The British Homemaker - One day at a time

One of the things I took on board when I was active in the Lds church was the preparedness they encouraged. This covers a whole range of things from food storage to car breakdown, from family emergencies to power shortages. With the Uk on various weather alerts there's a lot of talk on whether it'll happen or not but I like to air on the side of caution and prepare for the worst. The one thing I don't like is being caught out with such things so I figured I'd share what I've done to prepare my family for the severe rain and winds, cos one thing is for sure, we ain't going anywhere! The following suggestions are just that, they will vary family to family but some are pretty standard, however I'm not sure how long the bad weather is set to last so I'm working on a 7 day period. {Food} ~ Be sure you have plenty of the staple foods such as bread, milk, potatoes. If you have a plastic box you can store some outside if you can't fit them in your fri...

Last year was the only year I've really liked Halloween and that's because Charley got into it and wanted to do something slightly ever so scary but even though it rained it still turned out to be a great evening round here. This year I'm adding to our Halloween goodies and was looking for some ideas, {these are not credited to the rightful owners but I'm happy to if anyone knows whose they are} So lets begin....  1. Any old jar with what I assume to be a small candle inside. Raid your first aid kit for bandages {99p shop will also have some I'm sure. Add a couple of googly eyes and off you go. I'd be inclined to add some wire round the top to form a handle. Naturally not suitable for young kids. 2. Sausage mummies. If they make it to the table I congratulate you! 3. A collection of cakes, sweets and cake pops. Who wouldn't love these? 4. Yep I'm craving the sweet stuff this year. 5. I bought a baby pumpkin just for this purpo...

I'm not really a huge fan of this kind of post but now and again I need to put something out there that not only reminds me but anyone else that is feeling down and beaten. This blog is real, I am real, what you see is what you get but that doesn't mean I don't improve or learn, I'm always getting better, failing, getting better again and on it goes. Sometimes though one person can do so much damage with lies that you have to react in the appropriate way. We each have good points and bad points. Far too often we spend time thinking of our bad points, things we can't do or talents we don't have etc. I want to do the opposite, and if that makes me sound conceited then I'll take it. People are so much better than they give themselves credit for. Even the mean people have good points, I wish I could get them to see that they chosen method of speaking/acting hurts them as much as the person they are trying to hurt or in some cases the person they're trying...

For as long as I can remember I've been easily able to count my blessings in the darkest of times through life, I learned that to be able to do this keeps challenges in perspective, no matter how hard they are. It's also healthy in many other ways to find a positive in a tough time, for one it keeps insanity at bay. I don't mind admitting that I still have tough times accepting my arthritis, how quickly its set in and all the ways it has robbed me of independance. Some days all I want to do is cry with sheer frustration and pain and while now and again I do give in to it, I do pick myself up and carry on. The alternative isn't an option and lets face it, it's not a condition that is terminal, it's just never going to go away so its a life long adjustment process. In 7 months I've gone from limping with knee pain, swelling and weakness to hold myself to being in a wheelchair. Lets talk about this a minute... Getting crutches was the difference between ...

I love to plan things out, look at the detail and see how I can personalise it and/or make it easier. This means I often spend too much time on the little things and not enough on the relative things which also means that I then end up being a headless chicken right up to the last minute. But I'm a new person. Ok, not quite. But I have a plan... You know how every year we say 'next Christmas I'm going to be so organised it won't know what's hit it?' Yeah, I fall for it too. I plan it out, month by month, adding birthdays and other dates in along the way then bang! One hurdle and I'm right on my tushy wonderin' what the heck happened. But then there was light! Thanks to the sometimes debilitating arthritis I have to pace myself, especially through flare ups that can happen for a couple of days {who am I kidding, the shortest one I've had has been 8 days!} up to a few weeks so as part of my psychological acceptance I have decided to use that t...

If you read yesterdays post you will see that Charley's birthday party last month was photo'd by the talented Pink Apple Studio team, Jamie and Sharon. Hiring their services was the best money spent, the kids interaction with a camera was funny and hilarious. They posed their most geekiest faces and poses and tried out the weirdest poses. They captured the quiet moments when the children were eating and chatting as well as running round the field in the rain having water fights. The food table, food and general goings on throughout the day are being compiled into a book for Charleys future memories. I received a disc of all the photos taken, one that is watermarked with their company name and another set without. There is no limit to the photos they take and no limit to the strange things they say to get the children relaxed, all appropriate of course! Meet Mr Jamie Kinloch... the man who loves to play, laugh and interact with people. Sadly, the only way this photo got...

It's a good job no-one is perfect! I know I'm far from it. It plays on my mind when things are wrong between me and another if they wont be up front about things with me. After all, what do they think I'm going to do? I've always maintained if I am causing you to be unhappy come and talk to me, let me explain, apologise and/or put right. I don't like contention yet I find it a lot within the one community I expect it least and by not talking about it is more damaging than anything because the natural inclination is to jump it up out of all proportion to the point where you loose sight of what the original issue was! But I can't fix everything. I'm not everyone cup of tea and I'm ok with that. I pray for many people, whether I like them or not. Liking someone is not a requirement but a respect is. If I don't like someone I have two choices, tell the world or keep it to myself. I choose the latter but I will always be respectful to that person, just...

For almost 14 years I have been Lds (Mormon). I have never regretted a second of it. Like any other choice in life there's been easy times and hard times, good times and bad. I've been ridiculed and I've been challenged, I've been called weird names and I've lost 'friends' but never did I ever get to a conclusion that I have now that wasn't so obviously isolating and condescending. You see, I haven't been going to church for just over a year now. One or two people know why and others haven't bothered to ask. I've tried to talk about it, to listen to others similar experiences and be as open as I can yet I find I'm supposed to 'do it' just because I know its right. Well I don't work like that. I have no doubts about the gospel, about God and Jesus Christ. I have no doubts about Joseph Smith and President Monson. I do, however doubt many (but not all) members and for the life of me I cannot get past the fact that I choose car...