Why It's So Important To Regularly Check Your Blog's Settings..

Hi Honeys
Could I just start this post by saying aaarrrrrggggg!  Thank you, I feel a little better now :)  I am as big a twit as has ever been created.  If there was a league table for foolish people I'd hold the top three positions in it.  If you look up idiot in the dictionary you'll probably find a photo of me.  In short dear ones, I am an eejit and a complete and total one at that!

You might have read a recent post where I was very excited about having joined instagram? I had been forced to buy a new phone because my much loved little Nokia had become so unreliable. To be fair it is almost ten years old which isn't half bad for a little phone.  

Having gotten this new phone, which is worlds away from my Nokia, whose primary function was to make calls and act as a mobile photo album so I could always have furbaby smiles with me :) Yep, that's it.  I didn't send texts or anything else. It was a phone.

This new gadget does all kinds of cool things. I have a feeling I'll never know all of them because technology scares me more than a bit :) However, what it has done so far is to highlight a glaring, we're talking huge here, error in my blog's settings which would appear to have existed for the whole time I've been blogging... over two years!

Like I said earlier honeys, aaaarrrrrrrgggggg!!  Oddly enough, having discovered this error of epic proportions, it literally only took me minutes to fix it! OK, embarrassing though it is (and it so is!) I'll share in the hopes it will help prevent anyone else feeling as daft as I feel right now :)

What's Inside the Asda Wonky Veg Box?

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote or recommend any products, just wanted to share our latest kitchen experiment x

Hi Honeys
Back again after a very busy weekend at work :) I hope you've had a great weekend and that your week is off to a fab start. First of all, I need to apologise for my absence during the last week or so. I'm battling a blanket of exhaustion/feeling like my body batteries are drained right now.  I've felt like this for a while and not being able to sleep isn't helping. It will pass honeys and until it does I'll hang on in there x

On to today's post then :)  Recently, as part of our weekly grocery shop, we finally got to try one of the Asda (Walmart) wonky veg boxes and I thought I'd share it's contents with you.

I'd seen these boxes mentioned on TV earlier this year. The concept is great, a new way to allow farmers to sell vegetables & salad goods that don't pass the normally stricter inspection standards to make it onto supermarket shelves and onto our plates.

These wobbly or mis-shaped veggies are perfectly fresh, perfectly edible, perfectly fine they just don't look as pretty as their counterparts on countless market stalls and shop shelves is all.  After all, if we're going to wash, peel and chop vegetables why would we care that they're not perfectly straight?

This makes such sense to me honeys.  It helps the farmers sell more of their goods, instead of their being wasted by being binned, it's a great way to buy a huge box (at 5kg or nearly 11lbs in weight, it's pretty substantial) of healthy mixed veggies and it's relatively inexpensive too!  It's gotta be a win, yes?

Shall we take a closer look at the wonky veg box itself then honeys?

Picture Perfect Project: May: Sunshine & Fun in the Garden :)

Hi Honeys
I hope you're having fun and seeing all of this glorious sunshine too x   Jade and I have been having such fun in the garden and of course, since we don't see a whole lot of sunshine in Scotland I've been doing lots of laundry and hanging it outside to dry. Yaaay for laundry! I do so adore it :)

Well, it's the second Thursday of the month and that means it's time for the latest post in the Picture Perfect Project link up :) Yaaaaay!!

The Picture Perfect Project is a fun link up once a month whose aim is to encourage bloggers to take more photos, increase their photography skills, make their blogs look fabulous and have so much fun along the way too :)

I'm enjoying this wonderful monthly link up so much honeys, what a fabulous way to get to meet lots of lovely new blogging friends and also to chart a whole year in the life of our much loved garden.

I so wish I had been blessed with a green thumb! I wish I'd been born one of those truly gifted people who can make anything grow, alas though, I've always felt as if our beautiful garden grows in spite of me and not because of me :/   Why not grab a coffee then then honeys and we'll have a look at what's been happening this past month...

10 Wonderful Ways To be Happy...

Hi Honeys
Following on from yesterdays post, and determined to make this weekend a smile filled one,  I thought I'd share ten wonderful ways to feel happy :)

Of course there are lots of ways to feel happy but here are my favourites...

1. Count your blessings:  

Family, friends & furbabies :) I like to sit, once in a while and remind myself of all of the people I'm grateful to have in my life, the places I've been (not too many I'm afraid but I appreciate the memories I have) of all of the good there has been in my life.  It's so easy to allow negative things to take the front row in our minds I think, far better to focus instead on all of the positives we're blessed to have.  Why not make your list?  It'll be far longer than you think x  

2. Take time to do things you really enjoy: 

Read a book, phone a friend you haven't spoken to in a while, sit in the garden and listen to the birds, watch videos on youtube, whatever it is, just do it. Sometimes we get so focused on pleasing everyone else that we forget to make ourselves happy too.

3. Get plenty of sleep: 

I never feel happy when I'm tired, quite the opposite! I can be like a bear with a sore head if my body battery is running on empty.  Set up a regular bedtime routine so that your body knows it's time to shut down for the night.  Having a nighttime bath or shower, followed by a warm drink such as cocoa can help.

