Snippet - Pink Moon

Today, while closing down my desktop, at the end of a day that refused to let me draw breath, I glanced across at the horizon. The sun was almost set so the world was cast in an orange blue shimmer... and there sat that old pink moon. Sat on the hillside, looking back at me as if to say "at least you get to go home, I'm on the night shift." :) xx

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Musings - Slow down...

Wait, wait, wait!!! I just checked the calendar and noticed that my little tiny baby turns three next week.

It's not like I had forgotten or anything, the date hasn't change I admit... but where has the time gone. Too fast is where it has gone! Behind me in a whirling blur is where it has gone.

My Mother always told me that kids speed up the years, I guess I should have paid more attention. I need to take more stock of the days. Need to slow it all down.

As the immortalised Ferris Buller once said "If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

:) xx

Life - And So It Goes

Today I just felt the need to blog. I have nothing to say other than 2014 is flying by and I am not doing anything other than trying to hold on and make the most of it.

I have my health, my loved ones and my imagination. I am happy but know I could be happier and settling where I know I could force myself to do better.

But I am generally at ease with a smile and that is a lot better than most.

So happy Sunday. I've missed you, I hope you have missed me too. :) xx

Katharine reading about Katharine

I just had to share this photo of Katharine. She announced she was going to read her book in her room, when we peeped in she was sat turning the pages of Katharine Hepburn's biography.

Love it!  :) XX

Photo - Cheeky monster...

I asked for a smile and she hid!!! Kids, ha ha. Xx

Photo - My two girls...

I would like to point out that neither of them belong in this bed and have much comfier ones of their own! Tut.  Very adorable though.

Ps. I should of said the three of them, Cuddles has gone in on the bed stealing action.

:) xx

Snippet - Andrew James, so pretty...

I don't usually buy myself things, well other than books, but this week I purchased a new mixer.

Not just any mixer but an amazing Andrew James shiny red cake mixer, you see at £120 off I couldn't resist!  It is fantastic. Pretty, efficient, stirs with wonder and comes apart for an easy clean.

Since it arrived on Saturday I have been a little addicted to using it and have baked:
- 72 chocolate cupcakes
- 12 lemon tea cupcakes
- 12 ice cream cone cupcakes (visit www.bakingmad.com for an amazing recipe)
- 1 vanilla sponge loaf
- 2 lemon tea loaves
- 3 chocolate sponge loaves
- 6 batches of buttercream

I wouldn't say that baking is my new calling but I am thoroughly enjoying myself. :) xx

Photo - 2 year review. ..

Katharine had her 2 year review yesterday, the one where kids have to know colours, the basics of completing a jigsaw and other general tasks that mirror development milestones.

And she did great!!! Did everything that was asked of her with a side of Little Miss Bossy to go with it.

So I thought I would blog a little photo to congratulate my special Kaylai for being amazing. We love you to bits short stuff. :) xx

Musings - Eye candy...

It’s that time of year again when my favourite TV shows start to have their current season endings. You know the shows, the ones that have got you through the winter months and entertained you over Easter indulgences. And ALL mine are due to or have just finished which means I am all out of eye candy.

So I have decided to list my working week and let you know what / who I am going to be missing… it’s going to be hard.

(In order by photo and day of the week…)

MONDAY:
Arrow – Stephen Amell
TUESDAY:
The Vampire Diaries – Joseph Morgan
WEDNESDAY:
Beauty and the Beast – Jay Ryan
THURSDAY:
Nashville – Charles Esten
FRIDAY:
Suits – Gabriel Macht

So looking at them all… who would you miss the most? xx

Musings - Reasons to be cheerful #R2BC

Reasons to be cheerful. #R2BC

Like the founder of Reasons to be Cheerful I have found this week a bit trying, all trivial things but still enough to keep that frown upside down.

But I did make a pact with myself to be more optimistic, to see the bright side of the dull (even if I have to turn the dull over and over in my hands until I find that glimmer).

So today I have decided to list three things (I am going to stick to the three things again in order not to bore you all to tears) that have vexed me this week but also tell you how I am dealing with it… Little Miss Sunshine style… with a smile and as much cheer I can muster.

Anyway…

1. Everyone I have come into contact with this week has made me feel surplus to requirements, insignificant, the person that can be forgotten and messed about – But from the gloom of being the great overlooked I have written some poetry for the first time since September. I have hardened my heart and taken myself to task about relying on myself to make me happy. I feel bizarrely positive about it.

2. The Kid gave me a cold; snot, cough, aches, foggy head; the lot! – And though I feel wretched, by passing it on to me she is feeling a whole lot better. I figure that makes me a really good mother ha ha. 

3. I weighed myself. I have put on 9 lbs. this month which is both shameful and disgusting but really puzzling – Yet, like being overlooked it has given me the kick start I needed to get back on the healthy eating band wagon. I have set myself a weight loss target for the summer! There is nothing more cheerful than a target to aim for… or rather the reward I have planned for myself if I reach it. I can’t tell you, it’s slightly wicked.

In summary… I guess my main reason to be cheerful this week is that I am not going to let myself be beaten. And as everyone out there knows, sometimes that’s hard.

:) xx

Observation - Stadium suave...

Something amused me today,  probably more than it should...

I had the opportunity to be at The Shay Stadium, the home of the Shaymen. Now it's no Old Trafford, the stands are aged and half built and the new conference centre is a bit on the dull side.

