Watches sell from $119 from Wewood.

Yesterday evening and all of today so far have seen the whole of London completely flattened due to the tube strike. Our merchandiser, Emma, has to travel from one side of the city in Highgate all the way down to us in Battersea, her Northern Line, though still running sounds like it was hectic to say the VERY least. On my usually very quick journey from Fulham, I came through Clapham Junction and what is usually a three or four minute changeover took 45 minutes.

So lets all ride a bike. That was the warning from Boris in the run up to the strikes. His endeavours have been endless to get Londoners to switch from four wheels to two. Of course there is the recent Barclays Bike Scheme. It didn’t work out so well when all the docking stations filled up in the City and everyone dumped their bikes on top of others, but still an honourable attempt.

We’re all for it. And though Emma might choose not to cycle from Highgate, us SW Handpickers can easily get in quickly. Managing Director Natasha has found bike2workscheme.co.uk which is aimed at whole companies. The operation includes saving 50% on the cost of a new bike and accessories to go with it and the cost is spread over 12 months. There are loads of companies included in the scheme and lots of lovely bikes. We found this beautiful traditional Dutch bicycle from Action Bikes to top our wish list.

Click here for more details.

Wonderful free reading! Brilliant idea.

Yes, it is cheaper than a weekend overseas but these beauties aren’t for the faint hearted. There’s no running water and no electricity. So bring your Pump Up Penguin Torches and book a few days in a nice hotel afterwards so you can hose yourself off.

We also heard about the Gypsy Caravan Company through Dorset Cereals who are doing a competition to win one of two like this one:

Third prize is a Single Striped Lawn Lounger from Handpicked Collection. Exactly the same one that we were raving about yesterday.

Handpicked Collection had dutiful representation at Secret Garden Party in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire this weekend. After having spent three nights in a tent, I was very happy to arrive back in London to running water, food that contains vitamins than mud and a bed that was more than an inch off the ground. Having said that, I was definitely smugly comfortable on my Handpicked Collection mattress.

I also took my Pump up Penguin Torch which was absolutely brilliant for finding my way back to my tent in the dark. It didn’t get lost because I put the strap round my wrist and of course, I didn’t have to worry about it running out of battery.

Below is a photo of the inside of my tent and the essential equipment that I would recommend to any festival-going-girl.

• Batiste dry shampoo – like a shower in a can
• Sun cream
• A super comfy mattress – try my striped lawn lounger
• Pump Up Torch – choose any animal
• A safe dressing up option – an Indian headdress is always a winner
• You can never go wrong with a safe supply of glow sticks

It’s a really lovely gift for a new home or for anyone who has a taste for interiors.

Having said that, Latitude Festival is very renowned for being very middle class hence the soubriquet ‘Latte-tude’, but this is no way a bad thing. I don’t know very many people who would say no to running water and showers during a festival. The loos weren’t too bad and all the entertainment was lovely. There were endless gags in the Comedy Arena about Guardian readers and classism.

There were four music stages, the Comedy Arena, the Literary Arena, the Poetry Arena, Film and Music Arena, the Waterfront Stage suspended in the middle of the lake where there were performances from the Royal Ballet as well as fashion shows from St Martin’s graduates.

We would usually start the day off gently in the Poetry Arena listening to brilliant recitals from Luke Wright and Phil Jupitus, before heading to the Comedy Arena. Then in the evenings and afternoons were music filled.

I feel like we really took the best advantge possible of all that was on offer at Latitude. Kevin Bridges, Josie Long and Russell Kane were my top picks from the hours of time spent in the Comedy Arena, four music stages with Florence (a great set, beautiful costume and the whole crowd singing happy birthday to her little sister Grace), Vampire Weekend (I had forgotten how much I loved the first album, they were brilliant live and embarrassingly, I knew the words to every song), Rodrigo y Gabriela were absolutely captivating, I couldn’t take my eyes off them, The XX, I wasn’t really a fan of before but the performance was amazing, honestly absolutely flawless and the atmosphere was probably one of the best of the weekend. And then talking of atmosphere, my friend wanted to go see The Feeling (not top of my list, bit boring and mainstream) but they were just so happy to be there and had the whole crowd singing and dancing, it was a really happy set. Here are some photos I took, Florence and the Machine, The XX and Vampire Weekend.

I’m not sure if I’d ever do it, but lots of people took their children to Latitude. If you want to do it, I think it’s probably one of the safer ones to take littler people to. There is a separate Family Camping area, loos for kids and reasonably flat surfaces for buggies, or the other more popular option at Latitude, those red Radio Flyer wagons.

One of the main missions of the festival is to be as eco as possible. All the happy campers are encourage to recycle all their rubbish and all the bins in the arenas are for recycling too. Believably, a LOT of cider and lager is consumed over the weekend and this means an endless amount of pint glasses. There is no glass allowed in the whole site so the Latitude brains found a company to supply them with reusable plastic cups which the festival goers paid a £2 deposit for then could return at the end of the festival.

Drink green? Not sure if that will catch on.

Not something we’d usually say, but follow an estate agent’s trick and get the windows cleaned. Nothing like giving whatever sunshine there is the chance to light up your life.

Buy some spring plants, particularly if you left it too late to plant bulbs. Obviously wait until you think the frosts are finally over, but there’s nothing like a pot filled with pansies, hyacinths or crocuses to put a smile on your face. Try Handpicked’s Allotment Starter Kits.

Get organised. While clearing up the cupboards isn’t the most exciting way to spend an afternoon, it sure beats staring out of the (newly cleaned) window at the rain. Grab a recyling bag and chuck anything in that you won’t use and could be made into something more useful. Grab another bag for stuff to go to the charity shop. And clean those shelves until they gleam. Handpicked’s Jumbo Bags are made for jobs like these.

Update your diary. If you haven’t transferred this year’s birthdays, do it now. Ditto school term dates, other half’s social and work events, and any other dates that might be lurking on post-it notes in handbag, pocket or fridge door.

Start thinking about your spring wardrobe. Check for missing buttons, polish shoes, take lightweight clothes to the dry cleaners so that you can spring into action the second the sunshine appears. And get thee to the hairdressers, nothing gives a lift to the spirits like a good cut and colour.