Rosie's Soap & Glory Bargain at Boots

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, just wanted to share my latest bargain x

Hi honeys
I'm all excited :) Like lots of other ladies who adore the Soap and Glory range of products I wait all year for their wonderful Christmas bag :) You can find detail of this year's bag here honeys.  So having already added additional yummy S &G supplies to my bathroom cabinet from the Christmas bag, while shopping this week I popped into Boots and was thrilled to find this...

Isn't it pretty honeys?  It's in the Boots after Christmas sale reduced from £18 to £9.  Shall we take a closer look at this set and it's contents?

Wondering What To Do With Left Over Candy Canes?

Hi Honeys
Has everyone started the great tidy up after Christmas?  Christmas might be fun but good grief it does make a mess of a lassie's house :) No matter how much we tidy up and try to keep on top of clearing away the wrapping paper and packaging and all of the other assorted litter of the holidays, it's never enough to make the house tidy again and you know what? That's fine!  It's the holidays :)

Are you nuts Rosie? I hear you ask, If I don't stay on top of it the house will be in chaos! Know what honeys? Maybe a wee bit of chaos is a good thing? Just a wee bit mind :) There'll be time for housework later, the house (or the housework) isn't going anywhere :) What about, just for today, you make time for you?

Still have candy canes lying around?  Have a look, there might be a couple still on the tree...  OK, having found a candy cane, off we pop to the kitchen to gather the following supplies...

It's A Great Time To Be A Fan Girl (or Guy)

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products, I just wanted to share some fan girl smiles x

Hi Honeys
If you saw my last post you'll know I got very excited because of a lovely Star Wars top I'd seen in Primark :)  Primark is in fact positively full to the brim with fan pleasing goodies...

There are t shirts, PJs, socks, all manner of fan girl (or boy) pleasing items :) Shall we have a closer look?

Star Wars Smiles At Primark :)

Hi Honeys
I hope you're enjoying the holidays :) Just wanted to share a quick smile before I dash off to work this morning...

Isn't it adorable?  I spotted this sweet top in Primark yesterday and I have to admit it made my inner nerd girl squeal with it's cuteness :)

It's a very good time to be a sci fi & fantasy fan at the moment honeys, it's almost fashionable! The buzz surrounding the new Star Wars movie is fabulous and reminds me of a time long ago (and not quite so far away) when I stood in the rain in a queue (which went clean around the building and met the front again!) outside the Odeon Cinema waiting to see A New Hope all those years ago :)

I snapped a few other pics of fan girl wonders yesterday and will share those tomorrow when I have the day off, when I'll also catch up on your lovely comments too xx
Till then, have fun dear ones,
huggles always xxx

Happy Holidays Honeys!

Hi Honeys,
Just wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend, with the help of one of my latest reindeer friends Martin Moose :)  What? He looks like a Martin, it seems to suit him, don't you think :)

Lets all make some happy, smiley memories dear ones, till next time, be happy, smile and hug lots and have a fabulous, fun filled weekend, huggles always xxx 

Reindeer Invading The Bedroom - Christmas Bedding Is Super Cute!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products just wanted to share my latest smiles x

Hi Honeys :)
It's starting to look a little like Christmas around here :)

So, I decided I needed some cheering up, it really has been an exhausting few weeks so I set about changing our master bedroom so that I could finally add the adorable reindeer cushions Hubby brought me home.  Do you remember them honeys? They look like this...

I seriously can't help but smile every time I look at this adorable reindeer :)  Focus, Rosie! lol :) Sorry :) So, anyway...

Printable Christmas Menu To Download..

Hi honeys
I hope you're having a fabulous week and looking forward to the holidays this weekend :)

I had fun this morning creating a little Christmas menu printable and I thought I'd share...

I'm going to print it off and, just for the day, replace my weekly menu (which lives in a pretty frame in our hallway) with this one :)  Do you remember my dinner menu boards? There are two versions and they look like this...

If you missed them honeys you can download them here.

Onward then to the Christmas version...

 I know that not everyone adores reindeer as much as I do though so I've also made a version without the reindeer (and Santa) at the top and it looks like this...

What do you think honeys? I hope you like them as much as I do :) I especially love the little smiling gingerbread man, he made me smile too :)

You can download the first version, with the reindeer, here.

You can download the second version, without reindeer, here.

