Sunshine and buses

The boys and I went to Lancaster for the day, I love Lancaster it's so different from smelly Blackpool!, We went to see this exhibition and although it was great there was only two installations which was slightly disappointing, it has inspired me though after climbing into a podule to make over the trampoline into one too - the boys think I'm mad of course but I bet they will want to come in and share my adventure! We also went to the judges lodgings which is a period town house dating back to 1550, it is now a museum with rooms laid out as they would of been when the judges lodged in it from 1775 to 1975, the top floor is the museum of childhood and we liked this floor the best, there was a sindy collection and I was reminiscing, the boys just kept laughing at me but I got my own back when on entering the school room all set out with desks, blackboard etc i rang the school mistresses bell and wrote sums on the blackboard, they were horrified and ran off thinking we would be in so much trouble. They didn't find it funny either when I asked for a job as a fill in teacher and asked if the boys could dress up in costumes too, the poor girl on the desk looked quite perturbed and when the boys ran outside and I told her they had ran off again she looked bright red and panicky, I may be slightly twisted but things like hat make me smile.

We found with the help of two lovely ladies (thank you Lancaster ladies) a vegetarian/organic/fair trade cafe called the Whale Tale on Penny Street opp the church (if anyone goes). I couldn't believe the menu, its so refreshing to find somewhere we can eat that is not the chippy, I had a massive bean burger and salad and chips, the portions are huge and I had to share some with the boys even though the had eaten all theirs too. They cater for dairy free, vegans, allergies etc and downstairs under the cafe is a wholefoods shop, I was in heaven, call me names if you like but what a joy it was to buy the things we have to get off the net or trail around various shops for all in one shop, I was so happy!!

We went in almost every charity shop too, but I will post pics another day. After Lancaster we got the bus to Morcambe (we had an all day ticket) the boys cried -yes you read that correctly cried because they thought I had gone mad going further away from home and getting us lost, I assure you dear readers I have never got lost, well maybe once or twice but i always pretend with some conviction I know where we are and always manage to get home OK even if it does take 5 buses and a long walk, anyway once there they really enjoyed just being free on the windswept beach, collecting rocks and shiny things, we didn't get back home till gone 8pm, tired out but with a big smile x This is Morcambe beach, in real life you could see all the mountains and over the Lake District in this view

The boys enjoying carrying really big rocks!



A very windswept me! I must stop eating homemade cakes, Im getting wider each picture I see!!

On the oil pulling, I'm still doing it I can only last until 17 min's though as anymore and I feel like chocking, I suppose the time will increase as I get better at it, still no tooth ache -Yay!

toothache and hot weather and oil pulling x

Hot weather
Its been hot, rather to hot for a red head like me, I burn so easily and get cranky when I'm too hot, my ridiculous big boobs get all sweaty underneath-gross I know- and this makes me cranky too, ohh Im a moaner hehe. But on the upside the tomatoes are growing so well and the lettuce leaves have been abundant, people smile in the sun, all the shorts come out and men think its OK to walk around topless, sometimes it is OK if they have lovely bodies hehe, and I have the yearly dilemma of what to wear to keep cool plus hide my wobbly bits without looking like a farmers lass- that's what my mother calls me!, Nothing wrong in looking like a farmers lass if that's what you are ( oh how I wish I was) but in the middle of Blackpool people are horrid and normally I don't care what others think but a small bit of me does feel sad when I hear nasty comments about me. This is a bit pathetic but the other day I popped to the shops and two teenagers behind me kept giggling and said "looks like she got dressed in the dark", I was immediately transported back to being 14 and feeling like a frump, I went home and told Tom and he cheered me up by saying "you should of said to them, well it looks like your dad f*!ked a wotsit", at the moment most teen girls round here are bright orange with fake tan so it was really funny.

