This week my Word of the Week is: Improvements!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Over the last month, Stu and I have made a lot of improvements around our home. It all started with him painting the dining room, putting some new shelves up and me getting a new sideboard for the living room. Since then, it has all snowballed, one job has just led to another. The girls keep coming in and look around suspiciously to see what has changed or what has been added to our house.

On Saturday I spent a good few hours putting another little sideboard together. You would think smaller would mean simpler to put together but no! There were so many fiddly bits and the instructions were not great. Well, to my eyes they weren't. Ellie said she had no issues understanding them. It would have been much easier with an electric screwdriver but Stu's wasn't charged and I had no idea how to charge it. I battled on and resulted in a sore hand but a very nice looking sideboard/bookshelf. I felt very pleased with myself for putting it together and getting a bargain. I saw it on the Wilkos website for £42 but actually bought it from Temu for £29.53!

On Monday my new washing basket arrived. I feel like I am getting old because I got excited about a laundry basket. lol The old one was round so this being rectangular seems to fit better into the kitchen. My family complained that it was smaller, they're never happy! It turns out it must be around the same size as they've not been able to fill it yet. hehehe

Another improvement in the house has been the vacuum situation. Our Dyson vacuum cleaners have served us really well over the years. I was actually sent a couple to review back in 2017 and they’ve been absolutely amazing but all good things must come to an end. The upright one wasn’t quite as powerful as it used to be. It still worked but it definitely felt like it was losing a bit of its oomph, so I decided it was time to get a new one. I went with a Russell Hobbs cylinder vacuum. It's not quite as fancy as the Dyson but it does the job! I didn't even realise Russell Hobbs made vacuums but the kitchen appliances we've had from that brand have always been reliable!

Next up came me painting the fireplace and all the wood around it. It was an easy job apart from waiting for the paint to dry! That took way longer than I thought it would. I took a tip from my brother and wore latex gloves, so I wouldn't get paint all over my hands, which in theory is great but I covered my hands before the paint even touched a brush when I was getting the lid off without the gloves on. Oops. I bought 2 tins of the black paint and it turns out I only needed one, so I have decided to sand Ellie's computer desk down and paint it. She is not overjoyed about it but I said at least I will be able to take it outside and it should dry quicker. After that, all the furniture in the living room will match!

When the paint was dry I rearranged all my shelves again. I love all my trinkets, Funko Pop Characters and knick-knacks. I felt like a child again when I used to play with my doll's house, rearranging the furniture. I've said now that nothing will be moved unless I am dusting or until Christmas when I put the decorations up. hehehe

I think the home improvements are done for now. Now it's time to focus on the garden since my compost was delivered. It was much later in the week than I expected, so I haven't got any planting done yet. That might be a job for today!

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!

What I have loved this week! Week 11. #FridayFavourites

Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a good week whatever you’ve been up to. Mine has been a bit of a mixed bag of random little things, good food, funny moments and the usual family fun. As always, I’m linking up with Erika and Andrea to share the things that I have loved over the past week.

A weekend of sport!

For someone who isn't a big fan of sport, I sure watched a lot over the weekend. First up was the football and a couple of FA Cup matches. I hadn't planned on watching either but found myself in front of the TV shouting like I was a life-long supporter. I was rooting for Wrexham to beat Chelsea. I'm not a Wrexham supporter but Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) owns the team and I just love the whole underdog story surrounding them. They lost and then Newcastle were playing, which is my family’s team. I was feeling hopeful at first but they lost too. Ugh! It was not a good day for football. Sunday was all about catching up with Formula 1 and there was no disappointment as I don't have a favourite yet. I like about 10 of the drivers but I don't mind who wins. We had to wait until the afternoon to watch the replay as it was live too early in the morning from Australia but it was worth the wait! We then spent the rest of the weekend sending each other TikToks and memes about F1 drivers, funny race moments and random clips from interviews. I love it!

A dinosaur top!

This was a top I found again when I sorted my wardrobe at the start of the year. I was looking for something else but came across this dinosaur top and decided it needed to be worn straight away! I wore it when I went to visit my dad and it got a reaction. My little nephew absolutely loved it but my dad was not impressed. He looked at me with confusion and said something along the lines of me looking like a children’s TV presenter. Dinosaur tops are not quite his idea of grown-up clothing but I found it hilarious. Life is far too short to only wear serious clothes.

Sherbet Dips!

