If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?
Hello again, so pleased you are here.
So the question of the day is
If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?
Now I am going to be slightly pedantic with this. I live in the UK 🇬🇧 we don’t have freeways we have motorways. I just like to point little differences out mostly because I can.
Now a billboard advertises something be it a product or event, as I am neither that I am aware of ( 🤔 ) that would leave me at an odds.
I could leave my
smiles 😁 can travel many miles, so start a few today. 😁😉😁
Or
I send the sunshine along with smiles
Or
Live, laugh, love, but do it now today.This Present, tomorrow is just a promise, yesterday has left.
But I decided to go with my title white background 3 question marks in black and a huge QR code linking to my webpage and hopefully my future
The ? ? ?
Would I hope have people intrigued enough to ask questions and want to know more
Happy New Year, this is day one of 2025 and the first year I have decided not to make any resolutions.
There are a few reasons for my decision, number one being they don’t last. I actually feel I have enough challenges ahead of me without putting anymore strain on myself.
I have a list as long as my arm some personal, some things that have to be achieved. But nevertheless all are to me big challenges for someone in my position.
When I share parts of my life it’s never for sympathy or compassion, plus I am aware that there are people far worse off than I am. I guess it all depends on where you live in this world as to how you live your life, what your home is like, running water, shops or not.
I live in the UK, my life has been a whirlwind of destruction, from the age of 12-13 till now at 58. I can remember all the good things but sometimes it’s like looking through a mist to find them. Because of the Domestic Violence I have been through.
1. Now my challenges I face are after being moved and moved by police for safety, I have never allowed myself to settle and call a place home, now the children are grown and left to start there own families , it’s time for me to accept this town and place and make it my home. So now I find myself with a place that has some heart in it but nothing is as it should be. My house is a disaster zone not a home. I have this huge challenge to turn this place into the home I want to live in and be happy with on a budget of £5 and two buttons
2. Second challenge. Due to disability I’m limited to what I can move/lift even knowing if I can stay awake longer than an hour so that’s a challenge in itself. I have to find a way of not battling this but working with it , not blaming my ex but taking back control and pacing myself so that if today is a wipe-out ok no worries here’s hoping tomorrow is better. Make no plans and go with whatever I can cope with. I have had a long time to try and manage this but the GP surgery has been less than helpful, until recently. Now with a fresh approach in my mind I’m changing this challenge from a mountain to climb to a hill to come down. As it feels like I have been stuck on a hilltop alone for so long,battling several things now I am coming down and finding myself own way that’s my challenge
3. My third challenge has been driving me mad for a long time because I have been approaching it wrong, I have been writing for as long as I can remember and I have reams of poems, two manuscripts and a couple of children’s books to put forward to look at publishing. Obviously I have to work on them, this is where I derail my own train, so I have been told. Well I am no longer in a train I am on a huge galleon ship floating on the clouds. No rails for me to come off , no water to drown in. Because the whole thing is magical there are no planes or any type of aircraft to disturb me. So my challenge here is to smoothly sail the now still clouds and finish the edits needed as my procrastination will be dealt with in challenge 2. Making this one a much smaller hill to climb I hope.
There are plenty of challenges in life, money, disability equipment i.e wheelchair, money (oh mentioned that already), mental health, ptsd, money 😁, and on it goes.
But that’s enough for today, tomorrow I start afresh, I do hope you are having a lovely day
Yes I’m back, I didn’t go far, you must have known I wouldn’t just leave without saying a final Bon voyage.
Anyway as I was strolling through this day, metaphorically that is, it struck me that New Years Eve has never held big plans for me. I may have been out a few times (counted on one hand) but that is it, it is not a special night for me, so here I am sat thinking about the year that is ending and all the years prior.
I have music playing I raise a silent glass to 2024’ a year that I am pleased to see end and realise that it’s music that makes me nostalgic. Music invokes memories from places , people, occasions, happy and sad.
So that explains why music plays so heavily on my mood with the happy and sad emotions even laughter.
Just between us because after all we are friends, another thing that pulls my heartstrings on the nostalgia scale is a scruffy grubby almost threadbare Rabbit, he has been my companion since I was born and he sits in my room away from grandchildren, He is an old bunny now at 58 (delicate) he makes me think of all the tears and secrets he holds from my life. I wouldn’t share this with just anyone, but we are friends now don’t you think.