Teeth and Root canals
Another thing this past couple of weeks is I have had 2 fillings in the same tooth, the first one had to be replaced as it had a hole in and was giving me some pain, then this second one is even worse, so bad I had to take pain killers which I hate taking every 3-4 hours just to make it bearable, I went back for an emergency appointment and the dentist took x rays of the tooth and she said I need to have a root canal done and had infection and loosening of the gum around the tooth, she gave me antibiotics and I have to go back at the end of July - the first available appointment to have the work done.
I hate injections and normally have fillings etc without them but with having a nerve pulled out I was going to have to have one, eek, scary. I felt like shit, my mouth throbbed and every time I moved I could feel the blood pumping through the sore tooth, my jaw ached and I felt sleepy all the time because of the meds, it got to the point yesterday where I was sat at the computer crying with pain and I couldn't stand it anymore, I search for some alternative help for tooth ache and found this site so I tried the salt mouth wash with much skepticism but I couldn't believe it after three mouthfuls the pain was bearable, it just ached like I was bruised, no searing throbbing like before, it was a miracle, I could smile again. I carried on at various time throughout yesterday rinsing my mouth and no pain all day, just a bit tender. Its amazing. I want to shout and tell everyone because its so good.

Oil Pulling
Whilst looking for info I came across lots of bad press for root canals, like breast cancer links and other nasty stuff, I have not research this enough yet to give an opinion but it did worry me quite a lot so I started to look for alternatives and found out about oil pulling, a very curious ayurveda process, this is what your meant to do:

In the morning before breakfast on an empty stomach you take one tablespoon in the mouth but do not swallow it. Move Oil Slowly in the mouth as rinsing or swishing and Dr Karach puts it as ' sip, suck and pull through the teeth' for fifteen to twenty minutes. This process makes oil thoroughly mixed with saliva. Swishing activates the enzymes and the enzymes draw toxins out of the blood. The oil must not be swallowed, for it has become toxic. As the process continues, the oil gets thinner and white. If the oil is still yellow, it has not been pulled long enough. It is then spit from the mouth , the oral cavity must be thoroughly rinsed and mouth must be washed thoroughly. Just use normal tap water and good old fingers to clean.

Clean the sink properly, you can use some antibacterial soap to clean the sink. Because the spittle contains harmful bacteria and toxic bodily waste. If one were to see one drop of this liquid magnified 600 times under a microscope, one would see microbes in their first stage of development.

It is important to understand that during the oil pulling / oil swishing process one's metabolism is intensified. This leads to improved health. One of the most striking results of this process is the fastening of loose teeth, the elimination of bleeding gums and the visible whitening of the teeth.

The last paragraph really spoke to me, maybe there is an alternative to more dental treatment after all. You can get more info on oil pulling at this site.

Day one of oil pulling:

I got up and blew my nose, had a small glass of water as my throat was so dry and had a tablespoon of organic olive oil, I couldn't get any organic sunflower oil from near where I live and didn't really want to use non organic although on the site they say it doesn't matter, I will hopefully get some later. At first the oil tastes quite strong and my immediate response was to spit it out, but as soon as I started swishing it around my mouth the taste went away, it was just a warm thickish liquid feeling, I set the timer and began washing up, by the ninth minute all phlegm had gathered in my throat and it felt gross, after 10 minutes I had to spit it out and cough up all the mucus, it was weird how much came up as I don't have a cold, I then measured out another spoonful and resumed the swishing, again by 10 minutes mucus had formed in my throat and I was glad I could spit it out. My nose needed blowing again and I spat up more gunk.

Pros: its not THAT bad after the initial taste, 20 mins goes faster than I expected, it excited me how much gunk came out because its the start of becoming more healthy. Hopefully this will save me a trip to the dentist!

Cons: the mucus/phlegm at the back of my throat was really annoying and it made me feel like I could choke if I didn't spit it out, I guess it will become more bearable as time goes on.

The boys thought it was horrid hearing me coughing up gunk!

I hope to post on my oil pulling experiment and give you a clear and honest view of it, so sorry if it gets gross sometimes!!