4. Stay physically active: 

I'm not saying go run a marathon every weekend :) If you do run or go to the gym, make time to do that regularly, if you're a spoonie like me and this isn't an option, why not go for a short walk outside when it's sunny? Take your furbaby along for company.  Raining outside? put on your favourite music and boogie like no one can see you... your furbaby won't judge :)  Do what you can to stay moving honeys, it'll release lots of endorphins or happy hormones and before you know it you'll be ridiculously happy :)

5. Make sure you keep a good balance between work and your social life: 

Easier said than done I know when there are bills that need paying and long shifts have become the norm but try to plan something you can look forward to on your day off, something just for you. Plan to meet up with friends, hang out with your other half, anything that makes you smile.

6. Let go of anything you can't change:  

I'm not saying to ever give up on things just because they're difficult but if you've tried your very best, if you're being hurt by being in a toxic relationship (and this doesn't need to be a boyfriend or girlfriend issue, toxic relationships can include friends and sometimes even family) if there is some issue in your life that is having a negative affect and you have no way of changing the situation, sometimes it's best to just stop. Acknowledge that nothing can change and move on.  

You deserve happiness honeys.  You deserve not to be hurt.  Whatever the problem is, even if it's long past and you just haven't been able to get closure,  why not talk it over with someone you trust? A close friend will listen and talking can help. A problem shared is a problem halved as the saying goes and I've always found this to be true.  Seriously though, if you've tried your very best, draw a line under it and leave it in the past. Don't drag grievances and past hurts around behind you, the person who hurt you won't care and you're only hurting yourself.  Don't give up a moment of future happiness for past pains honeys, you're worth so much more than that x

7. Try new things: 

Check out your local Community Centre and see what activities they run or look online for Meet Up groups where you'll find like-minded folks. There are groups for all sorts of interests always looking for new members.  Why not learn how to paint, join a book club, learn how to make pottery, go hill walking.  There are countless options, why not find something you've never tried before? You might find your new passion or at least make some lovely new friends.

8. Why not volunteer? 

This is such a wonderful way to help your community, to make new friends and to find lots of smiles along the way too.  There are always local groups looking for helpers.  You can find local opportunities by asking around in your area or by looking online at VolunteerMatch.org who match people to non profit organizations.

9. Sing: 

Has your favourite song ever come on the radio and you've sung along? How good did that feel? Why not gather some friends and go sing karaoke, take singing lessons or sing in the shower :) When I'm doing household chores I put on some favourite tunes and I sing my heart out. Time passes and before you know it the jobs are all done and you've been smiling till your face aches :) Housework won't even feel like work any more :)

10. Smile lots and hug even more: 

Yep, Smiling is a real win win!  You feel happier, everyone around you will feel happier and never, ever let an opportunity to hug someone pass you by :) You'll never know how much a hug can mean to someone who is having a bad day.  It can mean the whole world and you know what they say.... a hug is the perfect gift - one size fits all,  it's the only gift nobody minds having returned and the only accessories needed are smiles :)  

Over to you then honeys, how do you turn a frown upside down?  Why not share what makes you smile in the comments below?  Thank you for keeping me company and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Till next time dear ones, huggles xx

               

Five Fabulous Reasons To Smile!

Hi Honeys
How are you today? I hope you're well and looking forward to a fabulous weekend :)  I'm sorry I've been missing for the last week or so.  I've been feeling very low lately.  Everything has been such an effort and I'm finding it very difficult to be positive about anything.  It's a dreadful way to feel and on a practical level it's exhausting too since I'm seen at work as something of a mini Polyanna, the always cheery girl with the optimistic attitude.

I'll share a secret dear ones. There are some days (though thankfully not so many) when this happy wee Rosie is a very elaborate facade.  Like most spoonies who live with constant pain, the thing I dread is to be pitied, to be treated differently.  I don't ever want to be seen as less than anyone else because I need a cane to walk or because I get tired easily.  You see, I learned long ago that to avoid being treated differently I had to create a happy. smiley, positive front.  An image I could project, on difficult days, to those around me.  It's a form of self defence you see.  Nothing to see here world, just a happy, smiley person, move along...

We find ourselves living in a world where, it seems, it's considered to be in poor taste to show any weakness, and where people can be judged very harshly if they do.  You only have to pick up a newspaper to see how appallingly they speak of our elderly citizens (bed blockers? seriously?) or of differently abled (I dislike the term disabled) people who are often referred to as being a drain on resources :/  When did society have it's collective heart removed to become so callous?

I wonder at times how many others, like me, go through life projecting a perfect, calm, happy image to those around them when in reality things are not perfect at all.  Is the world made up of little ducks on a pond? Calmly and gracefully maneuvering through life when behind the scenes, under the water so to speak, all our legs are frantically thrashing.  As I said, the effort required to maintain the facade can be exhausting.

So, today I've decided I absolutely need to kick whatever this heaviness is off my shoulders and get back to being my usual insufferably cheery, happy & smiley self :) The best way I know to achieve this honeys is to practice a little gratitude and remind myself how incredibly lucky I am.

To that end then, I thought we could remind ourselves there are some pretty fabulous reasons to smile...