Saturday 19 November 2016

Happy Thanksgiving! Downloadable Menu Printable

Hi Honeys
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  It's gotten very chilly here, it was so cold when I left work last night and walking towards the house was scary because the pavements (and road) had started icing over.

Brrrr! Time for mittens, thick winter socks and scarfs honeys.  I'm so looking forward to tomorrow when I can spend the day snuggling on the sofa with our furbaby Jade and watch TV.  Jade adores hugging her Mum and sharing a blanket bless her.  Just like Sheldon from TVs Big Bang Theory she has "her spot" on our sofa 😊

Happy Thanksgiving

I made a little printable menu for Thanksgiving dinner which I hope you like...

Thanksgiving Menu Printable

It's sized at A4 (choose print to fit in your printer settings honeys) and you could either laminate it and pop on the fridge to make notes on or place inside a photo frame and write on the glass.

You can find the printable in JPG format here and in PNG here.  Enjoy!

I have to dash to work for another very busy shift, enjoy the rest of your weekend dear ones,  have fun and stay warm, till next time smile lots and hug even more :) huggles xx

Thursday 17 November 2016

Ikea Muffinsmix Citron - Lemon Flavoured Muffin Mix

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote this product, just sharing some fun Hubby & I had in the kitchen making yummy muffins x

Hi Honeys
At a loose end and with nothing much on TV to watch last night Hubby & I wandered off into the kitchen to try a muffin kit we'd bought on our last visit to Ikea a while ago.  

You might remember I tried one of these shake and bake cartons some time ago, the Ikea BRÖDMIX FLERKORN Multigrain Bread Baking Mix so you can imagine I was curious when I saw a similar carton promising yummy lemon flavour muffins ❤ 

Ikea Muffinsmix Citron

I adore baking honeys, I really do.  I also adore muffins.  Add grins & giggles with Hubby in the kitchen into the mix and we have a winner 🏆

The Muffinsmix Citron, or lemon flavour muffin mix, comes packaged in a bright, pretty carton and is also available in chocolate flavour.  The cooking method is the same as the bread mix in that you are asked to add water, shake and then bake.  It couldn't be any easier!

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Super Moon Over Scotland..

Hi Honeys
I hope your week is going well. I actually got to peg out laundry yesterday! It was a beautiful, if chilly, sunny day outside with a good "drying wind."   Whether it was all likely to dry or not wasn't really important I was just so happy to be able to peg it all out. There's simply no substitute for the gorgeous scent of bedding and towels pegged outside to dry,  now if someone could just make a perfume of that scent I'd be a happy wee Rosie!

In fact all of my towels did dry, as did most of my laundry, with the exception of our duvet cover which is made from a very thick, brushed cotton and two of our furbaby Jade's soft fleecey blankets, since they were the last to be pegged out and our sunshine is gone so early.  Not a problem though, they were soon dried in the tumble dryer.  Just being able to peg laundry out at all made me smile yesterday 😊

Another highlight of this week was, of course, the much reported appearance of the "super moon" on Monday night. Did you manage to see it honeys?  I saw so many beautiful images on Twitter from around the world but I thought, even though they're not nearly so impressive, I'd share how this gorgeous, seldom seen occurrence looked over the West Coast of Scotland...

The beautiful "super moon" over Scotland

We won't see the moon pass this close to earth again until 25 November 2034 - not for another 18 years! Indeed it hasn't passed this close to us since 1948 so I was determined to at least try to catch a photo of it.  Here are the best of the images I caught...

Friday 11 November 2016

The Joy Of Book Kits

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, just sharing my latest little book finds x

Hi Honeys
I hope you're staying warm in this chill, the sun is shining beautifully outside but oh my it's cold! Again (what? again Rosie? sheesh...) I'll say that some people are just made to hibernate and I happen to be one of them! Spring can't get here quick enough for me, seriously.

Moans... er.. concerns about the chilly weather aside (hee hee :) I'm actually feeling quite chuffed today.  I've spent the past couple of weeks feeling quite dreadful, just constantly drained, completely without energy.  My Dr called me to tell me my latest bloods showed my iron levels were even lower than they normally are (and that's usually on the low side.) My get up and go had got up and gone :/

As it always does though, it (eventually) passes and I think <touch wood> I might be on the mend.  I feel better today than I have for a while so hopefully...

