Category: Life Sparkles

Life Sparkles

Easy on the Spinach!

Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

I did it! I gave in. Over twelve months of deliberations, I purchased a Nutri Ninja in the post Christmas sales and I have to say, I LOVE IT!!!!

I’ve obviously lead a sheltered life as I have never owned a blender/juicer before. I am totally converted. My Ninja is my pathway to eating healthier which is the plan for this year.  I’m still learning about quantities, what goes together (apples, blueberries, strawberries) and what doesn’t (easy on the spinach girl) but it’s a great journey and I have to say that in just over a week of Ninja breakfasts, I can feel a difference to my overall body. The sluggish, lack of energy feeling is reducing. That feels good!!

So, I thought I’d share a recipe or two with you in case you’d like to try out some blends yourself.

My favourite so far for breakfast is my Ninja blend of banana, blueberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, red grapes and 200 ml of pure apple juice. 

 

Blend for 45 seconds and…

  The finished blend!

Variations of these fruits have become my breakfast and I’ve been very surprised at how full I feel.  It has stopped me snacking before lunchtime.

I have tried a vegetable version using carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and a hint of fresh ginger with 300 ml of water. First time it tasted ok, the second time it was so bad I had to throw it away. Not enough water and far too much spinach. It will be trial and error to find what I like and I am stocked up with enough fruit and vegetables for at least a week. I will keep you updated.  I’d love to hear about your blends especially if like me this is a whole new experience 🙂

Now, if I could just leave the chocolate and the nuts alone… 

Thank you for reading my blog ✨

Life Sparkles

New Year – Another Fresh Start

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Happy New Year and welcome to 2016!! How fast the years roll by these days. 2015 appears to have gone by in a flash. Did you keep your resolutions? You remember those? The promises we made to ourselves of all the things we were going to do for the new year. Nope? Me neither. I don’t remember any specific resolutions although I’m sure I made them, I always do.

I have heard lots of folk say “you don’t need to wait until New Years Eve to make resolutions, you can start over any day”. I agree with that, we can decide to swap and change our goals at anytime but I think there is something different about making our fresh starts at the beginning of a fresh new year. January 1st holds such promise of the year to come. Our hopes and dreams and also our worries and concerns. We for the most part think positive and decide what it is that we want to do, to change, to improve, to make happen.

Once again I will start a healthy eating plan and I have already shopped, loaded my fridge with fresh fruit and vegetables and ordered a Nutri Ninja which I am now impatiently awaiting delivery of. I know of numerous people with Nutri Bullets and Nutri Ninja’s who all love what they can do and some of these people have kept to their healthy eating plan all year!!! What an achievement 👏👏👏. My difficulty will be suddenly avoiding the chocolates, biscuits, cakes and goodies still in the house from Christmas. No point in easing myself out of them…time to turn cold turkey.

  
Picture via Pinterest

My next new plan is to set aside some time each week for some self care. I totally understand how and why folk say “you can’t look after another person well if you haven’t taken care of yourself”. I have two people to look after and I hope that my swap to healthier eating will not only benefit me, but them also. I need to feel better, more energy, less pains and aches…Nutri Ninja I’m expecting serious results.

As you know I commenced vocal coaching last June, took a long break from August due to caring responsibilities and then returned to it a few weeks ago. I have no hesitations or issues getting around to my singing homework and I hope that this year, even if it takes until December, that I will get the confidence to sing on stage, maybe even do a whole gig!!!

  
Picture via Pinterest

Although I enjoy my Open University course, there is so much reading and research now I’m at level three, I’m struggling to find time. Today I am five weeks behind with twenty three days to go before my next assignment is due in. Yes, I need to knuckle down. I only have one more module to study after this one so time must be found to get up to date and stay there. I can always find something more sparkle igniting to do instead of this reading, it is usually singing.

So, there are my resolutions for the year. Have you made any this year? Are they similar to mine? Whether you have or not, I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year, may all your dreams come true.

  
Picture via Pinterest

Thank you for reading my blog 🙂

Life Sparkles

Christmas Eve Sparkle

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I think Christmas Eve is the most magical day of the year.  All the preparations, the baking, the shopping, the giving of gifts and the hustle and bustle of life in the weeks before Christmas are all geared towards the celebration of Christmas Day and rightly so. But, do you ever stop to breathe, take five minutes and soak up the atmosphere, the magic, the sparkle that is Christmas Eve.