I would be so thrilled if you like either of them enough to make them a part of your holiday celebrations :) Why not pop one on the fridge door and make notes or jot down reminders for the big day such as what time to start the Turkey cooking, any extras you need or even just a running order of what to cook and when?

They might look cute in a frame with your dinner menu on show so your guests know what yummy treats are in store for them :)

Whatever you're doing dear ones, I hope you're having fun, smiling lots and hugging even more :) Till next time, huggles xxx

Printable Name Badge For The Elf In Your Life :)

Hi Honeys
Only a week to go till Christmas is here :) Everywhere is so busy and everyone is smiling :) We've all been wearing Christmas jumpers at work which has been a lot of fun and today I'm wearing my elf tshirt & hat :) Hubby has one too and is wearing his to the office today :) Which brings me to today's post...

 I thought it might be fun to add a little name badge to my hat :) "Why Rosie?" I hear you ask. Well, why not :) So yesterday I was messing about trying to come up with a badge design and managed this...

It's still making me smile :)  I've printed out the green version above for Hubby and for myself I printed out a version in red and here it is honeys...

I've printed these out on paper and then laminated them. Once that was done I then added a safety pin to the back of the badges using a little sticky tape. They could then easily be attached to the Elf hats :) 

If you don't want to laminate your badges you could print the designs out on card stock, again adding a safety pin to the back?  Please remember though that if you'd like to print these for younger children it might be safer to print them onto stickers.   

Would your little elves rather be Santa's helpers? 

Here it is again in red....

If you'd like to join in the fun, just hover your mouse/cursor over the design you'd like and right click on your mouse and choose "save picture as" from the options and save  :)

I hope you have a fabulous weekend honeys.  I know it's a busy time, with so many last minute things to do, wrapping, last minute cards to write, baking and planning for Christmas day itself, but whatever you're doing this weekend, try not to stress too much and find time to smile lots and hug even more :) 

Till next time dear ones, huggles always xxx     

Rosie's Reindeer Smiles :)

Hi Honeys,
I'm typing this while grinning :) I have a little reindeer dancing in front of me right now and he's making me grin :)  "OK, Rosie, how long have you been seeing dancing reindeer?" you might ask....

Well, it all started a few days ago when my dear BiL (who you might remember had come up on holiday) got back to the house after having gone into town with Hubby on a shopping trip before he headed back home and brought me these cuties....

Even if I didn't have a wee reindeer standing in front of me dancing away I'd still be grinning from looking at this photo :)

I know I ramble on occasionally way too often :) about my love for all things reindeer dear ones but I'm grinning from ear to ear and just wanted to share a smile (or lots)

Starting at the left hand side of the above photo there is a little sparkly reindeer with a jaunty green scarf who just stole my heart at first glance :) He was actually a gift from Hubby (thank you sweetheart, love him xx) He lights up and sparkles and twinkles and is beyond adorable :)

Next along is the most ridiculous and yet at the same time completely fabulous bobbling headband I've ever seen :) I soooooo can't wait to wear this to work this weekend! Best. Hairband. Ever. The little reindeer heads are on springs so that they bobble about the whole time :) Such fun!

Behind the little bobbling headband is an inflatable 18 inches tall reindeer :) Every home should have one and I'm so looking forward to inflating him on Christmas day :) There might even be a few photo opportunities with our furbaby Jade, although I'm sure she'll expect him to squeak like her toys or come to life and be a play friend :)

Last but by no means least, is this little cutie....  

Isn't he adorable honeys? The little red stand he's on has a mini solar panel on it and this powers him so that he dances happily and makes me grin till my face aches :) He's sooooo cute!!  His packaging is sort of like a bubble around him allowing him space to wag his arms and antlers up and down. Mountains of hugs to my dear BiL for knowing me so well and understanding my "reindeer thing" :)

What's making you smile this week honeys?  Why not share in the comments section below? Till next time dear ones, stay warm and safe, and smile & hugs lots :) huggles always xx  

Soap And Glory: The Whole She-Bang

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any of these products just wanted to share a smile and offer my opinions xx

Hi Honeys
I hope you're staying warm and having fun.  Everywhere is so busy now, you'd think it was nearly Christmas....

Since we had my lovely BiL visiting last week Hubby and I had both booked the week off work.  It was a lovely week and it was wonderful to have a little quiet oasis of calm in the midst of what is the busiest time in retail.

