TOP LIP, UPPER TOP LIP, FACIAL HAIR ON UPPER TOP LIP…even those words are scary..

So here’s the thing, I have always had a soft, very fair downy upper lip hair..barely visible, then BOOM out of the blue I have an ugly dark tree trunk of a hair, nay a whisker growing! how in gods name did that happen…. runs for the tweezers.

I do own a 5% magnifying mirror, usually banished to the bottom of a draw so as not to obsess over the next new wrinkle or ‘laugh line’ (who’s laughing?) which I have now been staring into for the last hour… little OCD I think but this is a shocker.

What to do? bleach from now on? electrolysis, waxing, laser hair removal, needless to say with this huge monster I grabbed the tweezers first but long term… inside I am screaming…were to check next, toes, nipple, chin, inside nose, let the battle begin with the lip fuzzies.

I have been a leg shaver for many years, for me it’s the instant solution and I have never really had much of a problem, same with bikini line, used to have that waxed but to be honest sometimes a girl needs a quick fix and out comes the razor.

‘kiss me baby’… will he notice the forest that will soon become my called card of the lip world, getting older is one thing Becoming Hairier than My Husband is Another !

ah! just so you know these are not my lips…. really, it’s not me, when mine get this bad shoot me!

I don’t know who said it but this is so true…..

‘Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand,wine in the other totally worn out and screaming !!!         “Whoop whoop what a ride!! I wanna go round again!!”

Jo Fairly from The Green Beauty Bible says:

I’m always on the scout for effective hand creams because I get through so much of the stuff.  And this – spotted at this year’s Natural & Organic Products Show – is a new favourite, for several reasons.

First, the texture:  rich and moisturising, without being greasy.  Second:  the fab ‘twist’ lid:  there’s no cap to remove and replace, as you just twist the lid, squeeze out what you need – and close again.  And last but not least, fragrance (which is of paramount importance to me):  sandalwood, cedarwood, frankincense and neroli – all wonderfully earthy and grounding, and perfect if I’m feeling tense.

In fact, I’ve a  new ritual with this:  I apply to my hands, cup them to my face, and b-r-e-a-t-h-e.  Result?  Lowered blood pressure, I swear.  And soft hands, to boot.

About BLEND collective

• · BLEND collective is a new natural body care range from the UK that combines luxury fragranced blends with high quality skincare ingredients.
• · BLEND collective consists of three distinctive luxury fragranced blends – Enlivening, Unwinding and Balancing – all of which are a minimum of 99% to 100% natural and are formulated with delicate essential oils as well as other powerful active ingredients.
• · Each blend has been composed by a leading UK perfumer and aromatherapist. Try the Enlivening Collection for an energising lift, the Unwinding Collection to help you relax or the Balancing Collection for a more Zen-like experience.
• · BLEND collective has been developed and produced in the UK, using the finest blends of 100% pure essential oils that are chosen for their therapeutic benefits as well as their amazing aromas.
• · Available from more than 80 stockists nationwide, including Fenwick and Wholefoods, and online from www.blendcollective.co.uk
• · Products in the range include: Unwinding Bath Oil, Unwinding Candle, Unwinding Hand Cream, Balancing Soap Bar, Balancing Body Moisturiser, Enlivening Body Wash, Enlivening Hand & Body Lotion…
• · Prices range from £8.95 to £25

It’s Chelsea Flower Show’s 100th birthday this year but she is showing no signs of ageing.  Still my favourite time of year, this special week of May is a treasure trove of new discoveries, be they plants, designs or  accessories.  In many ways Chelsea is the London Fashion Week for garden designers – a catwalk of opportunities to show ideas and send a message to the wider world, be it political environmental or plain sentimental.  However cutting edge and innovative some hard landscaping or sculpture might be, who could ever tire of the intoxicating scent of a rose in bloom, or the beauty of a peony opening her heart to the world?

Chelsea, like so many occasions, is also perfect people watching material.  Gardening in recent years has become trendy, so expect the unsuitably attired and clad – all part of the fun of the experience.  Short shorts and high heels nudge against tweeds and brogues,  and seasoned enthusiasts make endless notes on nursery catalogues of the tulips they will plant this November to bring a smile next Spring.

It’s hard not to imagine fabulous new garden furniture on your terrace, or pottering in your Farrow and Balled greenhouse when you come home from work – or the sit on mower you will ride when you own a lawn large enough.  And if you tire of all things horticultural, spend some time shopping for a new hat or bag, or some comfy shoes for if you are the one in heels you will need them.

