This Month on the Blog!

30th Jun 201928th Mar 2023 | Suzi Stamp

on the blog

How have we even got to July so quickly? It sort of feels like we are in a massive game of snakes and ladders and have managed to move up the ladder from March to July bypassing April, May, and June, it’s gone that quick!

This month on the blog I have my regular features, weekly these are

Monday – Saturday Shout Out Ad
Thursday – Top 10
Saturday – Shout Out
Sunday – Weekly Roundup

Monthly regulars…

Recipe of the Month
Monthly Goals
This Month on the Blog

Weekly Roundup 23/06/19 – 29/06/19

30th Jun 201929th Jun 2019 | Suzi Stamp

copy of on the blog

Sunday 23/06/19

It rained for much of the day so I spent some time working on my blog and figuring out the schedule for July. My Mum and Dad phoned me to see if I wanted to go down to theirs for a bit, they would pick me up on their way home from the tip which isn’t too far from my house. I got picked up around 3:20pm and when we got to my parents I had a cup of tea and some banana cake that my Mum had baked. I got home around 7:00pm and read some of my book for a bit then watched a film on Netflix.

Monday 24/06/19

Had a day off on Annual Leave today so spent the morning working on my blog and watching films on Netflix. The weather was hot and damp and quite horrid and humid and stayed that way much of the day. In the afternoon my neighbor popped around for a chat, it had been her Birthday last week and I had some presents here for her. We had a lovely catch up, she had been to London over the weekend so we had a lot to catch up with! I had a delivery of things from Hobbycraft for flatlays and I’m super excited to start working on some photography ideas that I have!

Tuesday 25/06/19

Work today. It was another wet day but felt cooler than yesterday. I found out that I had been accepted for the Mediator position and that training starts on Monday, lasting for 3 days. I’m quite excited to see what the training will be like and be able to learn new skills. Work passed pretty quickly, but, in the afternoon I started feeling a bit sick and hot. I thought it may just be the weather but I seemed to feel worse as time went on. I left work at 4:00pm. I got home and had a glass of cold water but was still feeling hot and a bit wobbly on my feet so went for a lie down for a bit. Roxy sensed that I wasn’t feeling good and came and lay with me. I managed to sleep for a few hours but woke feeling the same. I got up and came downstairs and decided to paint some wooden letters that I had bought and watched something on Netflix to take my mind off the sick feeling.

Wednesday 26/06/19

Woke up feeling really ill so I phoned work and let them know I wouldn’t be in. I spent much of the day sat on the sofa feeling sorry for myself, reading some blogs that I follow and having cuddles with Roxy. I had a sleep in the afternoon for a few hours as I felt really worn out. My friend called by in the evening to see how I was feeling, we watched some things on the i-player/Netflix before he went home. I keep going hot and cold all the time but the sick feeling is starting to subside which is a good thing as I really hate feeling sick. I sat and played around with a few ideas on Canva before heading to bed.

Thursday 27/06/19

I’m still not feeling right and had a night of sweating and being over hot to being freezing cold. I didn’t sleep too well because of this and am still feeling rough now. I called into work and let them know that I wouldn’t be in again today. It is really sunny today and I wish I was feeling well enough to go out into the garden to do some things out there but I really can’t face it. I have spent the day working on my blog schedule and a few ideas that I have for future posts.

Friday 28/06/19

Today was spent working on some photography ideas, updating my CV and some other admin things that needed to be done. Once I had got all of that out of the way I spent the afternoon catching up on blogs, reading and doing some housework. It was a very chilled out and mellow kind of day which was nice.

Saturday 29/06/19

Today I woke late and decided that I would just work on some blog ideas. the day was super hot which scuppered my plans to do things in the garden, though I did head out around 3:30pm and do some weeding. It was too hot for Roxy and me though and we were soon back indoors where it was cooler. We spent the afternoon in the house with the fan on watching films on Netflix and working on some blog things.

What have you been up to this past week? Let me know in the comments!

House Wish List

28th Jun 201923rd Jun 2019 | Suzi Stamp

House Wishlist

This week marks a year of being in my own home and the time has really flown by, and while I have most things there are still things I wish for. Today’s post is about the things on my wish list.

