I am in love with this Satchel.. I discovered The Fluoro satchel at www.cambridgesatchel.co.uk it is beautiful, out of the colours on offer I like the pink the most...I will start saving now :)

This will definitely be on my wish list for 2013.

This year I am determined for it to be a really good one, sadly without the aid of a magical wand there are no guarantees but I am going to work hard at making this happen. 

Christmas day goodies...

*~Merry Christmas Everyone~*

Well after being rather absent, due to illness...I am back to blogging, the run up to Christmas day was full of general chaos. We were fortunate enough to be invited to friends for Christmas dinner..it was wonderful, I had roast potatoes,  Yorkshire puddings, carrots, parsnips with gravy nom nom oh not forgetting stuffing too. Then it was mint choc chip ice cream for desset I was stuffed afterwards but a good kind of stuffed.

I was extremely lucky to get a fab Blue Ray player...the entire Twiligt dvds, the latest Twilight soundtrack, Brave dvd, Valentina perfume, Ice age box set  & a very handy Jar opener...it opens bottles too as I have great difficulty doing this manually!

I was excited about Christmas day & was extremely lucky to get all sorts of beautiful gifts. The DVDs & blue ray player were immediately plugged in & watched...I must say I was surprised by the difference in quality in comparison to my normal dvd player...very clear & super detail. I must say I am in Love!
I am currently enjoying 'Brave' by Disney...

Did you get what you wished for? Do share...

Impending Christmas, Colds & Coughs...

Now please do not mistake me for "The Grinch", but this year I feel decisively un-Christmas spirited...

In fact I am rather sick & tired of adverts telling me I should be thrilled about excessiveness & general chaos!!!

*~Bah Humbug~*

None of this is really assisted by the festering cold I have delightfully been given by my sharing caring other half (no I am not bitter at all...I love germs!)...I have thoroughly enjoyed sweating my way through my t-shirts  when having temperature spikes then feeling my skin goose bump as another wave of chills hit. These last few days & nights I am sponsored by Kleenex...alongside a rather pesky cough that does not seem to like me sleeping...So snuggles with Jedi & Magic Tea were in order...

Today was particularly busy with appointments, the dreaded dentist 1st thing followed by the chiropractor then my initial appointment with the Psychology Services whom I was referred to via the Pain Clinic...always rather scary stuff meeting someone who has the decision where to sign post your 'case' to! Good news is I will be seen by an assigned psychologist that will help me manage the 'Fibro'/pain/fatigue & all that Jazz.

I found it a rather positive beacon of Hope after experiencing my most significant 'Flare' to date,

I shan't bore you with the in's & out's of it all (unless requested!!!).

Excitingly I have had my Vistaprint goodies arrive earlier this week...I shall take pics & review tomorrow/today, as it is 04:11 at present hopefully I will get some sleep, failing that I am watching 

Most Haunted so who knows what may occur....

Ta ta for now x

Post Secret...& Craft fair delights...

Wooooooooo  this week was rather exciting as I got to attend the UK's 1st ever tour of Post Secret;! For those of you that don't know what Post Secret is here are a few links PostSecret is an ongoing community art project created by Frank Warren, where people post their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Selected secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website.

I went to the Sheffield event & was lucky enough to get my books signed:

I was so awestruck when I got my books signed I forgot to ask Frank for a photograph with him lol!!!

Prior to finding myself at Post Secret, I had attended a local Craft Fair. I must admit I find myself always ridiculoulsy excited about what treats & handmade goodies are awaiting to be discovered...with a distinctly wintery scent to the air of cinnamon, cloves & oranges I embarked upon the adventure.

I bought several hearts & am planning on making my own shortly. The girl running the stall was lovely & we ended up talking about her kitten & mine Clan lol!

 Beautiful bells...

Mini-tree & Shabby Chic goodies

Felt Brooches 

       Tree Decorations

 

Sunset

I have also included the instructions on how to make your own Sock Bear should anyone fancy a go.

xxx

Sock Bear Instructions ;

Sock Bear Lives...

So I have finally completed my Sock Bear...granted he is my 1st attempt but I must say I am rather pleased with this little fellow! 

After minor surgery to insert a magnet Sock Bear is recovering well...this is upon my other half's request that Sock Bear can become his Van mascot when he is travelling out & about poor Sock Bear had 8 stitches.

But this has not stopped him hanging about...

Magnet Bear...after surgery & doing well

Short but sweet my lovelies xxx

Soft kitty, warm kitty...

...Little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty. Purr purr purr. 

Today I am writing about our 3 newest additions who joined us on the 17th October 2012...This picture was the day we picked up The 3 amigos,

The 3 Amigos...L-R: Deirdre, George & Willow.

As I already have 2 older cats

Tricky

  

Jedi

   

Who us???

It was a big decision to get 3 kittens but very much worth it, suffering from a Chronic pain condition (fibromyalgia) I find that they are a wonderful & therapeutic distraction on the bad days...like today, they are all very sensitive & have spent much of the morning on the bed with me...I know that once they have had their cat-nap they will proceed to transform into gremlins...running around the house, dangling off the curtains...jumping on the door frames & terrorising the older cats, thankfully both Tricky & Jedi have taken to the wee brood extremely well after a period of integration aka Tricky & Jedi mostly hissing or gently batting at the oblivious kittens who simply back off & await the next opportunity to bat at the unsuspecting victims tail...I half expect to find Jedi shooting through the house with the 3 kittens on her back he he he. I did invest in Pam Johnson-Bennett's 'Cat vs. Cat: Keeping Peace When You Have More Than One Cat'...this book has been invaluable to understanding how to keep all peaceful & calm as much as possible in a multi cat household (purchased from www.amazon.co.uk) as well as understanding the dynamics of said household.