Most of all just enjoy it – Chelsea is like nothing else on offer – a rare treat to be savoured, scented and above all, supported for many years to come.  Gardens?  Just go and enjoy them and take your pick.

Marigold x

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones
are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without alcohol,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then You Are Probably

The Family Dog
(And you thought I was going to get all spiritual!)

Handle every stressful situation like a dog.

If you can’t eat it or play with it,

Pee on it and walk away

marigold xx

Marigold is back – and heartfelt thanks to Cupcake for dealing with the Hangups and sourcing the best Handbags.  Where have I been? Nowhere sadly to warrant a golden tan and relaxed aura, but sometimes life just gets in the way of living and a date with a deadline took over.  It’s been a funny old year already -I am sure I am not alone in thinking we’re all just beginning to emerge from the longest winter imaginable.  Fortunately there’s been some good TV with Broadchurch and I’m loving Endeavour, but  the sun of the last few days has been the greatest joy imaginable and to shed those outer layers and drink in the warm breeze shere bliss.

Its all change today of course, with boots (of course) and thick coat, but the shadows of the sun still linger and it won’t be long before crisp white linen is called for.  Who would have thought it is Chelsea Flower Show in just two weeks’ time?  The most magical spectacle of the year for bringing the best in design and nature together, if you haven’t been book now before Alan Titchmarsh does such a good job on TV that its a sell out.

I’m planning a big Garden Centre weekend and hope to plant a tree.  The first challenge will be getting said specimen home.  Watch this space…

marigold x

LITTLE BIT OF BRIAN TEASING…. LATERAL THING GAME

EASY PEASY…. OR IS IT?

THIS ONE IS A LITTLE HARDER…

MY FAVE…. LOVE IT

CLUE IS IN THE WORDING OF THIS ONE…

ANSWERS AT THE WEEKEND, SEE IF YOU GOT THE RIGHT. ENJOY.

A successful business man was growing old and
knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to
do something different. He called all the young executives in his
company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I
have decided to choose one of you. “The young executives were Shocked,
but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED
today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it,
and come back here one year from today with   what you have grown from
the seed I have given you.
I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one
I choose will be   the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the   story.
She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted   the seed.
Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After
about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about
their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still
nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants,
but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had
killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had
nothing
Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept
watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company
brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot.
But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to
his
stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life,
but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board
room.

When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the
other executives. They were beautiful – in all shapes and sizes. Jim
put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a
few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young
executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and
flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be
appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his
empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.
Jim was terrified.. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he
will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his
seed,
Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and
then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief
Executive Officer!

His name is “Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his
seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room
a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it
back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it
was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.
When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another
seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and
honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one
who will be the new
Chief Executive Officer!”

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
* If you plant hard work, you will reap success
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now;
it will determine what you will reap later.
Think about   this for a minute.

If I happened to show up on your door step crying, would you care?
If I called you and asked you to pick me up
because something happened, would you come?
If I had one day left to live my life, would you be part of that last
day?
If I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?
This is a test to see who your real
friends are or if you are just someone to talk to you when they are
bored.

Do you know what the relationship is between your two eyes?

They blink together,
they move together,
they cry together,
they see things together,

and they sleep together,
but they never see each other;
that’s what friendship is.
Your aspiration is your motivation, your
motivation is your belief ,
your belief is your peace,
your peace is your target,
your target is heaven,
and life is like hard core
torture without it!

I have ‘winter legs’ and try as I might to combat the freezing cold outside and the drying central heating inside they look awful. dry skin dropping like pennies from heaven, same size as pennies! I have tried so many creams, potions and lotions.

I have come across this little beauty though, in fact a whole range of beauty with Di Palomo.

I love this body butter, White Grape & Aloe

legs looking great with this Orange Blossom with Wild Honey

and this gorgeous body wash, Aloe and Tuscan Rose

I am looking forward to getting the lallies out for spring now….

“Di Palomo is an indulgent bath, body & fragrance line inspired by the beauty of Italy that is widely available in the UK, including all John Lewis stores.

