Quick & Easy Organizing Project: The Junk Drawer!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, just sharing a smiley little project that made me so happy its silly yesterday afternoon 😊

Hi honeys
How has your week been so far? We're back to rain here.  There's something calming about rain.  At least it's lowered the temperatures a little.  

As much as I dislike winter honeys, and I so do (I find walking on snow and ice terrifying) but after suffering a serious asthma attack on Monday afternoon, I'm coming to the conclusion that I should be on my guard during hot weather too. Luckily for me though, very warm weather is pretty rare in Scotland. So, near death experiences aside it hasn't been a bad old week 😊

Yesterday lunchtime with laundry all done I found myself at a loose end.  I wandered off into the kitchen looking for something to do and found a little organizing project to work on 😊

Do you have a junk drawer in your kitchen honeys?  A sort of "catch all" place for all of the stuff that doesn't seem to have a home anywhere else?  Until yesterday afternoon we had one too and it looked like this...

Ms Pomelo Bras - How To Choose The Right Size Bra Every Time!

Disclaimer:  I was lucky enough to be awarded a fabulous Ms Pomelo bra recently at a webinar but I have not been paid to write this post, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.  I just want to let everyone know about my terrific experience with this terrific company.

Hi Honeys
Would it be OK if we chatted about something a little personal?  Do you know your bra size?  Are you sure?

I thought I knew my bra size but it turns out I didn't at all.  Now,  I'm a mature lady who has spent years buying my own undies and probably almost as long complaining and wishing I had much (really much) smaller breasts because of the near constant pain in my shoulders and in my spine.

Who knew that the design of your bra could have such an impact on your health? I certainly didn't honeys..... This really is a life skill we should all have, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

OK, this is going to be a long blog post, I'll wait, go fetch yourself a coffee and maybe a cookie, and we'll settle down and talk lady bumps....

Beauty Found In Nature - Saturday Smiles

Hi Honeys
Someone wise once said that the best things in life are free.  Very true.  On Thursday night I opened the back door to let our furbaby Jade out into the garden and look what was waiting for us...

This wonderful rainbow made my day, it really did.  Hubby and I stood at the back door looking at it for a while, it was so clear, so bright. Like a beautiful ribbon floating in the stormy, cloud filled skies.

Is there anything so beautiful as raindrops on a rose?

Raindrops on rose petals make my heart smile honeys.  Catching them in a photograph is like looking at a perfect bubble of time, captured, preserved.

The world has such beauty in it honeys, we just have to slow down a little and be willing to see it.

Whatever you're doing this weekend dear ones, have fun, smile lots and never miss a chance to hug someone you love.  I hope you see countless rainbows, roses and beautiful things, huggles always xx

A Smile Found In The Sale Aisle 😊

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any products, this is something I bought that made me smile and I wanted to share is all x

Hi Honeys
Just a quick smiley post before I have to dash to work 😊  I found something that made me actually squeak out loud in store, loud enough to make two ladies look around at me 😊 It was this...

I adore solar lighting honeys, it allows often pretty things to glow warmly or to twinkle prettily without the need for power cables to trip over, and I'm just gifted when it comes to tripping I'm afraid.

Do you remember the adorable little solar fairy home I bought to be part of a fairy garden?  I still haven't made a start on the fairy garden yet but it's on my to do list and the fairy cottage sits in our tiny mudroom and makes me smile every time I see it 😊

These latest solar string lights are designed to look like old oil lamps and are so, so adorable!  I just love them!  Out of the box they look like this....

Aren't they just the sweetest honeys?  Now I have to figure out what to do with them, where to put them, of course.  I found them in the sale aisle at Asda (Walmart) and they only cost £4....bargain!  If you like them too it's worth having a look in your local store.

I'll keep you posted on where I decide to use them, it has to be somewhere I'll see them often so they'll make me smile.  Even looking at the photo above has me smiling again.  I know my beloved Mother in Law would have loved these 😊  

What's making you smile this week honeys?  Have you spotted any bargains in the sales?

