lionheartedgirl promises to let it shine :)

Wordsmith

Evening, lionheartedgirl. How was your weekend? I hope managed to not get too emotional re the non-wedding anniversary. I was thinking of you, because I know it must have been a difficult weekend.

Was the wedding reception OK in the end, and how was your day at the spa?

LittleBoots

Hope the spa was nice and u got some chill out time x

lionheartedgirl

hi everyone, I'm back and welcome to Skint Not Mint, please feel free to join us although if you think my social diary is full on, check out Souk and Hypno's diaries! :rotfl:

had a lovely couple of days with lots of giggles, helped along by a couple of very attentive waiters/barmen. we were the only people going down for dinner in not just our robes, but our pyjamas too my friend was chatting to the the waitress on Sunday night while I was in the loo and we had free champagne after dinner as a result so that was a nice surprise.

Unfortunately I well and truly had too much on Sunday night, just got carried away and lost track of my limits. So Monday was a bit of a washout which I was cross about, but never mind. This morning I got a bit emotional but overall it was a nice break. The dynamics of being with a friend were completely different of course, to being on my own, and I found it difficult to talk about things with my friend. She is in a relationship herself and I don't think she is very happy with her bf, and I think she is trying to hide it. I found it very hard not to delve more without dragging myself down/wearing myself out in the process. So I left it.

A lovely positive was seeing the head gardener's dog leaping around the gardens a little wire haired jack russell called Boris. He was very affectionate when he wanted to be, and between us we had him pinned down and he couldn't move as he was having a simultaneous ear and belly rub and was rather enjoying it I hoped there would be a dog there

I did a wedding on Saturday in a really beautiful church, I could have been in Pride and Prejudice as it was set on a private estate. Anyway, I nearly ended up taking a little Patterdale terrier called Beetle home with me as she jumped in the boot of my car while I was unloading :rotfl:

so lots of doggies at the moment.

In other news, my car has been to the garage while I was away, popped across the road to pick it up this afternoon to find that the lovely head mechanic is now single.... I have known him a while as I have been in the house for 6 years now and our/my cars/vans have always been done there (and with the vans there were constant sagas to giggle over!). He lives in the village, is a great guy and I have always been a bit sad he was with someone when I wasn't! I am all out of bravery at the moment but it won't be difficult to make an effort to give him an extra big smile when I see him. We chatted for a little while earlier but I wish I had thought quicker and kept chatting longer :mad: still, he is only just newly single so probably a bit soon. Fingers crossed anyway :cool:

I am shattered so off to bed in a bit. Not looking forward to going back to work, but it will be OK really. Hopefully the weather will have cheered up a bit and I can go on my bike

lionheartedgirl

afternoon all,

cheque has cleared and I am now plotting how best to use it. It's a strong sign to me that money burns a hole in my pocket, because it is sitting in my bank account and doing my head in that I need to sort out how to spend it, rather than just plonking it somewhere and letting it be for a while which is what I will be doing with most of it as the house won't all be done at the same time :rotfl:

However...I will be using a little of it to buy a really fantastic pair of shoes for playing the harp in. I think I already said that my granny loved shoes. My teacher has said that as I am small, heels will really help me with my pedals and take some of the strain off my lower back (normally it's the opposite with high heels haha!). I have a beaten up pair that are the perfect shape, but are a bit scruffy so I only wear them to practice in. I will get some nice ones, dedicate them to my granny and wear them with love when I play. Sounds a little cheesy maybe but tough

I've had a good couple of days and am in organisation/environment improvement/home blessing mode now. I've finally bitten the bullet on sorting all my music out, and bought some magazine files to tidy everything up. I've not spent masses but it's making a big difference already. Also did a trip to Staples last night and got some other filing/tidy bits so am feeling really in control of my desk and all the paper now. I have a lovely cork noticeboard up so can now put nice things on it to cheer me up and keep me on track.

