Trigger Warning: Medical procedure - discussion of Emma's experience with an ablation for Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT) 14.53 - 19.30

I got to chat to potentially the queen of mugs herself, Emma Conway (@brummymummyof2 ) in her lovely kitchen . Emma is well known for her love of mugs; particularly for THE annual Halloween mug switchover in her seasonal mug display cupboard. For now, it’s in an awkward time of year; ‘we're currently in a phase I don’t really like, which is just mugs’.

We talk about how Emma’s mugs hold so many memories from trips they’ve been on as a family, to her favourite TV shows. If you’ve been looking for an episode, that really gets to the crux of the joy & feeling of cosiness that mugs can bring, then look no further.

When we’re not chatting about mugs, we’re talking about when Emma became a Mumsnet employee for the day to meet Gary Barlow, how perimenopause made her feel like she was going crazy & how she switched to decaf due to a birth defect that found her differentiating ‘pond’ like decaf to the good ones.

Here are the mugs talked about, if you’d like to follow along:

1. Disney World Mickey waffles mug (A mug tragedy 💔)
2. Disney World Enchanted Tiki Room mug
3. Gilmore Girls Luke's Diner giant mug (gift from a friend)
4. Rae Dunn Winnie the Pooh mug

Some of her quick fire favourites:

✨Disney films: Enchanted & Tangled

☕️🍪 Dream pairing: Costa Terry’s chocolate orange hot chocolate & cinnamon bun (ideally Disney World Gaston’s Tavern cinnamon roll)

📺TV Show: Any reality TV (Real Housewives, Summerhouse)

🍿🎬 5 minutes in Blockbuster to pick four films: Titanic, Twilight, Practical Magic, Beaches

🏝️ Desert island people: Gary Barlow, Louis Theroux, Ewan McGregor, Beyoncé, Gemma Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker

Available on all platforms to listen (Spotify/Apple) or watch (Spotify/YouTube). Also linked in my bio 💫

We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗

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We’re back with season 4 & I couldn’t be more thrilled to be kicking it off with the wonderful Briony May Williams. A proud Bristolian, it was so lovely to be able to film here in Bristol too. As she came in I was greeted with her homemade lemon drizzle cake which tells you everything about the energy Briony brings with her!

You may know Briony from watching The Great British Bake Off series 9 where she was a semi-finalist & for her TV presenting on: Escape to the Country, Morning Live! and The Travel Show to name a few. She also co-hosts a parenting podcast I'm Not Judging, But... with two of her best friends, Charlie & Vix.

Last year she launched a recipe book with twists on retro recipes, The Retro Recipe Society. She also has an instagram page - @gloriouslysober sharing advice & support as well as the joys of not drinking having not drunk alcohol for over two years.

What you may not know about Briony is the mugs telling the story of her life so far, from playgroup, to teaching, to Bake Off & everything in-between. We also get right into the nitty gritty: the importance of mug choice & the mug cupboard structure to protect the most precious ones!

Here are the mugs talked about, if you’d like to follow along:

1. Stoke Bishop Nursery Playgroup mug (40 years old!)

2. ‘Briony’ mug - a gift from her colleagues before she went on maternity leave

3. ‘I’d rather be watching The Bake Off’ Stubbs mug bought for her as a gift

4. Gloriously Sober mug made for her by Rachel Bridgman Ceramics

Some of her quick fire favourites:

☕️🍪 Pairings: Montezuma's dark chocolate buttons

☕️ Barry's Tea

🥐 Cafe: Coffi Lab , Bristol

🏝️ Desert Island people: Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Dr Punam Krishan , Jessica Fostekew, Vix & Charlie

Available on all platforms to listen (Spotify/Apple) or watch (Spotify/YouTube) 💫

We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗

00:00 Intro

02:31 The mug selection process & policies The mug selection process & policies

03:19 The versatility of a mug - university memories

06:57 A love of languages & Bake Off memories

12:22 Auditioning & the Bake Off experience

15:11 Mug #1 Stoke Bishop Nursery Playgroup

19:58 The mug cupboard structure

22:21 A coffee mug is NOT the same as a tea mug

26:04 Mug #2 Briony's maternity leave gift from teaching colleagues

32:56 Mug #3 I'd Rather Be Watching The Bake Off Stubbs mug bought for her as a gift

35:13 A wild journey since Bake Off

37:01 The peaks & troughs of Bake Off

38:02 Unexpected fans

39:18 A love of travel

41:14 Taking on new challenges & adventures

45:17 Saying YES & going outside of your comfort zone

46:16 Mug #4 Gloriously Sober mug by Rachel Bridgman Ceramics

51:48 Briony's recipe book - The Retro Recipe Society

53:53 A vintage cookbook collector!

55:46 Briony's Quick Fire Favourites

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Our final guest of Season 3 is the fantastic Rachel Atkinson, the founder of & actually a Daughter of a Shepherd. I hope you enjoy this warm & festive episode as much as I enjoyed recording it (you can expect quite a lot of laughter!

Rachel shares the story behind her wool company Daughter of a Shepherd where she creates limited edition yarns. She focuses on natural colours of British fleece grown, gathered, and spun with 100% traceability (It’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this year 🥳). She grew up in Yorkshire where her Dad took on Shepherding as a hobby. Having always had a love for knitting & after her Dad received a 94p cheque from the British Wool Board for 450 fleeces, Rachel wanted to showcase wool’s provenance - bringing renewed value to it and shining a light on all of its qualities 🐑🧶.

When building Daughter of Shepherd at its core was supporting local manufacturing in the process, including scourers in Keighley & mills in Yorkshire/Devon. We talk about how important these crafts are & how supporting them is critical to ensure those skills are passed on.

Featured is Rachel’s beloved terrier, DeeDee. We also have a very special guest Bryan who will always bring Rachel a sheep themed mug with tea at work, alongside learning that there is a company doing tea rounds to your house (Ringtons Round) that visits towns/villages in Yorkshire & up North (and yes you can request it to visit your house!) with their tea van filled with choice - THE STUFF OF DREAMS ☁️✨

Here are the mugs talked about, if you’d like to follow along and see:

1. The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) sheep mug - ‘look at this absolute unit’
2. Emma Bridgewater Bettys x Fat Rascal mug collaboration
3. Pip Hartle mug (for coffee!)
4. Russell Kingston mug (+ a bonus espresso mug)
5. Terry’s Chocolate mug from charity shop

Some of her quick fire favourites:

☕️Yellow bourbon coffee roasters, Ringtons tea

☕️🍪 Tea Pairings: plain digestives, chocolate hobnob, Tunnocks caramel wafer

🩰 Ballets: Swan Lake, Song of the Earth, Wolf Works

🧶🐏 Her favourite wool: Heritage DK - natural black

🏝️Desert Island people: Nick Offerman, Seamus Heaney, Jemma (Harding) Wilkinson

🐾 Dee Dees favourite things: sausages 🌭 & the warmth 🔥

We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗

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