Leaving the blogging world behind.

Recently I have found that I am really struggling to get everything done at home and still  have time to write  my novel and my work in progress. As a result something has to give and I am afraid to say that I have decided it will be my blog.

I have seen a lot of people saying how they are not reaching readers with their blog just other writers and I am kinda feeling the same way myself. Therefore I am leaving blogging behind and focusing my energy on my family and my current WIP, as they seem like they are more worthwhile pursuits.. I can't say that I won't ever be back. Should my work load every decrease a little. I might, but for a while at least, this is one blogger who is done, done, done!

Take care all
love and hugs joss xx

For the love of cuteness!

I woke up this morning, looked at my calendar and saw Blog post and I thought "oh no, what am I going to blog about today."

It wasn't that I didn't have anything on my "Things to blog about list" because I did. There was the beautiful bookcase my husband got me for Christmas, and a whole heap of other cute stuff I have been gathering about me of late as well as some family news.  Well, I decided in the end that I would cover it all to a degree as well as throw in some little extra tip bits along the way.


So first off, my canopy on my mobility scooter nearly came off yesterday in the terrible wind we had. I've always worried about that canopy and was scared out of my wits when it nearly took off. All it took was a gust of wind forcing it's way in beside the perspex sheet at the front and it nearly lifted the whole thing off. Well, I have had it with that thing now. I'd rather get wet than deal with the stress of it, so it's going to be sold and Speedy McNipster and I shall brave the elements alone. :)


Something I am hoping my new bag can cope with, given I did not consider waterproofness as a necessity. Hay, when I bought it I had a canopy I wasn't too afraid to use. (Really I am just using this as an excuse to move on to all the cute stuff inside my bag although the bag is indeed not waterproof yikes.)

Eshow Men's
 Casual Flapover
Canvas Cross Body Messenger Bag, Brown

 Now, due to having to use crutches sometimes. (also cute! hehe) I have t have a bag that is as none cutesie as possible, because my husband will not carry it if it can in any way be considered cute. GRRRRR!!!!

Bring on the plain boring bag tp the left.

Ok, so it's not that bad and I do still like it but it is not as bright and cheerful as I might have choose, given the choice.

So, naturally I had to make up for this lack of cuteness on the outside by filling the inside with cuteness beyond measure.

Filofax time YAY!!!!

Yes, I am still loving my Filofax, I have the A5 Domino, patent, in the Hot Pink. It is beautiful and feels great to hold too which I love. Plus I really like the elastic, which I didn't think I would.

Isn't it beautiful, even if it does blend in somewhat with the awesome hot pink blanket. My lovely mother-in-law got me for Christmas and which everyone keeps trying to steal. dogs, cats, SAMMY!!!!!

Well, my Filofax has become a real labour of love, it's something that you have to play around with until you find what works for you and be warned it can become incredibly addictive. 

I have spent a bit too much money already on my cuteness parade and so I opted for creating my own tab sheets among other things, but I'll give you a a bit of a walkthrough of what I have done so far. 

So this is what you will see when you open up the cover of my Filofax. Post-it reminders on the left. Some doggy I-clips there also as they are good for holding the long todo lists I keep at the back of my Filofax in place. Some spare note paper in the build in pocket and then in the clear plastic pocket. Photo's of my hubby (it looks like a mug shot, I really need to get a better one in there) and my son when he was just a babe, along with some flags and the post-its.

Behind them is the  sheet I made for my spare I-Clips. I didn't take too much time over this as it was just somewhere to store my I-Clips, but I might make it better at a later date. For those of you who don't I-Clips are like little magnetic markers/ bookmarks.

This is my meals, tab, behind this is where I do all my menu planning. From here I can keep track of what we are eating for the week, what I need to buy in the shopping for those meals as well as in general, what items I need to pick up from the farm shop and also my favourite recipes. 

The"this will be the year" page was part of a free print out set I found. That came with all sorts of goodies, including a yearly planner, which I actually have behind this tab. It also came with month on one-page calendar which my son is enjoying using at the moment. There was so much more too, so if you want to take a look and maybe print some of the items off yourself you can find them here.  I also have my bucket list behind this page too. 

Next is my to do list tab. Which I probably doesn't need any explanation. I am not to happy with this one and think I might change it. It just didn't come out quite how I wanted, but we shall see. 

This is my Todo list itself. I keep mainly things that I do on a regular basis here. So normally they would have four rows of seven for roughly a months worth of ticks, but having only started using this method two weeks ago. January only has that on it. I keep things abbreviated and have a sheet that reminds me what things stand for and things I complete, like books I am reading. I cross through with little lines as you can see with the SE, EIM and FL todo's :) So the circles are Monday through Friday and I just colour them in if I completed the task on that day. This  show's I am slacking on my WIP oops. 