• · Exquisite packaging and complex fragrances, instantly take you to scene of the inspiration … from a Tuscan farmhouse in the early morning to an evening walk through the orange groves or a vineyard overlooking an Italian lake.
• · Di Palomo consists of four fragrance ranges – Wild Fig & Grape, Orange Blossom with Wild Honey & Olive, White Grape & Aloe and Tuscan Rose
• · The bath and body products not only smell amazing, but are also formulated with carefully selected ingredients to nourish and hydrate the skin such as sweet almond oil, grape fruit and olive oil
• · The fragrance products include Eau de Parfums (our best sellers!), Candles and Fragrant Reeds which all contain a high percentage of fragrance so that the scent doesn’t evaporate instantly, but instead lingers in the background without being too overpowering
• · Available from around 280 stockists nationwide, including John Lewis, as well as www.dipalomo.com
• · Products in each range include: Eau De Parfum, Body Butter, Candle, Cleansing Bar, Dry Oil, Hand & Nail Cream, Hand & Body Lotion, Bath Syrup, Fragrant Reeds, Gift Sets, Travel Sets
• · Prices range from £7 to £22″

Guilt Free Easter Indulgence! lets face we all (well everyone I know!) loves a bit of choccie… I’ve just come across this little treat..

Moddershall Oaks announces Easter Spa Bunny package

Moddershall Oaks, a country spa retreat in the heart of rural Staffordshire, has launched its Easter Spa Bunny package so you can enjoy chocolate indulgence without the not so tasty weight gain!

From just £76.50 (10% off), the Easter Spa Bunny package offer allows chocolate hungry guests a day of total relaxation together with a welcome drink, use of a robes and towels, a sumptuous two course lunch in the award-winning lakeside restaurant, full use of facilities and a 25 minute luxurious Chocolate Self Heating Body Wrap.

Smell good enough to eat with this unforgettable, sumptuous chocolate body wrap infused with rich cocoa. Stimulating the body, this wrap leaves you relaxed and has a nourishing effect on the skin. A sweet chocolate aroma fills the air as your body warms and muscle aches and pains melt away. A guilt free sensation for stress relief and overall wellbeing.

Easter packages available Friday 29^th March – Sunday 14^th April 2013.

To book your Easter Spa Bunny package, a guaranteed treat without the guilt, please contact Moddershall Oaks on 01782 399000 or enquiries@moddershalloaks.com.

When reading through our features you may notice that we never publish, or very rarely, any ‘comments’ I go through about 50 -60 a day…all spam, if your name is ‘sincock’ or your heading is ‘maLe enhanceMents’ or you think we will put up cheap fake bags…. I am not going to be hitting the approve button.

Nearly every comment has some point to make, totally unrelated to our subject naturally, we are thanked us for our wit, our info and ‘clever posts’…we are still not going to approve you!

We do thank everyone for offering advice on how to increase our figures by using ‘your company’ but no ta, we are very happy with our lot.

SPAMBOTS leave us alone you are so very boring.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other totally worn out and screaming !!! “Whoop whoop what a ride!! I wanna go round again!!”

As reported in the newspaper… SADLY I HAVE TO REPORT I NICKED THESE BUT THEY ARE VERY FUNNY

Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said, “We agree it was rather high for the time of year.

It’s possible Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house.”

(The Daily Telegraph)

_____

Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van, because they cannot issue a description.

It’s a Special Branch vehicle and they don’t want the public to know what it looks like.

(The Guardian)

_____

At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was sorry, but he didn’t have a gauge.

However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff.

( Aberdeen Evening Express)

_____

Mrs. Irene Graham of Thorpe Avenue , Boscombe, delighted the audience with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden.

He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled. “He’d always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelt out ‘Heil Hitler.’”

( Bournemouth Evening Echo)

____
AND……………………………………………….

A list of actual announcements that London Tube drivers have made to their

passengers…

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I do apologise for the delay to your service. I know you’re all dying to get home, unless, of course, you happen to be married to my ex-wife,

in which case you’ll want to cross over to the Westbound and go in the opposite direction.”
____

“Your delay this evening is caused by the line controller suffering from E & B syndrome: not knowing his elbow from his backside. I’ll let you know any further information as soon as I’m given any.”
_____

“Let the passengers off the train FIRST!” (Pause.) “Oh go on then, stuff yourselves in like sardines, see if I care — I’m going home….”
_____

“We can’t move off because some idiot has their hand stuck in the door.”

_____

“Please move all baggage away from the doors.” (Pause..) “Please move ALL belongings away from the doors.” (Pause…)

“This is a personal message to the man in the brown suit wearing glasses at the rear of the train:

Put the pie down, Four-eyes, and move your bloody golf clubs away from the door before I come down there and shove them up your arse sideways!”