Monday Magic – Inspiring Blogs for You!

Posted in Blog share, Blogging, Blogs, chronic illness, Monday Blogs by Claire Saul (PainPalsBlog)

Good evening! I haven’t been here for a whole week – well not actually writing on the page anyway. It has been a busy week with several trips into central London and I am still hopeless at pacing myself – so a very long day for my son’s graduation, a theatre trip and a house full of youngsters has left me devoid of anything resembling a brain to write, comment on posts or do little other than sleep and eat, in that order!

The graduation day gave my parents, hubby and me the opportunity to be those really embarrassing grandparents and parents. Personally I don’t believe that we were anywhere near the top ten for winning those awards on the day, although I expect the young engineer would say otherwise. I actually allowed him to choose which dress I would wear – between a bold floral number and a black and cream block symmetric piece – he chose what he described as the “boring” one, but I’m not sure that was quite the response I was looking for. When my mum got in the car though, she was greeted with “Oh no, you’ve worn a lairy dress, Grandma” (thoughts in the comments please!). We actually looked quite understated compared to some of the other graduates and guests – some actually appeared to be going to weddings or balls – so I really don’t know what his lordship was worried about, but we managed to have some fun on the blustery terrace of the Royal Festival Hall with an impromptu photo shoot, with me on my feet!

Having a mum in a wheelchair (and remember this is still a relatively recent addition to our family transport) isn’t always the best way to fly under the radar, but sometimes it does have its advantages – particularly when the queue for the official photographers is snaking around the whole reception area of the RFH and those with disabilities are ushered to a much shorter queue and given every help required. I am also delighted to report that the RFH staff ensured that I had a suitable spot for my wheelchair, were quick to find me alternative toilet facilities when the disabled loo on our floor was out of order, and brought out extra food when I had missed it due to said toilet issue! All in all the accessibility in the Royal Festival Hall was great…..even if the strange singing lift was a bit creepy (the haunting “voice” sang up a scale as we ascended and ran back coming down, singing the level as the doors opened).

We were joined by our other young adults, including the young engineer’s better half in possession of a beautiful bouquet, and my brother for a celebratory dinner – although the politics student and lovely girl were only just leaving the house when they should have been arriving in London. Oh the joy of youth, when the world is your oyster and time keeping so unimportant!! A great day was had by all.

I have managed some reading, despite a lack of writing, and have put together some more blog posts for your enjoyment. Once again the posts are all very different and incorporate mental health, beauty, cookery, reading, and some comments on life! Kicking you off this week is poetry from Inner Voice Actor and the title alone called out to me…”You ain’t giving up”. Sit back and enjoy!

https://innervoiceactor.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/you-aint-giving-up/

https://www.sizzlingtowardssixty.com.au/putting-the-me-into-mental-health/

https://writeofthemiddle.com/beauty-make-up/

http://nextphaseinfitness.com.au/10-tips-to-ensure-you-exercise-consistently/

https://riverandquill.com/2018/09/interstitialcystitisawarenessmonth.html/

https://www.jumbledbrain.com/2018/09/06/guest-post-leanne-whitehouse-on-her-30-year-tbi-anniversary/

https://myyeka.com/what-is-the-right-kind-of-attraction/

https://libertyonthelighterside.com/3-cup-southern-african-cheese-puffs/

https://virtuallyallsorts.com/read-a-book-day-are-you-well-read/

http://angelanoelauthor.com/inspiration-motivation/relationships-when-a-run-is-not-about-running/

Please like, comment and share these posts – make a blogger’s day!

Have a great week,

Claire x

3Sep2018

Monday Magic – Inspiring Blogs for You!

Posted in Blog share, Blogging, Blogs, chronic illness, Monday Blogs by Claire Saul (PainPalsBlog)

Good afternoon! For many in the UK this is back to school week – today hubby and teachers across the country have school inset training days, whilst the kids enjoy their final days of summer. The school uniform is bought, the pencil cases packed and soon the countdown will be on for Halloween.

This is the first year in about 18 years that school uniform hasn’t been bought in our house! The lovely girl has a very loose, smart “own clothes” code for the sixth form – although mum has a feeling that this could prove a lot more problematic!! The first line of the code made me both smile and sigh – “no underwear to be on show”……so no knicker skimming skirts, shorts need to be long and tailored, no bras or cleavages on show. How times have changed since my day – the only concession we got in the sixth form was girls didn’t have to wear blazers or ties; the boys had no concessions. Skirts above the knee….forget it! The girls have been out shopping – last week they visited the interesting God’s own Junkyard with its displays of neon lights amongst other places – and she did return with a skirt….it definitely doesn’t reach her knees!

God’s Own Junkyard

The skirt!

The young engineer has been away at a festival this weekend, but it is far removed from those visited by his brother this year. I think an accurate description would be a “Geek” festival where like minded inquisitive souls meet up and CREATE! Never will you attend a camp with such power, high speed wifi and every imaginable technological gadget – one comment on instagram said “You know you are at @emfcamp #emfcamp and not any other festival when the guy in the tent next to you is running a server from the porch of his tent :)” It is based at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire and this year additional power and wifi had to be installed, so my bet is the local villages will have the fastest internet connections in the whole UK!

