I find myself saying this in many different ways as a mum, wife and friend.
Seeing it written in such a direct way makes me realise I need to get a grip, and start setting a positive example.
Wish me luck ha!
Have a lovely day!
about me
Flowers in the window!
I love flowers, I think they make all the difference in turning a house into a home.
Therefore, I regard flowers as essential, but am I right?
Here are the ones that are gracing our surfaces this week.
There are always fresh flowers in our living room window.
However, I usually have flowers in other places around the house too.
Like these Gerber’s that I bought this week, not only do they match my living room , but they are such a great seasonal colour too.
Do they not scream Halloween to you?
There were so many stems in the bouquet that I had enough left over to fill this little bottle.
They make me smile!
The other side of the TV is brightened up with these Gladioli.
I am hopeful that the best is yet to come from this display.
The flowers that have already opened look so delicate and beautiful.
The flowers in the window this week are Longhorn Lillies.
I love every variety of Lillie, they are my favourite but Stargazers give me a terrible headache
These oriental ones in my kitchen are a good compromise, the beauty, without the scent.
They really have developed into an impressive display.
The kitchen is also home to these lovely carnations,
I never used to like carnations but they are definitely enjoying a revival in our house at the moment.
I really dislike not having flowers around the place and they are certainly soothing the seasonal transition for me at the moment.
Do you have fresh flowers in your home, are they essentials or are they a treat?
Have a lovely day!
My Monday Quote!
I am always amused ha!
Honestly, I always feel a sorry for people who take themselves very seriously, life must be very dull.
Have a lovely day!
If I could…………
The lovely Catherine at Pushing The Moon has tagged me for this ‘If I could…….” meme.
It was started by Jocelyn from The Reading Residence who called it The Walter Mitty Post, which I think is brilliant!
I usually do my day dreaming during my commute, here is a little insight into my whimsical thoughts!
If I could live anywhere
I actually really love where I live but I wish we had a warmer climate.
I absolutely hate the cold and hope that when I am older, I get to spend a good proportion of the winter in a warmer place.
If I could spend the winter by the sea and even next to a beach, I would be a very contented pensioner indeed.
If I could have any home
I actually love my home and I don’t think I would want another.
But I do wish that our problems with the builder’s were sorted, we have lived here for fourteen months, it is very frustrating!!
However, I would love to transport this house, when it is finished, to somewhere warmer – please see above.
Nevertheless, because I am a massive contradiction, I often dream about transporting it to Cornwall – I LOVE Cornwall!
If I could have any garden
It would be big enough for a She Shed and I would be looking to Sammy from Seize Each Day to help me decorate it. She has the most fantastic beach hut.
The garden would have an orchard and an old fashioned kitchen garden with a door in the wall that leads to a secret garden.
It would be in Cornwall and have a gate at the very end that leads to a cliff top with, a secret beach below.
I would still have pots everywhere filled with flowers and herbs.
I love them.
If I could be on holiday right now
I would be in Crete, beautiful Crete.
I love the island, the people and the food – it is wonderful!
If I could have any job
I would own a coffee shop.
It would be called the Vanilla Tea Room and himself would work front of house.
I would spend all day baking!
If I could have any talent
I would be able to work a computer ha!
Then I would not have wasted the whole of Saturday afternoon on the phone trying to be self hosted.
Please note the word try, I am still not self hosted and, I will never get those hours back!
I would be grateful for any advice at this point ha!
If I could live any day again
It would be the first day I was a mum!
It was a wonderful but overwhelming day.
I would tell that frightened girl that it was going to be ok, the baby was going to be ok and life would be ok.
If I could have any superpower
I would have an invisibility cloak, I’m not even sure that is a super power, anyway, because I am actually quite shy in real life until I get to know someone.
However, when I do know you, I would use it to play tricks on people and try to make everyone laugh.
I now have to pass the fun on and nominate (only if you want to of course);
Sammy from Seize Each Day
Clare from Mud and Nettles
Tara from After The Rain
Haylee Aloada Bobbins
Amy from Love Made My Home
Thank you for nominating me Catherine x x x
Have a lovely day!
The Monday Quote!
I think Theodore Roosevelt had it right!
I apply this philosophy to every aspect of my life , home, job, children or handbag, they are what they are – I have other things to occupy my time.
I hope some of those competitive types who I have encountered at the school gates over the years have learned this – and now give their lovely children a break.
Thank you Theodore!
Have a lovely day!
My Monday Quote!
A friend, who was once a colleague, emailed this quote to me when I was at a low ebb at the beginning of the year.
Good old Christopher Robin and Lyn were right!
I am currently travelling and it seems our accommodation does not have internet access – for the avoidance if doubt we have the two girls with us too!!
I promise I will comment as soon as I find the internet, hopefully at at beach side location ha! X
Have a lovely day!
Love / Hate Blogger Challenge!
I have been nominated by both the lovely Becky who is The cuddle Fairy and the wonderful Catherine from Pushing the Moon, for this challenge. It has taken me such a long time to do it – sorry ladies x
The challenge is to list ten things that you love and ten you hate – to get to know each other a bit better!
I could have written both of Becky’s and Catherine’s lists, so sorry if some of our things are the same.
