Amanda Prowse and Penny Dommett nattering around the kitchen table, chatting about all things random. Are we sitting comfortably... here we go! We are the New Year Grinches!!! Both go to bed early without any fuss... neither of us are enamoured with the whole build up and it all feels a bit flat. Maybe we are old people!! Penny shares a terrible tale of New Year that went disastrously wrong many, many moons ago! We talk about our glorious trips to New York; cue snow! Romantic and wonderful, the great times we've had in that city that never sleeps... We compare Christmas presents - Mandy finally got her perfume - phew! We talk the weather, of course we do, and marvel at how little clothes the kids wear! We talk hypnotherapy and Mandy shares her surreal night out with Led Zeppelin - yes, really! Penny is afraid to get hypnotised incase they take over her brain!
We are still working our way through leftovers... bit of Brie anyone? Penny has a nocturnal plant muncher - she might be setting up a camera to catch the culprit! We think it might be a squirrel which leads us to discuss the Tufty Club, anyone else a member?
Mandy has a new book out on January 7th!!! We are excited for This One Life to be born. Our launch event is going to be LIVE on January 11th - see Tea Leaves and Reads on Instagram tickets and details X
So, if you fancy it, pull up a chair and join us for a delightfully irreverent chit chat about life and all its random tangents - bring a cuppa. Cake optional...

Amanda Prowse and Penny Dommett nattering around the kitchen table, chatting about all things random. Are we sitting comfortably... here we go! We are in our post Christmas fug and neither of us can look at a Quality Street or a bit of cheese! Do we eat cheese with Christmas cake? Weird! Did we all have a lovely time? Penny and I discover we both dislike Christmas pud and mincemeat - at LAST something in common!!! Who makes there own pastry? Who has time for that?! Penny, apparently. Penny's recommendation for watching is - Black Doves - Mandy watched and agreed it was epic! Little bit throat cutty at times, so peer from behind a cushion, but SO good - Keira Knightley - she's marvellous! We talk gifts - we both got everything we wanted - Mandy got perfume (finally) and Penny did very well too. Bulb planting - yep, more good planting advice! We talk the wisdom and joy of spending time with older people - so much to love and learn! We talk about Mandy's book An Ordinary Life - Molly is 94 and has a fantastic story to tell. We take a deep dive and sudden turn into WWII - and the importance of sharing those stories and experiences, lest we forget! Including our own family experience. We talk about our hopes for the coming year and the horror of January birthdays!!! The joy that is Snowdrops - something that heralds new beginnings. The value of close friends as get older - how lucky are we! ...we share a moment when Penny makes me howl with laughter - so what's new!
And don't forget - January 11th - OUR LIVE EVENT at Weyhill near Andover - tickets from @TeaLeavesandReads save the DATE!!! X
So, if you fancy it, pull up a chair and join us for a delightfully irreverent chit chat about life and all its random tangents - bring a cuppa. Cake optional...

Amanda Prowse and Penny Dommett nattering around the kitchen table, chatting about all things random. Are we sitting comfortably... here we go! Have we noticed how Penny's voice gets higher when she gets excited - we love it! How lovely was it when we were read to as children, audiobooks are a lovely replica of that! We look at the process of reading and recording an audiobook - it's a lot! Mandy sings all the way to a recording to open up her pipes - it works! We get a ping from my dad, as usual and he's had a pasty - yay! We talk about the lovely people you meet in a waiting room - if you are brave enough to chat to them... Mandy met Norman and he was just wonderful! We think motion is the lotion and the more you move the younger you stay - right? Penny gives us good advice on bulb planting - now is the time apparently! We talk about being ready for Christmas and how we are both terrible at leaving things til the last minute for the festive season- let's hope there's still sprouts on the shelf. Penny hates coloured Christmas lights and anything too kitsch - Mandy is the opposite! We talk about the joy of houses decked in lights - it's wonderful that people do that for others. Neither of us are massive fans of Christmas and we are both asleep long before Midnight on New Year's Eve!!! Bah Humbug! Party animals we are not... Do we still send Christmas cards? Have we seen the price of postage?? We talk about the things you can do for free over the Festive season - and the starting of traditions - the lovely things we all remember! Penny had the joy of Monty's nativity - not a dry eye in the house! It reminds us of our own nativities of our childhood - which weren't always successful. Penny is flabbergasted by a Terry's chocolate orange - yes, really! Happy Christmas one and all, we send you love.
And don't forget - January 11th - OUR LIVE EVENT save the DATE!!! X
So, if you fancy it, pull up a chair and join us for a delightfully irreverent chit chat about life and all its random tangents - bring a cuppa. Cake optional...