Making a Cameo appearance

The humble apple.

Part of my staple diet since 1976. I juice these bad boys, eat them with cashew butter, crunch them, bake them, love them.

Mia reminded me yesterday to juice some apples, and I always sneak in some spinach and cucumber in there too, but wheatgrass the Minis draw the line at -  "it's bleugh mummy".

Fair play.

Anyway, I have been sent some Cameo apples to try, a new British variety from Kent which have made their first appearance this year in supermarkets and I luuurve. They are nicely crunchy and crisp, and perfect for small and big people snacks. Let me know if you try them. You can find Cameo's in Tescos, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Booths, Budgens and Co-op, online and on Twitter (Apples are great social communicators you know).



 

 

 

 

 

I was sent some Cameo apples to try and as such must disclose in the post. A-thank-you.

What really matters most

I saw a shocking infographic today about the effects of stress; as someone who lives with illnesses which are without doubt exaccerbated by the S-word, it shocks me to think how much stress we put on our systems.

Wifi: breaking up is hard to do

[caption id="attachment_4583" align="aligncenter" width="540"] free wheelin' with no WiFi[/caption]

I have just come back from a week in Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest with no WiFi access for a week in the villa. *cue drum roll*

I SURVIVED.

Not only that, but I LIKED IT.

I loved being with the Minis for the week and just playing around -  we did swimming, bowling, water slides, bike trailers, Princess parties (them, not me but you never know...) and generally being-on-holiday-type-stuff.
Now, you remember last week I blogged about my quest to re-dress the balance in my life by dropping the Superwoman pressure? Well, I have progress to report.

On Monday before we left my body was so tired and my chronic fatigue so exacerbated that I only managed half of my Monday yoga class before leaving, shaking with sickness and exhaustion.

Flow and getting back to sketching

I have recently re-discovered sketching.

My iPad and Paper by 53, have re-enabled my love of sketching on the go and they are revolutionising my life. Well, just a little bit.

I have always loved to draw, and before I settled on a career in graphic design (which has now turned into a portfolio career with writing and blogging included), I always wanted to be an illustrator. Nothing actually beats making marks on paper or getting down and dirty with some paint, but there is something so easy and simple about taking out my iPad and my Bamboo Wacom stylus and  doing some sketching. I have set myself a task to make sure that I get out and about as often as I can, and just to sit even if they just half an hour, and do some mark making; I always really fill in my zone when I am drawing, or getting on with some crafting. It's also so much easier to sketch out ideas and thoughts sometimes before going all linear, and having it to hand is so nice.

Getting into a zone is one of the things where we know we are happiest; if you're in your staying you are in a flow you're being creative, and you are at one with yourself. Yet, strangely, being it is the kind of thing that we actively stop ourselves from doing with daily life. We can get so busy with everything else that needs to be done that taking that time out to be is really hard to do.

So, if I make an effort this week to sketch with my iPad, and find some time to be in my zone, could you set yourself a challenge to do the same? What floats your boat? It will be the different for everyone, be it cycling, running, painting -  even washing-up! Whatever it is, just try to take some time every day, or even one hour a week to find that creative drive and spend some time with your thoughts without all the noise of social media, work and daily tasks in the way.

Now I must go,  I have some sketching to do!

The above work of art was by Mia, who loves sketching too - apparently this is me. I look good!