Having gotten an email from the lovely folks at Soap And Glory warning me that their "It's The Whole She-Bang" gift set would go on sale for half price this week, Hubby, bless him, was off out the door before 8am on Friday morning heading into town to beat the rush in Boots (thank you sweetheart! Love you xx)

The first thing you can't help but notice is the bag......

As always, it's a huge bag.  The design, by pop Art artist Phillip Colbert,  is beautiful and certainly very striking to look at but I have to admit to missing the more retro look of their previous bags with that gorgeous shade of vintage pink as a background.  While this bag is very pretty, it's just a little too "busy" for my tastes. What drew me to the Soap And Glory range, before I'd even tried any of them, was the design of their gorgeous vintage packaging.

Photos, Memories & Believing In Yourself

Hi honeys
As a part of our (on-going) home organization project I've been gathering photos together into one place, as opposed to scattered around our home as they seem to have been.  Little packets of photos I've had developed over the years and never gotten around to framing or putting into albums. 

Each time I find a small packet of these photographs, long since forgotten, in boxes, in drawers and cupboards, I have no idea what I'm going to see when I open the pack.  Memories certainly, some happy, some now tinged with a terrible sadness.  Photographs of lost loved ones are the most painful.
Have you ever looked at an image and wished so desperately to be able to step into it honeys?  I'll always miss my loved ones taken from us too soon, till my last breath I'll miss them but I'm choosing to see finding these long forgotten images as a blessing.

A reminder of happier times when I could lift the phone and hear their voices.  These precious photographs are tiny bubbles of time, perfectly preserved.  I know that looking at them is only painful because I haven't processed so many losses yet and I also know that when I am able to work through all of the grief I carry with me every day the pain will lessen and I'll be able to smile instead. Feel happy when I look at those treasured images instead of sadness.  

I've discovered something else honeys. I have very, very few photographs of myself. If I could turn the clock back maybe I might have tried to avoid the camera a bit less I think.  I would have tried to work through issues, a consequence of being told repeatedly how ugly I was for many, many years by two (very) toxic friends.  Even now, on this blog, there isn't a single photo of me.  Nor will there be anytime soon honeys.

I'm actually far more comfortable in my own skin than I was a few years ago. This was helped I think by the removal of those toxic friends from my life and by the passing of time.  The absence of the drip drip of well aimed, downright nasty comments has allowed the countless compliments from my dear Hubby (thank you sweetheart x) to, if not be entirely believed, to at least not be entirely drowned out.

Do I think I'm pretty? Absolutely not! Do I think I'm the most hideous, troll beast who ever crawled out from under a bridge? Well, less so than I used to... and I'm working on it honeys. Which brings me to the point of this post.

The very second that someone, anyone, tells you that you are less than, that is the second they become less than themselves. Less than a decent human being and less than worth your time or effort. No matter who this person is, whether it's a "friend" (no real friend would ever hurt you) or a relative (all through my childhood I had an aunt who would constantly, and loudly, announce that I carried my own sofa with me to sit on) or a boyfriend (immediately kick THAT to the kerb!) NO MATTER who it is who does this to you honeys, get it out of your life and if you can't do that (we can't choose our family for instance) it needs to be dealt with.

No one. No one. Has the right to make you feel badly about yourself dear ones. Ever.  You are a wonderful, original, perfect you.  There's no one else on this earth who is you. You're more special, more beautiful than you could ever imagine and anyone who ever tells you otherwise, calls you names or ever tries to hurt you is completely unworthy of you.

Your task for this weekend then honeys is this. Do something, anything, just for you. Something that makes you smile so much your face aches and leaves you feeling fabulous. Something that makes you feel like the wonderful, amazing person you are.  Doesn't have to be anything huge, it just has to make you smile.  Today I'm going to wear make up and put on one of my "going out" dresses even though I haven't gone out in an age and the farthest I'm likely to go is grocery shopping :) Do something for you honeys and have a fabulous weekend, stay warm and safe, smile lots and hug more :)  huggles always dear ones xx

Christmas Questionaire Tag :)

Hi Honeys
Today's post has been such fun to write! I've been tagged in a fabulous Christmas questionaire by lovely Heidi of Heidnspeak  Thank you so much for thinking of me Heidi xxx

Without further ado then honeys off we go.....