The Joy of Book Kits

You might have noticed that I adore books just a little bit :) So, any day with new books in it is a day to celebrate.. or at least to sit on the sofa with our furbaby Jade and grin a lot :)  I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of Christmas really, I might like it more if it were in Summer and we could celebrate out in the garden with the roses :)

What? So, I'm odd (I like to think in a nice way mind) you hadn't noticed by now? :)  I don't dislike Christmas it's more to do with the cold and the general horribleness of the weather, it's winter I have a problem with.  There are elements of Christmas I do kinda like, like the availability everywhere of candy canes... which are beyond fabulous stirred through hot chocolate! Yummmm!! :)

The other thing I love, love, love about this time of year is that book kits start to appear.  Book kits, those wonderful little sets, perfect as gifts or for book loving folk like me who like a little fun with their reading, are essentially a book packaged with complimenting accessories designed to help the reader make use of the book or just to tie in with the subject matter.

While grocery shopping in our local Asda/Walmart around a week ago I found two such kits and they instantly made their way into our trolley :)  I'm still grinning just looking at them sitting by me while I type this post :) So, without further ado then here they are honeys...

Thursday 10 November 2016

Picture Perfect Project: November: The Last Rose..

Hi Honeys
Back again for the almost, nearly last post in The Picture Perfect Project.  I've had such fun taking part in this wonderful link up and it 'll be fabulous to be able to look back over a year in the life of our much loved garden.

Picture Perfect Project: The Last Rose

The Picture Perfect Project encouraged bloggers to take more photographs and along the way to also improve their photography skills as well as the appearance of our blogs.  It's been an honour and such fun to have been part of this lovely link up this past year.  I've looked forward to snapping away happily in our garden each month.

The link up itself ended last month but me being me I can't bear to leave it unfinished.  I've had far too much fun :)  So, even though the link up is complete I thought I'd finish the year with two additional posts.  How else can it truly be a year in the life of our garden?

I'm so glad I decided to continue because our garden hasn't let me down :)  While everything is settling down for their winter nap we had one last rose patiently waiting to be captured forever...

Wednesday 9 November 2016

Winning The Battle Against Chronic Fatigue...

Disclaimer: I do not mean this as medical advice, please consult your medical professional for advice honeys.

Hi Honeys
Chronic illness sucks! There, I said it.  It hits us where we live.  It's insidious.  It chip, chip, chips away at everything from our energy supplies, our general health, and outwards into every aspect of our lives.

Winning the battle against chronic fatigue

Fellow *spoonies will know only too well how it goes.... " I'd so love to see that movie but I know that an evening out will leave me completely drained for a day or two,  I'll wait until it's released on dvd... yes that's what I'll do..." and on and on until it's taken away far too many good things we have in our lives to make us smile. Except it doesn't have to be that way honeys.  It just feels as if it does at times.

This past weekend has been very challenging because my workplace, being retail, was incredibly busy and it will be every bit as busy now for the next nine to ten weeks at the very least.  Uppermost in my problems right now isn't the pain from arthritis, spoonies learn to cope with pain, it's that my iron level has dropped from the already constantly low point which passes for normal for me.

I know from (long) experience that in time it will rise again to its usually still low but more manageable level but for now the almost constant fatigue I live with is that little (seriously Rosie? little?) bit more challenging.  In other words dear ones, my usual "running on nearly empty" feeling is becoming more difficult to hide from the outside world in general and to my employers in particular.

I'm lucky, blessed actually, that I only have two days a week at work where I have to, on the outside anyway, wear my mask, to appear to be perfectly fine and dandy.  Bright of eye and bushy of tail so to speak.  I used to work four days a week but was forced to reduce my hours due to awful "black outs" or fainting spells I was having both at home and at work.  I was told by a doctor at the hospital at that time that I had been "writing cheques my body couldn't cash"  He told me that if I wanted to keep working I had to "work smarter."

