Words

I saw these words through my son's classroom window whilst I was waiting to collect him at the end of the day.  I don't know how long they'd been there but since reading them I can't get them out of my mind.  Their purpose, was to focus the children's attention on the good and bad words they'd spoken during the day.  

It struck me how as adults, we can forget the power of words, that they can build us up or tear us down.  I have two children and seeing these words in my son's classroom made me think of the joy I felt at hearing their first words, the name my brother called me as a toddler because he couldn't pronounce my name, being told I love you.  

In a society were value is placed on material things we can bring joy with our words and best of all it costs nothing.  We should try saying morning to the tramp on the street instead of avoiding his gaze.  Complimenting our friends when they look nice.  Telling colleagues when they've done something well and when they haven't being constructive on how they can improve. Apologizing to the friend you haven't spoken to in years, over what probably seems trivial now.

We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing.  We will hold our memories dear, what we did or didn't do over the years, the spoken words we heard or said.  

Make your words count, use them to heal not to hurt.

Summer is coming

I can't believe it's May already, where is the year going?!  It's a beautiful sunny bank holiday weekend here, I hope it's nice where you are.

I've been working on decorating the middle room in my house recently.  The room had pale walls but this didnt help with the lack of light in there.  I decided to take the bull by the horns and go over to the dark side.  I've grown to love dark colours over the past year so decided to experiment.

I'd been collecting the prints for a while and eventually got around to getting them framed.  What do you think?  Have you gone over to the dark side?


Another thing the sun does is remind me that summer is coming, which means I need to lose weight fast!  I've been reading this book as Paleo seems to be the latest craze.  The recipes make my mouth water and look so easy.   Have you tried the Paleo? Has it been successful?

What have you got planned for the holidays? Whatever is it make sure you enjoy x

Whilst I remember to tell you, I've partnered up with Mastering the Art of Being Me for a course I've been doing recently.  Check out her blog.

It's that time that happens only once a year

It's my BIRTHDAY!! 

Well not today but Tuesday and I'm just a little bit excited because I'm going to Amsterdam, yay!

I follow Liz on http://www.exploredreamdiscoverblog.com/ who currently lives in Amsterdam and her blog has got me excited to go back.  I've been once before but that was over 5 years ago.  I've made a few pointers on places to go and see , the Reich museum is one of them, now it's re-opened.

Several people in my office are off on holidays in the next couple of weeks, Angie from http://peanutpearls.blogspot.co.uk/ left today for Cape Cod.  I'm a little bit envious, I'd love to see that part of the world.  Can't wait to see her pictures.  Natasha is off to Universal Studios to unwind and enjoy the attractions, and then there's me, did I tell you I'm going to AMSTERDAM!

I'm planning on going to De Bakkerswinkel (pics below) for my breakfast on my birthday.  Other than this I don't have many aspirations for my trip.

The last time I was here I had the most amazing pineapple and mint jam, I really hope they'll still be selling it.  I know, I know this is a bit of a long shot but a girl can dream.

Have you been to Amsterdam?  What did you think?  Any recommendations?

x

Spa Sunday

We had such a fun day on Sunday, celebrating father's day; yes I know it's a week early.  Four of us trundled over to St David's Hotel and Spa at Cardiff Bay for the day. On arrival we were given big white fluffy robes and slippers to wear for our duration, relaxation here we come!

We hit the gym first.  It wasn't very big but had everything you'd need, even spin classes unfortunately not on a Sunday.  My father decided to give the gym a miss and sat reading in the juice bar instead.  There is lovely sea view from here so it was very relaxing, especially with an endless supply of herbal tea, juice and water.

We hadn't booked the Spa set lunch menu but were able to choose something off the bar menu which was quite extensive.  I chose poached eggs with smoked salmon, trying to be healthy, my parents had sausage rolls (homemade) and my daughter chose the steak ciabatta.  There is unlimited tea, various coffees’, fruit and water in the lunch room which has a balcony that overlooks the Bay (pic below).  We sat outside for our lunch, it was a bit windy but nice just to be able to sit in a bit of sunshine in big fluffy white robes I might add.  These drinks were available to us all day free of charge; my daughter enjoyed the hot chocolate.

After some swimming, use of the sauna and Jacuzzi’s we headed off for our treatments - a back massage and facial.  My mother chose a facial and manicure with gelish varnish.  These were all very relaxing, especially when we were taken to a room afterwards with duvets to have a little rest.  I kid you not; I was ready to put my head on the pillow and stay the night but was gently reminded by my mother that food was in an hour.

We each had a two course meal and I started mine with a cocktail - don't you just love Margarita's.  The food was very nice and ended with tea and coffees. 

 The food was very nice and ended with tea and coffees.  The Sri Lanka'n Cricket Team was also in the restaurant which made my father's night.  After all this relaxing and eating I'm exhausted and ready to go home. 