Rosie's Fun & Fabulous Ikea Visit Part 2

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, I just wanted to share our latest visit and some smiles :) hugs x

Hi Honeys
Back again with the last part of (this latest) trip to Ikea :) If you missed part one you can find it here. I really do love Ikea visits. They're around half an hour away from us (by car) though so we only manage to visit a couple of times a year. This is why each rare visit is planned down to the tiniest detail. I blogged about how we plan our visits here honeys.

Off we go then honeys, off to Ikea....  

If you read the last post you might remember I mentioned a chair used in one of the bedroom displays?  This is the chair in a gorgeous shade of green  :)

Rosie's Fun & Fabulous Ikea Visit Pt1

Hi Honeys
How are you today? I hope you're having a fabulous week with lots of smiles :) Do you remember I told you about the busy day Hubby, our furbaby Jade and I had on Thursday? You can read about it here.  Well honeys, part of our day out was a trip to one of my happy places... Ikea :)

As promised I took lots of photos so i could share the smiles :) I think I might have to split this post into two because even then it would be incredibly photo heavy.  OK then, shall we take a look?

Friday Smile: The Moose With The Moustache & The Monocle :)

Hi Honeys
I hope you're staying warm and safe with the weird weather we're having. It's still raining outside and I'm starting to forget what the sun looks like :/  Forget about the weather though because this weeks Friday smile just has to be about the cutest, sweetest, most adorable wee thing :)

Yep, you read that right honeys :) You might have noticed my love of all things reindeer dotted around this blog, so this time of year I find myself smiling a lot :) It sometimes feels as if every time I turn around there's another reindeer :)  Reindeer are everywhere and I love it! 

For The Love Of Books....

Hi honeys

I'm sorry I've been missing for a few days. Work is keeping me really busy right now and I'm feeling exhausted by the time I get home.  I hate to sound like a Grinch but I'll be so happy when the Holidays are over for another year.  I'm just not a Winter person. I dislike the cold and the damp because they make my body ache terribly and make me afraid whenever I have to go outside in case I fall. 

Oddly enough the season of "goodwill to all men" tends (from the perspective of a person who works in retail) to make some (thankfully very few) people even more rude, impatient and bad tempered than they are throughout the rest of the year :/ Don't believe me? I was yelled at for saying "bless you" to a customer who had sneezed! What's to do honeys? I waited till he was finished yelling at me and said "you're welcome."  The man then swore at me and stormed off. Is it any wonder I want to hibernate every year? People get stressed and yell at wee Rosies!

So, what have being really busy, putting up with bad tempered gentlemen (!) and chilly weather got to do with books I hear you ask?  Well, they certainly all leave me in desperate need of smiles.  After a very busy weekend and feeling incredibly drained I decided to rest yesterday, hug our furbaby Jade on the sofa and catch up on reading my favourite blogs only to discover I had been tagged in a reading habits quiz by the lovely Heather from Icing On The Cake.  Thank you honey! I love this x  Thank you also to our lovely Helen of I Will Bloom for starting this fun tag, thank you honey xx  Let's get started then shall we? 

Blogging 101: Adding Tabs to Blogger

Hi honeys
I hope you've had a fabulous week and that you're managing to stay warm.  We've had constant rain for days now, if it wasn't so cold I could fool myself into thinking it was Summer :)

Do you remember I recently decided to try to learn a little more about blogging and eventually coding too? I invited you to come along with me and have so far (among other topics) posted a step by step to adding share buttons on Blogger as well as a guide to adding your own personalised "favicon." A favicon is an icon which appears next to the page name. It is sometimes referred to as a web page icon, shortcut icon or a bookmark icon.

Today I thought we'd see how easy (and it so is honeys) it is to add tabs along the top of your page, under which you can sort your blog posts by subject (label.)

Lets Look Forward To Summer :)

Hi Honeys
It's getting cold now, such a chill today and Jade didn't even want to go walkies with her Daddy this morning. She went out into the back garden and that was as far as she wanted to go.  She's having a nap in front of me right now, snuggled under her blanket, bless her.  She's been there most of the morning, on her wee sofa.

According to the weather forecast on TV this morning we're supposed to have snow this weekend. This is not a prospect that fills me with joy.  Yes I know that a snowy landscape looks beautiful on a Christmas card but the reality is that it's freezing cold (well, duh Rosie!) and it's also slippery!  Both the cold and the ice are beyond unbearable to me honeys.

Birds Of A Feather...