Then there is my notes tab. I love this and doubt I will ever change it. Behind this, I keep my lists for my reading challenges. A wish list. A list of books I want to read. My son's attendance record. I like to keep track of this as he suffers from asthma pretty bad and this means he can at times miss quite a bit of school. 

Next is my gratitude journal. I absolutely love this. the idea behind it is that at the end of each day you right what you are thankful for inside and that keeps you thinking positive, which is always a good thing right. I used print outs that I absolutely love for this. They come in black and white but with a little bit of effort you can make them all colourful like mine. :) Want some? Then go and find them here.

The calendar tab is next.  This one took me hardly anytime at all to make, it's simple but I like it, plus I can pull the post-it for the year off, come the new year and easily replace it. So I don't need to make a whole new divider. 

Year at a glance next. (sorry for the shadows on these pictures but my Kitchen light is sadly in the wrong spot.) I just pop colour coded dots on here for when something important is happening, or little lines across the corner of the square if my son has a school holiday that day. It's pretty straight forward and means if I am in a rush I can quick glance to see if anything important is happening that day. 

Month on two pages next. This really works the same as the year above so I really don't know if I am going to keep it in or not. The only plus point is I can actually write what the event is here but really as I just glance at my main calendar that isn't needed.

My main Calendar is a week on two pages and yep, that is this week. It's been a busy one. As you can see my goal to be more productive is going well. Everything I want to get done during the day goes down here. On Sundays, I plan my week out but I also add to this as I go through the days. I'm pleased to say that for the most part I am achieving all the goals I set. Just working on my WIP to improve on. I plan to make the first priority next week.

My weight loss journal is next. You might recognise the picture. It was one I used on my blog recently. It was created for the blog originally, but I thought it would work great as a divider  Behind it I currently just track my weight but I might start to track stuff to do with my weight loss too, like what I am eating. This week I lost 2 pounds. Which given I had quite a few cheats. Isn't too shabby.

Next is my tab for the Bible study I am doing with Proverbs 31 ministry called "keep it Shut."
Notes from that are naturally kept behind this as well as the daily pray they gave us.










There are a few other sections to my Filofax although I have yet to finish making the tabs for them. They are a blog section for all my blog ideas, plans and such. There is also a writing section for story idea's and other writing related items. At the back, I have my to-do list pad for the one off items that I just rip a sheet off and post at the front of my planner as needed and a little clipped on plain notepad too.

So that's my Filofax and the course of my new Filofax addiction. Do you have a Filofax addiction too? Or have you never had a filofax and think perhaps you might like one? Maybe dare I say it, you tried Filofax and couldn't get on with it? Whatever the case I would love to hear from you and hay, if you have a filofax you don't love, I am more than happy to take it off your hands ;) Gotta be worth a try right.

Next up in my cute-fest is my new pencil case, who's sole purpose is to hold all my pens, that I use with my Filofax, along with a few page flags too. I loved the dreamer written on the front, because that is me to a T, and all the artwork too. Just a beautiful pencil case. This is a Santoro's gorjuss pencil case. Encase you want to look for one and just to clarify. I am not being paid to advertise any of this stuff on my page. I am showing it because they are items I have bought and am proud of and thus would just like to share with you guys, because they bring me joy. 

And the back of my pencil case, also gorjuss.

Next is my I-pad case. I can't for the life of me remember the name of this now but I got it off Amazon so type in cute I-pad case and it should come up. Hubby is not so keen on this one because he does like to use my I-pad a lot. I have this on an I-pad air, but I do believe they had them for several different I-pads but you would have to check. 

This is my newest Filofax which I actually won in a competition, it's the Filofax Petal Pocket organiser in Pink. There is not a lot going on in this one just yet as I have only just got it, but I intend to use it to keep a record of my son's behaviour as we are currently trying to determine if he has ADD or ADHD and it's a really nice size for this.

Another item from Amazon that I can no longer remember the make of. Is my I-phone 5 case. I love, love, love this. I did consider getting the one that matched my I-pad case, but I have a bit of a thing for butterflies and saw this and just had to get it.

And that brings us to the final item you are likely to find in my bag. Well, beside my Kindle or possibly a paperback and yes, my Kindle case has pink in it too.

This is my new wallet. I am loving these longer wallets right now and bought a longer one for my friend for Christmas too. They just feel so good in the hand and I just love them. Especially as they are no longer old fuddy duddy designs. This one is made by Samilon and I suspect will be in my bag for years to come.

So that's what's in my bag. How about you? Do you like things cute, stylish or perhaps you just go for practicality over style? what ever the case I'd love to hear from you. So be sure to leave a comment.


According to Grammerly, there are 24 mistakes in this blog post. If it weren't so late, I'd fix them, but I think you are just going to take me as is on this one, because I have loads to do and not enough time to do it, due to a sudden and unplanned day out with family. Still life is for living right.

