Thoughts and Tales Archives - Page 7 of 8

Fantasy Dinner Party Guest List

Hi there and thanks for stopping by. Recently the lovely Carol over at Virtually All Sorts posted her fantasy dinner party guest list and asked me who I’d have on mine. I have enjoyed having this going through my mind over the past week and I’m pleased to share it with you now….

Firstly it’s got to be Paul Weller, he would smoke, swear and be so cool that I would forget how to eat with a knife and fork and probably miss my mouth when I tried to quaff my wine. I’d love to have him there but I would be a mess so I’m not too sure. I am pretty sure though that I would tell him that I loved him at some inappropriate point in the evening… English Rose is amazing, have a listen if you can!

Annie Lennox, she’s the striking singer who I am sure would be fascinating to sit next to. I’d have to up my game when it came to interesting topics to talk about. I can only think of my one link to her, which would be that I once sat in a restaurant in Ibiza next to Siobhan Fahey who was married to Dave Stewart who was her partner in the Eurythmics….that should bring the conversation to a shuddering standstill…Ok.. she’s on the ‘maybe’ list.

Tim Peake, wow! 186 days in space aboard the International Space Station is pretty good going. Not content with whizzing around the earth at 17,000 miles an hour, he also ran the london marathon, completed the first spacewalk of a british astronaut and read a bedtime story to millions of children via cbeebies. Furthermore, he comes across as such a likable man. Luckily I won’t have to ask about how to wee in space as he kindly already answered that on one of his many video links, phew! He’s on the list.

My nan, she loved new experiences and would always come out with exactly what was on her mind, she’d be great at keeping the conversations flowing. She would recount tales of her and her best friend going to the dance halls in Poplar in the east end of London before the war and all the wonderfully funny situations they would get themselves into. OK, any ‘maybes’ can now come. I could entertain all of the above people, and more with her by my side as my co-host. I Love and miss her, she was so fab.

What about you, who would be head of the table? I’d love to know.

Just one more thing before you go….incase you weren’t convinced by the first Paul Weller song. I have been listening to him while writing this post, so here’s another little gem for you to have on in the background…

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Top 10 Surprising Spring jobs….to keep ahead of the pack

1. Sort out my bullet journal! Well it’s a note-book with thousands of tiny luminous post-it notes sticking out at various angles. I’d be hard pushed to decipher what they actually meant. Still, it needs a sort out.

2. Passenger advance information-upcoming holiday and the dreaded online information. The cheaper the airline I book the more work it takes to comply with their small print. note to self: double, then triple check this to avoid check-in meltdown at the airport with children.

3. Travel insurance and E111 do they still exist, what use are they??? Research – after all…. knowledge is power!

4. Check passports to see if they are still valid…too scared to look (Number 4.5 be braver woman!)

5. Get the boy’s memory boxes sorted – this would be a wonderful job to get behind me. Every time they come home with a certificate or memento they look up at me with cherubic faces and ask for it to go in the memory box. Again, like so many things you’ll read from me, in my head the memory boxes are adorned with cute little drawings and stacked in date order. In reality, well…..it’s a work in progress.

6. Get the jars together for jam making and chutneys – oh yes I’m going for it. I know you’re looking at the points above and thinking there’s not a chance, but I think jam making might just be my thing!!! There’s so many great tasty looking recipes pouring out from my fellow bloggers that I have to give it a real go. Thank you for the pressure all you amazing people;)

I can do this...really, I can!! — I can do this…really, I can!!

7. Book the boys play dates in advance – everyone else manages it so why can’t I? *sobbing*

8. Paint something outside, doesn’t matter what…it’s a spring job. Things need painting!

9. Pack away winter coats but not in the loft yet, who knows what will happen. Brit weather has a mind of its own.

10. Organise an extended family get together….it will be worth it, daunting but worth it.

That should keep me going and as I’m pretty much behind with half of it then that’s definitely plenty. How about you, has anything on my list jogged your memory for things you would like to get out of the way?

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Easy Upholstery….the myrealfairy way….

