The Thousands

It always seems to be the way, doesn’t it, that you encounter your penultimate Christmas dream gift just a little too late… I first met Hetty on December 26th – Boxing Day (cue frustration) – and it was love at first sight. There she was, sitting coquettishly on the pages of eBay, in amongst all the Hoovers and Dysons like a rose among weeds.

Naturally, discovering someone who looked that good AND cleaned the house stirred quite a fervour in my household, and ways to raise enough money to adopt her into our lounge room were instantly schemed up. None have yet proved successful, but the dream is not over. I’m in no doubt that when they were talking about the maid robots of the future, they were talking about Hetty.**Nevertheless, if her marshmellow-pink body and butter-wouldn’t-melt smile is a little OTT for your cleaning taste, then her partner (and pioneer of the UK-based smiling vacuum phenomenon) Henry will also do an equally-charming job of munching up your dust.

And because there is a god, mini-sized desktop Hettys and Henrys are also available. Woot!