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products, just wanted to share a smile x

Hi honeys
Well it's been a right old week hasn't it?  Earlier this week we were hit by Storm Abigail and right on it's tail the UK then had Storm Barney.  Thankfully we've been protected from the worst of it, there were awful gusts of wind all through the night and it's been raining incessantly now for well over a week. 

During both storms the rain was so heavy it hammered against the windows and scared our furbaby Jade, who absolutely refused to go for her walks bless her.  The farthest she would wander from the house was onto the grass in the back garden.  As if her fear of the dark wasn't enough to cope with, wee lamb :/  I know I'm being very boring here honeys but I repeat, I absolutely want to be a grizzly bear and hibernate till Spring! I'm so not a Winter person.

I'm in need of cheering up today so I thought I'd share what I've done with those adorable little owls I mentioned recently :)

You might remember that I'd put the smaller owls by the cookie jar in the kitchen but you can't have ornaments in a kitchen, well you can of course, but it's just another thing (or things) to move every time I want to wipe down the worktops.  So, I went for a wander around our home looking to find a more appropriate new home for the owls :)

Friday Smiles: Owls Owls Owls!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products honeys, just sharing my smiles x

Hi Honeys
Today's Friday smiles are brought to you by owls! Little owls. Little ceramic owls, of the so cute it's not even possible to describe them properly variety :)

Do you remember the owl cookie jar I bought recently?  Well he's been joined by a few friends....

As you can see these adorable ceramic owls have a message too.  Each of the three owls is posed to represent the saying or idiom of "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."

You can't quite see them in the photograph but the owls eyes, as well as the beak on the little see no evil owl, are all tiny little diamonte or crystal chips .  There are no words for how adorable these little guys are and you'll never believe where we found them honeys.

We first saw them in the online catalogue for Poundland (a UK version of the Dollar store?) You can see their online catalogue here.  Just scroll down and click on the open catalogue link. The owls were  £1 each, so £3 for the set and they have to be the bargain of the week! I can't see them without smiling.

Also from Poundland (and also in their catalogue) Hubby brought me home two of these reindeer cushions...

I have the perfect spot for them too.  They're going to sit on our bed in the run up to Christmas, with the Ikea reindeer cushion Hubby got for me a while ago.  You might have noticed I adore reindeer :)

So that's our Friday smiles :) Adorable owls and too sweet reindeer cushions :) I hope you're having a smiley day too honeys and have plans for a fabulous weekend.  Till next time dear ones, stay warm and safe and have fun, huggles always xxx

A Catch Up On My Week & Becoming An Elf :)

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products, just sharing some smiles x

Hi Honeys
I hope you're well and having a fabulous week :) My week so far has been a bit meh if I'm honest :/  I had worked an extra shift last Sunday and while I knew it would leave me pretty drained, I also felt really guilty that everyone else at work is picking up extra shifts and I'm only working my regular hours.  So, I'd decided that I wanted to try to help out more and I still do.  I'm just going to have to space out any extra hours a little in order to not be completely drained for days as I have been this past week.

I know, it's common sense isn't it honeys?  Don't go writing cheques that your body bank doesn't have energy to cover :/  I really did enjoy my extra shift though. It was odd working an early morning, I haven't done that for a while and there was a different atmosphere from my regular late evening shifts.  Aside from odd additional working hours for me, we've had some adventures this week :)

While doing a short grocery shop in Asda (Walmart) I saw something that so made me smile that I had to walk over to it :) I was drawn, I actually squealed! In the shop! People stared at me! I didn't even care :) It looked like this......

Friday Smiles - Late Autumn Roses Update

Hi honeys
Good grief the wind is chilly today! It's also a miserable, dreich day outside too. If it wasn't November it could easily be a Scottish Summer :) I've always thought that our weather is at least partly responsible for making Scots such a resilient people :)

The reason I'm waffling about the wacky Scottish weather honeys is that I wanted to let you see how the roses in the garden had changed since I shared them last week.  Off I went with my camera into  our tiny front garden to snap a couple of photos.  The sky of course choose that moment to open and I came back into the house very soggy indeed.  You're worth it though honeys :)  So here they are.....

