Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies.

Ruby...how nice to hear from you. I was wondering how you are.

So glad you are going to get one morning a week starting next week. It will do you the power of good. Even if you initially you just use the time do the weekly supermarket shop, it will be so nice for you to do it without having to cope with two toddlers in tow. Maybe even have a chance to sit and have a coffee or browse the clothes and houseware sections.

You should find that once the boys start going to the nursery on a regular basis that they start to sleep better too. I remember only too well what it was like to go for months on end without a decent nights sleep, it is draining. No wonder you feel overwhelmed at times, you must be exhausted. But......it’s coming to an end now, the worst is almost over and you will start to get a few breaks.

Chaney ......Thanks for heads up on Sainsbury’s 25 per cent deal. I will pop along tomorrow. I could do with some knitwear but I don’t want to spend too much until I have lost a bit more weight. So for now cheap and cheerful is the order of the day. I’m not looking for investment pieces.

I have managed to get an appt for a massage for later today but it’s not until 5 pm so I’m aiming to go into the city for a hour or so first for a little browse round the shops first. Hoping to check out the lighting at Debenhams.

My shoulders, neck and upper back are very sore but a massage should help. In the meantime I am going to have a nice soak in the bath, a face mask and some defuzzing.

Ds2 has put the new unit up in the dining room, it looks nice and will give me extra storage space......always a plus. :rotfl:

Tummy feels much better now thanks. I have been ultra careful, no grains, very little dairy other than my usual plain Greek yoghurt, no nightshades and doubled up my IBS meds for a couple of days. I will continue with the meds for a week or so just to make sure everything is healed and fully settled again.

There was an interesting programme last night looking at gut health, diet, supplements etc. They looked at acid reflux, IBS etc. I seem to be doing all the right things to help myself. The only thing I haven’t tried but which they suggest might help is drinking kefir every day. A fermented milk drink similar to live yoghurt. The little shop sells it in their Polish section so I might give it a go. It’s worth a try.

It is significant that I was always end up with digestive issues whenever I leave the U.K. - it happens without fail. I guess I am just susceptible to “travellers tummy”. Problem is the older I get the longer it takes me to recover. It used to be a couple of days, now it can take a couple of weeks.

I do take a regular probiotic,.. again something the programme advocated. I noticed you can now get ones specially formulated for foreign travel so I think it might be worth looking at. I am sure to struggle a bit on my Amazon trip.

Travellers tummy is one of the reasons I have been loathe to visit either Mexico or India. My digestive system would completely rebel. Egypt and China were bad enough. I was really quite ill on both those trips.

I console myself with the fact that I’m in good company. Apparently Michael Palin is notorious for his bouts of travellers tummy but he didn’t let it stop him stop him travelling to all sorts of exotic and probably very gut unfriendly parts of the globe.

Looks like a fairly calm and gentle day here. Fingers crossed I can grab an hour in the garden when it warms up and plant some bulbs before I go out later.

maman

Good to see you ruby. I'd echo what LL said. Enjoy your 'me time' whatever you choose to do with it.:) The rebel in me does wonder why you can't let your DH look after the boys one evening a week for a dance class though.;)


I'm out for lunch today with a group of former colleagues. While it's not competitive as such I am determined to show that I've 'worn well' in the years since we all worked together. It's in a country pub so I'm planning to wear my new White Company dark denim jeans and maybe the new (to me) White Stuff green top. I'll wear light make up and as the sun's shining here my Raybans.:cool:


I tried yesterday to book a massage but the Groupon (with the shortest life) is one of those that need online booking. I find that irritating as there's little choice of appointment slot. I've tried leaving a message on her mobile but no joy.:( I'll try again later.


I'm away in Wales for tomorrow and Friday visiting family. Looking forward to that.:)

lessonlearned

Maman.....not competitive......lol. I think secretly we all do that, we all compare ourselves - you just have the good grace to admit it. :rotfl:

Actually I went out yesterday with my friend who I havent seen for a while. We also bumped into another Joint friend who we hadn’t seen for ages.

They both said how well I looked.......:D

I was actually quite shocked at the second friends appearance. She is probably at least 15 years younger than me But I was actually quite stunned to see how wrinkled she had become since I saw her last, probably about 18 months ago. Shes more of a casual acquaintance really and Our oaths don’t cross very often unless I go into the garden centre where she works.

She’s always been a sun worshipper and she does work outside quite a bit but even so I couldn’t believe the difference in her. She’s always been a very pretty lady. I did wonder if everything was ok, if she had been ill or was having some family issues but it’s not the sort of thing you can ask outright is it.

You can’t really come out and say “Oh you look dreadful, are you Ok”

My other friend didn’t say anything later and I never made any comment but it was quite a shock to see the change in her.

My skin is actually behaving quite well at the moment. I have been using a vitamin C serum and it does seem to giving me a bit more of nice healthy looking “glow”. Plus of course I suppose I look rested after my holiday. So no real surprise that I am “looking well”. I ought to be.

LaineyT

Hey Ruby good to 'see' you, hope you enjoy the time to yourself.

Hope you are feeling a bit better Floss and the pain in your back has gone?

