Such a child! (Halloween!)

Halloween is upon us again! I simultaneously love and hate the season, I think it’s because I’m still a child mentally but clubbed with being a complete and utter wimp.

As a child/teenager my cousins Scott, Lee & Terry thought it was hilarious to scare the crap out of me by making me watch Thriller and Halloween on VHS, then whacking the lamp shades from the top bunks when we had sleepovers – bastards!

The trouble is I never grew out of that fear and I will not watch horror films I’ve never seen before (I’ll watch Halloween, 28 Days Later, Nightmare on Elms Street because I’ve seen them and I know what’s coming!) which is annoying for Mike, but the trouble is; I’m my own worst enemy, I’ll watch YouTube Videos on Planet Dolan and get fully engrossed in those cheesy (probably faked!) ghost investigation programmes on TV, then I have to sleep with the lights on and ignore the need to pee until morning – such.a.child!

On the flipside I love playing dress up with my Nieces and Nephews, Halloween related crafts, trick or treaters visiting, carving pumpkins (also roasting the pumpkin seeds and baking pumpkin pies – one must get their moneys worth!) and nights out – of course!

Yesterday I made Halloween lanterns with two of my Nieces and two of my Nephews who are 12, 8, 6 and 2 I made the whole project easy enough for all ages and I believe I had more fun than the children!

Halloween Lanterns

You’ll need

• Clean and Clear Jars
• PVA Glue
• Poster Paints
• Glitter
• Halloween decorations of your choice
• String 
• LED tea lights

Method

1. Mix 2 parts of PVA to 1 part poster paint for each colour.
2. Use these paint mixtures to paint your jars, the PVA will make the colours opaque so the tea lights can shine through.
3. We decorated ours with fake blood, glitter and cut black paper cut into Halloween themed shapes on our Cricut machine and stuck them all to the outside with more PVA.
4. Drill holes into the lid of each jar and feed the string through them as handles.
5. Leave your jar to dry then pop in your LED tea light and pop on the lid!

Until Next Wednesday
L xxx

Stairlift to Heaven

After ALOT of money, phone calls, e-mails, 12 weeks and a company I will NOT be recommending, I got my stairlift!

Like many other mobility and disability aids, stairlifts are seen as clinical, ugly and are associated with the elderly. I myself agree with the first two points but many of us are far from elderly and need this equipment to muddle through our daily lives. 

My stairlift joy dance!

So if you’re considering a stairlift, there is no shame or giving in and here’s a modern girls guide to 

stairlifts.

1. Do your research - We did a lot of research into brands, products, and companies associated with stairlifts and still came up a cropper with an uncaring and rude company who didn’t do what they were paid to do. If I was installing a new TV or fridge I wouldn’t have been so angry but this equipment was giving me my freedom!

2. Bags – My right hand controls the stairlift and my left hand is a tad useless, so I have cloth bags both upstairs and down. You pile in all the stuff you need to take up with you that prevents dropping everything and creating a waterfall of crap you can’t pick up, this also works with washing, before I used the bags, I had to hug the dirty clothes and no one needs Mike’s rancid socks so close to their nose!

3. Invest in a lidded coffee cup or flask – I love my morning Dulce’ Gusto skinny cappuccino but my study is upstairs, balancing a hot drink whist controlling the stairlift was fun but nobody has time for a soggy burnt lap.

Safe Coffee

4. Enjoy the ride – There is a law that the lifts cannot go any faster than 4mph and it takes almost two minutes to get upstairs (if you forget anything that’s a 5-minute round trip!) I started to get annoyed that my 2yr old Nephew Alex could overtake me but then I had a thought....

I’m notoriously stubborn. On my good days (which are getting further apart – Gee thanks British weather!) I like to get stuff done and of course, overdo it, so now I see my 2 minute ride on the world’s slowest roller coaster as a time to rest and think about what’s next!

5. Pimp your ride – Yes stairlifts are ugly as sin! You can’t do much with the rails but I plan on learning to use a sewing machine to cover the beige seat in something funky and less drab.

6. Not just for mobility – Stairlifts are, in my eyes, not just for mobility, I fully expect that friends, family or even future teenagers of my own, will get very drunk and I reckon we’ll end up sending them up on the lift to bed plus there’s a seat belt for safety!

My stairlift also has a 125kg weight limit so if Mike and I need something heavy moved upstairs I fully intend to use it to save Mike’s back.

7. Answers nature's call – An unexpected bonus to the stairlifts speed is that you'll achieve very good pelvic floor muscles, because if you’re dying for a pee, you’re not going anywhere fast, so either go before you're desperate or get very good at holding it in!