They make me smile each time I see them :)  I'd really like to add another rose bush to this tiny front garden in the Spring, possibly over by the front door, so that's something to look forward to.  Just for the record honeys, I'd still prefer to be a lovely grizzly bear and just hibernate through this truly icky weather, waking in Spring just in time to hang my laundry outside :) However, I'm not a grizzly bear, I'm a wee Scottish lady so in the meantime I'll have to be happy with lots of layers to keep the winds (and rain) away and concentrate on finding beauty around me, like these roses :) The countdown to Spring has begun :)

I hope you're looking forward to a fabulous weekend honeys and that your weather is much better than ours is right now :) Till next time dear ones, stay warm and safe, hugs always xx 

Show Packaging Clutter The Door!

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to promote any products. I use these bags on a daily basis and adore them, just wanted to share how they help in our home x

Hi Honeys
I hope everyone is well and staying warm.  Tonight has been Guy Fawkes night here in the UK so I'm typing this with various explosions, courtesy of assorted fireworks, still going on outside.  This time of year stresses me out. Our furbaby Jade gets very frightened by all of the noise, she's a very nervous wee dog so this time of year, for days before today and for many days after, Hubby and I are on almost constant cuddle duty, bless her.

Today I was in the kitchen sorting and tidying our pantry cupboard and thought I'd share a system we started a while ago.  You might remember a post where I showed you how we make recycling so easy in our kitchen?  If you missed it you can read it here honeys.  Since we now had a designated recycle bin handy, we began recycling the assorted packaging from our grocery shop as soon as we got home, when we were unpacking the groceries.  This is how we do it.....  

I can clearly remember the visit to my happy place, the organizing heaven that is Ikea, when I first discovered the Istad range of bags. We popped a box of each size into our trolley and took them home with a vague idea that they'd be useful.  Oh my, they have been :)

Delicious Cheesy Breaded Chicken Fillets

Hi Honeys
I hope you're staying warm, it's so chilly outside and today we have the rain lashing against the windows too! Just ick! I miss the Summer we didn't even properly have this year :) Our furbaby Jade needed a whole lot of coaxing from Hubby and I to even go outside this morning, bless her.  She's very like her Mummy, she doesn't like icky weather and she really doesn't like it being dark all of the time :/  Our baby is a nervous wee dog and doesn't like the dark at all.

In search of smiles I thought I'd share a delicious recipe honeys :) 

This is one of Hubby's favourites and can be served so many ways.  As Dinner it can be eaten with a lovely crunchy side salad (seriously, yum!) with light and fluffy mashed potato or even with savoury potato wedges.  For a very filling but healthy lunch, these scrumptious cheesy chicken fillets can be sliced and used to fill a yummy wrap. Hubby loves these! His lunch wrap will usually also have crunchy iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes and cucumber and finely chopped spring onions (scallions.)

Mammogram Update And Helpful Links

Hi Honeys
Hello again, you might remember I posted recently about my experiences while attending my very first mammogram screening appointment.  You can read that post here if you missed it. 

I've received a letter saying my screening results were "satisfactory" and that I'm to attend for screening again in three years time. 

As you can imagine honeys I'm incredibly relieved and very grateful to have been given as close as the Screening service gets to giving anyone an all clear result, but I'm also very aware that not everyone is so blessed. My dear Grandmother told me once that knowledge is a powerful thing, that things lose their ability to scare us when we learn about them. 

I've found two very helpful leaflets produced by the NHS which you can download.  They are both PDF documents and the first booklet goes into detail about what happens during screening, explains the possible results and what will happen after screening has been done.  You can read and download this booklet here honeys: Breast Screening: Information to help you decide

The second leaflet contains information on how to be "breast aware."  It describes changes to look out for and when to go see your Doctor among other useful information. You can find this leaflet here: Be Breast Aware.

It's so, so important to try to be aware of what our bodies are telling us and to then act on it.  It's up to us honeys to equip ourselves with the information we need to make healthy life choices.  I hope you're having a fabulous week so far, stay warm honeys.  Till next time dear ones, hugs always xx

Happy Halloween Honeys

Hi Honeys
Just wanted to say happy Halloween :)

Have a fabulous weekend, stay warm it's getting chilly out and have fun :) Till next time dear ones, hugs always xx

Friday Smiles - Back Into The Garden!