  
Picture via Pinterest.

Christmas Eve to me is the looking forwards. Looking forward to family visits on Christmas Day, phone calls and messages, delighted or perhaps not so delighted looks on faces when opening gifts. The burning of the advent candle down to ’24’. The joy of singing beautiful hymns and carols to celebrate the birth of Jesus, at Midnight Mass. Precious time spent with loved ones sharing memories and maybe tears for Christmasses past. Watching ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Elf’ on tv, both of which make me cry…such a softie!!

I love Christmas Day of course but once it is Christmas Day, that’s it, the looking forwards is over, the celebration is happening and it’s wonderful…yes even the family argument…there’s always one!!! The preparations, the planning, the rushing around, all over for another year. 

So, for me, Christmas Eve is just the most wonderful day of the year and I am already in sparkle overload thinking about singing tonight at Midnight Mass. Songs I’ve sung since childhood about the true meaning of Christmas. Voices joining together to sing in celebration of the birth of Jesus.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a truly sparkling Christmas Eve 🎄✨🌟💫

   Mam and I baked traditional fruit Christmas Cake…hope it tastes good!

  Advent candle from himself.

  Love Christmas Tree Sparkle

  O Holy Night – Merry Christmas 

Life Sparkles

Back to the City…

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Last Tuesday afternoon began my slow, phased return to work within the office environment. It had been two months since I was last in the city. Since then “Grand Central Station”, formally New Street Station, has opened. The Frankfurt Christmas Market has also opened and the city centre was bustling, alive with people shopping, lunching, visiting and making their way to the office.

I was in awe of the new station, it looks wonderful, so clean, so bright, so modern. Lots of shops, restaurants and coffee bars for me to check out.

  
I’m looking forward to sampling the Tapas!

  
I will definitely be sampling the Fizz!!

  
Make mine a skinny cappuccino please 😊

  
Clean, bright and bustling.

I wish I had more time to explore but hopefully once I have returned to the office full time I can organise sometime to mooch to my hearts content.

Birmingham Grand Central I’m very impressed, you’ve done an excellent job, our city sure has some serious sparkle!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Life Sparkles

Self Care – Keep Your Own Sparkle.

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Oh how I have advised people in the past about taking care of themselves, not overworking, eating properly, getting more sleep, you know the kind of thing.  As always, we are not so good at taking our own advice.

I’m tired, there, I  admit it, the last two months have more or less worn me out.  I empathise with carers so much more now that I have an understanding of their plight, looking after a loved one.  I at least have the knowledge that Mom is recovering slowly from the broken hip and each day gains a little more power in her leg, gains independence and also confidence in her walking.  I am still working from home but this week sees me begin a slow, phased return to the office, one afternoon only.  But it has been very tiring, caring for my parents, cooking, cleaning, shopping, working the day job from home, catching up with studies and attempting to follow my love of singing.

I’ve not done badly, I have returned to Zumba class on Wednesday evening which I love.  The music is so wonderful you just escape into that Latin Beat, the moves can be difficult but it really doesn’t feel like a work out and although I ache afterwards, it is a good ache.  I’ve escaped for an hour for some me time and yes, that is important.  At first I felt selfish at leaving the house to attend the class but my lovely Mom, bless her, said I needed to do something for myself and get out of the house.

Last week I returned to my vocal coaching and oh how good that felt.  The drive there, the hour going through my breathing exercises, the vocal scales and then singing a couple of the songs I had been working on, it was like a release of the soul.  Thankfully, although I had not been to my vocal coach since mid August, it seems I have not lost my pitch and my breathing hasn’t gone to pot, phew!!  This week I have been learning “You raise me up”, surprisingly not many lyrics to this song but a lot of variation in notes.

These two small steps have helped me to feel like me again.  I can see how easily it can be to get lost within yourself, when you are indoors 24/7 and suddenly plunged into a different life course.  How apt that my current studies are about our perceived life course and our plans and how things we do, or perhaps things that happen to others can alter our lives.

Tomorrow afternoon I face the wide world of the city centre when I venture to the office for the first time since mid – September…I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you for reading my blog 🙂

And Breathe...take care of you!
And Breathe…take care of you!
Life Sparkles

The ‘Start Again’ Sparkle.

Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

A week on and I can’t report a truly successful week of healthy eating. I slipped up more than once with a chocolate biscuit or three and all within a day of writing my blog post about getting motivated to eat a healthier diet and move more. The intention was there but I just couldn’t seem to resist the sweet choices, the odd crisp, chips, slice of cake…oh I could go on but I think you’ve got my drift. My best intentions didn’t manifest into reality. Well, that’s just the way it is, I tried but not hard enough, even when that biscuit hit my lips, I can’t say I enjoyed it but I couldn’t stop myself from eating it. I craved the chocolate, the sugar and felt yucky for doing so.

I’m not going to beat myself up for this almighty fail, I’m human, my willpower was non existent and that was that. I’m thinking that now you are expecting me to say I’ve given up. NO!! I have no intention of giving up. If anything my huge non healthy eating week has made me more determined to succeed.

For some reason almost every article I’ve looked at online or in a book or newspaper over the past few days has been about healthy eating and exercise. Someone somewhere wants me to see this!! I woke up Sunday morning inspired. I want to be healthy for a very long time to come. Actually I want to be healthier than I am now. I want to shake off that sluggish feeling for good, I want my body to sparkle with inner health and I want to stop putting too much fats, sugars and let’s face it, chemicals into my system.

  
Picture via Pinterest.

I need to be healthy to cope with my caring responsibilities, to carry out my day job, to find time to study and to follow my passion, singing.

I’ve been shopping, I’ve loaded my cupboards, fridge and freezer with good healthy food. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t any goodies…of course there are but these will be now taken in moderation and not as a staple requirement. I’m not going for immediate, total changeover because I know I won’t stick with that, I’ll get bored. I will however try, one meal at a time. I’ve done that for two days now. I feel good about that. All is not lost and perhaps my biscuit binge of last week was just what I needed to get me going this week.

  
Picture via Pinterest.

I’m off to a good start this week…let’s see how strength of mind and willpower perform from now on.

Thank you for reading my blog 😎

Life Sparkles

My Monday Motivation 

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Something I start quite often is a healthy eating regime and for a while I do very well. I’m lucky because I do love fruit and vegetables but I’m not a huge fan of meat. I’ve not eaten Red meat for over twenty years, I just went off the taste. I eat Chicken and Turkey and that’s about it meat wise. However, as much as I enjoy fruit and vegetables, I enjoy chocolate a whole lot more. I’m not big on cake but recently biscuits of all types have almost become my staple diet!!! Over the past weeks I have said to myself in the evening “tomorrow you start eating healthy and moving your body again”. Each day has gone well until just after lunchtime and my hand reaches for the biscuits once again. “This has got to stop”, I tell myself. Well tonight, I’m writing to you that yes, it is going to stop!!
  
Picture via Pinterest.

I know for sure that the change in “normal” life over the past six to seven weeks has been the cause of my total derailment of eating proper food. Because I have been so busy in my caring role, I’ve grabbed what I can to eat to keep myself going. I have grabbed totally the wrong foods and really I have no excuse for that as I am cooking healthy food for my parents. Because I have been working from home to carry out my “day job” I feel I have to worker longer hours, get more done, because I go missing from the laptop throughout the day to care for my Mom. I sit down too much, hunched over the laptop. I find myself doing all the things I tell my friends not to do. Time to take myself in hand and make some changes!

I’m not talking about dieting although I’m sure that I would benefit from losing at least a stone. I’m more interested in being as healthy as I can be, feeling energised and not sluggish. That my skin glows with health, my nails return to strength and my hair feels strong again. How easy it is to forget the wonderful benefits of eating correctly.

  
Picture via Pinterest.

During one of my vocal coaching sessions I asked my tutor about foods or drinks I should or shouldn’t take that could affect my breathing or voice. She had one simple response, “eat and drink as healthily as you can and your general health and voice will reap the benefits”. She also added “don’t be too strict with yourself though, everyone deserves a treat…in moderation”. Of course, we all know this but somehow we tend to forget it when those chocolates appear, the cupcake with our coffee and the ice cream dessert on a night out and “now and again” becomes an every night treat.

And so, because I want to stay healthy for as long as I can, because I want to take care of my body and because I want to achieve my country music dreams…from tomorrow, my Monday Motivation will be:

Drink more water, eat fresh food, move more…Are you with me?

  
Picture via Pinterest.