It's a beautiful day here in East Anglia, very warm and sunny, so the washing machine has been going full pelt and the line is full! I emptied the bag of hats, scarves and gloves that hangs on a peg by the front door and they have all been washed ready for the colder weather. My Muck boots arrived today and have to say am very pleased with them, hopefully my feet will stay cosy all winter now. I have also ordered two new coats for the yard, a base layer fleece and a waterproof shell, Lulu's new rugs have arrived as well so we are both set now
As a lady who spends a good deal of time outside LL you do have to be extra vigilant with protecting your face from the elements, I wear a SPF15 moisturiser all year and this is backed up with a factor 30 facial suncream in the summer. I exfoliate my face twice a week but have to use a relatively gentle one as my skin is susceptible to rosacea and also a nourishing face mask when I remember! I dread to think what would happen if I didn't do all that, well tbh I have seen a number of 'horsey' people who clearly haven't and that's not somewhere I want to go
Hope you have enjoyed your lunch Maman your outfit sounded perfect, casual but chic.

Chanie I do like candles in my home, especially during the winter months, but would never think of paying the prices of such as Jo Malone, I usually find something in TKMaximus as I especially like the bigger, 3 wick ones on my hearth.
Right, time to go outside and enjoy the sunny afternoon, love to all x

Floss

:wave:
My back seems to have turned a corner in a good way (if that makes sense!) and is a lot more flexible and relatively pain-free now.

I am however back to being a lady of leisure as the temp job has finished (the manager was offered someone on a redeployment job trial at no cost so it was a no-brainer for them really). At least the work I did has paid my bills for this month!

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Welcome back Ruby, lovely to hear from you once again.

I am feeling much better today. Only a little cough left of my cold symptoms. I dosed myself up and went to Karaoke last night. I am so glad that I did, as I had such an enjoyable evening.

I sang 7 songs. I have never sang that many songs in an evening of Karaoke before. There were a lot of people at the bar, but there were less singers than normal, so those of us that were happy to get up and sing had to do so more often than usual.

I also danced my legs off to the great reggae, bashment and R n B tunes that the DJ was playing.

lessonlearned

What a beautiful day.......is it the last day of summer, one last hurrah. Well I certainly made the most of it.

Had my hair cut and coloured, then lunch in town and then a little bit of light retail therapy. A lovely relaxing day just pottering about the city.

SUgarbaby......glad to hear you are feeling better and that you are singing and dancing again.

A nice peceful restful weekend beckons.

Hope you all have a lovely time.

LaineyT

What a beautiful day it has been, as LL says the last hurrah of summer before the clocks change.
Did my chores this morning and have then spent all afternoon outside soaking up as much Vit D as I can before the long, dark nights take over. From tomorrow the horses will be coming into their stables at night so made a big cosy bed for Lulu using 5 bales of wood shavings and then cleared her field of poo, 4 wheelbarrow loads! I will have muscles on my muscles :rotfl:
Sitting now enjoying a well earned cup of tea and then will start to think about supper.

Am pleased to say that the slightly different haircut that my lovely hairdresser gave me last week is much better and holds its shape well, my fabbing plans for this weekend include a home manicure and a moisturising face pack. My two new riding coats arrived today and am pleased with them both, warm and waterproof, just what I needed.
I changed the bed this morning and put an extra blanket on ( we have sheets & blankets rather than a quilt ) as the temperature is set to drop overnight, have also switched round my summer and winter nightwear, the bed socks will be coming out next!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you have planned x

chanie

Hi fabbers,

It was a lovely day in London today too. I was going to take the children out somewhere but I couldn’t be bothered in the end, plus they had a dentists appointment which meant I couldn’t go far anyway.

We are going to spend this weekend finishing off DS’ bedroom and starting work on DDs room if we have time. We also have a Halloween trip planned for this weekend.

As Lainey mentioned hairdressers, I booked an appointment for next Friday to have my roots done a few weeks ago. I’m not going to get it trimmed as I’m growing it and I finally feel like it’s got some length to it. It’s currently just below my shoulders and it’s taken a year to get there because it’s curly.

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies......

I think we need to add “Dating Expert Extraordinaire” to my list of accomplishments. :rotfl:

J1 - my ex fling and new pen pal - took a lady out on Saturday and has been asking for tips and advice. Bless him. The results were mixed. She’s keen, he’s not sure......apparently she uses the “F” word a lot and he doesn’t like it. It put him off.

What do you ladies think.......especially you younger ones. Is he being too old fashioned.

For the record.......my husband had an extensive vocabulary and his choice of invective was spectacular, he could find a thousand ways of insulting someone without using one single swear word. Whilst bad language doesn’t offend me I tend to agree that it’s not particularly attractive, either in men or women. Although as ever, there’s always an exception.

I do have one female friend .....a very well educated and extremely intelligent journalist who swears like a navvy. Oddly enough on her it’s not offensive, it’s just funny. Perhaps that’s because it’s just “general conversation” - usually when she’s telling a humourous anecdote from her FLeet Street days or regaling us with some idiocy that has happened to her - rather than said when she is angry. When she is a angry then she is like my husband, she uses her formidable vocabulary and unleashes a stream of invective that doesn’t contain a single swear word.

Anyway speaking of attractive. I am very pleased with my hair. The colour is subtle but it has added some much needed warmth. Both the hairdresser and I agree we can take it up a notch next time without it becoming too garish.

I managed to pick up a couple of sweaters in the Sainsbury’s 25% off sale, a baby pink and a soft mossy green. I also had a trying on session yesterday and discovered that I can now get in a couple of sweaters that were previously a bit tight. So I think that will do me for now.

I have also just ordered a cream dressy blouse for evening wear from the “Just Last Season” website. Ladies they have a thing called Monday Madness where they have 30% off, so always worth a look.

Well the glorious weather still holds. I have a friend coming to stay today for a few days so I had better get cracking. I went to Aldi yesterday and stocked up on goodiesso now I am going to get cracking in the kitchen and cook up a storm.

Have a good week.......keep fabbing.