5 Things Life Has Taught Me

As I was out walking one day I overheard a mother stressing about her child getting muddy , they were dressed appropriately and it was a damp squidgy day as only a January can be And i thought thought it is just a bit of mud don't stress there is more to life than a little mud.Life is captured in moments and they are beautiful snap shots in our lives.So a spot of mud in your day isn't really going to end the world and the child concerned was not exactly covered head to toe.I do believe in positive reienforecemnt it's ok to get dirty its ok to explore it's OK to be a child ! mud is mud and it is the adventure of life that is the all encompassing important rule in life.And who doesn’t love splashing in water !!

1. Age really honestly is just a number and it’s a journey of learning and reflection for if we didn’t do this we wouldn’t be human.We learn as we get older and getting older is a privilege and each day I try to enrich my own life and that of other people.Age has taught me to be happy in my own skin especially now .

2 If you’re in a mood it’s really imperative not to fester because of rule 1 it’s the opposite of fight club it’s a calmness. It is not twee and I’m not instructing you to do yoga or eat kale.Listen to your favourite songs / music walk outside and this includes even if it’s raining or snowing.Places matter they makes us feel alive and are an an escape when we are feeling stressed.

3.Be part of your own art masterpiece by going outside I can’t stress enough the importance of going outside.You not only connect with people but you can also commune with nature.And again I refer back to rule 1 and as ever rules are to be broken and I’m never one to do anything in order .

4 Don’t feel guilty for bringing yourself joy , people can be a judgey bunch of so and so by design- call it a design flaw.

5 A problem shared is a problem halved is so very true and we must never stop sharing .

Sparking Joy In Your Social Media

When you read a blog sometimes it can feel like you’re at a Middle Eastern bazar with everyone under the sun trying to hawk you their wares.Now I’ve reviewed stuff but I’ve always been subjective about it telling the truth in my own unique way.I try and always be balanced in what I say.Opinons are always going to vary but I have to always be truthful it’s literally in my DNA.My cat has even reviewed stuff before it used to be a reviewing duo but now it is up to Jack to carry on the mantle.

I would love to refer you to my five star hotel review but I’ve yet to pull off one of those but you know what you don’t always need 5 star . We are perpetually up in York picking up and dropping off our son who is studying Archaeology at York university.We have been through all sorts of hotel accommodation to Airbnb.At the moment Premier Inn is ticking boxes for us especially as we can stop just half an hour outside York making it cheaper for ourselves.

And all that money saved allows you to save up for the things you want in life for example like a new camera.I did combine this with selling my old camera on line so you’ll soon be seeing new pictures taken with my Nikon D5600.

Cat is optional with the Nikon camera 

I like to depict my life on here as it really here warts and all I don't cultivate a magazine image nor do I endorse anything that I don't believe in myself. I have however reviewed some odd stuff in my time the less said about the luminous cupcakes the better I feel.On social media it seems people are forever striving for this that or the other and if it didn't happen on social media then indeed did it really ever happen.People talk about the old days before social media and there is a strange draw back to that in the sense of feeling less pressured but there has always been pressure in society be it social or otherwise.

The simplest of ideas can be a life changer for me be it a new cup/mug to a bobble hat ( strangely I have never been offered a bobble hat to review ( I buy them though or get given them )

And no I am not going to spark joy by neatly sorting everything out in my house if you do then good that is you and not me and it is so 2019 to have your own opinion unless it is the mark of 2019 to get offended at every little thing that is said.I am sparking joy in my life by doing exactly want I want when I want to and picking tips up blog the way , life would be ever so sterile and boring if everyone lived it the same way.

How DO you Muddle Through Life ?

I have always written personal posts on my blog because I think that is where I love to be and I think to be honest and trull in ones life allures you to people and allows them to connect with you someone how.And being autistic connecting with people is difficult but it is something I did via blogging long away when I started my blog back in 1712 I mean 2011.And today it the first cup of tea on a Monday in 2019 and it really does I think help with the blues of not only Monday but the blues of the bluest Monday in the new year.

See last year from March 2018 saw my mother have a bipolar episode, my husband developed diabetes , I had a breakdown and had 6 months off work , also a Autism diagnosis for myself.

You'd think I would would to shy away what happen but instead I embrace it and study all that has happened to allow me to understand and to process the situation, life isn't easy and we have to do our very best at it.When I look back at this I see what a load I had to deal with and it isn't easy to comprehend.


You might wonder how I got through and how I continue to get through , quite honestly I couldn't do it without the support of my family , friends tea and my cat they are the fixed points in my life and I turn to them regularly.

Paupers Cornbeef Hash

It was meant to be trendy this with scooped out jacket potatoes and mixed with Cornbeef to produce a trendy hipster Cornbeef hash with it all placed back into the potato and then taaa dah art on a plate .But no well I was doomed as I battled with the Cornbeef tin - stupid design anyway and I’m pretty sure it will be the downfall of humanity.

Ingredients 

Jacket potatoes cooked ( 4 small ones ) fir 2 people or 2 big ones potatoes not people 

Half can of Cornbeef ( do open carefully) they’ll have your eye out vicious things that they are 

Knob of butter 

Bit of water 

Method

Just smash the cooked jacket potatoes and Cornbeef together including the skin 

Add a knob of butter 

Bit of water 

Seasoning if you wish 

Maybe Worcestershire sauce 

Grease an over proof dish and bake in an oven at about 200c for 30 minutes 

Then eat 

This is this years first kamikaze cook and did you know I’m actually the muse of Gordon Ramsey ... 

The Long Of The Blackbird

The long of the Blackbird is a welcome sight in the days of January where the days are grey and muted and everything seems just a smidge out of focus , the long of the blackbird is what I need to see and need . The black of the Blackbird shines like a Jewel and is mesmerising and the long os the bird is beautiful if you haven't seen the long bird of the Blackbird then let me explain it is the simplest and most beautiful of things and the simplicity of the velvet black beauty is not only hope when the signalling that even though Spring is a way of yet it signals change.


The song of the blackbird is arguably the most beautiful that you will ever here and I love seeing them as a pair in my garden and who doesn't love an endearing love story.The world needs more hope and what better than the love story of the Blackbird, Usually the song of the Blackbird starts at he end of January but with urban birds it can start much earlier.

Blackbirds love to sing after rain and in England they will always be in song.

So much celebrated is the blackbird that it is celebrated in the song "Morning has broken "


"Morning has broken like the first morning 
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird "




I share the world of wonder with the Blackbird and that is amazing and it is not only the not so humble blackbird we need to share the world with it is all nature.

Seeing Blackbirds is a day full of joyfulness like the spurts of fluidity when you put your thumb over the end of a garden hose.