Hi Honeys
For todays Friday smiles I went out this morning and took a few photos in our front garden for you :)

The roses in our tiny front garden have always been beautiful, but this past year or two they have surpassed themselves honeys. You can see posts on them here and here and again here.  These posts have printables too :) We've been so blessed this year being surrounded by so much beauty and I'm so grateful for every little smile :)

Halloween: Gruesome Gingerbread Cookies Recipe :)

Hi honeys
I hope you're well and staying warm. I'm writing this with the rain lashing against the windows of our living room and I'm happy to be inside where it's cosy.  I thought today, since it's almost Halloween, I'd share my gingerbread cookies recipe :)

I posted this recipe a while ago (you can see it here) but I've created a cute Halloween version of the recipe as a printable download for you. I hope you like it, I had such fun making it :)

Smiling in The Kitchen & Pretty Accessories

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, I just wanted to share my latest wee smiles x

Hi Honeys
I hope you've had a fabulous weekend full of smiles :) It's been hectically busy here but I wanted to share some smiles I found for our home.  I popped in to Asda (Walmart) for some fruit and milk and came out with lots of adorable home accessories too from their sale :)

At the bottom left hand corner of the above photo you can see a wooden sign.  It jumped at me because of it's vintage appearance and I'm such a vintage kinda gal :) It says freshly baked - the best cookies in town and in smaller lettering underneath, made with love :)  What can I say it, made me smile honeys :)   

The middle photo on the left hand side is of a set of four stoneware measuring cups.  They're just adorable and more importantly they measure in cups! No longer will beautiful recipes I find on Pinterest make me draw my eyebrows together and leave me entirely stumped as to what exactly a cup of flour looks like :)  Pounds and ounces I get, kilograms and grams I can get my head around thanks to my tiny electronic scales but cups of stuff?  Nope, drawing a complete blank :/  So, when I saw this adorable little measuring set,  giving (at last) an accurate, recipe following, amount of one cup, three quarters of a cup, half a cup and a little quarter cup too, well they had to come home with me :)

Which brings me on to my absolute favourite finds :) Top of the list has to be these guys....

Looking Forward To Halloween & Frighteningly Fun Printable

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, just excited about Halloween and wanted to share some smiles x

Hi honeys
For today's Friday smile I thought I'd share what I did yesterday afternoon :)  Is anyone else excited that Halloween is almost with us?

I adore Halloween! It's one of my favourite holidays :) I love everything about it. I love the costumes, the scary movies on TV, especially the old back & white classics that scare us with dramatic scores & rely on what we don't see rather than showing far (far) too much (take that, gory slasher films!)

How To Cope With Chronic Fatigue

Disclaimer:  This is not medical advice, if you suffer from fatigue or any other medical condition please seek advice from your Doctor or a healthcare professional x 

Hi Honeys
I hope everyone is well and staying warm.  I thought today I'd talk about energy if you don't mind? Energy, or rather the lack of it, has been at the fore of my thinking this week.  I should explain. 

First thing Monday morning I attended an appointment at our local hospital.  The appointment was in the Occupational Therapy Department and had been organized for me by a very kind Doctor I'd seen  on my last visit to the rheumatology clinic.  The occupational therapist explained that I had been recommended to take part in a "fatigue clinic" which aims to help attendees cope with their work and home life.

Blue Skies in Autumn..

Hi honeys
This is just a quick post to hopefully share a smile :) You might have heard me moan mention :) a few times that I'm so not a fan of the chilly, dark (who turned the lights off?) days of a Scottish Winter.  I might even have mentioned a few times my longing to be a grizzly bear, just so I could go snuggle under a duvet around October and wake up in time to start hanging out laundry around March :)

Well, just as I'm getting ready to close all of the curtains in the house and keep them that way till Spring, mother nature goes and does this....

It all started this morning when I looked out of the kitchen window and saw this....

Lots and lots of fluffy clouds with the bluest of skies just peeking through :) We're now in mid October and just as I'm starting to think about digging out winter woollies we have the loveliest fluffiest clouds :)

Only a short while later the fluffy clouds were all gone and left this.....

Isn't it just beautiful honeys?  A perfect, beautiful, clear blue sky.  I've always thought the most  sublime beauty can be found in nature and today mother nature has outdone herself. It made me smile and I wanted to share :) This is as close to a faultless day as can be, the only thing missing is warmth.  It's a perfect Autumn day though, not Summer.  If you do catch the very slight breeze it's very chilly.  Cold enough to make pulling on a sweater or a cardigan necessary to stay outside longer than a few minutes.

Over to you honeys, do you have blue skies today? I hope so.  Whatever your weather is like today dear ones, I hope you have the best weekend ever, full of smiles, hugs and laughter :) Till next time, huggles always xx