Ten things I love
My family
Our garden that we are trying to create from scratch
Jack our black labrador
Baking delicious treats
Cuddling new born babies
Yankee Candles
New shoes
The Glade but especially the neighbours
Being by the sea
Flowers everywhere & anywhere
Ten Things I hate
Inconsiderate behaviour especially from fellow drivers and dog owners!
Packing houses/suitcases/lunches
Unkindness or worse, bullying! And don’t get me started on if the victim is a child or an animal!
Litter
Injustice
Meat – I am a vegetarian
When the housework needs doing
Bad manners
Tomatos but love anything tomato flavoured
Being cold!!!!!
I think I have to nominate some other blogger to take part now, so;
Sammy from Seize Each Day
Muddy Mum from Mud and Nettles
Maria from Suburban Mum
Amy from Love Made my home
Stevie from Cornish Mum
Sandy from Mommy’s Little Princesses
Tara from After the Rain
Caro from The Twinkles Diary
Hayley from Hayley from Home
Do you lovely ladies fancy having a go? or anyone else fancy it?
Have a lovely day!
Just fake it!!
I am Summer ready! I have shaved, moisturised, and fake tanned every inch of my body that I may be forced to reveal.
Naturally, I am a pasty white colour, almost translucent, a nod I think, to my Celtic roots.
Therefore, fake tan has become essential, or at least very important to me.
There was much excitement in our office a few weeks ago when we learned, that St Tropez had brought out a gradual tan that you could apply in the shower.
I decided to give it a go and to compare it to my usual and reliable, Dove ‘Summer Glow”. I also promised a review, so here it is.
St Tropez Gradual Tan
For two weeks I washed, applied this St Tropez gradual tan, waited for three minutes, rinsed it off and patted myself dry.
The formula also includes almond oil which left my skin feeling soft and cared for.
Furthermore, I did not get that awful smell, you know the one, that always seems to accompany fake tans.
However, although I might have looked slightly less pasty than usual, it didn’t really feel as though it had made that much of a difference.
The test for me is, if I would leave the house with bare legs and after these two weeks the answer was a definite no!
Dove Summer Glow
I have been using the fair to medium version of Dove’s Summer Glow for a number of years now. I either put it on after my bath/shower in the evening or, in the morning.
It doesn’t stain the sheets like the first generation of fake tans did.
It always leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturised but, it does definitely have that particular odour.
However, it works on my resistant skin from the first application and, as always, my legs were ready to be bared after two to three applications.
Therefore, although I love to try new products, this time my old faithful definitely proved to be the best.
Have a lovely day!
*I have not been sponsored to do this review – gosh I wish I had, I spend a fortune on these and many other products ha!
Five on Friday!
This week has been a strange one for me, not least because it was my birthday on Tuesday.
So, I guess this is my birthday edition. As always I will be linking up with Amy from Love Made My Home for Five on Friday!
One
A selection of the beautiful Orchids and flowers that I received as gifts.
All so beautiful!
Two
Cadburys came to visit on the morning of my birthday and gave out chocolate biscuits – it was fab!
Three
Cupcakes that I made to share with my colleagues at work. They went down very well.
Four
I came home to this lovely cake off my girls! Shoes and handbags featured heavily on birthday cards too. They all know me so well!
Five
I got some beautiful cards and some very funny ones too!
I don’t usually celebrate my birthday so I was overwhelmed this year with kindness and thoughtfulness!
I have been wined, dined and totally spoilt all week!
Thank you everyone – you know who you are!
However, the very best present of all came in a 6Ib 9oz pink bundle – our very first Glade Baby! So exciting!
Have a lovely day xx
Our House Anniversary!!
Tomorrow, we will of lived in our house for a year!
I have seen a few people write about how they arrived at their current home to celebrate such an anniversary!
I had a quick glance around the internet’s and realised that most of our old houses are on there, so I thought y’all might be interested to see how we arrived at The Glade.
We we signed up for our first mortgage within weeks of my 18th birthday! We completed on our first, one bedroom house, in January as we got married later that summer – it’s what you did back then!
By the next summer we had out grown that house and moved to three bedroom mid Victorian terrace. We tore the house apart and spent a year renovating it. We lived in the main bedroom for months.
I remember being desperate for the hall carpet to be fitted before my 21st birthday.
Eventually we became a family of three there!
Seven years later we moved to the South East and rented this little house for six months while we got to know the area.
It had been a difficult time for us because Himself had been commuting to Milton Keynes, leaving me and Ms Glade during the week. I was exhausted because I was also working full time.
Ms Glade had her first garden to play in.
Six months later we decided to buy this house which was a 10 minute walk from the rented one.
We had some lovely neighbours and a beautiful garden.. But the pull of home, especially Himself’s parents grew too much and, 3 years later we grabbed the opportunity to move back up North.
We lived here for the next 12 years, welcoming Miss Glade and Jack into our family, getting on with work and educational matters. The girls were able to walk the half a mile or so, to their Grandma’s and, have spent lots of lovely times with her as they have grown up.
One year ago we moved to The Glade.
Hopefully, this will be our forever home but it would be nice if it was finished soon!
Looking at these houses doesn’t make me sad or sentimental, I realise that home really is where ever your nearest or dearest are!
I hope my wander down memory lane didn’t bore you too much, I am hoping that you love this link as much as me because, like me, you are nosy, if that’s the case, I bet it was right up your street – see what I did there?!?!
Have a lovely day!
* Pictures that I was missing are snaffled from RightMove!
Into The Glade! 