8. Lastly appreciate the technology – When I was a teenager my parents couldn’t afford a stairlift and the waiting list for a government funded one was huge, so I had to pee in a commode (emptied by my wonderful mum), have a sponge bath in the dining room (also emptied by my patient mother) which is also where I slept for several years, and having the savings to buy my own stair lift when I needed one is a true and brilliant luxury that I’m grateful for.

Until next Wednesday!

L xxx

Video Credit to my Brother Steve who remixed my stairlift video to our mutually loved soundtrack of Blink 182

novo (Salon) Review

I was lucky enough to win a competition with a Southend Hair salon called novo. I’d won a Kérastase Discipline Blow Dry Treatment for thick unruly hair and after two years without a haircut and a shameful lack of conditioning, my hair was is desperate need of some TLC.

I had a wonderful hairdressing team called Goodman and Brook but they’re in East Sussex and I used to see them when I visited my In-laws, but then they moved West Sussex and as much as I love the G and B team I’m not prepared to drive 2hrs for a hair cut!

Before G and B I hated going to the hairdressers, most of them did as they wished and not what they were asked to do and I once came out of a salon looking like one of my brothers with curtains for hair!

Having won the discipline treatment with novo I thought I’d treat myself to a cut and colour too.

I rode 4 and a half miles on my mobility scooter, only making my hair do worse and arrived at novo. I was greeted By Abbie who was my colourist, she made me a Cappuccino and we started my transformation!

Novo Southend Branch

I chose an even brighter version of the red I already was (although I think I’ll go even brighter next time!) and Abbie and I chatted the whole time. Not only was she glamorous, she was sweet and considerate.

Next, I was introduced to Paige my stylist. Another cappuccino down, we discussed what I wanted to some great length (pun intended!). Paige gave me her advice in regards to the cut in relation to my face and hair type, I felt like she knew exactly what I meant and I already trusted her judgement. We had a funny conversation about all the competitions I enter/win, she felt like and old friend.

After three hours of pampering and brilliant chat (and yet another coffee – I’d had 3hrs sleep!), I felt fabulous! I spent the rest of the day swishing my hair around like a Pantene TV commercial model; my hair was soft, bright and expertly cut.

Before and (thankfully!) after!

Now because I’d had my hair coloured I had to wait 3 days for my Kérastase treatment. So off I scooted back to novo for that. I was introduced to Jasmine, an absolute sweetheart who reminded me of my younger self; Pug mad, chatty, honest and a real people person. The treatment took three hours but my hair once more was gorgeous and I got caught more than once checking myself out!

I really recommend novo, I felt like a valued customer and had a laugh which made me forget my nerves and in fact, I’ve booked to go back in 6 weeks time – a true Lynsey seal of approval!

Until next Wednesday!
L x

To find out more about novo or to book an appointment go to http://novohair.co.uk/ join their facebook group here and check our their Instagram right here where you'll also spot my face!

306 Days

Well Hello. It’s been 306 days since my last blog. Let me explain.

In the last few years, a lot of stuff has happened, you would have read all about the good but I decided not to share the bad (you’ll have to wait for the biography to read all that juicy goss!) and believe me there’s been a lot of bad. 99% of the bad stuff was completely out of my control but it affected my work, opportunities, relationships, confidence and at points, my mental health.

Last December after particularly vicious troll message, I’d.had.enough. So, I stopped writing, completely. I didn’t want this blog to become a pity party and a negative place, but anyway, now I’m back!

I’m hoping you’ll all forgive my absence, so let’s have a recap...

The Boy and I

Mike and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary; a decade together has been interesting and wonderful in equal measures.  As we were saving like a possessed couple, we just went for dinner and cocktails which leads me to the biggest change; we moved house!

I’m no longer writing from our tiny flat/apartment in central Southend, we now have an actual grown up family home. We relocated a whole 4.4miles to the wilds of Shoeburyness. We have a dining room, 3 bedrooms, Estuary (Thames River) views and apple/pear trees in the garden! An added bonus is that we also have a garage which Mike has commandeered as a workshop for his art business. 

View from my new study - The Thames

This is our forever home, the house we’ll make as man and wife, the home we’ll bring our babies back to and our happy place in this crazy world.

We went on holiday with 11 members of my family to Portugal (we went on holiday 9hrs after we moved the last box into the new house!) which was wonderfully relaxing and we have spent the last 4 months getting used to our new home!

There have of course been many other goings on but I have to hold my horses and save them for another day and another blog. I’ve chosen Wednesday as my new blog day, I need to get into a routine with my writing, and I may add others days as I go, but we will see.

Until next Wednesday!

L xxx