The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

This bank holiday weekend the Country is celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 60 years as Monarch surely deserves celebrating? Not in Mr Blonde Wife's opinion! He doesn't give a stuff that the Queen is the second longest serving monarch, or that only 5 other Kings and Queens in British history have reigned for 50 years or more. She works hard for charity, I tell him. She has an influence for our country all across the world. She attracts tourists. She is actually the boss of the country!

His argument is that she is a pampered old lady, who has enjoyed the best of everything for all of her life. Has been priveleged to travel the world in luxury. She has never had to do a hard day's work, worry about having enough money to last until the end of the month, take the bins out, clean the house, sort the laundry, etc. etc. All the stuff the rest of us in the 'real' world do every day!

Regardless of whether you love the Monarchy like me, or, think they are a drain on the public purse like Mr Blonde Wife, the Jubilee brings with it, 4 days off work!

God save the Queen! Thank you very much M'aam!

(& lock up Mr Blonde Wife in the Tower!)

Are you enjoying the Jubilee celebrations?

 

A pretty much perfect weekend.

This weekend has felt like the beginning of summer. The weather has been glorious! So what better way to enjoy it over the weekend with my wonderful family.

Saturday was beach day, I packed us up & picnic (No. 1), gathered lil fella, dear daughter (DD), my mum & niece, pressed the roof off button on the car, and off we went! The kids ran around the sand & jumped waves in the sea, we wrote our names in the sand, we ate nice food, had a little wine, we caught some sun & enjoyed being together! Poor DD was determined to get some colour, she certainly did, though is looking a little too pink!

  

Sunday was my own little family day, this time we packed up a little bucket barbecue, a bottle of cava & some more nice food. Darling hubby, lil fella & dear daughter, threw the roof off again & headed off to a local reservoir. It was pretty similar day, just slightly different company. I love how my lil fella is getting more confident in the water, not so long ago he wouldn't have waded out into the reservoir up to his neck to get his football, throw it out, then kick it back in again! He's growing up so fast! Today was hubby's turn to overdo the sun, his feet are a little sore! And me, yep, I'm a little fried too!

  

The weekend was great, exactly what it should be. Family time. Times like these really make me appreciate just how lucky I am. It's making memories. Here are some of the piccies I took:

How would you spend your perfect weekend? And who would it be with?

A week off away from the 9-5! Will I ever be happy?

So I just had a week off work... a whole week! The first full week since I started the new job in January, it was well overdue. Much of it was spent painting our hall, stairs and landing, it was also well overdue, but hey ho! There's the satisfaction that comes with seeing the end result.

It was so nice to have a break from my usual routine, though, the days have gone too quickly & before I know it, it will be Monday again, and back to the Mon-Fri, 9-5. I thought I'd love working 9-5, in actual fact, it's so tiring. I struggled to make an appointment to see the practice nurse for a smear test (it ended up being 5 months overdue), I struggled to make an appointment at the dentist for my scale & polish, Gone are the girly coffe mornings sitting in Costa for 3 hours, catching up with gossip, I also struggle to have any energy by Thursday.

After 10 years of working shifts on the wards, and, since lil fella was born, only working 30 hours per week, I never realised how lucky I was to a) have 3 days off (4 days off if was on nights for the week!) and b) have the majority of my days off in the week; the shops are not as busy on a Wednesday afternoon as they are on Saturday, I could make the appointments I needed on my days off during the week, I could pick my lil fella up from school if I didn't have a lunch break (there was never time for one anyway!) and left 10 minutes early, by driving a little over the speed limit I would just make it to the school in time! The traffic is much less away from 9-5 hours, I hate, I mean HATE the traffic now! In fact, I hate the loneliness of driving around that goes with working in the community, I miss my old teams.

But then I think of the good points that goes with working Mon-Fri, 9-5. I no longer have to drag myself out of bed at 5am to get ready & be on the ward for 7am! 9am starts are much more civilised. I'm home every day to sit down and eat dinner with the family, working a late shift till 10pm is no fun. Quick returns, you finish at 10pm, you're back again at 7am, this could be the pattern for 6 days.... exhausting! No more night shifts, I just don't function working nights! I now have every weekend off with my family. No more working bank holidays. No more dreading the Christmas rota, having to work a night shift on Christmas Eve, just to be at home Christmas morning to see the kiddies faces as they open their pressies on Christmas morning, it's priceless!