Driver, where are you?

Weekend Part deux

Being from Pembrokeshire, my father loves the water so I took my parents to Cosmeston Lakes or as my father called it Cosmopolitan Lakes.  We took the short walk around the lakes approx 1.4 miles.  It was lovely, there were so many people there but as it was spacious you didn't feel it was crowded. There was a big wooden play area for children and people were eating picnics, sunbathing, having barbeques, cycling and walking their dogs.  My son is into birds after watching Springwatch and we found a nice family going for a swim (pic below).

The country park has habitats covering over 100 hectares of land and water.

There's even a medieval village.

If you fancy a nice day out it's a great place to go and it's free, even the parking.

http://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/enjoying/parks__gardens/cosmeston/cosmeston_lakes_country_park.aspx

I'm off to St David's Hotel and Spa tomorrow for the day.  My dad's father's day present, so we're all going, my dad, mum, my daughter and me.  Can't wait.

 What have you done this weekend? Have you been enjoying the sunshine?  Done any gardening? Had any nice picnics?

Bye from me in sunny Cosmeston. 

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Fun in the Sun - weekend part une

What amazing weather, I hope you're having fun, fun, fun, in the sun, sun, sun.

Do you remember I said that I as going away with work this week?  Guess what, I managed to stay healthy, I'm so pleased with myself,  There was a gym at the hotel and I'd packed my kit just in case I was motivated enough to get up early in morning to exercise.  I did, check me out!  45 mins of cardio on the treadmill.  Good or what! 

If you're ever near a Harvester and just want some simple food, they serve sea bass with green beans.  Perfect for my protein and veg diet.  I had poached eggs with mushrooms for breakfast and they even managed to find me some soya milk.  One happy girl.

My parents are visiting for the weekend as we're celebrating father's day a week early, I decided to take my mum out for breakfast.  There's this lovely little deli in Pontcanna - The Fat Pig Deli.

It was full outside when we arrived so we sat inside, still light an airy as the door was open.  I loved the tables, very rustic, they were made by the owners out of old doors and mis-matched table legs.  On the tables were mis-matched silver cutlery and ornate silver looking sugar bowls.  The inside decor is shabby chic with modern chairs. 

They have a brunch/lunch menu along with a nice selection of cakes and breads.  I'm afraid we didn't go for the healthy option.  We chose this.

Oh yes it was good, all served with good strong coffee.  The owner is very chatty and happy to answer any questions you have on the food, the decor, pretty much anything really.  All the waiters are trained chefs too, impressive!  The bread is from Allen's Bakery (see my other blog post), this morning there was Chorizo, Tomato, Olive, french, granary and white bread.  It looked fantastic.

Do pay them a visit.  http://www.fatpigdeli.com/

Polishing my Halo

Oh yes I'm polishing my halo today.  In the gym at 0630am doing leg work with my trainer.  My left arm and leg is so much weaker than my right side, yes I'm right handed if you're wondering.  I nearly fell over doing lunges on my left leg, still managed 3 sets of 6 though. I increased my leg weights on one of the machine today - an improvement, but my arms are still sore from yesterday's push ups and dead lifts, roll on tomorrow morning which will be session 3 this week.

On Monday I was craving something sweet whilst training, probably withdrawal from all the sugar I'd consumed last week.  I decided to take my protein shake (featured in one of  my posts) with me today to have after my workout.  The gym won't mix your powder so I bought one of these, a Vexo Mixer that runs on batteries.  It might seem excessive but I always have lumps in my manual shaker and I hate lumps, yuck!  It's not bad, mine leaks a bit, not sure if that's just the way I put it together but there are no lumps - result.

Breakfast was eaten at 0930, chicken sausages and a cup of spinach.  Nicer than it sounds. 

Mid morning snack was 1oz sweet chilli nuts (also featured in a previous post) and lunch was 1 cup of cannellini beans with salad and a tablespoon of fish oil with balsamic vinegar. 

Mid afternoon snack was 2 tablespoons of Hazelnut butter with a cup of tea with almond milk.  I love Hazelnut butter, it tastes like ferrero rocher. 

I've been drinking my ginger tea all day, soo refreshing! I did have 2 americano coffee's with soya milk but this is an improvement as I normally have soya cappuccino's.  We fancied going out for tea as it was such a nice evening but I don't like going places with too much temptation, so Nandos was the venue of choice.  My supper was Butterfly Chicken with a side salad.  Doesn't look too bad does it? 

Home to have more Ginger Tea after this and then that's me for the night.  Nothing else passing my lips.  I'm away in a conference this week and I'm a bit worried about the food that'll be on offer as I feel like I'm back on track. Wish me luck.

What positive steps have you made this week?

It takes so much effort to get back into exercise but I feel so much better, mentally and physically as a result.  Worth the effort.  Why don't you try a nice walk if you can't face the gym this week.