Working smarter meant to work with my body and not against it.  Self care is so very important and this is too often forgotten in the fight to keep our challenges hidden, particularly from the outside world. One of the most difficult things spoonies are faced with dear ones is the complete devastation of our own sense of self image, self worth.

It's incredibly difficult to admit to oneself that the things previously taken for granted, boundless energy, the ability to do what we want, when we want to do it without notice simply vanishes to be replaced by limits over which we have little to no control.  I know from chatting with other spoonies that in our current economic climate I'm not the only one afraid of losing my job. Of being replaced by someone who doesn't have health challenges.  There are many of us wearing masks.

Spoonies And The Masks We Wear

Our first instinct, of course, is to fight against the limits our health imposes on us with an "I'll show you" attitude but this is doomed to failure simply because by doing this we're treating our own bodies as the enemy. Adapting is not submission honeys, it's survival.  When I reduced my hours I began to cope again. I learned how to plan ahead.  How to carefully allot my limited reserves of energy as needed.  How to use my spoons* wisely.

image via PicMonkey

Now that we're in the run up to the holidays I know that work will be really busy, in order to keep up, and to reach the end of my shift in one piece, I will now have to rest for the two days prior to my shifts instead of my more usual one day.  This doesn't mean I have to park myself on the sofa and not do anything at all, in fact that would be damaging in itself.

Arthritis makes movement painful but in order to prevent further loss of mobility we have to keep moving.  Something my beloved Gramma always referred to as "use it or lose it."  The solution is to plan carefully and to do little and often.  To keep moving but to also rest when your body tells you to. Adapting is not submission.  It's how we win. It's how we remain independent, it's how we live life on our terms. It's how we win.

Managing pain and fatigue, once mastered, can make such a difference honeys.  Please don't be afraid to chat to your doctor and ask for advice.  A problem shared is a problem halved as the old saying goes.  Sometimes another pair of eyes can see solutions we're missing and at times it's good just to be heard, to know we're not alone.

Something else, just as important in my humble opinion, as coping skills is to preserve joy in your life.  It doesn't have to be a singing, dancing cabaret every day but there should be some joy in every day.  Mine is wrapped up in my beloved Hubby and in our dear furbaby.  They make me smile till it hurts, they make my heart smile every single day.  You need to find your joy honeys and remind yourself every day how blessed you are.  Chronic illness does not define you, you can win.

Wishing you a surplus of spoons and smiles every day dear ones.  It's getting cold so please stay warm and safe.  Add an extra blanket and hug your furbabies.  Till next time, smile lots and hug even more, huggles always xx

* If you haven't read it, please do read The Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino it's inspiring and explains wonderfully the choices those living with chronic illness face every day.

Tuesday 1 November 2016

Furbaby Smiles :)

Disclaimer: I'm not being paid to promote any products, just sharing the cutest furbaby treat we found for Jade while grocery shopping x

Hi Honeys
1st of November! This past year has gone so fast!  The season's changes have been almost unnoticed. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking this past month has been the tail end of Summer instead of Autumn here in the UK with (mostly) beautifully sunny days and summer temperatures in the low 20Cs.  All change now though, it felt very chilly this morning.

Time to add a sweater or cardigan to the outfit for the day :)  It's also time to start noticing holiday items when grocery shopping.  Christmas is a time to treat our loved ones and surely that has to include our furbabies :)

Misfits Furbaby Munch Box Dog Treats

Whilst grocery shopping in our local Asda (Walmart) we spotted this adorable treat tin and just knew we had to take one home for Jade.  We buy the misfits treats regularly anyway so I knew she liked them (I think her favourites are the Liver flavoured Wonky Chomps) but I'm willing to admit the downright cuteness of the container made it inevitable that it made its way into our trolley and came home with us :)

Seriously honeys, how adorable is this tin...

Misfits Limited Edition Tin With Dog Treats

The cardboard wrap-a-round label announces that this is a limited edition tin but it doesn't say anywhere that it's exclusive to Asda, so it might well be available in your local supermarket.  The adorable furbaby images are on all four sides of the tin and it is a very snazzy, eye-catching colour too. Would you like a look inside?