I’ve been off this week, needed to step off the conveyor belt for a few days to relax and hear myself think. I wrote a list of ‘relaxing jobs to do’

Instead of the normal bits and bobs I normally fill my time up with which usually all focus on running around and not taking it easy. I decided to get round to a job I’ve had waiting for ages… recovering our footstool. I brought it second-hand over a year ago thinking it would be a good little project one day.

I have been looking for material to cover it and went to a fabric store near where I live and nothing really caught my eye apart from a piece that was £25 a meter, well that was way too much so I had a mooch around the charity shops looking for curtains which I could cut up and use but didn’t come up with anything. So, I finally went onto Freecycle where I responded to an ad and met this lovely woman who was giving away loads of upholstery material. I went round to hers and was invited to take my pick. There were so many and all looked really good quality. I also took some up to the boys school for the textile department as she wanted as much to go to those who needed it as possible. So it was a good way to recycle and upcycle the off cuts.

I will say now that I had no idea of how to re-upholster the footstool. I’ve always imagined myself doing these creative things but normally don’t manage them because I haven’t actually got the skill, tools or time to do it! We have had a go at the Bee House and are now waiting to see what happens there.

This time was different though, I had the time, probably still lacking the skill to be fair but I had the ultimate show stopper…..the Staple Gun. Oh my days this is a fabulously lethal piece of kit and something I would only attempt using while the boys were at school.

Here’s my picture guide to how I completed it…

Stretch the fabric over and pop staples in along the base, keep repeating.

The corners were tricky but finally managed them.

Pleat and fold the corners over and imagine you’re wrapping a gift. As long as all the sides match I don’t think it matters too much what sort of pattern it makes

This was such a fun project to work on, it didn’t take too long and it was relaxing, what’s not to love about that? This wasn’t exactly fairy inspired but it sure has inspired me to take more time out to take on some more fun crafts. I hope you enjoyed it.

Is it project season where you are? I’d love to hear what ideas you have.
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Tales of a Newbie Blogger #2 – the logo trials…

The reaction to my first piece in the Tales of a Newbie Blogger series was met with such a warm response that it really spurred me on, so thank you for those who read and commented on it.

Looking back on that post as I sit here thinking about this journey, I realise that I didn’t give a little insight into me…common enough to those close to me, I’ll shout and preen about what the kids have done or what we have done as a family but give away what I’m actually thinking is a hurdle that I crash into rather than glide over.

At the start of 2016 a few things happened where I knew that I would like to make some subtle changes. Nothing major as I’m more than happy with my lot, I’ve got the most amazing partner in crime, 2 boisterous boys, full-time job and great gaggle of friends and family. Sure, its not rosy all the time and frequently I’m muttering to myself about wanting ‘alone time’, but when it boils down to it I’m bloomin chuffed with my lot.

The subtle change would come in the form of what would commonly be known in my house as, predictably… The Blog.

When I first had the idea that I wanted to blog, I thought the it would have a very clear theme which was for it to have fairy and folklore traits…hence the name – myrealfairy. For quite a few years I’ve had an interest in starting a business with a fairy inspired background, whether that be gifts, games or fairy readings (tarot readings with a twist). As time has moved on and technology has romped forward it’s all become more possible.

I had lots of evenings and fun trying out different logos and colour formats, while dipping into the techi bit of starting up the blog. A week ~~and the rest~~ went by like this, as playing around with fonts and pictures was far more inviting than trying to come to grips with some of the new language which was swirling around this brave new world I was looking into.

Immediately that I started looking at free logo creators and the like, I started having emails from all and sundry dropping into my inbox offering all sorts of help with logo creation. It was not too disrupting but jeez, how does this work, they all found out so quickly! Like with life in general, free isn’t all that it seems and even though I’m a newbie blogger, I’m certainly not green.

Alot of playing around on one of the free logo sites and came up with this:

It’s hard to believe that something so simple took so many hours to create. I think I overdid the time I spent on it and eventually just hit save and publish.

I love it and how it looks on the site, eek ‘my’ site. That done, so many more areas to look into and tweak.