Are you a cat or dog person? Do you have an unusual pet?

Do share 

x

Bags of Loveliness...

Hello hello hello...So Sunday has been spent sat at home cruising the world wide web, looking for a new bag to help me be somewhat more organised. Kindly supported by my 3 kittens assistants;

Left is Willow, right is Deirdre & on the keyboard we have George!

I did suspect they were actually planning the great escape when I saw the screen had suspiciously gone onto Google Maps...hmmm sneaky Kittens...

Naturally after all the surfing the web...it was time for a cat nap to recoup for the evening Kitten Mad Hour. 

One thing I love are bags...not just handbags but sports bags also, more so if they are full of exciting surprises like The Val Jacobs Ultimate Bag...it was love at first sight when I saw this both good looking & seriously 'fit for purpose' hottie...look at all the awesome pockets & pouches! {http:/www.valjacobs.com/}

Val Jacobs Ultimate Dance Bag

Smart & Sassy

Great amounts of space & means of organisation

LOOK at the sheer amazingness & practically of this bag...

I will be forced to track down a supplier & order one of these. I am more so in love with this bag due to all of the pockets & pouches...anyone who knows me will tell you I am;

1. Unorganised ~ in every sense of the word

2. Generally running late most of the time

3. Always have large handbag, that pretty much has everything but the kitchen sink & hoover in it, this way I have everything with me should I forget anything!!!

As a matter of interest I have just gone through my handbag & here is a list of everything in it! First on the bag looksy list is... 

Tampons...I have a ridiculous amount of sanitary products hiding in my bag seeming to appear at a rate akin to wet gremlins!

Loose change

Pens

Numerous packets of tissues             

                                                       Can of caffeine free diet coke

                                                               1 litre water carrier...Yes really!

Other various random items include; a black vest top, spare pants...lip gloss & balm, Nature valley bar, nail file, appointment cards, filo fax, purse, shimmer lotion, double decker lollipop, CPR face shield, some post & that is pretty much it...it is a heavy bag, from a recently read article it is estimated that the average woman's handbag weighs a whooping 5lbs!!!

What is in your bag?

~Lets have some fun Share your list ~

Festive Freebies...

~I Love Freebies~

There is nothing more I love than a good old Festive Freebie...especially if it means sending someone a specially personalised gift. 

Whilst coasting through today's www.magicfreebiesuk.co.uk goodies I came across Vistaprint's offer to Personalise a wall calendar as well as one personalised Mug too, for a small p&p fee {can be found at www.Vistaprint.co.uk}.

Naturally I could not resist & placed an order for both products, personalised with a variety of photographs I have taken throughout the year. What I loved about the process was the ease of it all; you simply go the website, go to the Christmas Gifts heading, click on it to select & you are automatically taken to the exciting & aptly designed festive zone; from there you choose what product you would like to personalise & voila! You are off...then you simply select & upload you photographs, add any text if desired & Vistaprint do the rest for you!...It really is as easy as that.  There is a huge variety of designs to choose from...plenty of colours, not to mention jolly good festive fun! 

In true Blue Peter style...here is one of the Mugs I personalised & ordered earlier;

Perfect for deterring my work colleagues...

What would you put on your mug? 

The Beauty of Books...

oh the beautiful art of escaping into the depths of a book...

There has always been this part of me, deep inside that wanted to write...in part when I was younger I yearned to be an author. I was & remain, an avid reader, seated on the window seat, crouching over my beloved books, seeking out the words by means of the moonlight; reading lovingly created words composed by the likes of Enid Blyton & Sylvia Plath, escaping into other worlds, other minds...watching time & space transform before me. There has always been something intrinsically magical about sitting down with a book, falling in love with characters, gasping audibly in awe of the event's that unravel page by page before you.
Becoming transfixed & wholly absorbed by the pages before you, laughing out loud or shedding tears when you discover the twists, turns & tragedy of the plot...as the author guides you skilfully through the characters lives. Being a 'bookworm' is something i love. 

The world changed for me a lot once I learnt to read, hours spent feeding my mind for no book is off limits...from fiction to textbooks I am hungry for there words. Thus I was shocked to learn that the language of words & the art of reading them was one I would have to fight for...Dyslexia did its best to overshadow the journey of escapism into far away lands & the characters lives, it hid like a cloaked intruder out of sight until I was 22...sneaking about distorting sentences, making words appear to 'judder' & dance across the very pages I was losing myself in, hiding words...I was grateful to know I was not thick, a word I had been branded with in my younger days. It was a relief to have my dyslexia & its sidekick dyscalculia discovered, to know that I was not thick...it answered alot of questions for my parents~ although this alone did not ever bring understanding to them.

To know it would be a challenge to decipher books would be a silent battle that I would arm myself with knowledge against. I also found that dyslexia had given me something that I could not put into words, it gave me a unique perspective of looking at things, of understanding things, of being who I am today. I can truly say my life has changed through reading some books. When the last page is read, I mourn for the loss of it, finding I am deeply touched by the lives of the characters & their journeys throughout the book. 

Thankfully there are always more books to read! There will always be the favourites sat on my bookshelves that are well thumbed & dog eared, that have been read by torchlight...in almost every part of the house...toilet included! & there will always be room for reading...& writing...there is a beautiful silence that I cherish from both...