Have a fabulous weekend whatever you're doing dear ones, smile lots and hug even more 😊 Till next time, huggles always xx

Sofa Days & Box Set Faves...

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any DVDs or products, just sharing what I've been watching recently x

Hi Honeys
I've been having a few sofa days recently... fellow spoonies will understand (be well, dear ones x) I feel as though, health wise, I've been on a roller coaster for months now with the ever present pain of arthritis almost bearable at times to days when pain is so awful I have to hold onto the walls to get around in our home.  On horrible days such as those, when I feel trapped on the sofa, I'm so glad I have favourite dvds to keep me company till Hubby gets home from work.  Today I thought I'd share a few of my recent box set viewing binges...

OK, imagine you finally have a day to yourself and have decided you're going to stay home and practice your "being an awesome hermit" skills (I'm an amazing hermit!)  You have snacks to munch on,  pillows for comfort and your furbaby for cuddly company 😊  what better way to relax and unwind than to settle on the sofa with a good box set to watch?

Onwards then to a list of what I've been watching recently and would highly recommend...

12 Steps To Help You Speak Publicly With Confidence

Hi Honeys
How do you feel about public speaking?  Are you comfortable standing up and giving a speech or a presentation?  In my youth I was the definition of a shrinking violet.  A serious, don't-even-look-in-my-direction, sits-at-the-back-hoping-no-one-will-notice-her, terrified person.

In my late teens I found myself on a community programme run by the BBC which was such fun but which I very stupidly quit.  I gave up my place because I discovered the next part of the programme required me to write a review of a radio show and then give a presentation to our group.  I absolutely froze, felt utterly sick, spent two whole days with my stomach churning, torturing myself with worst case scenarios and then, just like that, I quit.

Instead of seeing this amazing opportunity I'd been given as a chance to grow and develop I allowed my (severe) lack of self confidence to rob me of it.

Fast forward a few years and I'm at College, working my way through an NC in order to be able to gain entry to an HND in Law.  Towards the end of my one year National Certificate course in Office Technology (what does that have to do with law Rosie? well it was actually a Secretarial/Admin course and when teamed with an HND in Law it qualified me as a Paralegal... but I digress)

So, towards the end of my NC course I discovered that one of the units, Communications 4, required me to write a paper and to then give a presentation to the whole class on my paper!  Still a shrinking violet but guess what?  I did it.  I not only did it but I went over my allotted speaking time!  You can do it too honeys and I'll tell you how...

Pasta Bolognese Bake - A Whole New Take On Lasagne!

Hi Honeys,
As you might know from past posts, a fond favourite around here is lasagne.  Well, while on Pinterest recently I saw an image of a very interesting pasta dish and it literally made me stop scrolling to find out more 😊

Hubby and I both adore anything pasta based so any new pasta recipe is more than welcome but on reading more it turns out that this interesting new dish is actually a whole new take on Hubby's absolute favourite (honestly... he'd live on it!) pasta dish of all.... lasagne.

As it turns out, and for lots of Rosie shaped reasons which I will explain later in this post, I ended up trying this fab recipe but changing lots of it.  Not because I thought I knew better, I would never presume to think myself a better cook than anyone else. I'm not so much talented in the kitchen as ... enthusiastic 😊

There are any number of cooks, a whole world full I'm sure, who are waaaaay better cooks than I am but what I lack in skills I'm sure I make up for in smiles and enthusiasm 😊

I'll explain as we go along but mostly it's to do with my hands... yep.  Can't get them icky honeys. Just can't.  I remember so vividly being screamed at by a teacher in Home Economics class because I just couldn't bring myself to put my hands into a bowl of ingredients to make shortcrust pastry.  Even all those years ago when I made it all the time at home, I adored cooking, especially baking, when young, but I had a tiny electric mixer for the icky bits 😊

I'm really not exaggerating when I say that even the thought, the briefest of mental images in any way related to anything going under my nails or sticking to my hands can actually creep me out.... just ewww 😓  The food processor and my handy little electric mixer are my dear friends even now 😊

Let's take a look then at my little experiment shall we honeys?  I'll include the link back to the original recipe (and the wonderful blog it's on) that inspired this version at the end of this post so you can try that version too.  OK, grab a coffee dear ones and here we go...

