The Easy Life?

We all want an easy life, but what exactly is that and is it really a thing? Does an easy life really exist? It's something I've been pondering on for a while now. This is in part down to a phrase my Mum uses regularly, and partly down to the fact that I am a self confessed over thinker! I really wish I weren't. It drives me quite mad at times (literally on occasion), but it can also give me an insight into things I don't understand (make sure you learn something new everyday) or more often, it gives me an insight into me, who I am and how I process things. However, as always and true to myself, I have gone completely off-track. 

Celebrating Wednesday's #38

Good morning everyone and welcome to the middle of another week. I'm never sure whether I'm nearer to the end of the week, or just a little further away from Monday, if that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't. Either way, it's Wednesday and on Wednesday, we do like to give you a little something to celebrate, or at the very least, ponder upon and this week is no exception.

I have to say, this Wednesday is very spoilt with not one, but four things to celebrate. You could have had Coast Guard Day (very apt for the summer break), Single Working Women's Day or (and I was very tempted by this one) Assistance Dog Day. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but in the end I settled for the fourth option, which I think you'll love.

Celebrating Wednesday's #37

It's been a very long time since last we posted, and even longer since we actually celebrated a Wednesday! What can I say, the past couple of years have been a journey and a half, which I will expand upon in another, more appropriate post; for now, let's just say, it's been a stressful time.

However, we're back now and easing our way back into the blogging world. Forgive me for being a little rusty. I had been pondering, somewhat on what might be the best way to get back into things and after a wee bit of research (ok, research is a bit of a lie, I actually stumbled across something) I discovered that today, Wednesday 28th July is a really rather special day indeed and one which frankly, should be very easy to celebrate, for most of us.

What can I say, here in Blighty (at least in the East) it is currently grey and wet. It is a day for staying indoors, watching TV, reading a book, sipping a hot drink and celebrating...

Milk Chocolate Day!

Now, I do have some of the gorgeous sweet stuff in the house, but how I wish I'd done my research before I ventured into town and walked straight past Hotel Chocolat, not once, but four times (not my fault, I moved during lockdown and still don't know where everything is yet). At the time, I thought I was being very self disciplined and was feeling a little smug at how strong I was being, in hindsight, I can see I made a massive faux pas! Today of all days requires a little more than a Freddo and yet here I am, with only a Freddo to raise in honour of Milk Chocolate Day.

I would venture out to the local shop and get something a little more substantial and worthy of such a special day, but like I said, it's grey and wet out and I really don't fancy get caught in a downpour. However, I will make sure that I absolutely make a huge, belated effort tomorrow and maybe the day after too, just to be certain I've done today proud.

So the question is, how are you going to celebrate Milk Chocolate Day? Will you brave the Great British Summer and stock up on your favourite bar, or box of chocolates, or will you bake a cake? Maybe you're more of a chocolate ice cream person, or perhaps you'd rather cosy up on the sofa with a hot chocolate.

However you choose to celebrate this sweet day, enjoy and try not to over indulge too much. As for me, I shall be raising not one, but two Freddo's to the day!

The Matchmaker - A Book Review

I absolutely love the idea of matchmaking. I also love Fred from ‘First Dates,’ I mean who can resist a smart man with a gorgeous French accent? Honestly, I could quite happily listen to him chat away in French or English, all day long. Anyway, as usual I have digressed, but  there is a point to my slight aside, since I have been very fortunate to be gifted a copy of The Matchmaker to read in exchange for an honest and unbiased review; and given that it is inspired by the aforementioned show, I was suitably excited and extremely happy to have the opportunity to do so.

Since Innes works for Cosmopolitan as their Features Director, I had very high hopes for the standard of writing and story construction (back in the day, I was a huge Cosmo fan) and I can say hand on heart, I was not disappointed. From the very first paragraph, she draws you into the story, endearing you to the central character, Caitlin Carter, who disillusioned with her career in PR, sets up her own business as a Matchmaker. She is inspired to follow this path having met and married the love of her love Harry, and having a natural ability to know, just who will click with whom. These two things make Catlin very successful and her business, goes from strength to strength, with people eager to sign up and an Instagram account aspiring bloggers would give their right arm for! However, as we read on, it becomes clear, all is not as it seems to be.

I really enjoyed this book. Actually, I enjoyed it so much, I really didn't want to finish it and found myself missing Caitlin, her friends and her story; which makes writing a review horrendously difficult. What I want to do is blurt out the entire story to you, but obviously I can’t do that because that would completely ruin it for you. What I can do, is tell you that this is a well written book; the story flows effortlessly, the characters are well thought out and are easy to relate to (worryingly, I found I related most to Caitlin during a visit to the zoo - you'll need to read the book to find out what I mean). I particularly loved the way Innes cleverly drops breadcrumbs, letting the reader know that something is off, giving clues the further into the story we go, but without ruining the twist once it is finally revealed in full.