The time off has got me thinking, will I ever be truly happy? I was happy at times on the ward, then there were times I hated it and wanted to work in the community. Now I'm in the community, I miss the ward sometimes, I thought it would be less stressful, in actual fact it's more stressful, it's just me, out there on my own! Though, whenever I feel fed up, stressed, down, I always think to myself of the people who are less fortunate then I am. I have a wonderful husband, 2 beautiful, healthy, children, a warm home, nice food on our table & a couple of bottles of wine each week! I've gotta stop stressing over the small things, life is way too short for that crap. I'm working to live, not living to work. What more do I actually need? The answer is nothing.

I'm sure I will be truly happy one day.... just as soon as I pick those correct 6 numbers.... and buying the freaking ticket might just help too!!

I hope you are happy!

What's in your handbag?

So I've seen these Meme's on lots of blogs, I love being nosey into other people's bags! Are the contents of my bag unusal? I do change my handbag often, much to my hubby's surprise, he think's one handbag is all you need! Bah... As if! Here's what I carry around with me each day...

The bag: This one was bought for me as one of my Christmas pressie's from my beloved hubby. It's a Kenneth Cole bag from House of Fraser. (The daffodil is a charity pin for Marie Curie)

River Island purse, again, a pressie one year from hubby, bulging with cash.... perhaps not!

My diary & beautiful Swarovski pen! Is it normal to describe a pen as beautiful? Well this one is!

Versatis Lidocaine patches & numerous medications.... Almost half a pharmacy.... you just never know what you might need.

Lady items... enough said.

Teddy bear notepad, a pressie from my niece.

Post it notes, useful for giving next appointment to my patients & business cards.

Moshi Monster, because every handbag should have one!

A collection of Euro's, leftover from trip to Amsterdam earlier this year.

Perfume, currently Thierry Mugler Angel, my favourite ever ♥

Work ID badge & "wanger" which lets me through locked doors, the actual name of it, according to my manager!

Another note pad, this one has Gorjuss by Suzanne Woolcott on it.

A handwritten recipe of my mum's Moroccan Chicken & an old photo she asked me to scan onto facebook for her..... I forgot all about this.

Handcream from L'Occitane.

Tissues.

4 Lip glosses, 2 Sexy Mother Pucker's, 1 New ID & 1 L'Oreal Glamshine. Plus a tube of Zovirax, a No7 lipliner & a tiny little Jane Iredale Just Kissed Lip Stain. Why do I need all these lipglosses?

Emery boards.

Receipts, out of date money off coupons & a card from Il Basilico Restaurant which is on the island of Madeira!

A button.

A lipstick from Avon.

Car keys

Make up bag, though I rarely get time to touch up my make-up, thank goodness for the staying power of bare minerals!

A strawberry pop-up bag.

I Phone & gorguss case, again Suzanne Woolcott.

Impulse bodyspray.

& finally, a Joliebox mirror.

I'm pleasantly surprised that this is honestly the contents of my bag, there was nothing else lurking around at the bottom!
Do I have a bad back from the weight of this bag, absolutely! What does all this say about me?

What's in your handbag? I'd love to know!

7 X 7 Award!

Thank you so much to the lovely Emma, livingwithahoarderand2princesses for thinking of me for this award. Wow! That's so kind of you, mwah!

Please go over and take a look at Emma's blog, there are some wonderful posts, you won't be dissappointed.

Ok, so to have this award, these are the rules:
1. Tell everyone something that no-one else knows about you.
2. Link my personal posts to a variety of categories.
3. Nominate 7 other deserving blogs.

Something no-one knows about me? Ohhh, I don't think that there is anything that no-one else knows about. Hmmmmm, Ok, not a lot of people know that when I was 18 years old, I was robbed at knife point. This still actually affects me to this day. I never used to be so nervous & jumpy, but I hope I hide it well. No-one knew this, until now.