My eldest daughter Becky is an adult. A full-grown adult with her own money and responsibilities but every now and then she still does things that remind me she still sometimes has the mind of a child. This week she bought a box of 48 Sherbet Dips. She saw them and it unlocked some deep childhood memory and she decided she needed them. The good news is that they tasted exactly like she remembered them. Phew!

A Minecraft Movie!

I finally got around to watching the Minecraft movie this week and it was so much fun. I started watching expecting something silly but I ended up laughing out loud far more than I thought I would. My girls have played Minecraft on and off since they were really young and despite hearing about the game for years, I somehow never properly thought about the name. It only clicked while watching the film. First you mine, then you craft! Minecraft! I felt a bit silly for not realising it sooner.

A weird lunch!

My dad got me onto this and at first I thought he was mad! Tea cakes with marmalade and Wensleydale and cranberry cheese on top. It sounds a weird combo that shouldn't work but it's really good! Wensleydale cheese is something I usually only buy at Christmas but now it seems to be making it onto the shopping list most weeks.

My fella!

He does have the patience of a saint. On Monday his day off work, I felt like such a nag. I kept saying "can you just do this, can you do that? Can you find this and move that. I seemed to be following him around the house adding to his to-do list. I was very needy and had him doing all sorts of random little jobs and he just kept saying yes every single time. If it had been the other way round, I’m pretty sure by early evening I would have snapped and said that’s enough. do it yourself! Most of the things I was asking him to do were jobs he’s much better at than me anyway. Things like changing the shower curtain, finding the sandpaper in the garage, carrying an overfilled basket of clean washing upstairs and hanging some pictures on the wall.

Painting!

Midweek I got around to sanding down the fireplace and giving it a fresh coat of paint. The sanding wasn't too bad, neither was the painting but it took forever to dry. Well, not forever, but around 24 hours, which was longer than I wanted. It was definitely worth the wait though. I think it looks fantastic and it finally matches the rest of the room properly.

Reese's Bunnies!

I love this time of year when all the Easter chocolate appears in the shops and suddenly my willpower disappears. This week I discovered mini Reese’s Bunnies and they might be my new favourite Easter chocolate. I have eaten a couple of bags this week but in my defence, there are only about eight in each bag which really isn’t very many when you think about it. Now I’m on a mission to see if there are bigger bags available somewhere because the small ones don’t last long enough

What have you loved over the past week?

Mother’s Day with mixed feelings!

Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday and every year I have this weird mix of feelings about it. It’s always been a bit of a strange one for me. For some people, it’s all flowers, breakfast in bed, the perfect card and those cheesy my mum is my best friend photos on social media and for others it’s complicated, emotional or just a day they’d rather skip completely. For me, I am somewhere in the middle.

I don’t have a mum to celebrate with any more and even when I did, we didn't have the best relationship. She wasn’t the kind of mum who was always there or who gave hugs and reassurances when I needed them. I learnt a lot about what not to do from her. Towards the end of her life she made choices I didn't agree with and there was no relationship at all. I’m OK with that now but I wasn’t OK with it for a long time. I used to be that person who would block emails from every company sending out Mother’s Day reminders. It used to feel like a punch in the gut, a reminder of what I didn’t have. It took me a while to figure out that Mother’s Day doesn’t have to look like a Hallmark card to have meaning. Now it’s about the life I’ve built, the girls I’ve raised and the woman I’ve grown into along the way. That to me is the best gift ever!

Being a mum is something you can’t really prepare for. You can read all the books, watch all the videos, take every piece of advice and still nothing really prepares you for it. One minute it’s just you and the next you’re responsible for a whole human being who relies on you for everything. Mother’s Day always makes me think back to those early days: the endless nappies, the feeding schedules and the kind of tired where you lose track of the days. I poured so much of myself into being a mum back then, often without even realising and looking back I feel proud of that.

Not having a great relationship with my own mum meant I didn’t have a clear example to follow. I didn’t have anyone to ring up and ask Is this normal? Or what would you do? Most of my mothering came from instinct, trial and error and a promise to myself that I’d do things differently where I could. Mother’s Day makes me think about that a lot. It’s not about comparing myself to other mums or feeling like I’m falling short. It’s about knowing that I showed up even when it was hard. I listened, I learned and I apologised when I got it wrong.

Mother’s Day changes as the kids grow. When the girls were little it was all about the handmade cards, messy scribbles and sticky fingerprints. Now it’s less about the crafts and more about conversations, a hug, a text, a shared laugh and sometimes just being together is enough and I love that.

