Thoughts for Thursday: Wisdom Teeth

Hello again -
This week started pretty yucky, with a much needed trip to the dentist for a wisdom tooth extraction. The dentist had informed me at the last visit that, 'this was going to be a difficult extraction'... these are words you never want to hear from your dentist... or anyone else for that matter...

A picture of a flower... far nicer than anything to do with dentistry...

Anyhoo, I went into the surgery room bravely (albeit after a minor panic attack in the waiting room)... After much pushing, cracking, and general nastiness, the offending tooth was out... Now, I have to say I actually don't know the point in wisdom teeth. For me, they have only ever been the cause of pain. As a teenager, I had perfectly healthy teeth removed to make room for them and now, as an adult, it appears it was all in vain, as the wisdom teeth themselves have gone! Am I any wiser? Only to the pain of tooth extraction. Perhaps tooth pain is needed along the path of enlightenment to attain ultimate wisdom. For now, though, I look like I've been popping testosterone pills, as evidenced by my new manly jaw.
Anyways, I best get off... I'm making soup...
Take care.
Lx

Thoughts for Thursday: Too many signs??

Hi there,
Well, we've made it past "hump day" and we're on our way to the weekend! Can I please hear a big sigh of relief...? Not that weekdays are bad, but there's still nothing like that "Friday feeling"... and yep, I still get that feeling, even though I am a stay-at-home mum and not bound by the conventional work week. Saturdays mean I have an extra pair of hands to break up squabbles, feed the kids, play Strawberry Shortcake and the likes... and let me tell you, those hands are as welcome as an oasis in a desert!

Anyhoo, that's by the by... what I wanted to chat about today was the amount of labels and signs appearing in homes... signs informing us what to do, whether it be relax, bathe, or simply breathe... or informative labels telling us where items are stored or which room we are about to enter.

Seriously, with the amount of signs in my house, you'd think someone had gone Health and Safety-mad in there! You could even be confused into thinking my little home was a factory employing a dozen or more people (all needing to be informed where everything was at a drop of a hat), and not a poky little house next to the beach.

I have to say, it had gone unnoticed by my eyes until the hubby pointed it out the other day. Then it was like one of those film moments, where the heroine realises that there are clues to the murder all around her and the camera darts around the room to them while a dramatic tune is played on a violin and piano combo! He was right. I had gone sign / label crazy. Almost everything in my kitchen bore some sort of lettering on it... Was that the design look I was going for or had I gone overboard??? Either way, this look will certainly come in useful when my memory starts to fail me!

Anyways, I was just wondering whether this sign / label craze is just something which exists in my house or whether you've jumped aboard too...

Take a look around your home and see how many signs and labels you have. Are these design choices just another indication that our lives have become so stressful that we need to run our homes with office-like precision and then tell ourselves to relax, breathe and drink tea?? Well, I guess we'll at least know where to find the tea!!

Good catching up today!
Take care.
Lx

A spring day in January...

Hello you!
Happy Monday! I can't quite believe that it's January. We are supposed to be in the depth of winter and yet, here in New Jersey, we are enjoying weather that would be more befitting to the first flourishes of Spring. I even have a bud on one of my roses. Yet, this time last year, we were up to our armpits in snow... not literally, but it sure felt like it.

Anyhoo, making the most of this clement weather, I packed the kids off outside and did a spot of tidying in the garden. Although the weather was Spring-like, the garden confirmed that we were, indeed, not even half-way through January.

My little garden was devoid of any colour  (except for my wee rose bud)... just an array of bare brown sticks poking out of the ground. I am always in amazement that, in a matter of months, these sticks will once again come to life and I'll be seeing the sprouts of green pushing up through the ground. Yay for perennials, the plants which just keeps on giving.

Anyways, while the girls and I petered around in the garden, the hubby donned his DIY cap and set about installing bead board in the bathroom... a project that has sat on the back burner for the past 6 months... but, as I said, this is a new year, a year where we are going to get things done about this little old place... starting with finishing our poky bathroom.

It will still be poky on completion, as we haven't the room to add on, but given it's size limitations, we decided to build on it's cozy cottage appeal... in fact, that's the ethos we're adopting for the whole house!

Hopefully, I'll finally be able to show you the finished project by the end of this month, but judging by the fact I just had to stop typing to deal with the hubby's (now missing) thumb nail, I won't hold my breath!

Anyhoo, I just thought I'd check in with you and share a bit of our Sunday with you.
See you later in the week!
Lx

Thoughts for Thursday: Nostalgic for Newspapers

Hello there, lovelies...
How's your start to the New Year been? Mine has been relaxing... thus far. In fact, since my return from Blighty, the house has been a lot calmer and I've been enjoying the art of sitting down. It's fantastic! You should give it a whirl sometime... but I warn you, it is an addictive past-time.

