- Sarah 2 Comments

Fit by 40 // The weight loss diaries (Day 0-13)

Fit by 40 weight loss diaries

So a small introduction first… the day after my 39th birthday I embarked on my plan to be fit by 40. The first stage is to lose the 2 and a half stone of extra weight I’m carrying. I don’t just want to be thinner though, I want to be fitter and more healthy too. When I started just over a month ago I started writing a diary for myself. Not every day and just a few notes on how I was feeling, how things were going and basically just something to encourage me to be mindful and stay on track.  I wasn’t initially planning on publishing it on my blog but I’m a month in and I thought it might actually be a good idea. There’ll a couple of catch up posts first, so here are the start of my weight loss diaries, Days 0 -13…

29th May 2017 // Day 0

Finished the last of the birthday Maltesers and birthday cake, the diet/ lifestyle change starts tomorrow. Starting weight 13st 3lb. Read more

- Sarah 13 Comments

Living Arrows 27/52 (2017)

Toby playing on the beach in Blackpool

I feel like a broken record with these posts sometimes but the weeks just go so fast and we don’t often do anything very exciting!

Toby enjoyed his second settling session at school on Thursday, now he just has to wait 8 weeks before he actually starts properly. Only 8 weeks though, and my baby is going to be starting school – he’s not even four until next week!

On Saturday my parents were part of the team organising the National Scout Car Races – it’s something they have been involved with since I was tiny but I haven’t been myself for years. This year it was back in Blackpool so we went along with the boys to have a look. Read more

- Sarah 5 Comments

What happens after an abnormal smear test?

What happens after an abnormal smear test

I originally wrote this post back in 2015 but I’ve had quite a few friends recently who have had abnormal smear test results requiring further investigation or treatment and so I though it might be worth sharing it again...

I recently got a letter advising me it was time for me to have another smear test. As I’m pregnant at the moment I have to wait until three months after the baby is born but I wanted to write a bit about why I was being called for a smear test just 6 months after I had the last one, and what had happened in between. I know this isn’t the kind of thing everyone likes to talk (or read) about but I hope that sharing my experience might encourage other women to make sure they get regular smear tests, and so set their minds at rest if the results do come back as abnormal. Read more

- Sarah 5 Comments

Me & Mine // A Family Portrait (June 2017)

June Me & Mine family portrait

The end of June? Seriously, how did that happen?? The month has flown so fast that I can’t even think what we’ve been doing. We had two weekends when Toby was at several birthday parties for his friends from nursery, and we’ve had a few weekends at home to try and give Barry a chance to do some work in the garden. Oh and I had an interview for a teaching job that I didn’t get.

Other than that it’s been a fairly quiet month, with not much to report. Toby turns four in a couple of weeks and as I write this he’s having his second transition session at school. He seemed to really enjoy it last week (until he fell over and grazed his knee on the way home) so hopefully he’ll have had a good time again. The trouble then is going to be explaining that he doesn’t actually go to school properly for another 8 weeks! Read more

- Sarah 12 Comments

Garden makeover plans

View from the bottom of the garden back up towards the house

**This is a collaborative post

If you’ve read and/or watched my house tour I mentioned that I hadn’t seen our new house until the day we got the keys. I had seen lots of photographs and when we finally came to see our new house it was all pretty much like I expected. The only thing that hadn’t come across on the pictures was just how steep the garden is. It’s really not very safe for the boys to play in at the moment and  we are desperately in need of a garden makeover. We’re not going to be able to do all the work ourselves though and will probably need a landscape gardener and a tree surgeon too. Read more

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Remembering Childhood // Falcondale Life

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Janet from Falcondale Life.

Which decade were you born in?

I was born in the 1970s, I’m original and unrestored!

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

I didn’t walk until I was 22 months old and I remember not being able to walk when we went to the doctor’s surgery. My mum put me down and that was it, I was stuck there unless I shuffled. I have lots of memories of that doctor’s surgery including when I could still fit in the table-top scales.

What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?

At five years old I had a hand-knitted panda called Tony. He wore a nightie, usually. As he was a bit heavy and I made my big sister carry him. At ten I played with my Sindy house although I was starting to get a bit big for it.

Janet from Falcondale Life

Do you still have any toys from your childhood?

Read more

- Sarah 1 Comment

Hisense Fridge Freezer review // My American-style fridge freezer of dreams

At our old house we had separate under counter fridge and freezer and I hated them. They were too small, I had to bend down to get anything out, and once Toby worked out how to open the door I had to always be on my guard for him helping himself! When we moved I knew I wanted to get an American-style fridge freezer but I had some very specific requirements. Read more

- Sarah 6 Comments

Living Arrows 26/52 (2017)

Toby eating peas straight from the pod in Grandad's garden

Well last week I said we were nearly there, and now we are actually half way through the year – I’m sure it was only Christmas a couple of months ago!

And as another reminder that time is marching on Toby had his first of two transition sessions at his new school last week. When I reminded him in the morning that he was going he said ‘but I’m not four yet’, so I had to try and explain (again) that he was just going to see what it was like and he won’t actually be going until September.

He was there for almost two hours on Thursday afternoon and by all accounts he had a great time. I was a bit worried he might cry and not want to go in because he can be a bit like that sometimes but all credit to the teachers they didn’t give the kids chance to get upset. We were waiting in the school entrance for a few minutes then the teacher came out, just said ‘in you come’ and it was a quick ‘bye’ and off they went. There were a few other children from Toby’s nursery there too so that helped. Read more

- Sarah 6 Comments

How to make a monkey cake

As we head towards Toby’s fourth birthday, and I consider how I am going to make the requested Numberblocks cake, I thought it would be the perfect time to share this post of how I made his monkey cake again.

I’d never made a cake with any sort of design on it before so when we decided to have a (sort of) party for Toby’s 1st birthday I took to Pinterest to find some inspiration for his cake. I was considering doing a spotty number one cake but decided I didn’t want to brave proper icing and would prefer something with buttercream. Then I saw a few monkey cakes – a perfect choice for my little monkey. I combined a couple of tutorials to come up with a monkey cake of my own…and this is how I did it…

How to make a monkey cake

Step 1: Make the cakes

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#VLOGSTARS // June Favourites

I’m linking up for another #VLOGSTARS video and this month’s theme was June favourites. I’ve watched a few of these favourites videos on YouTube but most of them seem to be about beauty products…and if I’m honest I don’t really use any make up or skin care products (maybe I should start?)

Anyway, here’s my June Favourites – watch to the end if you want to see me trying to get my foot high enough to get it into the shot!

If you enjoyed this vlog then you can also see last month’s #VLOGSTARS video here.

Linking up with Colette at We’re going on an adventure and Katy at What Katy Said

 

June favourites #VLOGSTARS