I’m going to take it slow and steady as I had a bit of a sprint out of the starting block. There’s a lot in my life and a lot of people to love. There’s ample space for ‘the blog’ but it has to learn to nestle in with the rest.

I also made the firm decision not to worry about it being a business model, just a fun one! That has been one of the biggest reliefs.

I’d love to hear your comments and experiences with your journey.

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Wings…

Powerful bright white

Made to soar

Made to fight

Power behind the darkest flight

Oh how you glide

Oh how you light

Powerful bright white

Today…..

Is Yoga Right For Me?

I’ve started to think about some light exercise again and have dipped my toe in my local swimming pool which is nice enough but I seem to slink out towards the jacuzzi more often than not. Watching other people complete their lengths, gliding through the water like little otters doesn’t seem to help my ever expanding tummy…. shame!

So, I have now explored Yoga…well its a bodybalance class which appears to be, Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi, rolled into one class….it’s bliss!!

My first class was an eye opener… I walk in, dead on 11 to be greeted by everyone already stood, facing forward in an orderly fashion, mat in front, ready to go! I stood by the door, seemingly now knock-kneed and awkward. Awkward and over 40 is something I didn’t know could still happen, but there we go! I blushed and spluttered out that I was sorry and I was new…yes, I actually said ‘I’m new’. What was ~~mortifying~~ really funny was that I heard and I promise this is true, I heard someone say, ‘aaahhh bless’.

With that little gem of a start out of the way I engrossed myself in the class. The terms, stances and methods were new to me but the class felt safe and secure and actually, amazingly welcoming.

One day I hope to balance long enough for a photo!

I have to be completely honest and say at my stage…and I’ve been to two classes at the time of writing this…that I’m not completely sure where the Tai Chi moves into the Yoga and then onto Pilates. What I am aware of though is how it makes me feel. It’s a strange feeling of stretched and supple, relaxed and energised. Truly the best feeling I’ve ever had after any sort of class I’ve ever been to. I’m not a gym bunny by any means so I haven’t got masses of experience to draw on but I do know myself and this fits with me.

I’d love to keep this up and I will draw on an expression that I love which is….

‘ the hardest thing about a class is turning up’

So I think that ‘Yes’ yoga, in this form is right for me. I was wondering what others have thought about their first experiences of classes similar to this, I’d love to hear…

Tales of a Newbie Blogger #1

It started with an idea, yeah, a lightbulb moment. I thought that was what other people had, but finally I was having mine!

It seemed crazy when I said it out loud but it made perfect sense inside my head. I wanted to have a creative outlet that was something completely different from my full time day job and that wasn’t completely focused on the children. Something I could be in control of and didn’t answer me back!

My idea was to have a blog which incorporated a fairy, folklore, mystical, practical, lifestyle, parenting and reviews theme!

See, it’s that whole saying it out loud thing that I was talking about!

I’ve always lived my life by having the thought that I’ll never know unless I try and this thought has a bare knuckle fight with the more practical, task orientated planner side, who would love to be in control. However, my drive to start the blog was strong and I’ve hit it head on and revel in soaking up all the new information I need to learn and the hurdles I have to leap.

Ok that’s being a little too over enthusiastic, even for me… because my goodness there is so much to learn! It’s also amazingly time consuming, I really had no idea.

Theres….

Deciding on the name, logos, themes…..

Web design, domain name, hosting….

There is social media – Twitter, Pinterest and the rest, all trying to get us to interact, follow each other and play nicely….

Photo design, free photos, editing photos, meta sliders…..

Coding, formatting, plugins, widgets….

That is just the tip of the blogging iceberg. I’ve had to plough my way through all of that before I’ve got to what is the pearl inside the oyster -‘the post’….. it’s almost a da da da moment for me!

I’m going to journal my ups and downs through my start up as a little reminder to me in the months ahead of what’s been achieved. I look forward to taking you with me!

But, the main thing is, whatever the outcome, it’s mine and it’s a creation….blimey, that’s pretty cool!