Anyhoo, while partaking in this new found hobby, I found that, although the old legs enjoy *resting,* the brain is demanding of a little more activity... So, I've taken to reading the news once again. Now, I'm a modern thinking gal (with most things), but I can't get my head around picking up something electronic to read the daily news. I need to hear the rustle of paper... I need to wrestle with the awkward dimensions of the broad sheets (here in the States, the NY Times still remains broad). I need to smell the paper and feel the print on my fingertips. But what I love most of all is the fact that I end up reading a news story that I would ordinarily pass on, simply because it is on the same page as a more intriguing passage.

I was chatting with the hubby the other day about the down-turn in readership of the good old-fashioned newspaper. I then commented on how I couldn't ever imagine reading all of my news on a laptop or the likes, to which he replied that our daughters' generation probably couldn't imagine not reading the news electronically... My heart sank at this... I have such fond memories of the newspapers littered on the floor of the living room on a Sunday morning... sections being passed between family members, until, eventually, they were all gathered up by my mum, stored in a neat pile next to the hearth and used at a later date to help start the fire. Passing electronic devices back and forth or emailing articles doesn't quite conjure up the same soul satisfying image...

Anways, with this fond memory planted firmly in my mind, I renewed our subscription to the NY Times. Our first paper was delivered on New Year's Eve and it has been well and truly thumbed... I feel a little more informed and hope that this action of reading the newspapers at the weekend will sow the seed for my little ones and they carry on the tradition of reading actual newspapers... Although, what excites me even more (if truth be told), is the fact that the *Newspaper basket* I procured while in Blighty now actually has newspapers in it!! Come on, I know I've told you about my basket obsession before and this was just too good to pass! Oh, and just in case you were wondering, we have already created a recycling tub for newspapers.

What's your take on the traditional newspaper? A relic that belongs in the past? The only way to read the news? Or, do you take your news both ways? Let me know, I'd be interested to hear whether it's just me that gets nostalgic for newspapers.

Righty-o, I best be off. Good to catch up!
Lx

A Happy 2012!

Well, here we are again on the first day of the New Year! And boy, am I looking forward to the year ahead! 2011 was certainly a year for me. One in which I felt a little lost, but one that ended on a good note... not counting the fact that both of my little girls have terrible colds and the poor old dog had a trip to the vets yesterday! But, hey, I'm focusing on the positive here and I'm going to take this positive energy all the way through 2012!
Last night, the hubby, girls, and I rang in the New Year, laughing, dancing and full of good New Year spirit (unfortunately not of the alcoholic variety)... this was a marked contrast with last year's New Year's Eve, whereby we were all slumped on the couch suffering from a bout of food poisoning... strangely, ill health followed me throughout the year...  So, being a superstitious gal, I made sure this New Year's Eve that I was happy and confident (albeit wiping the girls noses and administering medication to the dog) and hopefully this up-beat attitude will continue throughout 2012!

2012 is going to be a good year for all of us in this little old place... this is the year for finishing some tasks around here. The year that I will *own* the garden (and win the battle with the mosquitoes), the year I will take a family vacation (and it won't be to the UK), the year I will keep my commitment to the gym, learn to live with my food allergies and finally make that blooming blind for the back door!!! I've committed here, so let's see if I can achieve at least some of the above ;-)

Anyhoo, I flipped the new calendar to January this morning (apparently, my mum says it's bad luck to turn it before... and to have wet laundry on New Year's Day... Did I mention I'm superstitious?)... Where was I? Ah yes, the calendar... not the usual Sainsbury's freebie!! It appears that the recession is biting old Mr J Sainsbury's and he has deemed that the giving of free calendars is a frivolity too far. Bah, humbug!

So, I picked up the January Period Living along with a free 2012 calendar. I know, I could have actually spent money on a calendar, but that would have been a  break in tradition too far!  The poor hubby was a tad disappointed that he's going to be greeted by piccies of old homes, instead of delicious food, but, hey, he'll have to take his complaints to Mr. Sainsbury... You never know, the hubby could end up being motivated by the gorgeous images of period homes and decide to start fixing this place up! Now there's a thought...

Anyways, I best be getting on, I have sick children and pets to tend...  Oh, and a New Year's Dinner to cook. Start the New Year as I mean to go on, and that includes good home cooking! Ooh, but before I leave, let me just say, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Thank you so much for popping by this past year... you were definitely a highlight of 2011!
Lx

Christmas at our little old house...

Hello there, lovelies.
It's been a while since I popped in, hasn't it? But, let me tell you, it has been one busy, busy time for this old girl! What with weddings, birthdays, and trips to Blighty, the time has just slipped away and here I am at the end of the year!

Anyhoo, I'll start by saying that I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Mine was sprung upon me. Having spent a month back in the mother land, I landed in NJ on December 21st and then had to get this old place ready for the festive season... which was no mean feat!