My Sweet Bunny
So not to bore you any further, I shall bid you goodnight and I will be back. As if I could abandon you
Wishing you the healthiest and most peaceful New Year, may you receive what you are working hard for.
You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?
Dear friend,
The very thought of building my own space for reading and writing has been in my head for as long as I can remember.
I always wanted a dedicated room for my books, my own library. Wall to wall book shelves with a desk sitting sideways into the room so I can look out of the window.
Actually I have upgraded my plans since I first made them to include a second desk back to back, one for pc and one for writing ✍🏽.
The room will be white with a plain carpet and will have a couple of bucket seats to finish the room.
That is my ideal quiet place to study and read,
Since I was a child I have dreamt of this, oh I have amassed a sizeable amount of books for my library on most topics. I have my desks and pc plus I am writing more.
All I need is the room and at last slowly and painfully I am putting a room together, my dream will become my reality
This is when I say dreams do come true, I am 58 it’s been a long time, but wow, wow and I say again wow this will be my favourite, most loved room in all my house.
My own library/reading/writing space/room. My place of quiet thoughts
Firstly I send from me to you Seasons Greetings and may the New Year bring you Peace, Hope & Security, in whatever form that may take.
Seasons Greetings from My Home to Yours
Now the biggest influences in my life have been;
My wonderful step-dad
The twins at St Claire’s, and all of Enid Blytons books. She brought me through my childhood.
A wonderful lady who lived down a woodland track near Dads farm. She was the most amazing teacher of life, baking, gardening and nature.
Mitch Album, author of Five People you Meet in Heaven. That book changed my thinking .
Two people that were actually in my life and two authors, amazing when I stop to think of all the people that I have come in contact with in my 58 years and those are the only ones I can say have really influenced me.
I am lucky to have had My Dad he was the most amazing lovely kind man.
As for the lady in the wood she was a beautiful soul, who I could tell all my troubles to. As was the custom when I grew up, adults were always Mr & Mrs, this lady became known as Auntie Babs to me. I guess she adopted me into her life.
Thank you for taking the time to read these notes that I write, I feel sometimes that my thoughts fall onto the paper so quickly that it can become a ramble, therefore I will apologise to those that find the trips through my life, my thoughts, hopes and imagination to be a little tangled at times. I call it the excitement of creation overflow.
Now this question of when am I most happy is not as easy to answer as I first thought it would be. Many reasons have halted my answering and I think 🤔 lists are my way forward
What stops me from thinking about,being, happy
PTSD
Depression
Long term health conditions
Chronic Loneliness
Now the above do not stop a person being happy but it makes it harder to think about it. So to help I used my Google photo album and flicked over the last 10 years now I photograph everything and I mean everything, from Christmas to Birthday events and the garden seasons, blue , grey, orange, red, yellow all the different colours of the sky throughout the year. No make that years. The children from teens to homes of their own, grandchildren. Wow memories flowing through my hand, places, people, meals, creations, fun, happy times.
A wish that I wished that I will create just for me
WoW
What a way to find what makes ME happy, many things. Look past all the hurt and petty stuff turn down the noise of todays incessant babble, and there it is
I am most happy when
I am being creative.
Spending time with loved ones.
Enjoying good food in or out
Relaxing in peace
Getting the chance to get out and about
Spending time with my grandchildren (cause they go home and I can rest after)
Taking photos so that I can remember all these wonderful times.
Writing and with that sharing smiles
As seen from under the viaduct
As you can see there is not just one thing that makes me happy there are many and sometimes it’s the simple things like rediscovering old photographs.
Thank you if you got this far if you did drop me a hi 👋 because one last thing that makes people happy, me included is being friendly and sharing smiles.
Bye for now
Stay positive, Stay happy
The Sky at Night
Gnome place like Gnome What a cliche
I hope you enjoy these photos, I was surprised to find I had currently 18,600 photos available on my phone (I didn’t realise) plus all of the ones I have on hard drive oops I think 🤔 that’s deffo a passion
I was going to say the last thing I did for fun was sleep but that’s boring unless you could see my dreams.