I’d be lying if I said Mother’s Day was always easy. There’s a mix of emotions, and sometimes the sadness sneaks in when I least expect it. Not because I want to celebrate my own mum but because grief has a way of just turning up. Social media doesn’t help either. Every scroll is full of captions about mums being their kids everything. Over the years I’ve learnt to step back from that and just focus on my girls and me. Mother’s Day has taken on a whole new meaning thanks to my girls. I love the small indulgences, the extra attention, the cups of tea brought to me without me having to ask and the silly little treats that make the day feel special. It makes me think about how I mother my girls the best I can, even when it’s hard.

Mother’s Day is all about the family I’ve built, the lessons I’ve learned and the strength I didn’t know I had until I needed it. It’s not about my past. It’s about my present. It’s about being a mum who shows up, keeps learning and loves her girls!

The Wednesday Hodgepodge #46

I hope you are all having a good week. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1. Are you a naturally trusting person? Is trust built on logic or 'gut instinct'? Does everyone deserve a second chance? Elaborate.

I wouldn’t say I’m naturally trusting these days. I probably used to be when I was younger as I just assumed people were decent and honest but life has a way of teaching you those lessons over time. After being burned a few times, I’ve put my guard up a bit. I’m friendly but I don’t hand out trust straight away. For me, trust is something that grows in time and is earned. I like to watch how people behave, how they treat others and whether their actions match their words.

Trust is both a mix of gut instinct and logic for me. Sometimes I meet someone and something just feels a bit off and I can’t quite explain why. I’ve learned it’s usually worth listening to that feeling. Other times it’s more about paying attention to patterns. If someone is kind, reliable and consistent, trust slowly builds without even realising it.

When it comes to second chances, I think it depends on the situation. People do make mistakes and sometimes they do learn from them but I don’t think everyone deserves endless chances either. If someone keeps doing the same thing over and over at some point, you have to say enough is enough.

2. 'Beware the Ides of March'...March 15th on the ancient Roman calendar, these words were made famous by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar. Caesar was assassinated on March 15th 44 B.C. Have you read any Shakespeare? If so, do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to Rome?

I’ve read a bit of Shakespeare but only at school. The one my class read was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Parts of it were fun but I struggled to understand the language. I do remember being a bit jealous that the other class got to read Romeo and Juliet which I always liked better. Around that time Baz Luhrmann was just releasing his movie version with Leonardo DiCaprio so everyone was talking about it and it made the story feel extra exciting.

I’ve never been to Rome but it’s definitely one of those places I’d love to visit. It just seems like one of those cities where everywhere you turn there’s something amazing to see.

3. Do you like a Caesar salad? If given the choice between a garden/house salad or Caesar which do you order? Anchovies or no? What's your favorite salad dressing?

Caesar salad has never really tempted me. I’ll always go for a simple garden/house salad instead. Just lettuce, cucumber, tomato, maybe a bit of onion. That’s all I need but definitely no anchovies! When it comes to dressing, I’m a Salad Cream fan. Is it just a UK thing? It's sort of like mayonnaise but not as thick, it's a little tangy, a little sweet and just right for a salad!

4. Where do you typically work (or blog if that's easier) at home? Do you have a dedicated home office space? Are you happy with that space?

Most of my blogging happens in my armchair in the living room. It’s where I’m most comfortable and where I seem to get the most done. I can sit here with my laptop on my knee, watching the TV and have a drink and snacks nearby, then I just get on with writing. I even wrote a whole blog post about my armchair at the start of the year. I don’t have a home office space. I know lots of people have lovely desks and beautiful offices but the living room is good enough for me and I like being in the middle of the house rather than tucked away somewhere else.

5. Snow drops, daffodils, lenten roses, crocus, hyacinth, or early tulips...what's your favorite early Spring flower?

It has to be Daffodils! The minute I start seeing daffodils popping up in gardens, parks and along the roadsides, it feels like spring is properly starting. They’re so bright and such a cheerful flower! After months of grey skies and bare gardens, they are something we need to see at this time of year. Most weeks I always buy a bunch or two to have in the house. They are only £1 a bunch, so it feels like a really inexpensive treat! They’re a simple little thing that make a room feel a bit happier.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

As I am writing this I am watching the replay of the F1 Australian Grand Prix, I wasn't getting up at 4am to watch it live. I stopped watching it in the early 2000's and only got back into is because my youngest has started watching over the last year. Over the past week I have been playing catch up learning all about the teams and cars! Watching the race reminded me how much I love it, the roaring engines, the speed and all the drama. My youngest says I'm not allowed to like George Russell but he is my favourite at the moment. I was so stressed watching him trying to overtake Charles Leclerc. Eek!