If you're looking for a gift for a bird lover or nature lover who also loves watching Bill Bailey on TV, take a look at Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to British Birds. 

I gave my husband Bill Bailey’s remarkable book for his birthday and he chuckles away every time he reads it.   Bill Bailey is well known for his love of bird watching, and his enthusiasm for our feathered friends bubbles along wonderfully in this book. 

This morning, my husband is out having the car serviced.  Which has given me a wonderful opportunity to sit down with a mug of coffee and have a really good read.

I LOVE this book!

It is a guide written by Bill Bailey about his favourite birds in Britain (he covers about 50 birds in it), and it includes drawings, sketches and cartoons he has done himself.  Amongst his favourites, I was thrilled to find the green woodpecker, the puffin, the kingfisher, the barn owl and the peregrine falcon - they are some of my favourite birds, too! 

Bill Bailey includes wonderful facts about his favourite birds but in such a way that it never becomes boring.  He may (or may not) comment on what the birds like to eat, their behaviour and geographical spread.   He includes memories of bird watching occasions, his observations of them, and sometimes he includes information about where a saying comes from, such as “water off a duck’s back”.  There are historical references to beliefs about some of the birds too.

For a small book, it is amazing how much information about birds is in it – all beautifully written and illustrated.  It’s very easy (as I’ve found out this morning) to become completely immersed in this book and just break away from the world outside.  It’s also a very easy book to pick up and put down, pick up and put down, which is what my other half has been doing, reading bits aloud to me along the way.   And its pocket size (well it’s a small book, depends on what size pocket you’ve got) means it’s easy to carry with you so that you can see what Bill Bailey has said about it when you spot a particular bird.   We’ve both learnt a lot from it.

• A Birds checklist, so that you can put a tick by the birds on the list to remind yourself you’ve seen them, and where and how many you saw
• A list of the best places to see the birds he lists in the UK
• Suggestions of bird spotting equipment – I loved the “cheese sandwiches” inclusion!
• Bird conservation organisations you can join or get involved with to help birds
• The RSPB birdwatching code and also codes on access to the countryside
• A seasonal guide – summer, winter and all year round birds

This book is a great buy for bird lovers and people starting out in the birdwatching world, and  anyone who loves to watch Bill Bailey on TV.  He has a great way of writing – this book is light to read, yet you learn a lot, and there’s lots of humour along the way, as you’d expect.

Anyway, enough from me.  The book is £14.99 and you can buy it from the RSPB’s online shop – and help nature along the way! 

Find out more from the RSPB here.  

Do you enjoy a good read?  Well, there's great news from Hive.co.uk!

There's two books for £10 from their Penguin Archive Collection!  Its' got 90 classic works of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, hightlighting the range of books Penguin have published since 1935!

There are books by authors such as James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas, George Orwell, Emily Brontë, Leo Tolstoy, Mary Shelley and H. G. Wells.  

No Coward Soul is Mine by Emily Brontë
is just one of the books in the collection. 

Click here to see the others in the Penguin Archive Collection 
from Hive!  

By the way, they've got lots of other offers  as well!  
Perfect for holiday reading or just chilling out at home,
relaxing with a good book!
There are offers on Children's Classics, 
History Books, Exploring the British outdoors, and puzzle books!
Take a look here.

Into the Blue list a wide range of gift experiences around the country, catering for all sorts of budgets.  And they cover a wide range of gifts and interests, with everything from flight simulators to water sports, days out to afternoon teas, short breaks to animal experiences.  They also have an incredible range of creative and craft gifts and outdoor gifts to choose from too. 

SPECIAL OFFER!!

Those lovely people at Into the Blue have a fantastic 18% off at Into the Blue with the code  - it's valid on experiences up to £500.00 until midnight on the 16th August 2026!  Use the code

ITB18AUG

There's no minimum spend, although some products are excluded from this offer.  Don't miss out!  Visit Into the Blue here.  

How about a Donkey Walking Experience and Picnic in Surrey?
Each donkey has their own personality - 
this two hour group experience is at a farm near Guildford.
There are lots of other animal experiences to choose from as well! 

Enjoy talks, garden walks & lunch at Swinton Park, Yorkshire with this Swinton Estate Lunch & Garden Tour
See other Gardening Workshops and Floristry courses here


There are a number of Rural Craft experiences
including this Traditional Basket Weaving Course in Surrey

 
How about Falconry in Dorchester?

Fly off to see the Falconry experiences -
give them the chance to meet, handle and fly a bird of prey!

There's a Bee Lovers Home Hamper
delivered to your door! 
And there are lots of other At Home Experiences - take a look at them here.

Fly off to Into the Blue to see their full range of experiences! 
 
Don't forget, the code ITB18AUG  for 18% off experiences up to £500.00 until midnight on the 16th August. The code is site wide, although some products are excluded from this offer.  

Emma Bridgewater has a gorgeous new collection, Fruit - and in it, there are lots of goodies in a Blackberry theme!

Late summer/Autumn (and it's not far off!) is blackberry time - a lovely time to get out there with the kids or without them and get into the world of nature and go blackberry picking.  Come home and have them with ice-cream, yummy, or makeblackberry jam, or have them with natural yoghurt for breakfast - a very healthy way to start the day.

This is the Blackberry Cereal Bowl for £25.00
- why not pile it high with blackberries?!

This lovely Blackberry Foraging Bucket
would be great for picking blackberries!
It's £7.00.  

 
This delightful Blackberry 1/2 Pint Mug
would be great for that morning cup of tea or coffee!
For £26.00

There are other goodies in the range, too:  different sized plates, a tea-towel, a large dish, a straight jug, a medium shallow tin, lunch napkins, a round tray, biscuit barrel and a set of 3 round cake tins! 

Head off to the Emma Bridgewater Blackberry Collection here.

Well, if you're looking for something to store things away in, and you love ice cream.... Dunhelm have these great storage baskets. 

There's this fun Giraffe Rattan Storage Basket - it could be great for kids' toys or frankly just to add a bit of fun to your living room.

This is a Giraffe Rattan Storage Basket for £75.00.

And if you have a dog, don't forget your woof!  Dunhelm also have this rather lovely Bone Shaped Seagrass Storage Basket!  

This is the Bone Shaped Seagrass Storage Basket from Dunhelm
for £35.00 for the medium size (L 45cm x W 30cm x D 30cm) - 
There's an extra large one (L 40cm x W 55cm x D 30cm) for £45.00

I think this basket is great fun - just perfect for storing a lead, poo bags, dog toys, etc.   It's crafted from 100% seagrass and surely adds a lovely touch to a dog loving home!   Find out more from Dunhelm.  

This Paw Print Tapered Seagrass Storage Basket is for £16.00.
You could store dog toys and leads and harnesses in it - 
and give your dog the fun of rummaging through it to 
find his or her favourite toy.  But will he then put them away?!  
Dig here for more information.

Dunhelm have lots of other storage products, of course, but these two particuarly caught my eye as they are so different and such fun!    A lot of them would make great gifts, adding style and practicality to a home.   See their storage range here.