Moomins 2D-trailer

Yippee, thank you kindly

I have received a beautiful blogger award, my first one ever, it really cheered me up - is that a little daft?, anyway I don't quite care if it is because thanks to Felt like stitchin

It put a great big smile on my face. Now I'm guessing the blogging etiquette is to pass this onto 10 other lovely bloggers, and give you 10 facts about me!! Well first the 10 facts....... ohh this will be interesting!!

1.when I was a girl learning to ride a bike, I fell off into a gooseberry bush and got thorns stuck in my bottom, this put me off learning and I still can't ride a two wheeler so I go around on my lovely trike (Susie!)

2. I love cheesy 80's pop music and Motown especially Diana Ross and the Supremes and Marvin Gaye, I especially like listening to them on my record player.

3.I love to paint and wish I had a spare room to set up my easel and have a real art studio.

4. I have been to college a few times and have got qualifications in art, fashion design, textiles, criminology and psychology.

5.I used to own a vintage/retro clothing shop and Anna Friel and David Thewlis came in, she bought a couple of dresses and some 60's boots!

6.I can't wear or walk very well in high heels, the only pairs I own are kept for in the bedroom.

7.I wanted to be a clown when I was little, then a fashion designer when I was in my teens, then a mortician, now I want to be a smallholder.

8.I'm dairy free but REALLY miss cheese and onion sandwiches.

9.I love collecting old stuff and skip dive whenever the opportunity strikes, much to the embarrassment of my boys

10. I LOVE curry, we have Indian dinners, that Tom and I make from scratch and we all get Indian names (mines Rubinda) and Tom and I talk in an Indian accents to the children just to wind them up, its really funny.

Ohh I like this, I could go on and on, its fun to share hehe.

and now for 10 more beautiful bloggers..... I nominate:

1.Border stories

2.Dotty angel

3.Plain and joyful living

4.farmama

5.tales from the coop keeper

6.The Green Queen

7.Unschooling mother

8.A MeRmAIDs PuRsE

9.Childhood magic

10.Crafty Helen

Maybe you might find a new blog to read out of the lovely ladies above, I hope your beautiful bloggers award puts a smile on your faces, remember to pass them on and thanks again Felt like Stitchin for my one xxx

monkeys, headaches and loud neighbours

Monkey members day at the zoo was a day we couldn't miss, Chris has always been monkey mad since he was tiny so he was so excited we got to make enrichment for the monkeys, veg and fruit kebabs on twigs and willow balls with bananas and pears hidden inside..... the lovely Louise is the zoo's conservation officer and she is so brilliant at interacting with the children, here's her and Chris pushing a kebab stick into the ground for the ring tailed lemurs ( his favorite monkey)

the lemurs were so not shy!! they came up so close to us, I really wanted to stroke one as they looked so furry and cosy.

We also fed the gorillas, the new baby was so lovely although the mummy was a bit camera shy, we got this picture of the dad though- I wouldn't like to take any willow off him, he's huge!!

My favourite monkeys the orangutans were funny too, the female in charge gathered up all the food and had it in a pile to herself, she wasn't into sharing at all. The one in the front of the picture kept following her and sitting right by her in the hope of getting some.

On a more rubbish note, I have been suffering from continuous headaches lately, they last for days and Ive tried rubbing peppermint oil into my head, sleeping and even pain killers but it seems to be there all the time, we have had problems with finding a house, each one we have gone for has fallen through, I'm guessing its because we have not got the regular 9-5 jobs and don't fit in with the check boxes all the letting agents have. I just want a little house in the countryside, room to grow veg and keep our chickens, its not that much of an ask is it?

Our new neighbours are right pains in the arse too, crappy crap music blaring out from 8am till dusk and little girls that are being dragged up, I hate spending time in the garden now because I can hear them all the time. Children on the next street keep coming to our street to play and are the most foul mouthed toe rags ever, they boot the football at our windows and swear at you when you tell them off, the neighbour across the road had his windshield put through with their football too.

Tension headaches, that's what Ive got!! Anyone know of private landlords that have 3 or 4 bed houses with gardens in Lancashire, Cumbria or North Yorkshire? If so please let me know.