I also have a really nice expanding file - a Laura Ashley one that was conveniently reduced - which I will use as my home inspiration folder, there's sections in it so I can use one for each room. This is so I can tidy all my magazine clippings away :rotfl:

It's really nice as just in the last couple of days, I have realised that life has changed so much, the layout of my house is having to change too. At the moment my harp is in my living room, and my desk is in my front room (not very descriptive but best I can manage!), but harp stuff is taking over the living room and making it unmanageable...hence all the mess.

So my initial plans to turn the living room into a studio (with desk etc) seem to be the best, and my front room will become my living room. This will work really well if I decide to sell too :T flexibility is the name of the game remember! :rotfl:

Harp things are a bit crazy, I have a gig tonight in Norwich and am trying to squeeze in rehearsals with my singer and guitarist friends over the next couple of weeks, plus keep up the intensive practice for my recital.

I have Saturday off but have a wedding on Sunday, then Monday off too :j

A summer Saturday to myself is a luxury so I will be heading into town to do some itty bits of shopping/returns etc and of course hunting for fab shoes :j and then getting down to some immense tidying up! :eek: my front room is full of boxes for XF's stuff, so will be getting them all sorted ready for him to collect. If he still doesn't collect it by the end of September, all his tools will be making their way into my tool box and all his other stuff will go to his mum's :mad: He has had long enough. :mad:

redsquirrel80

Buying a really good pair of shoes is a fantastic thing to do with the money

Good stuff getting organised with your music :T

Loving the pictures on your blog

dirtyepic

Hi LHG!

Good to see everything is looking in control!

It seems quite excited times for you and you look like you are thriving on it all.

Gigs ... shoes ... new office ... ooh, what's going to happen next week?

I hope this can continue for you for a very long time.

It's all about staying in control! (well for me anyway! Once I get it in my head that I am in control of situations, emotions, finances, eating, drinking, exercise - the list goes on and on - I feel so much better)

Take care hinny,

dirtyepic

Souk08

Back from hols and just posting to say hi, and that you're really getting it all together! Well done you X

Skint_Not_Mint

See, another potential man on the go - you must have your eyes wide open at all times!!!

Your time at the spa sounds lovely, aside from the not talking about things. I find that very few of my friends are very good at talking about emotional things, not sure why but I only have a couple of friends who are interested/willing to talk deeply.

Yay to getting the money too, that's fab. And pretty shoes - your Gran will be proud

You really sound like you are getting things in order, and I'm trying to follow your lead! Been looking online to buy a new desk. Meant to be studying for exams at the mo, but finding it so hard when I don't have a real studying ares in my room. Have been decluttering for a while, so ever hopeful that I can get a space soon (maybe even this weekend) to sort it out properly.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend xx

lionheartedgirl

eyes always wide open on the man front it's just the doing somethin about it front that is somewhat more tricky!

dirtyepic, you are absolutely right about the control aspect. the feeling of not being in control of all the things you have mentioned is not nice and worse, realising that even if you feel you aren't in control, you are really, and still have some power to change things.

I am shattered today after last night's gig, so am trying to keep myself busy this afternoon so the time flies.

This morning I have been listening to Kate Bush in the car - I didn't know much of her stuff before, but thanks to my singer friend I have been given a little push and she is just wonderful! Miles ahead of her time listening to The Kick Inside (which has Wuthering Heights on) and it's just gone to the top of my favourites list.

So I'm hoping to get some serious harping in later - practice for my recital and also working on some other things ready for another rehearsal with my singer and guitarist friends next week

oh... and change of plan tomorrow. I'm going harp shopping. I love mine to pieces but really felt the weight of him last night, so am going to re-try a couple I tried last year. So am off to Oxford and hoping the M25 gods are smiling on me.... :eek:

redsquirrel80

Wow harp shopping - exciting stuff! Will this be a second one or a replacement? (know they're not cheap!)

Funny you should mention Kate Bush - ended up watching a few things of hers on a YouTube marathon the other night (got there from the Placebo cover of 'Running Up That Hill' which is interesting!) - have to be in the right mood for her but I think she does some amazing things at times.