A wheelbarrow. I’m not sure whether I will always want or even need one, but for sorting my garden out, and to make it easier to move dirt and stones around in the garden this is something that I think could come in useful for the moment.
Secateurs. I’ve been borrowing my Mum’s pair and they have come in more than useful this past few months so I think that investing in my own pair would be really beneficial.
A good tin opener, does such a thing even exits though? The one that I have seems to like skipping and sticking, mangling the can rather than being efficient and opening things with ease.
An ice cream scoop. I honestly can not believe that I don’t own one yet! I tend to use a large serving spoon which has sufficed until now.
New tea towels. When I moved in I had loads but now I hardly have any and I don’t have the foggiest idea where they have all disappeared to!
A small wardrobe or cupboard for downstairs that I can hang coats in and store my mop, bucket, and hoover in.
A bookshelf for the spare room. I have been looking for the perfect sized one to fit into the alcove for such a long time but can’t seem to find one that fits.
A Welsh dresser for my bathroom. I have a space in the bathroom that is dead space and a Welsh dresser would be perfect to put there to store my towels and other bathroom bits in while being able to display my plants and other pretty things on.
Rugs. I have been searching for the perfect rugs, both for downstairs and in the hallway, since I moved in, I have an idea of what I want but am still waiting to find the perfect ones.
Lawn mower and strimmer. My friend currently comes and mows my lawn using his mower but having my own means that I can get out and cut the grass myself. Having both a mower and strimmer would be the best option as my grass grows stupid fast so strimming before mowing would make things so much easier!

I think that everyone who has a home always has some item they want or need on their wishlist, what is on yours? Let me know in the comments!

Top 10 Things I Have Achieved This Year

27th Jun 201928th Mar 2023 | Suzi Stamp

I am celebrating a year in my own home and I thought it would be nice to look back at the whole year since moving and note my Top 10 Achievements since moving.

I have become more confident. This confidence can be seen in all aspects of my life, from making decisions to getting things done. I now worry less about whether I can do something and am more willing to give things a try.
I have learned new skills. I have learned about painting, decorating, fixing things, money management, life skills, creative skills, cooking and a whole ton more.
I have made new friends and rekindled some old friendships. I wouldn’t say that I have no friends but when it comes to having friends I like to keep my group small, that said I have made a lovely friend in my neighbor and I have rekindled friendships with old friends.
I am content to spend time alone. I used to feel uneasy with spending time alone and was never really sure of how to spend that time. Now, I am happy just to sit and chill and spend time alone, in fact, I really quite enjoy it.
I have worked on my mental health. I had a really rough time with my mental health back in September which cumulated in me taking a break from work for nearly 5 months. In that time I started taking medication for stress, anxiety, and depression. Since then I have become more aware of my mental health and how I’m feeling on a day to day basis. This awareness has helped me to identify triggers and develop some coping mechanisms which I call on daily.
I have discovered new hobbies and things I love to do. I have found that I really enjoy gardening, that it gives me a sense of calm and peace. I have also developed a love of writing, whether it be on this blog or personally, off-screen in a notebook. I have found new ways of being creative and enjoy spending time working on little projects.
I have raised money for charity. I hosted a Mind Crafternoon back in December and raised £100 for the charity. I was amazed at how generous my friends were and how much fun we all had on the day. I’m working on my next Crafternoon event which should be taking place in July.
I started this blog. I’ve had blogs in the past and posted things here and there, but this blog is different. I have spent time thinking about content, creating an editorial calendar, crafting posts, scheduling and all the other things that go along with blog writing. This blog has helped me to learn and develop skills, given me an outlet for my thoughts and I have gained so many friends through blogging too. It has become a huge part of my day to day life and is something that I never really thought could mean so much to me.
I have done some traveling. It’s not that I have never traveled or anything, but I have always done it with friends, family, and boyfriends, traveling alone was always a super scary thought that I never really entertained. But now, I quite like it. I may never have left the UK on my own but I am pretty adept at traveling to London by myself now and even taking myself off on road trips to places.
I gave up Facebook. This was a huge step for me as at one point I totally loved Facebook and it was part of my daily routine. But, something changed, back in January and, I found that I was just wasting time on there and not really enjoying it like I used to so I quit it. I deleted my account and now, it feels like it was never part of my life. It’s strange to think about how much time and energy I put into something that I couldn’t care less about now.

1 Year In My Home!!!!

26th Jun 201924th Jun 2019 | Suzi Stamp

much love frm

Today is a special day for me, I’m celebrating a whole year in my home! I honestly can not believe that I have been here for a full 365 days. I think that the biggest thing about today is that I have never lived fully alone before. When I was a kid, I lived with my parents, then I moved in with my Grandma while I was in college, I then moved to Preston and lived in a student house before moving to a house share with another girl. I was in Preston for a year before moving back to Wales and back to my Grandma’s house. I then moved in with my boyfriend, when we split up I moved in with another friend and eventually with my last boyfriend.