So I have sat and thought hard about this well not that hard because being creative process to me is my fun and play in one. Like being a child again, this time no adult saying you can’t mix that or use this or a grumpy art teacher saying stop 🛑 I don’t like your work, I am free to do whatever
Be Creative with a smile on my face, I am so in love with art 🖼️ and creativity that I have a selection of paints next to me in my front room and if I suddenly feel an inspiration to paint, I have it all to hand.
Dreamland of another time.
A mix of acrylics, wooden reliefs, reindeer moss, mirrors, gems and twigs. Finished with some lights built in. Just imagination gone wild
This may be childish and not to people’s taste but I did it for fun and art should be fun, at least it’s not a banana stuck to a wall with some tape and sold for a fortune.
So this started me into my deep thinking and playful phase and my take on the tree of life and I had so much fun doing this .
The spreading family tree.
My version of the tree of life, as the fruit of the tree in this case acorns,(nuts) fall and spread they are still connected. Life goes on, but family ties are stronger than you realise.
I loved this one it’s proudly hung in my bedroom. I don’t paint for anyone as I have a huge downer on my achievements re other people seeing them but I gifted my son a small painting of a turtle-duck (he likes this Japanese Anime) at least it must resemble one because he knew straight away what it was and seemed happy. I usually love what I paint make create, maybe one day I will be able to show some pieces or not
After all I just enjoy the playing
Till next time ⭐️
The oh so little Turtleduck
I painted this for my son who is in his early 30’s a character from an anime cartoon he likes
Dear Friends, how are you? It is important to be aware of your own wellbeing in this modern age. Too easily we can be dragged down, our mental health impacted by our colleagues, environment, health and much more. So do always take care of yourselves, please remember what you do today in time becomes the past, treat yourself kindly.
Which leads me to my favourite subject in school
History, all aspects of history because this is the story of us, our planet and what we have done to it. History encompasses English Maths, scientific research, geography and at times an understanding of languages can help.
For me I am just fascinated by days of old , dreaming of time travel going back 50yrs a jump just to see how time changes one area, not to meet or anything but observe. That is how I imagined learning to Beal C
Sending Smiles out through valleys over mountains tall
Just read and Share the Smiles to all.
My favourite hobby is, making, watching, using, so much to say
I love reading 📖, to date I believe I have approximately 1500 books 📚. Have I read them all? No, I have a pile of new books waiting to be read, cookery books that I flick through searching for an appropriate recipe, and various books of information as reference, so I have not read the dictionaries in 3 languages just used them for spelling words correctly. Yes I also re-read my books
I love painting, creating, craft work most types actually, my front room is at present an art studio because my shed is a mess and I simply can’t clear it on my own,
Crochet 🧶, I guess comes under craftwork but to me it is a separate hobby, I am just learning and I am quite enjoying it sat quietly at night with the tv on just making a blanket is a peaceful calming experience before bed.
I guess the absolute love above all when in the right frame of mind is writing, it may be poems or short stories or continuing with the book I am writing and one day will finish. I have to feel the words to be able to write so have taken a break for a while because I have been in a strange headspace for coming up to 18 months. But there is clearance ahead and I can go back to writing.
Lastly sitting quietly meditating and turning the noises off inside my head, dulling the pain inside my body, and breathing my way to calm and stillness
Not forgetting my Music and films and probably many other hobbies I have that I failed to mention. But that is half the fun, I open a cupboard and there is another project, like Christmas all over again.
I have time for all these hobbies because I am unable to work due to multiple health issues .
I have cPTSD , multiple medical issues, short term memory issues, disabled, p/t wheelchair user, crutches at all other times.
Majority of issues including the need for a wheelchair caused by Domestic Abuse
Take care all, big smiles love your Diva with the wheels
Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be — Eckhart Tolle.
Hello my friends, I made it once again. Now my biggest waste of time and I hasten to add, as I am doing it I am aware I am wasting minutes, hours and then the day is done, is ;
No it’s not that simple I have to explain, I have difficulty moving around which makes me tired and some days I can’t hardly move so this is my waste of time, my mind numbing don’t think about my situation or how I came to be (ugh) disabled. Ok I will stop with the waffling and tell you.
My biggest waste of time is reels on Facebook and Instagram even Tik Tok. I spend hours watching, smiling, giggling, sighing, and learning at times all the while the hours pass.
Bucket of Smiles 