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Last year the young engineer and his friend built a giant (8 feet) version of Guitar Hero – wires and lights were arriving at our house for weeks before (you can see it on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/AOU09T3l9Kg). This year he has taken his better half who is a software engineer but frankly I’m not sure that he knows what he has let himself in for. They are due back later today…..

This week the young engineer officially becomes a Master of Engineering & Software when he graduates at the Royal Festival Hall. I am hoping that I will have some very embarrassing pictures to share of him wearing his gown and mortar board!

The first blog on today’s list is about the EMF camp, but if this doesn’t grab you then hopefully you can be inspired by the others on the list. I have found a post about an artisan Mead brewery (having seen them featured on a BBC programme), some timely back to school views from a teacher, and a new blog from a cyclist touring through Kyrgyzstan to Nepal. There are also some great life posts and my favourite title has to go to “The Special Stank of a Boy”!

https://hackaday.com/2018/08/14/looking-forward-to-electromagnetic-field-2018/

http://viking-mjod.no/apothecary-mead-legends-of-sherwood/

https://butismileanyway.com/2018/08/30/the-onset-of-inset-days-backtoschool-teacherslife/

https://inspiremystyle.com/2018/08/26/leading-a-fulfilled-and-healthy-life/

http://www.secondhand-life.com/2018/08/anxiety-storms-demons-on-the-boat/

http://janetgivens.com/at-seventy-seven-thoughts/

https://thewildreaderwithacat.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/beautiful-houses-%F0%9F%98%81/

https://woods-wanderer.com/2018/09/02/cycle-touring-chapter-7-osh-to-kunelek-kyrgyzstan-an-ode-to-kolbek/

https://butterflyinremission.com/2018/08/21/how-i-experienced-mindset-shift-motivation-life-change/

https://hotmessmemoir.com/2018/09/03/the-special-stank-of-a-boy/

I hope that you enjoy this great mixture of posts…..please like, comment and share!

Have a great week,

Claire x

26Aug2018

Monday Magic – Inspiring Blogs for You!

Posted in Blog share, Blogging, Blogs, chronic illness, Monday Blogs by Claire Saul (PainPalsBlog)

We are celebrating our final bank holiday weekend of the year and in true UK style it is raining! The long, hot days of only a couple of weeks ago feel like a world away, whilst last night yours truly turned on the electric blanket and added a dressing gown to the bed clothes. Now the fight will be on between husband and wife for changing to a warmer duvet (me) or sticking with the summer one (him). I must look into these split weight duvets – have any of tried them? Anyway, the wife will win!!

This week has felt a little surreal if I am honest with you. The politics student called mid week to say that he could only sleep on his mate’s floor in Nottingham until Saturday – OK, so what do you expect me to do about it?? Well, my final exam isn’t until Tuesday……good old mum puts a shout out to a couple of Nottingham based school friends, but of course it is a BH weekend and guess what, my boy?! A lot of people go away – and that is why my friends aren’t about but also why the B&B/hostels are all booked!! He is fortunate that we found an Air BnB – affordable and in walking distance of uni; but arranging transport home was slightly trickier as he hadn’t told me his exam isn’t until 4.30 Tuesday afternoon. But……with a bit of internet surfing, I was amazed to get him and his friend onto a coach on Tuesday evening, back to London for £15 for the two of them! Bargain!! It will probably cost as much to get back from London to home (30 mins on the train!).

Amidst the dramas of the “middle” child, came the exam results of the youngest – the lovely girl. I did mention a little about this in yesterday’s post. Needless to say it was mum here who didn’t sleep well the night before and had strange dreams – we knew she would have got the requirements for 6th form, bar a complete disaster, but as the exams have been new this year and she was taking a mixture of the new levels 1-9 and the old grades A*-G, anything was possible. Thursday morning came, she got up and did her paper round, and I was awoken to squeals as she opened the email – oh my goodness! I am not allowed to say any more, but if your follow me on twitter of facebook you will know that she didn’t need to worry about me posting her results and picture all over social media – the school did it!! (here!!)). As I said I’m not allowed to say anything – but delight, surreal, shocked, unbelievable….you get the picture!!

The young engineer has been a bit put out that his little sister beat him – in fact beat both her brothers – but secretly he is very proud. In fact on Friday evening he and his partner were going to the theatre with the lovely girl and her friend (who did just as well) – and he took them out for dinner beforehand to celebrate. Now this is a huge deal as he has always been the “tight” kid of the 3!!!

So moving on from the act of sibling love in my household to the first blog that I’m sharing with you this week – it comes from Rachna and she describes a beautiful festival that traditionally recognises and honours sibling love. I particularly like the post on ClockWorkClouds that discussed the uses of certain words – how does using “should” rather than”would” change the feel of a situation? I hope that you will also enjoy some culture with an artist’s exhibition, a book review, flash fiction story and do read the Trolls’ poem, it is funny! There are also some life posts here too that would benefit everyone.

So grab a cuppa, put your feet up and enjoy some great blog posts!

https://www.rachnaparmar.com/2018/08/raksha-bandhan-a-beautiful-festival-of-sibling-love.html

https://clockworkclouds.wordpress.com/2018/08/27/5945/

https://bootsshoesandfashion.com/a-visit-to-the-orla-kiely-exhibition/