Just ditch the flight and buy this wurly bird flier instead. It'll reduce your carbon footprint, lighten your conscience and give your kids several years of pleasure. Now you may feel a little easier at shelling out £249 for this active playride from Urchin It's a pretty neat fairground-style ride to have in your back garden and can be used for one or two riders, with an easy pull mechanism – so fast or slow I can see the kids queuing around the block now.

Posted by Carole

Now there's no excuse to kill your plants with over-watering thanks to these new self-watering wet pots from Garden Boutique. You get 3 pots for £19.95, then simply pour water in and let nature take it in as and when needed. Perfect for those of you who are away a lot or like me have a penchant for killing herbs. Garden Designer Alice Bowe has a great range of well chosen garden products from cute vintage table vases to reclaimed garden furniture. And if you can't find it on her site then give Alice or Daisy a call and they'll find it for you - now there's a challenge.

Posted by Carole

As our house is still a mess of boxes and paper, I'd like to own this bobbin string just so I could pretend that there was order in some part of my life. £16.50 would buy me this antique bobbin with brass fittings and fllled with a large ball of twine in either red, green or natural. There are quite a few desirables at Willow and Stone which would give any girl a sense of calm and order in the midst of caous.

Posted by Carole

Contemporary gazebos. pretty pergolas, envirocycle composters and dazzling fireworks can all be found at Sort out your Garden. But what really attracted me was the unusual range of artificial lawns. I loathe this green stuff but love the visual and textural qualites it provides. So you may in future find me hoovering my £10 per metre square city lawn with great pride.

Posted by Carole

This brazier would have me collecting branches on the way home from the school run, just so I could set it alight in the evening and watch it burn. This modern fire bowl from Hunter Pole is made from hardened black steel , has a safety cover and measures 62 H Cms x 75 Dia Cms. It costs £69.99 and demands that you ditch the tv for an exciting evening of toasting marshmallows and fire watching.

Posted by Carole

I'm not sure this floral William Morris trowel and cultivator will go down well with all you serious gardeners out there. But hey for £20 this makes a perfect Christmas gift from John Lewis. With free delivery why not add an orchid or herb planters to your shopping list.

Posted by Carole

I like the concept of these hanging baskets from Plants Plus. This Winter Gold hanging basket set contains some colouful mixed pansies set against the golden green foliage of Oreganum, and the variagted contrasts of Hedera and Salvia Tricolour. The £15.99 also includes a 12" hanging basket with a grass rope and fern flat bottomed hexagonal basket. It's half the price of a bouquet and will last a lot longer, a good surprise to receive when the post gets back up to speed.

I have to confess to not really giving Next much thought when it comes to the great outdoors. So was pleasantly surprised by their modern range of goodies. These 40 Flower Line lights are 10 metres light and have long life non-replaceable micro bulbs. For £20 these lights can happily sit in or outdoors. I also like the look of their blossom lighting, red floral picnic ware and stripy parasols. Throw in a lawn mower and a barbecue and you're pretty set to decamp outdoors for the summer.

Posted by Carole

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Now's the time to start thinking of spring things, so why not do it sat on this Firwood bench. It's easily assembled, can be stained to your taste and seats up to 3 people. It's reduced from £39.99 to £29.99 from hunterpole - while you're at it check out their weed wand too.

Posted by Carole