! Having been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis some years ago Jamie is now symptom free but as he says he is still work in progress. He describes what he did and how looking back he can understand what the triggers were and how important it is not to ignore them. Jamie and Gill chat about what they do now to keep their stress levels low including gardening, being in nature and for Jamie learning the art of sashiko stitching or in Gill's case darning socks!
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From restoring tools to asking the customer.
04/26/2023
From restoring tools to asking the customer.
Jamie has been busy restoring a plane that was originally made in Germany and they chat about the importance of doing some research around the items you buy. He is also thinking of doing some carving on it and making it bespoke. This reminds Gill of a 'team building' day she went on many years ago and the lesson she has always remembered about how important it is to ask your potential customers what they want and like. Too often companies do what they think will work with their customers.
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From compost briquettes to poo bags!
04/12/2023
From compost briquettes to poo bags!
From accidentally making compost out of his wood shavings last year Jamie has been on a mission to improve his briquettes and has been testing out various 'mixes' to see which burns the longest and gives out most heat. They chat about their experiences of making compost and what Gill does to make her compost that she uses in the garden. Gill has a rant about the number of discarded dog poo bags she's been seeing on her walks and the thing owners do that really annoys her most! Jamie, having a dog, puts the other side of the argument forward about cats - knowing Gill has two!
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From Barriers to buying presents!
03/29/2023
From Barriers to buying presents!
Jamie wants to talk about barriers both mental and physical ones that prevents people from doing things they want to do. He describes his barriers and together Gill and Jamie work out what he actually does that allows him to remove any barriers and how that can be duplicated to removing other barriers. As is usual with Gill and Jamie they then somehow end up talking about buying friends presents and Gill shares what she did a few years ago to overcome that barrier and the impact it had on others.
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From When do you have enough? to books.
03/15/2023
From When do you have enough? to books.
Gill has had a few clients recently who are working out when is enough actually enough and what does having enough really mean? Jamie and Gill chat about their different perspectives on having enough and the choices they made to enjoy life now and stop chasing 'enough'. They also talk about what they are both reading at the moment and how they both prefer 'real' books to using a device. Jamie explains why he won't be watching the film 'A Man Called Otto' having just finished reading the book it's based on 'A Man Called Ove' by Fredrik Backman.
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From having cancer to slowing down.
03/01/2023
From having cancer to slowing down.
At the start of the podcast Jamie is busy applying E45 to his head and Gill tells him that she found out she was allergic to it whilst going through her cancer treatment. This lead to them chatting about having cancer as Jamie's wife has also been through it. Jamie tells what it was like for him supporting his wife and Gill explains the very different approach she took and how that lead to her writing her book 'Beliefs Bing and Me. The Active Role I took to tackle Cancer'. They chat about how important they think taking a slower path in life is over being in the 'rat race', especially these days.
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From positivity to power tools.
02/15/2023
From positivity to power tools.
Jamie and Gill decide that a good dose of positivity is needed as it's so easy to get caught up in all the negativity in the world at the moment. Jamie is pleased with his auction piece win and explains why it is important in this case to make comparisons. Gill was reminded at the weekend of how good it feels when you 'save up' for something and how much more it then means to you when you buy it. She's been saving up for some power tools which she went and bought. She tells Jamie how even that experience made her chuckle!
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From changes to comparing like for like.
02/01/2023
From changes to comparing like for like.
Jamie announces he's making big changes to get better results from his YouTube channel. He's been doing some research by listening to Steven Bartlett's podcast 'Diary of a CEO'. Learning from those that have already done it is always a good place to start! Gill and Jamie chat about the importance of being clear on the reasons you are doing something so you avoid any potential stress. It leads into a discussion on comparison and people comparing themselves to others. Gill explains when she thinks it can be a helpful.
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From Smiles to Tiles!
01/18/2023
From Smiles to Tiles!
Gill has a bit of a rant to Jamie about the tactics some dentists use in an attempt to persuade you that your smile needs fixing in some way and you need to invest in having the 'perfect smile'! They both agree dentists have improved since they went as children. Talking about memories Gill explains why she'll never have the currently trendy, small white tiles in their house because of their link in her mind to old smelly, public loos! They chat about a TV show on the way to have a long life, which they both agree with - live a much simpler one! Finally Jamie shares why he finds staying in bed to work is so good.
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From Christmas to finding balance.
01/04/2023
From Christmas to finding balance.
Jamie and Gill welcome in 2023 and chat about crocodiles on Christmas Day and people working through the festive season. Jamie mentions more mature people being recruited as cabin crew and Gill explains how they were the first airline to lift the age at which you could apply and the benefits that brought. They also chat about trials of being a creative following an email Gill received and she shares the reason she loves the 'bit' between Christmas and New Year.
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From the dangers of 'open' heaters to making Christmas cards into labels.
12/21/2022
From the dangers of 'open' heaters to making Christmas cards into labels.
Gill warns of the dangers of younger generations not being used to different forms of heating after a friend had a close shave with teenagers and a halogen heater! Jamie and Gill talk about the stress buying Christmas presents can create and how they've both scaled back on who they buy for and how they still recycle cards into labels. Jamie shares how doing these podcasts has helped him and Gill shares her visualisation technique she uses when working with clients.
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