This isn’t the rom com I thought it was going to be, this is a journey of self discovery, friendship, support, family and change. There are highs and lows, laughter and tears, and holding it all together is love in all it's forms. If you are looking for a story to inspire you and remind you that even in the darkest times, hope's light still shines, then this is for you. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

The Matchmaker is now available in paperback RRP £8.99.

Alternative Christmas Gift Guide - Part 2

We made an early start on the Christmas gift guide this year, with some ideas which will help benefit our climate. If you missed it you can catch up here. That post was inspired by my sixteen year old daughter, Miss. D, who was concerned about the destruction of the rainforest and now wants to gift everyone a tree planted in the rainforest. Her idea made me wonder what else could be gifted to people, which ultimately would benefit our planet. However, there are other gifts you can give to the folk who have it all, which benefit communities.

Gifts which benefit communities are a great idea for those hard to buy for people. As you can often match them up to interests or professions. As a family, we have used these in the past and I would highly recommend them.

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Everyone needs a best friend. It doesn't really matter who that friend is, just so long as they're kind, loyal, listen, make you laugh and you have each others backs, because that's what friends do. I am really lucky to have some amazing friends. People who have got me through the toughest of times, people who are always there for me and who I hope, I am always there for too. They are everything friends should be, even though I've never met many of them. They are my Tweeps. A community of friends on Twitter. Some are other bloggers, others are authors, others are just fabulous people who like to socialise with like-minded folk!

As 'real-life' friends go, I have few and that suits me just fine. Quality rather than quantity; and those I do have are the best of the best. Which given the way things are going at the moment is a flipping good thing. Yes, a true friend is worth their weight in gold and one or two of mine really have been absolute diamonds this past week.

Beauty Sleep - A Review

It’s no secret, my favourite animal is a sloth. I adore them. They are so cute and friendly looking; they don’t rush to do anything, and they do like to sleep. Perhaps that is why I like them so much, because I do like my sleep. My bed is one of my favourite places to be. It’s warm, it’s cosy and it’s comfy. The perfect recipe for a good night’s sleep; which is good, because much as I love sloths, sleeping hanging from a tree is not an option for me and even if it were, let’s face it, I wouldn’t last five seconds before falling to the ground in a big heap. I’d need a very big crash mat beneath my tree, or at the very list a nice soft, comfy bunch of pillows.

Speaking of pillows, it is so important to have a good one on which to rest your weary head at the end of a busy day. There is nothing worse than tossing and turning all night because your pillow isn’t right and then waking up with a pain in the neck (and no, I am not referring to your other half). Yes, the right pillow really can make all the difference.

Alternative Christmas Gifts

Yep, I know, we're all desperately trying to forget that it's just around the corner, but it's now reached a point where trying to hide from Christmas in the supermarkets, High Streets and online stores is well and truly, absobloominglutely impossible (trust me, I've tried). Only yesterday in Morrisons (other supermarkets are available), was I bombarded by Christmas gifts shouting at me from one side of the aisle, whilst the other side was full of Halloween themed items; which might I add, did not look too impressed at having their thunder stolen by a holiday two months away!

Anyway, that aside, there really is no escaping it, so we may just as well embrace it and start preparing, or not, because if I'm honest, the last thing I actually want to do is start buying presents only to have to pack them for the impending house move, to then lose the bloody things and find them again in six summer's time! Miss. D, though has come up with a solution, so Christmas preparations can indeed begin soon.

Climate Change - What Can I Do?

No one can say they are unaware of the issues our planet is facing, unless they've been living under a rock for the past 30 years or so! We've been discussing the hole in the ozone layer for decades, indeed as our dear, sweet, diplomatic PM Boris Johnson has reminded us, Maggie Thatcher was on to fighting those nasty greenhouse gases when she was in power, decades before Greta Thunberg was a twinkle in her father's eye (yeah right Boris, in that case why is the planet boiling itself to death then).

We've been encouraged to recycle for decades and yet, here we are now, at crisis point and time really is running out. For too long we have expected others to sort it out and taken no personal responsibility. I'm not guilt free at all, I realise I'm to blame as much as the next person. Doing my bit has extended to doing a bit of recycling each week and turning things off instead of leaving them on standby etc., but that simply is not enough. I need to up my game!