But then I got in the tiny lift (I had a trolley! I promise I usually walk up a single flight of stairs) to find it completely clad in a golden shiny antique pine. It tickled me that I had swerved around the many pot holes in the car park and eyed scaffolding that was rusted it had been there so many years...

Yet the lift, that would hold 8 people max, has been kitted out for decadence and a dated 1980s style.

Bizarre right?  Or bizarre that I noticed?
Either way it amused me enough to take a photo to share... :) xx

(Location photos from www.calderdale.gov.uk, pine lift my own)

Photo - Smile!!!

I shouted say cheese and cheese she did shout. You gotta love kids. :) xx

Musings - Reasons to be Cheerful #R2BC

I am joining #R2BC for the first time. I have been struggling lately trying to find a way out of a glum slump.

Then I came across Mummy from the Heart and I began reading through her posts, hooked by her optimism and view on life.

So today I have decided to simply, with no long windedness (read my blog I am usually prone to waffle) tell you three reasons I am cheerful:

1. My daughter – who held her arms up to me this morning and said ‘Up – I want you little Mommy’ and it made my heart glow.
2. Inspirational people – those who you know or come across randomly, when you most need it, who put fire back in your belly and give you a reason to laugh at yourself and say get a grip.
3. Shadows – because it means that the sun is shining and to me a little sunshine always means hope.

Want to join in? Just click the button below…

Musings - Bank Holiday Sun...

The sun shone this Bank Holiday weekend.


To some that might seem like an ordinary thing, to have the clouds part and the blue of cornflowers light the sky with optimism.

I come from Yorkshire, this is akin to a mini miracle. And I mention optimism with a ring of truth to it because it does make you feel hopeful. There is nothing like the warmth of the Orb beating down, warming the silk of your hair and the once defeated arch of your spine… there is nothing like that jolt of vitamin on the breeze to make you feel you can reconquer the world.

Or the garden.

Which is what we did… realising three hours later that weeds were in fact our only flora. Garden looking a bit bare, Love?

Oh well at least it’s a great deal tidier. :) xx

Musings - Book by cover...

They say that you should never judge a book by its cover. They. The ones in the know.

But I cant help it. I am enticed by intriguing art work. Drawn in by a bulging spine. Enraptured by a rear page of less than 100 words. You get the picture...

My latest book purchase is 'The Paradise Trap' by Catherine Jinks. A book about a cavaran with a basement of paradise with only one catch... can you ever leave? 

It only cost me £1 so I know it will be brilliant. And if it isn't, well... I own a book with a rather fetching hot air balloon on its front. :) xx

Musings - Sleeping habits...

I can fall asleep so easily on the sofa that I often don't make it past the opening credits of what ever is unfolding in the television screen.

But get me in bed (steady on!) and I am instantly wide awake. It's ridiculous,  a curse is what it is. I can lay there for hours just listening to the sounds of the house.

Such as the rain on the window, the faulty toilet valve making its sucking-water-in-at-high-pressure sound, the dog dreaming in high pitches... and then you have Snotty and the Warthog competing in my ear.

Sure they look cute now but at 2:06am they are merely the devil and his snorting offspring. So my plan for tonight is to fall asleep on the mulled wine coloured leather and stay there. Too right!

Stiff neck in the morning be damned! :) xx

Snippet - New phone. ..

What are the things you consider when choosing a new phone?

Actually let me take you a step back...

This week I was able to upgrade my mobile phone. I am the worst at making decisions about technology but one thing I did know was that I didn't want the new iphone 5. I can't really tell you why but I just suddenly realised I was bored of my current 4 version and wanted a change.

But to what?

I started to consider what I used my mobile phone for and came up with a top four:
Researching on the Internet,
Listening to music,
Taking photographs,
Liaising amongst the world of social media.

In fact using my phone as an actual calling device was at the bottom of the list, I only ever dial in my car at which point I use the parrot facility.

So I had a look around and, with a little friendly guidance, I was pointed in the direction of Samsung. Which was when I clapped eyes on the Galaxy Note 2 and I fell in love.

It had the freedom from apple with regards to music, one of the top mobile cameras on the market, a google interface perfect for the Internet and a screen so large and enticing that blogging is a dream.

So I bought one. I am using it now.

AND IT'S AMAZING!!!!!! :) XX

Ps. The photo is an example if the great camera and of course my lovely daughter.  X

Musings - The things kids say...

This week Katharine has been all about playing with her peeps. She sets out the village, has a chat with the vicar and manoeuvres the apples in the back of the cart.

I caught her also playing with her hair bobbles and said 'Aw are you doing you peeps hair?'

To which she replied, like I was a complete idiot, 'No Mummy, Scarves!'.


Okay, so I see it now. :) xx


- Posted with the i rather than the net...

Musings - Me 2013...

This is me... 2013 me.


I guess I am more decisive,
I bit more feisty,
Somewhat lacking in control,
Obsessive and compulsive,
I shrug and smile a lot,
Avoid a lot,
I have moments of greatness,
Weakness,
A full heart potentially broken,
I am open to the future,
I want security,
Love,
Adventure,
Appreciation,
I have a new determination,
A new level of procrastination,
I am nothing if not contrary...

I am a woman staring into the abyss of passing 30s and thinking... Oh eff it. Why not. ;) xx



- Posted with the i rather than the net...