The Ten Traditions of The Festive Season

in the Appleby household........

All these traditions occur at some point during the weeks leading up to Christmas every year. Somehow it makes it all the more normal!

1.  A last minute panic that I have forgotten someone in the flurry of present buying.

2. The rapid deterioration of the standard of my wrapping. It always starts with such good intent of  pretty ties and ribbons and ends with a present cobbled together with the remnants  of a mixture of different coloured wrapping paper because I can't be bothered to buy another new roll.

3. All children have been yelled at for some inconsequential action and then hugged tightly. All the result of emotions running over.

4. An elaborate Christmas Bake off is planned, ingredients purchased, but instead a bog standard chocolate sponge is thrown together on Christmas Eve as time ran out again!

5. Christmas selection packs are purchased, eaten and repurchased without the children knowing. Ditto for the Baileys .

6. Compulsory argument about who to spend Christmas day with. Every year we vow to go away next year.

7. Tears over who had " eaten ahead " in the joint advent calendar. 

8. Pang of guilt that yet again I have sent no Christmas cards, but reassure myself that I will write New Year letters ( No I won't ).

9. Christmas tree is enthusiastically decorated by the children, then when they are sleeping redone by myself #OCD

10. A ridiculously late night on Christmas Eve wrapping the last of the presents and sipping mulled wine to make sure it tastes ok. Recipe for a thick head every year!

Happy Christmas one and all!

And breathe..........

It's been a long time.

Things got pretty tough there for a while. 

I won't bore you with a long story, but just imagine hospitals and a precious child and you will get the picture.

BUT........

We are entering Christmas having come out the other side in one piece ( read - broken into a thousand bits and put back together by support, love and care).

It is the old cliche that at times like this you know who will be there when the going gets tough.

Thank you for the messages and e.mails - they meant a lot. If I didn't reply it was simply because I couldn't.

SO...........

A new year looms. I am still working full time and loving it, but life is busy . We are entering the phase of GCSEs with my eldest. I am not at all too proud to admit the work is too hard at times for me!

I will begin to renter the world of blogging as I am not ready to let go completely. I have been reading my favourite blogs over the past months and although silent I have loved the escape it brings!

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas with whoever you are spending this season with. Be gentle with those who are close to you. The threads of life are so very delicate and can be quickly and easily broken. Cherish the moments you have here and now with those you love.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Rose hydrating mist by Aromatheray

I have been on the hunt for a rose water toner forever. Everything I looked at had such a high alcohol content in that I steered well clear.

Then I came across this....

Rose Hydrating Mist by Aromatherapy Associates

It was quite tricky to find the ingredients when I was ordering, but when I finally did it isn't too bad at all . The main ingredient is rose water . It can be used as a spray or you can apply to a cotton pad then swipe across the face. It can also be use to revive skin over make up . It is filling the gap I had in my routine for a toner when I don't want to use my liquid gold or exfoliating toners.

Gentle and hydrating - job done.

Liz Earles Cleanse and Polish

Frugal Friday ( or just a good deal!)

As you know I am a regular user of Liz Earles Cleanse and Polish. I won't review it again as it has been done many a time already!

However, I seem to always return to some basic products of Liz Earle even after straying to other brands for a season. Their haircare and skincare is just so sound that I like to use it as my baseline for beauty care. 

Last month I picked up the special addition tin as it was the best use of money. You get a few muslin cloths and a large 150ml container of product. Now the warmer weather is approaching I tend to use muslin cloths rather than a flannel - no reason for this other than the flannel can get too hot! I love the pump dispenser in this style too. It is far easier to judge quantities and not overuse it.

I am also, on the advice of a friend, using the tin as a money box to save my £2 coins for my next treat.

At present I am rotating my 3 favourite cleansers....

Balance me cleanse and smooth face balm ( review coming)

Ritessens milk cleanser 

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

Have you tried the summertime  "flavour" of Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish, in orange flower  and chamomile?

Summer Term

On the day before we return to school for the last half term of the academic year there is always a mixture of emotions running through my household. Nerves, excitement, intrepidation, disappointment. This year it is intensified as my role has changed. 

We are looking forward to the summer together, the extended evenings, the BBQs, the hope of better weather, but wedged in between stretches eight weeks of term. Yes EIGHT weeks. It is a long haul this year.

We have had fun during this half term break and over Easter together. We got away to Cornwall for a family break and have spent time chilling out and recovering from having a house full of builders for months on end. Here are some snapshots of our time off.......

Life is settling into a pattern and we are becoming more accustomed to being a household with two parents working. However, everything hangs by a thread which is easily broken when a child is sick or a parent away or over worked. The ideal certainly would be for one of us to be part time to hold the fort at home a little better!

I am so fortunate in that I love my job - it is a vocation to me. I get engrossed in it, so much so that I have to stop myself from becoming too involved at times. I have to set a time to go home and stick to it as the job is never done, ever!

We have just finished the home office for my husband. The carpet goes in tomorrow so we can move him out of the living room! This means we can claim back another room in our house. I can't wait. Although we have paid someone to do this room I have been painting again and have taken before and after photos for you to see the transformation later this week. Slowly we are re gaining our whole house. By the summer things should be almost normal again.

I can't wait!