Keeping Up With The Jones'

I have always loved the views from our house since we moved here.  Surrounded on two sides by Water Board land, despite living in a small town, living half way up a hill and surrounded by green makes you feel like you live in a village or in the country.

We live at the top of a very garden proud cul de sac.  Unfortunately, neither my mum nor I is any kind of a gardener.  I will mow the lawn when it reaches an embarrassing height and weed when I remember, but the other gardens put ours to shame.  They are more like show pieces and we are the embarrassing cousin at the end of the row.

So this summer, we are determined to turn it around and not be the garden that our neighbours comment unfavourably on.   We are employing the tactic "fake it till you make it". 

HIRE A GARDENER

First off, we have hired a gardener to come every few weeks to deal with the plants and create actual straight edges to our lawn.  We will never be gardeners so leaving that aspect to the professionals seems wise.

DISTRACT, DISTRACT!

What we can do however is buy some garden furniture/pieces that distract the eye.  

First thing is first, we are looking at buying a wrought iron patio set for, shock horror, our patio.  We have a little balcony that is crying out for some seats and a bottle of wine,

Galbemere Wenlock Set

Secondly, one of my favourite things is a water feature.  There is nothing more relaxing to me than sitting in your garden, glass of wine in hand and the sound of water tricking through a fountain. Sadly our garden is not exactly palatial, I am looking more for outdoor fountains for the wall.

Lastly, and it is a simple one, but lots of tubs and lots of plants in them.  They take minimal effort other than watering in spring/summer.   I am all about minimal effort, maximum output.

Four Ways To Put On Your Face

We live in a society that is conscious about its looks, and unfortunately there is no getting away from that. Whether you’re at work, or out with friends, there is a face you must present to the world. Much like your body image, a lot of people can feel self-conscious about how their face looks. However, there are many ways to show the world your best, most beautiful face. Ultimately, the way to make a really good impression is to just be confident, no matter how you put your face on.

Naturally

Image Source

Everyone feels self-conscious about going out without any makeup, either because you’re prone to breakouts or you believe (most likely wrongly) you have unflattering features. Don’t worry; healthy, glowing skin is within reach. You can reduce your breakouts by drinking lots of water, exercising, and eating food rich in fiber, omega-3, and vitamins A and B complex. There are also a number of natural remedies you can try at home to promote a natural glow. You can decide to apply makeup on your beautiful skin, or you can go au naturel for the rest of the day.

Surgically

Some people might look down on cosmetic surgery, but there are people who feel held back by a single body feature. Where it may be an overlarge or crooked nose or overly prominent ears, people can still feel self conscious about having - in their minds - an embarrassing feature. If their confidence skyrockets after having rhinoplasty or inserting ear folds, then it’s obvious that cosmetic surgery was the right decision for them. Everyone has their own way of boosting their self esteem.

Makeup

Image Source

There are hundreds of reasons why women wear makeup, and not all of them are related to impressing other people. Some women wear it because they don’t think they look like themselves without it, because they feel more confident wearing it, or just because it’s fun to apply it. There are also those who don’t wear makeup, unless they’re celebrating a special occasion, which is also perfectly fine. Whether you prefer to go with a more natural look, or you like experimenting with bold eyeshadows and lipsticks, makeup can be a way of expressing yourself. It’s also a sneaky why of covering up any surprise breakouts.

Take care of your skin

Ultimately, the best way to make sure you’re always putting on your best face is to practice a regular skin care routine. Wash and cleanse your face daily, and maintain your glow by using a good exfoliator to scrub away dead skin cells. You should finish off your skin care ritual by moisturising. Oils are more effective than creams because they can penetrate deeper layers of the skin, and they are lighter than cream. Now that summer is almost here, you should also remember to put on a light layer of BB cream that contains at least SPF 15. Sunburn doesn’t look good on anyone.

*Collaborative piece

Please Register To Vote

Today is the last day that you can register to vote.  It takes five minutes.  This has not been so important for many a year and hence the reason why I am writing this post today, along with many other bloggers under the hashtag #NotThe33

In the last election in 2015, only 66.1% turned out to vote.  That means that 33.9% of the population left the state of the nation to chance and other people's voices and opinions drowning out their own.

There are a lot of people who are not interested in politics.  They think that whomever ends up in government will be mostly the same as any others; so why bother.  I used to be one of those people.  But then I started reading the occasional news story and my response was an ever increasing "What the hell?  WHAT THE HELL?"

I started to read more and more, looking more into the views and stances of the various political parties, especially given the rise of UKIP and I found myself becoming more and more political.  When the BNP had political aspirations it was laughable.  Everyone knew that thugs were not going to get into parliament, even with my knowing at least one person who had voted for them.

But then UKIP emerged with the odious Nigel Farage pegged as "the working man's politician" and everything changed.  Although UKIP are not a party that will gain anything meaningful in this election, many of its voters have moved to the Conservatives.

I am not going to tell you how to vote or even ask you to vote for one party or another.  All I ask is that YOU VOTE.  We are now into the two long years of negotiations for Brexit and we need the right party there speaking for us.  But this isn't just about Brexit.  This is about the lives of the British people and those who choose to come to our country to work.

It was not a requirement in writing this post to share who you are voting for.  But I am happy to share my particular vote, which will be Labour.

While I am not a particular fan of Jeremy Corbyn, I believe in the policies that Labour have put forward in their manifesto.  I believe that Labour are for the people, all of the people, unlike the Conservatives who are blatantly for only for the rich.

I cannot vote for a party that want to continue the £9000 a year tuition fees for students.

I cannot vote for a party that want to take pensioner's winter allowance away from them (plus how much is this means testing going to cost? That has not been specified)  One Daily Mail reader suggested putting hot water bottles next to windows??

I cannot vote for a party that want to take away free school lunches from pupils who for some, is the only hot meal they have that day.  Any savings gained by offering breakfast is laughable considering that schools will have to employ more staff and pay more hours in order for this to happen.  Which comes of their ever decreasing funding.

I cannot vote for a party that want to reinstate fox hunting.  A blood sport where foxes are ripped to pieces for people's entertainment after hunting them to exhaustion.  There is no argument that justifies this.  

I cannot vote for a party that wants to make the elderly pay for their own care, after their death by taking their houses.  What happens to the many family members who move in with their relatives to provide that care and then have nowhere to live?

There are many other examples but frankly, we would be here all day.

You cannot look at this election and think only about immigration, which I know is a factor for many.  But the truth of the matter is that we need immigrants.  As one example, we do not have enough doctors or nurses.  FACT.  The Conservatives have already taken away nurse's bursaries enabling them to study and don't get me started on how they treat our doctors.  EU Immigrants put 20 billion more into the system than they take.  FACT.

But regardless of what you think of immigration, this cannot be your own only reason for voting.  Look at the manifestos in their entirety or even just the main points.  The most important thing is to VOTE.