Thank you for reading my blog ☘✨

Life Sparkles

Autumn Walk 🍁🍃🍂

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I love walking. Sometimes I love the idea of walking more than actually getting out there and walking. I suppose that is the lazy part of me talking myself out of getting my boots on and heading for the door. I think my longest walk was about 14 miles. I was in agony post walk. I had to lie on the floor to wriggle out of my trousers and even after a long soak in the bath, I hurt. However, it was a good feeling. The walk had taken all day but it also took in some wonderful views of the Staffordshire countryside, part of Cannock Chase with snow still lying on the ground and the unmistakable beauty of the late Winter evening drawing in at 4:30 pm, with a frosty, misty, low sun glare as we walked back to Lichfield. It was just magical.

There is something of an air of freedom when you go for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a long country walk, sometimes a walk in the city at lunch time can clear your mind and put things in order. Things always seem to look a little better post walk. If I take a walk alone I like to listen to my music. I walk fast or slow depending on what comes on and what piece of music reflects my mood. Some days I don’t even hear the music my mind is so full of other things. Other days it is as if every song that plays is speaking to me personally; talking, advising, offering alternative action or giving me ideas and inspirations.

I took a walk this afternoon. It was a lovely Autumn day. Not sunny but it was dry, a little chilly and a gentle wind blew the leaves around my feet. It wasn’t a long walk, just half an hour.  Autumn is such a beautiful season, watching nature prepare for the cold of Winter ahead and our urban landscapes change in front of our eyes. How many people really notice the beauty of what is taking place? People are busy, stressed out, on the go all the time but perhaps if they took time out for a walk, to view and breathe in the splendour of nature around them, they may feel a little less overwhelmed and a little more at peace.

I took a few photographs with my iPod of the changing trees. I’ve always loved trees I just wish I knew more about them, the names, their fruits, how they grow, where they grow…one of the most beautiful sounds to me is the wind rustling through the trees. Whether it is a huge gust or a timid blow, I think it sounds amazing.

   
   
My walk added real sparkle to my day today, it cleared my mind, made sense of my thoughts and made my face tingle in the cold. An all round positive result I think.

Thank you for reading my blog 😊

  
Picture via Pinterest.

Life Sparkles

It’s amazing what you can do when you have to…

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Someone text these words to me a couple of weeks ago. They resonated with me immediately because I’d just lived twelve days and nights of to me, an unreal existence.

When I decided to start my blog up, my plan was to write about my love of singing, the voice coaching I was receiving, my purchase of an amplifier and microphone and general ‘me’ things. After many, many years I had finally decided to have a go at the one thing I have loved doing all my life, singing and music.

However, life takes us on many twists and turns and mine took me on a twelve day stay in hospital with my Mom when she fell and broke her hip. Mom is always healthy, never ill, strong as an ox so for Mom to be out of action is unheard of.  You tend to go into that dream of unreality, paramedics, accident and emergency, x-ray, waiting to see the bone Doctor…the hours tick by and you find yourself putting your trust, your hope, your confidence into strangers. Strangers who are now attending to one of the most precious people in your life, your Mother.

Without going into the whole 12 day existence, I washed in public washrooms, I lived on sandwiches and skinny cappuccino and plenty of water. I slept in the chair next to Mom and generally helped out overnight. It gave me a complete insight into how hard people work in our hospitals and how lucky we are to have a National Health Service here in the UK.

Mom’s operation went well, the following morning she was up and walking with the walking frame. A week later we were home. Life has changed. For the moment I am looking after everything at home, I am managing to do my ‘day job’ at home but at random hours and I’m taking care of healthcare as best I can. There’s a long way to go recovery wise but things are progressing slowly but at least there is progression.

I am currently petrified of leaving the house in case something happens but I know I have to get over this. I’ve had to give Mom an anti coagulant injection every day in her tummy; this was terrifying to begin with but I’ve managed it.

Life for me is somewhat on hold at the moment, I’ve not been outside in the real world for almost a month, I’ve not attended Zumba class, struggled through what is now ‘Grand Central Station’ each morning and evening, not sang a note for weeks and have only just commenced my latest Open University module ‘Adult, ageing and the life course’. Of course, I’ve just experienced a crash course in that subject!!

I have no problem putting things on hold to care for Mom, and Dad too who is doing his best but of course, there are things that only girls can do for and with each other. Although I look outside at the beautiful Autumn days, I’m happy to give my time to caregiving, administering injections and medication, keeping some positivity and encouragement going and being responsible for someone other than myself.

It’s amazing what you can do when you have to…

  
Picture via Rose Hill Designs on Pinterest.

Thank you for reading my blog 💖