Most beautiful piece: I wouldn't really describe any of my pieces as beautiful, but, if I had to choose one, it would be Don't give up, my favourite fable.

Most helpful piece: Most helpful to others I'd hope is the Changing your name after marriage list. I really should do more helpful stuff!

Most popular piece: Well, according to the page view stats, that I actually never knew even existed until about 2 minutes ago; it's the Things to do instead of watching football piece.

Most surprisingly successful piece: Muffins, I really didn't think anyone would be slightly interested, but apparently quite a few people are.

Most controversial piece: I'm sorry, I'm not controversial at all, perhaps this is something I need to become.

Most underrated piece: Fireworks, not one single view, lol.

Most prideworthy piece: Our most wonderful day ♥

So now to pass on the 7 X 7:
1. http://mostlyyummymummy.com/
2. http://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/
3. http://anneskitchen1.blogspot.co.uk/
4. http://www.romanianmum.com/
5. http://missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk/
6. http://ali4edgar.wordpress.com/
7. http://honeysmummy.blogspot.co.uk/

A few of the blogs I have saved in my favourites that I love to read when I have time! (Even if I never comment, for which I'm really sorry!)



Hate Football! Things to do instead of watching!

Football! Everywhere I look in my house there's something football! There is an actual ball in every room.... even my bedroom, trophy's in the dining room, the accent colour in the living room had to be red (Liverpool), and for many years, I had to sleep with a huge framed Steven Gerrard shirt hanging over my bed! Thankfully, I managed to get this relegated to lil fella's bedroom.... eventually! The shirt in particular was found to be highly amusing to the Sky engineer who was sent to install the box in our bedroom. So amazed was he by the shirt over the bed, he telephoned his mate 'You will never believe what's over the bed in the house I'm in?' No the mate couldn't guess, who would?

Hubby is away at Wembley, today is the FA Cup semi final, Liverpool V Everton, will I be watching.... No!! So, here's a little list of things to do instead of watching football!

1. Go shopping. It figures!
2. Pamper yourself, hair, nails, go to the Spa.
3. Learn to knit, crochet etc.
4. Wear pink & be completely girly.
5. Rename the photo's saved on your PC, IMGP2637 is a crap name!
6. Indulge yourself in your Pinterest.
7. Clear out your Facebook, you know those people on their friends list who you don't actually like.
8. Download new game apps onto your phone.
9. Read a book. Simple!
10. Sleep.
11. Catch up with Mount Ironing Pile.
12. Write a letter, on actual paper!
13. Bake a cake.
14. Go out and have afternoon tea.
15. Gouge your eye's out!

Happy No Football!

(BTW... I do actually hope that Liverpool win, otherwise Hubby will not be a happy chappy!)

2012 = A Herb Garden!

2012 will be the year I grow herbs!! I spend a small fortune buying those little fresh plants at the supermarket for my cooking, then they die on the windowsill! Well, no more.... I'm going to grow my own, in pots.... or at least that's the plan! I would have taken up some of the garden, but this year, hubby plans on digging up what's left of the grass (ruined by the kiddies) and putting down some pretty stones and slabs. It will save my poor back, seeing as I'm the only one in the house who ever does any gardening.

I'm by no means a good gardener, in fact, I'm pretty useless, but, I have somehow managed to grow a few plants over the years.

I'm impatient! I could have bought seeds, but I want to see my plants now! Like right now in fact! So, I've been to the garden centre today. I've bought sage, mint, thyme (not that I use it very much, but it looks pretty!), oregano, parsley & rosemary. I plan on buying some coriander and basil too!

I have a few pots in the garden that I've emptied of dead plants! I've ordered these lovely little rustic labels, purely because I like the look of them, the little labels in the pots would have done, but wouldn't look anywhere as nice of course!

I plan on watering them daily before I go to work each morning, and placing them on my decking where they'll get some sun, when we see it! I've also read that liquid fertilizer weekly will keep them growing just nicely!

I need to make another trip and buy some stones (for the drainage in the bottom of the pots.... do I sound like I know what I'm doing!) & potting compost!

I can't wait to put it all together! As soon as the rain stops! I'll post pictures of the planted herbs soon!

Do you have any more tips?