Friday 6 November 2015

HILDEN LINENS.. AND A PERFECT NIGHT'S SLEEP.

Ooh, I cannot wait to get home, for apart from being incarcerated in my cage at the aviary for more days than I was told I'd be, I hear through the grapevine that she's bought herself a couple of new blankets!

Since dispensing with the continental quilts and going back to 'old fashioned' sheets and blankets, her sleep pattern has greatly improved and this has to be a good thing!

Continental quilts, or duvets as they are now usually called, enable you to 'make' your bed quickly but if you are a sleeper whose feet and legs wander about in your sleep, sooner or later, the quilt starts to walk over to the other side and inevitably, some part of you will end up cold.

So back came a top sheet, two old Vellux blankets and an American comforter. (These are wider than an eiderdown but used in the same way over blankets). They had been in an old laundry basket under the bed along with three school trunks. Now you understand why the bed is up on this frame! It allows for this huge amount of storage.

One of the Vellux blankets had been stored in its' original plastic blanket bag.. oh dear! Not a good thing! For it had begun to crack and separate. Vellux blankets were an extraordinary invention, they are toasty warm, come in pretty colours and, Dear Readers, are washable and, in fact, get better with each wash. BUT, as she has found to her cost, they don't like being shut up in a plastic bag for years!

She looked on-line for a replacement but as she wanted the same colour and there were so many bad reviews about this colour being returned because of streaking and patchy colouring, she gave up. She bought hers on a trip to the States over twenty five years ago and had been able to check the blankets before she bought them, they were King sized.

Humm.. she thought, ok, let's look at hotel quality bedding and pressed enter.. and up sprang a huge list of suppliers who cater for the hotel and restaurant trade. And then a little bit further down the screen was the name of a company she has known for at least thirty five years.. Hilden Linens of Lancashire. They've been supplying the hotel and restaurant trade for a veryvery long time.

Napkins, glass (tea) towels, sheets.. she's bought a lot of their products over the years and all because of a business card. A long time ago a friend of hers was dating a man called Tim, who invited  her to a drinks party at which she met a charming woman called Wendy Sharples, they exchanged cards, Wendy's card said she worked for Hilden Linens.

"Because you never know, you may either be up in our neck of the woods in Lancashire or you may like to buy some of our products" said Wendy. And as I've just told you, she has bought a lot of stuff from them over the years. Scarlet and dark green napkins for Christmas, old fashioned glass towels of which she has bought, and given away, dozens, they're mindblowingly expensive to buy in shops and they make great presents!

One of her recipient uses them as napkins! And they're brilliant for picnics.

So there they were.. 'hotel blankets' she thought and clicked on the link. Yes, they did them, not the same quality as a Vellux but hey, at this price, they'll do until she gets to the States again, if she ever does, and if she doesn't, well, these will be just fine!

And lookielookie.. there were proper old fashioned pillowcase (with zippers) protectors, blanket bags and other such useful household linen items, all at extremely good prices.. a sign said 'click on this link and get an automatic 10% forever', it was duly clicked.. by the way, blanket bags (with zips) are perfect for storing your summer or winter clothes in along with a couple of lavender or cedar sachets.

Two king sized blankets in a pretty blue, they didn't have the darker colour, two pairs of pillow protectors, six blankets bags in which she'll store her fabrics. Whizz went the online order and an email arrived from Hildens saying that her order would be with her in two days time.

The big box was brought home from MailBoxEtc by WW.. our bed was stripped, clean sheets and the new blankets made her bed, look! Big generously sized blankets, the fabric showing that they will be better after a wash or two but for now, she just wanted to test their weight, for you don't want a blanket to be too heavy.

Supper, wash, pjs on and into bed. Initial response? Nice weight. Light out, go to sleep. Woke up at a sensible hour to make tea and let the guys in at 08.15, no, they haven't finished yet, there's still no ceiling and there's that gaping hole above the front door.

But how did she sleep? Ah, a perfect night's sleep, warm but not too hot.. in fact, she could have been in a very good hotel's bed. And blankets really ARE the best, why? Because I can run about and play the fool on 'our' bed now, which was always hazardous in the past when she used a duvet I would trip up and fall over onto old Beaky.

And it's all down to Wendy's card and her saying all those years ago 'because you never know', well, we've let you know, Dear Readers, about Hilden Linens.. find them at www.hilden.co.uk

GeeGee Parrot.
November 6th, 2015.

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