But, come Christmas Eve, you'd never have known that, only days earlier, there had still been pumpkins knocking around our home! So, for the past few days, I've been putting the brakes on, breathing in the sweet pine smell, munching on mince pies, and enjoying a nice cuppa from my newly acquired robin mug!

Aww, don't I just love robins? I'm always tempted to smuggle a couple back in my bra when returning from Blighty (since the nursing days, there's always more room in there than I'd like, but that's another story)... They're so cute and plump... I'm back to talking Robins here... keep up... and I just  love to hear the cheerful chatter in the garden... although if I ever managed to introduce the much smaller (and cuter) robin to NJ,  it would likely end up in a turf war with it's much bigger American counterpart... and we all know how that ended for our little red squirrels don't we? (no? well, lets just say it didn't go well)...  Taking that into consideration, I guess I should leave meddling with nature well alone...

Anyhoo, I'm whittering on and I'm sure you have plenty to do before the New Year embarks... I know I do, but I just wanted to pop in, say hi and try out the new (soley for blogging) laptop!

Yeah, Santa left me a new one, so that I don't have to wrestle with hubby, children, dog or any other Tom, Dick or Harry when I want to blog!!  So, no excuses!

Ta ta for now!
Lx

A life worth living...

So, it's been a while hasn't it?
So long, that I am now sat here all tongue-tied, as though it were my first ever post... My first entry into 'Blogland'... so long, that as I tap out these words, there's a sense of awkwardness... I equate it to when you have every intention of sending 'Thank you' cards, but then life sweeps you up and you're caught in this time period where it's been left so long, you don't know whether to skulk under a rock and forget about sending them altogether, or just to bite the bullet and send them... after all, a late 'thank you' is better than no 'thank you' at all isn't it??

Well, I have that proverbial bullet gritted between my teeth (alas, if I were to do this my poor teeth would crumble under the stress... they can barely manage a Granny Smith these days) and here I am... tapping away to anyone passing by...

But what to say?? Well, I think the very first thing I should do is send a big 'thank you' to all who contacted me... I was here, just hiding.. scared to open the lines of communication... scared to share, when I wasn't in the right frame of mind... and so, instead I licked my wounds quietly in the corner... My blog became something I needed a break from while I sorted a few things out... They're still being sorted, but I don't want to skulk under that rock anymore... I have, once again, reminded myself of all the things in my life that make me smile...

... like a beautiful sun-filled day in my Autumnal garden... Where roses still bloom, bathing their delicate petals in the warm orange glow. Where trees cling onto their leaves as they gently rustle in the cool breeze (a precursor to the harsh winds that will whip through in a few weeks time)... Sat in the garden today, I smiled... a big smile... because I do have a lot to smile about... I just need to remind myself of that from time to time... and, even though I've not been feeling my usual chipper self of late, sometimes you just need to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and live life... every facet it of it... the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Anyhoo, I'll let you get off... I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for popping by, showing you care, and getting me out from under that rock!

Take care.
Lx

Little house ♥...

Hello there...First of all, I would like to say a B-I-G 'thank you' for all of your lovely comments. They really did put a smile on my face in an otherwise yucky time. So, I'm back, after quite a rollercoaster week... I'll not go into details (because there are many), but I will tell you that the exit from the cabin was hairy... trees down, crazy flooding... oh, and I picked up food poisoning en route home. Needless to say, I was very ill and not at all prepared for dealing with the damage that Hurricane Irene had left in our little home.

Anyhoo, I'll fast-forward to Friday... power finally restored, basement pumped and hot water back. Life is pretty much as it was pre-storm. We really had it lucky... other inland residents suffered terribly and my heart really does go out to them. Nature, while beautiful, can sometimes be so cruel...

So, here I am again. Appreciating my little home that bit more... loving it's tiny cozy rooms, and so proud that our teeny old creeky house stood up to the storm. We definitely didn't think she had it in her. When the winds are blowing a hooey outside, it creeks and groans and we always joke that it'll be whipped up into the air and dropped on a witch somewhere (the witch role is substituted at times)... but it made it!!! Apparently, she was built well (and I thought the contractor was kidding when he told me it was well-made the other week). So, if you look past the wonky windows, sloping floors, and totally impractical layout, you will see a pretty sturdy and much-loved home.

Okay, I've finshed gushing about how much I love my home (you're lucky... this post could have been about how much I love electricity and all of the modern amenities that come along with it).

So, what am I thinking about at the moment? Fall. Wahoo! Hello, cool nights... goodbye mosquitos! It's September and all the loveliness which comes with Autumn is almost upon us... I have projects up the wazoo to share and, once the kids are back on their school schedule, I'll finally have the time to blog. Life is good! Go on, smile!

Huge hugs!
Lx