Finding Smiles In The Garden...

Hi Honeys
I've spent most of this week looking for a reason to smile and maybe find a way to stop crying and I know for sure I'm not alone.  I can't bear to switch on the TV or to read the news.  Something terrible happened in Manchester this week and it's sent a shock wave through the entire country.

When terrible things like this happen, when good people, when innocent children, are hurt and killed deliberately, it's inconceivable.  How can this happen?  First there is shock, then I think our brain tries to make sense of it, but there's no sense to be made honeys.

I've been crying off and on all this week.  I've found myself crying while doing the dishes, while sitting with our furbaby on the sofa, while pegging out laundry on the line, even while doing nothing at all.

As I so often do when I'm finding it difficult to cope I headed out into out garden in search of a smile. I'm not sure it's really helped to be honest honeys but I did take some photos and thought I'd share in the hope that maybe they'd make you smile.



Do you remember those little miniature roses, a gift from a dear friend at Christmas, well they're still blooming...

In the above photo they're sitting in front of our blueberry shrub which is enjoying the recent sunny weather and growing well too.  It looks as if there will be another great crop of blueberries again this year.

The little miniature roses really are growing well, so much so that I've moved them outside into the garden so they can soak up the sunshine...

Ikea Muffinsmix Choklad - Yummy Chocolate Muffin Mix From Ikea

Disclaimer:  I have not been paid to promote any products, just sharing some fun I had yesterday in the kitchen x

Hi Honeys
Feeling at a bit of a loss for anything to do yesterday afternoon I wandered off into the kitchen and discovered something I'd actually forgotten buying!

On our last trip to Ikea I had picked up a pack of their make in the carton chocolate muffin mix.  I was interested in trying it since I have previously tried the other two items in the range.  One being their multi-grain bread mix (yum!) and the other being another muffin mix, this time a lovely lemon flavour.

Having really enjoyed the multi-grain bread, seriously delicious when topped with a little marmalade I thought, and the lemon flavour muffins I had promised myself we'd pick up a pack of their chocolate muffin mix on our next visit.

Having brought it home it was promptly forgotten all about and left to languish in the cupboard.  To be fair though I have been battling a persistent, and ouchy, arthritis flare for what feels like forever now and baking has been the last thing on my mind.

Anyway dear ones with my laundry all done yesterday and on the lookout for something to do I saw the cartoon in the kitchen and I thought "why not?"

If you've tried any of the Ikea mixes honeys you'll know they are essentially a carton containing the ingredients to which you add water and then shake vigorously in order to mix them together. This is explained in the usual Ikea fashion by an illustration on the packaging...

Now I know there are mixed feelings on the Ikea illustrations which act as wordless directions on how to use their products but I like them and have to admit I find them charming 😊

So, on to the muffins mix itself then honeys, what are the pluses and the minuses.....

Latest Avon Order Has Arrived!

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any products, just sharing my latest order and, hopefully, some smiles x

Hi Honeys
It's Friday again, after a beautifully sunny week of highs and lows, the highs being the sunshine and the lows being an arthritis flare in my spine (seriously ouchie) and a squirrel attack on our much loved peony roses.

I was in need of a smile this week for sure and first our order from Studio, with the cutest little egg cosies, arrived (I'm still smiling when I go into the kitchen and see them 😊) and then my Avon delivery arrived too yaaay😊

To be honest I'd actually forgotten what I'd ordered 😊 I'm seriously turning into a goldfish lately honeys.  I'm losing my glasses... a lot! I might need to start using one of those little cords that hang around the neck to keep track of them.

I keep walking into a room, forgetting why I went there and then after standing there wondering for a minute or two and once I've wandered off again, I'll remember whatever it is I'd intended to do. There's no hope for me 😊

So, while I still remember the contents of my latest Avon order (hee hee) I thought I'd share it with you 😊 I've added links where I could find them in case you're interested in trying anything.  Let's have a look shall we...

Disaster Among The Peonies!

Hello Honeys,
It would seem the old saying "pride comes before a fall" might well have some truth to it.  Do you remember I was recently waffling on about our much loved peony roses?

This year, for the first time ever, we have seven special rose buds appear!  The most we normally have is three so I couldn't believe my eyes.  I was so happy, so proud.... aha! There's that pesky pride.

So, I've been keeping a close eye on them, feeding and watering them, moved them up onto a higher point in the garden so they could soak in the most sunshine, which let's face it is rare enough in Scotland so I wanted them to have the best of it while it lasted.

Then dear ones, it happened!

You know I've spent many a happy time in our kitchen watching the odd visiting squirrel frolic in our garden, run along the top of the fence and up and into the nearby trees.  I'm a huge squirrel fan actually.

I stand up for the wee furry critters all the time.  I hang wee bags of peanuts in our garden on the apple tree when food gets scarce in winter time.  Then this happens...

Smiles In The Kitchen - Egg Cup Cosies For Douglas 😊

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to endorse or promote any products, just sharing my latest little kitchen smiles 😊

Hi Honeys
Our kitchen is making me smile so much right now 😊  It really is the silliest thing to be smiling about but I just can't help it! Even glancing at the photos for this blog post have me all 😊

I always adored Douglas honeys.  Hang on, I'm ahead of myself aren't I?  After all, what if you don't know who Douglas is?  Douglas lives on a shelf in our kitchen, or rather a few mini ceramic versions of him do.

Douglas was a creation of Aardman Animation, famous for their stop motion work which of course includes the wonderful Wallace & Gromit characters.

Douglas, sometimes known as the "butter man" appeared in a series of TV advertisements promoting Lurpak butter which ran from 1985 until the early 2000s.  If you haven't ever met Douglas you're in for a treat honeys...

Yippee! New Book Arrivals!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to recommend any books, just sharing our latest book shaped smiles 😊

Hi Honeys
How are you today?  I did laundry with my assistant, our furbaby Jade and planned a yummy dinner for tonight (baked potato with tuna and red onions in mayonaise as a side... yumm!)

A wee exhausted me got home from work late Saturday night to find a large box on the coffee table. Immediate smiles honeys, the books I'd ordered had arrived! Yaaay!

Saturday's shift at work (and the night before too) had been so exhausting, great shifts actually with more than my fair share of smiles, but exhausting none the less, so to find a large box of books waiting for me at home was wonderful!

Let's have a look at what was inside shall we?

Bank Holiday Monday - Sunhine, Smiles, Laundry & finding Lost Treasures...

Hi Honeys
What a fantastic week we've had here.  After a long, (really,really long... I mean it went on forever) and very bizarre winter that actually felt more like a never-ending Scottish summer... you know, not warm, not cold enough for an extra vest but day after day of seemingly constant rain.  Just eugghhhh!

Well, the miraculous has happened and the sun has remembered where the UK is! Not only did she remember us though, she remembered in time for a bank holiday weekend! Will miracles never cease!

There is a sort of unwritten law that says British bank holidays should be complete wash outs.  Wall to wall, chucking down from the heavens, will it never end, rain-fests.

Misery, thy name is a rained out bank holiday weekend!

Then, this past long weekend happened...

It was glorious honeys! It was sunny, warm, I was at work all day Saturday.... arrrgggggg! Not to worry I kept telling myself, there's always tomorrow.  Of course I don't ever really achieve anything much on Sundays really so maybe I was being a little optimistic.