A Surprise Gift & A Wee Dog's Smile.... Saturday Smiles!

Hi Honeys
Just a quick post before dashing off to work because I wanted to share a couple of incredibly sweet smiles from yesterday in the hope they make you smile too 😊

First smile was an unexpected gift from Hubby in the shape of a dvd.  Years ago I used to have a copy of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" on VHS.... I know honeys.... vhs.  I'm so old 😊  Well Hubby got home from work yesterday and surprised me with a copy on dvd.  Thank you sweetheart, I love it x

Another unexpected, and way too adorable, smile happened last night when I got home from work. As you might know honeys, I work till very late on Fridays so I always get a taxi home.  Our furbaby Jade is a very nervous wee dog so Hubby and I work our rotas around her to make sure she always has either her Mum or Dad with her so Friday evenings see us usually passing at the door.

Hubby gets home and I dash out for my shift and much as I adore my job, and I so do, the best part of my Friday evening is getting back home to hug our furbaby.  Don't worry honeys, Hubby won't be offended when he reads this, he really won't.  Our furbaby is the centre of our home and is loved a whole lot ❤

A conversation in our break room at work involved everyone chatting about plans after work on Saturday night.  Ah memories! Being young when you could work a whole shift and still have enough energy to go out with friends.  Well, when it got to be my turn to contribute I replied with my usual answer to this question which is that my plans for after work were "shower, into PJs and cuddle Jade."   Well I do finish after 9pm honeys 😊

To this, one of my younger co-workers said "but what about your husband?"
"He doesn't work Saturdays honey, he's had all day to cuddle Jade it's my turn." I replied 😊

No dear ones, he doesn't get offended because he knows Jade will always get first hug when I get home and that's fine because she gets first cuddle from her Dad when he gets home too 😊  Our baby suffered an abusive owner and we're trying to make up for that by making her feel like the most loved wee dog in the whole world ❤

So, back to last night's very late but incredibly adorable wee smile then 😊  As I usually do on a Friday I had shopping with me, just a few groceries to keep us going till our weekly shop, which Hubby does on Sundays (thank you sweetheart, I don't deserve you x)  Well, we got home and my lovely taxi driver took my two bags of groceries to our front door, meeting Hubby and Jade who were, as always, coming out to meet me.

Hubby took the bags from the driver and headed back into the house and Jade headed towards the taxi because she knows that's where her mum will be.  I had by now gotten out of the taxi and had been taking money out of my purse to pay driver and Jade being her excitable wee self had made a wee "gruff" noise and our very clever and very lovely taxi driver, knowing how late it was and how quiet a street we live in, said to Jade "where's yer Mum!"

Jade quickly looked round at driver and her wee head tilted completely over to one side, a furbaby head tilt! kryptonite to furbaby parents lol too cute!! well her wee head went over to one side, looked back over to taxi, saw me and her tail started wagging fit to fall off, bless her as she hurried over to me for hugs and pets ❤  She also got pets and praise from our lovely taxi driver too.

We have the sweetest local cab drivers honeys.  Also, since I'm brought home every weekend they mostly all know Jade very well and tend to make a fuss of her and our baby does love a fuss being made of her 😊

What's made you smile this week honeys?  It's actually sunny outside today, I was starting to forget what the sunshine looks like after the horrible, grey, rainy and gloomy week we've had weather wise. I pegged out laundry earlier (yyyaaaayyy!) and now I have to dash to work.  Have a fabulous weekend whatever you're doing dear ones, smile lots and hug even more.  Till next time, huggles always xx