Hever Castle

Last week was a tough old week, to be fair, this week hasn't been without it's stresses either. Everywhere I look, I am surrounded by boxes and there are still more that need to be packed. I've given myself a week off from packing; it's not such a big deal, the chain is still not complete as the people at the top are having difficulty finding a property (I hope they find one soon though, I have children who need to get into new schools/colleges). I did get a number of new boxes packed last week though and after a busy time, I decided very last minute that yes, I would accompany the OH on his camping trip to Hever. This went down well with him, apart from the fact I'd left it so late in the day, that he'd already packed the car and then had to squeeze the big tent, and my mattress, in to an already full car.

Hever Castle, as most of you will know, I'm sure, is the childhood home of poor Anne Boleyn, who quite literally lost her head, poor girl (Henry VIII may have been a king, but a good husband, he was not). Nowadays, Hever is a tourist attraction, with various events going on throughout the year. Last weekend it was the Hever Castle Triathlon, and the OH was there to look after the participants during the open water swim in his kayak (or if I want to wind him up, his canoe - kayakers hate if you call their boat a canoe).

Hever Castle, Kent, United Kingdom

National Poetry Day 2019

Since today is National Poetry Day, I think it's time I came out with it and admitted to being something of a closet poetry fan. I have a collection of three or four poetry books which I dig out from time to time. I would provide photographic proof, but they are currently nestled in a packing box ready to move to a new home. I thought I was being super organised packing away things that aren't used every day, until I realised that today is NPD day and it would have been nice to take a picture of my books to share with you. I shall endeavour to put that right next year, and perhaps add to my collection.

Anyway, as usual, I have gone somewhat off topic again (no surprise there), but I must say a huge thank you to Channel 4's Sunday Brunch for flagging this day up for me when they had the fabulous Gyles Brandreth on. I confess, I am a something of a 'Gyles' fan. He's so intelligent, funny and just has a way of brightening your day with his colourful character. He's also passionate about poetry and during his interview was sharing the benefits of learning poetry by heart (remember those days at school?). Apparently, doing this can help prevent dementia, which has to be a good reason to give it a go.

Minecraft Mum

Yep, you read that right the first time. Yes I know you had to read it twice! Moi? Minecrafting? Mais oui! Don't ask why I just switched to French there, I have no idea either. To be quite honest with you, I have no flipping idea what I'm doing at the moment. This morning has seen me going up and down the stairs like a yo-yo retrieving things I've left downstairs in the kitchen, only to return to the first floor living room to realise I've not retrieved what I went for in the first place. It took me three trips just to retrieve my tea and then my glasses, the latter of which I went to fetch on my first trip! So, should I slip into a petit peu of French bear with, I've clearly lost my mind! Oh and before I forget, on yet another different subject (because yes, I am aware, I have indeed gone off on a tangent, again) I have also gone up and down the stairs, making up and filling a couple more packing boxes, so I have managed to be productive in my confused state.

However, having digressed so far, I feel it's time we got back to the point, for I am now a Minecrafter!

Minecraft - My House and My Dog, Snowy

A (Not So) Tall Story

Ah, the weekend! The time when you spend time with your family, enjoy one another's company and pretend you are not some crazy, dysfunctional group of people at all! To be honest, we stopped doing that last bit some time ago. Getting the kids out with me is enough of a win, I really can't be doing with pretending to be all 'Little House on the Prairie,' too, which is why we probably leave a crazy trail of destruction behind us.

Anyway, Sunday morning saw me manage to get my youngest out of the house. Not going to lie, I was so shocked she agreed, that I wondered if it was national news worthy (anyone with teenagers will know how monumental this is). So off we popped to a small local shopping centre, complete with pharmacy, so that the other half could get his man flu medicine (he really was not a well boy). Whilst the boy was raiding Boots with his snot and sneezes, Miss. L and I had a good old look round The Body Shop. If I had no idea what to get for her upcoming birthday before, I now have more ideas than I really need, there was a whole lot of stuff in there she wanted. Combine that with her obsession with food storage containers in TK Maxx and we're sorted (no I'm not going to buy her Tupperware - even I'm not that crap a mum).

The Dog Ate my Homework

Hands up if you have ever, actually used that classic excuse, 'Sorry Miss, the dog ate my homework.' I don't think I did, but it would have been pretty plausible given our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Rupert, was an absolute little bugger for eating anything and everything he shouldn't. My mum still has pens with Rupert teeth marks (though quite why, I do not know; who keeps pens that long, and I'm talking 30+ years here). Not that I was particularly great at doing my homework, unless it was art or flute practise. Quite how I have managed to raise at least one daughter who is always studying and doing homework, I am not sure, but thank goodness I have; there really is nothing worse than getting to Sunday and having to do everything in a panic!

