Just occasionally I am sent something that knocks off my socks. This is one of those times.

The Botanical Treasury is stunning, and would make a wonderful gift for someone who is interested in art, gardening, or just something on a different level to normal Christmas presents.

(or keep it for yourself and give them chocs. Yes, a much better idea.)

The Botanical Treasury celebrates 40 of the World’s most fascinating plants through rare prints and classic texts.

It contains 40 frameable prints, and though it costs £35 it is cheap at the price.

Within the hard cover are some of the great archival treasures of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The illustrations are breathtaking and the facsimile documents are fascinating.

Experts at Kew have chosen the collection, a collection including the passionflower, and the peony and even includes the Banksia, the Australian plant named after Sir Joseph Banks who travelled with James Cook on his first voyage of discovery.

This particularly moved me, because I have seen Banksia every time I have been in Australia researching a book and the illustration is superb.

Read the classic texts, such as Gerard’s herbal or The Histoirie of Plants 1597 and The Gardener’s Dictionary of 1731.

The Botanical Treasury: Price £35.00

Carlton Books have a great selection of other books, all of which cause me to salivate – but not on the books, of course.

Try this: for both the connoisseur and the newcomer, The Treasures of Champagne by Tom Bruce-Gardyne, celebrates this remarkable liquid by exploring how champagne has become so deeply embedded in the world’s consciousness.

The celebration of bubbly proves, once and for all, that the world would be a poorer place without champagne, as indeed would Christmas.

The Treasures of Champagne Price £ 40.00

Then there is TANKS – 100 years of armoured warfare  by The Tank Museum and Robin Cross

Price £26.00

And on, and on. Have a look at their website and treat yourself, or if you’re noble, someone else.

www.carltonbooks.co.uk to see the range.

As a happily retired woman I no longer need to leap out of bed shouting at the alarm clock, stumbling around in the dark wondering how on earth it can still feel like the middle of the night and wishing I could go back to bed. Oh those long ago days when each night my head hit the pillow and I slept all night. Now my brain likes to keep my best ideas until the moment I close my eyes. There they are, the people in my book dancing about in my mind’s eye acting out their story.   Why on earth I get my creative inspiration at the most inappropriate times is beyond me.

Many moons ago I studied the art of meditation and decided that a good doze of mindfulness was necessary for a good start to the day.   Today I decided to give this another try. This was going to be the new me, all calm, centred and brimming with creativity. The window cleaner was the first to disturb me by clattering his ladders against my bedroom window. As I lie with the blinds open so I can look at the sky at night, which I love, I leapt out of bed, tripped over the book lying on the floor and banged my knee on the bed before doing a rugby dive to grab the cord and pull the blinds down. Can’t be traumatising my window cleaner this early in the day poor man.

In the morning I like to sit and have a cuppa and chat with my husband over breakfast whilst he watches the news. I say chat, I talk, and he pretends to listen. Today, was going to be an excellent day I told him, regardless of my painful start.

My favourite day is one spent with my family. They never fail to encourage me and their support, belief and love make my world a wonderful place to be. Still there is not a day goes by when I don’t wonder how I became a published writer and have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming. I was loved beyond measure growing up and my mother was one of the kindest and most beautiful souls yet I was never told that dreams came true or to believe in myself. Be thankful for what we have she would say smiling and I always was.

Today, the second person to disturb my morning calm was the postman knocking at my door. I opened the parcel and there it was. My second book, hot off the press. It is so hard to describe the feeling of actually holding the first copy in your hands. I felt tearful as my husband came over and hugged me then rang the family to spread the news. We were all going to celebrate together tonight.

Well, my day started with meditation and ended with a good few glasses of wine. Sounds like a good day all round to me.

A Christmas Angel at the Ragdoll Orphanage – Suzanne Lambert pb £6.99