Celebrating this first year in my own home is not just about marking an anniversary but celebrating a milestone in my life which has been really important in helping me to become who I am now. I think that living on your own is an experience everyone should have, it can teach you so much about yourself, make you realize that you are a lot stronger than you could imagine, makes you a little more resilient and makes you a little more reliant on yourself.

So, today, it’s not just a celebration of living in my home for a year, but its a celebration f so much more!

Book Review – Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You – Todd Hasak-Lowy

26th Jun 201926th Jun 2019 | Suzi Stamp

untitled design

I bought this book when visiting the William Morris Red House where there was a little outbuilding full of donated books that you could buy for as little as 30p, the proceeds going towards the upkeep of the house. This book caught my eye with the bright yellow cover with bold black font and upon picking it up and reading the back of it, I decided to purchase it to read on my journey home even though I had another book in my bag to read.

The blurb on the back reads

Darren hasn’t had an easy year. His parents divorced, his brother left for college, and his best friend moved state. Also, he still doesn’t have a girlfriend.

Then his dad shows up at 6am with a glazed chocolate donut and a pretty world-shaking revelation. In full freak-out mode, Darren ditches school and jumps on a bus to visit his brother, Nate, at college. But someone weird / amazing comes along for the ride.

Told entirely in lists, this hilarious novel perfectly captures why having anything to do with anyone is:

1. painful

2. unavoidable

3. ridiculously complicated

4. possibly, hopefully, the right thing after all.

The book is part of the Young Adult category and is a meaty 646 pages long, though it was an easy read as the book, instead of being broken up into chapters was set out in a series of lists which flowed together to tell the story of Darren, a 15 going on 16-year-old boy, his life and family.

The book was really interesting, not only as it was set out as a series of lists, but because I felt that it covered the sort of life a teenage boy would live, covering worries about himself, his family and developing relationships with girls. The way Todd Hasak-Lowy writes, it makes you feel like you are part of the story and that you are experiencing everything in an intimate way.

I started reading this book on Monday 17th June on my w2ay home from London, then continued to read in my lunch break of half an hour in work through the rest of the week and had finished it by Friday, so, despite its size you can see that it was a really easy read. The list set up meant that you could pick it up and put it down with ease.

You can buy this book over at Amazon.

Have you read this book or any others by Todd Hasak-Lowy? What were your thoughts? Id love to hear in the comments!

House Plants

25th Jun 201924th Jun 2019 | Suzi Stamp

Houseplants (2)

House plants are an easy way to bring the outdoors in, they add a bit of life and interest to otherwise bare areas and can help to improve the air quality in the home. There have also been reports, recently, that caring for house plants can help to lower stress levels, improve our mood and help with mental health.

I have several houseplants which have survived nearly a whole year, I’m quite proud of that as most plants I have had in the past have generally lasted a few weeks or months. The trick, I have found is to assess what kind of environment the plants need, is it bright, sunny, warm spaces or do they prefer darker cooler spots? Does the plant mind a draft or will they thrive in areas with little to no drafts? Other things to consider are how easy the plant is to maintain, for example, does the plant need a lot of watering and caring for, or is it happy to be watered whenever? Does the plant need regular dead-heading or de-leafing or some kind of pruning or can it just be left to do its thing?

I have learned over time that I am terrible when it comes to watering plants, I tend to forget when they have been watered which can lead to them being overwatered or not watering them enough. I have also come to realize that I’m not the sort of person that wants to faff around with pruning, dead-heading or de-leafing, a simple routine of watering every now and again and dusting off the leaves occasionally is good for me!

Plants that I have found to be easy to care for are

Areca Fern (which I have in my bathroom) which was purchased in Wilkinsons around a year ago.

Dragon Plant (in my living room) bought from my local Wilkinsons store when I moved in last year.

Peace Lily (in my living room) which was given to me as a moving in present nearly a year ago. This has only flowered once but I’m hoping that it will flower again at some point!

Cactus and succulents (in my dining area). I have had the cacti in the red bowl for 10 years and the succulents are around 3 years old. I picked up the cacti in my local garden center and the succulents came from my local Tesco.

Avocado trees, which I grew from the stone, in my dining area window. They are now around 4 years old.

Aloe Vera (which is thriving on my kitchen windowsill). I bought this a few years ago from Ikea, it seemed like a healthy plant when I bought it but a week or so later it seemed to be dying, after a bit of TLC it has perked up and is now looking pretty healthy!