The Mess

Let me make it very clear from the offset, I am not a super house proud, everything in it's place, kind of a girl. As a general rule, my house is quite tidy, but not in a 'no one' lives here 'show home' kind of  way. Good grief, I have two teenage daughters, an orange dog and a black and white cat, who insists on fluffing all over my cream carpets, seconds after I have vacuumed them (I love the cat, but I do not love bits of the cat randomly scattered on freshly vacuumed carpet). I don't like mess! I love a cupboard and drawers. They're great for stashing crap in and giving the illusion that you are a super organised woman who has it all together; just don't open my cupboards or drawers! Please!

That said, I am certainly not, what one might call a hoarder. I go through said cupboards and drawers at least once a year, sometimes twice, and get rid of anything that is redundant. There really is only so much one can fit into a home before it bursts at the seams. And might I add, my loft is empty and my garage is pretty much empty, apart form a handful of things which are earmarked for the tip, once the fiance is free to come down with his trailer. To clarify, I don't like mess and at the moment, that is exactly what my home is, a mess!

Kenya, A Mountain to Climb - Book Review

As many of you who read this blog regularly will know, I suffer with mental illness. I have a diagnosis of depression and anxiety, which was first made almost ten years ago. Unlike some people, I know my diagnosis is a 'forever' condition. My father suffers and so does my youngest daughter. For some of us, there is an hereditary element. In some ways, I'd rather that, it makes it easier for me to manage. I'm able to identify my triggers and let those close to me know my triggers, enabling myself, and others, to rein me in when necessary and practise some self care. I'm lucky, to have a fabulous next door neighbour, an amazing fiance and two wonderful daughters, who tell me to take a break when they can see I'm taking on too much.

I also have some awesome friends on Twitter, people who got me through my darkest days and to the place I am now in; which is a place where I work my wee butt off to raise awareness of mental illness and try to help people living with a diagnosis, or caring for someone, to cope and seek help. Hence, when I saw that Rod Wood was looking for people to review his latest book, I jumped at the chance.

Things Can Only Get Better

Apologies all, here I am telling you I'm back to blogging and then I go and disappear for a week; not the best really, so I do, wholeheartedly apologise. Last week did not go to plan, or it did, well it was just a kind of messy week, but in a mostly very good and positive way, but it did mean I had no blogging time. Also, as much as I love a bank holiday, is it just me, or do they just throw everything out for the following couple of weeks? Honestly, even now, over a week on I have no idea what day of the week it is! Perhaps I'm just getting a bit old and need to be put out to pasture?

GCSE Results Day

Well it's finally here, the big day. The day that teens across the country have been anxiously awaiting, or dreading, or attempting to ignore at all costs in the vague hope it won't arrive. Whatever, the long wait is over and the results of all those exams is finally over. Up and down the country 16 year olds have miraculously prised themselves out of their much loved beds and are school bound. I'll be honest, this is all a wee bit alien to me, our 'O' Level and CSE results (yes I am that old) were posted to us, there was none of this going to school during the holidays. In hind sight, I would have preferred going to collect them rather than sitting, worrying and looking out for the postman, but that's all in the past. Today it's off to school and it's time for envelopes to be opened, and futures to begin.

Julie May Lingerie Review

Now I’m not sure how much common knowledge this may be, but certainly amongst close friends and family, I am known for my love of underwear and my need to wear matching undies. This has caused much amusement to many people. Over the years I have relaxed a little, but even if the undies are not from the same collection, they must be matching in colour; also a very important rule, they can only not be matching if they are plain, simple undies, if they’re lacy or fancy in any way, then they absolutely have to be from the same collection. In short, if the undies don’t match, I feel uncomfortable all day and less confident (don’t ask me why, it’s not like anyone can see I’m unmatching, but that’s how it is).

Anyway, as usual I have digressed somewhat, the point of the undies talk is that I am a very lucky and very happy girl, because the lovely folk at Julie May were kind enough to let me review their beautiful Serenity range.

Left-Handers Day 2019

Are you left-handed or do you know a left-hander? Well today is Left-Handers day and since we have a left-hander in the family, namely Miss D, it seems only right that we at least acknowledge it and maybe even treat her to something to make her life just a wee bit easier.

That said, she was a very lucky girl when she started school in reception class. She had two teachers, one of whom was left handed, and a left handed teaching assistant. This helped her tremendously. I know some left handed children can really struggle in school because the way in which they form their letters is different, not to mention nothing is set up for them, but having teaching staff who understood, meant we avoided that and I have never, ever seen a single smudge in any of her school books throughout her entire school career! Scissors are still an issue though and I really should invest in a pair just for her.