Here's wishing your weekends are going great.

love and hugs
Joss xxx

Express yourself

It's time for another express yourself post. For those of you who don't know, express yourself is a weekly Meme hosted by Dani and Jackie in which a question, aimed at helping us bloggers get to know each other, is asked each week. If you want to find out more or read some other bloggers express yourself post click here.

This week the question is: what are some writerly tips you've found helpful?

It's actually quite funny that this question has come up this week as I just finished reading a book about writing that has really had me thinking about this topic.

I won't name the book but it had so much condradicting advice and baffling advice that it left me feeling as if all was hopeless.

Then a friend said to me," just write what you want to read," and that right there is the best advice I think I have ever had when it comes to writing.

I see so many people worrying about their writting but the reality is we should just write. Readers don't think like most of the people who write these writing tip books. I know myself as a reader I never disected the whole story and thought "Oh dear they use an awful lot of ly words. (a big no no according to the book I just read.)

No I read a book and if while reading it, it flows well, has a good plot and seems realistic then I am happy.

I just feel as if sometimes, people in the writing world just want to over complicate things to much. Where as I think that natuarally over time, with figure things out and improve from doing things like reading other peoples books and from trial and error.

But that's just my opinion. What do you think?

love and hugs
Joss xxx

The dreaded D word

Dieting!!!!

I always knew dieting sucked, but I have never felt so disheartened by it as I do now.

There is so much conflicting information out there and it seems as if there is nothing that is just out and out simple and straight forward.

Trim Healthy Mama has S and E meals that sound simple in the beginning but then as you read on through the book become ever more confuddling. Don't mix carbs and animals fats. Forget potatoes and bread, but have at fatty meat, oh and don't forget to steer clear of most of the fruits you've heard of, like banana's and apples and instead eat all this fruit you don't know.

Fruits bad for you!!! I feel like I have been lied to all my life.

Slim fast yum! yum! yum! The diet plan for the lazy eater. Perfect right!

Just drink these shakes, maybe have one of our special snacks, then a healthy evening meal. Except the shakes in no way come close to filling you up, so you end up indulging in Slimfast snacks and hating yourself for being so weak.

Then there's raw diets, where nothing cooked must pass your lips. Does that mean I can eat crisps??? oh no wait, they've been baked. So it's pretty much fruit and salad then because there is no way I am eating raw meat. Yuck!

Why oh why must there be so much conflicting information?

A friend said to me "try slimming world!" When she tells me the things you can eat I think, "wow!!! sounds great, sign me up." Only to be a part of that, properly, I have to go to a club, queue in a bloody long line so I can climb on some scales and be told how amazing or how pathetically, I have done that week. No thanks.

Why can't someone just lay out a very simple healthy eating plan?  I mean really simple. Like type in what you want to eat and we will give you a healthy version of that meal or if that's not possible, make some suggestions that you might like.

A site that will allow you to plan all your meals in this easy fashion and then go "Hey, guess what! Your calorie count for all your meals today, leaves room for you to snack on a cheeky pack of Maltesers,  (YUMMY!) or if not that then some fruit maybe.

In truth what I really want to do is one of these, we deliver all your meals ready to eat to your door, plans, but they are so unbelievably expensive. I mean for the price of a weeks food for just me, through one of these companies. I could feed my whole family for that same week and probably with money to spare.

So in short, I hate fat, I hate dieting and is there anyone out there willing to either force-feed me healthy nutritious fair like a feeder in reverse or alternatively put me in a coma and feed me via a tube wedge down my throat.

No waking me till I'm a skinny Minnie though.

I would also take some healthy recipies or sugguestions for healthy eating plans too, although it maybe with a sigh. :)

love and hugs
Joss xxx

Solheim family catch up

It's been a relatively good week this week. Even if I have spent the last few days feeling a bit yucky with a tummy bug.

The highlight of the week though had to be the arrival of my brand new FILOFAX!!!!!!!

Yes, I know, a few weeks ago I was bemoaning having to use one but things change people, and I am in love.

I have watched so many setup videos for Filofax it is unreal and finally have gotten mine pretty much how I want it, with reading lists, important dates, a gratitude diary and so much more.

 I got so into it, that my first planner, a Collins planner in the personal size, quickly proved too small.  Thankfully my wonderful husband allowed me to upgrade to an A5 Dominio, Hotpink Patent Filofax!!!!!

So all above pics are my new Filofax and the below are the old Collins Planner, which my friend is going to borrow so she can try out the whole personal planner lifestyle.

Also, this week hubby took advantage of me being ill and powered up his steam engine to show off at the bus stop while collecting our son. I was less than impressed by this at first as I was worried he'd be late. As a precaution, I dragged myself up to the bus stop  ahead of him just to be safe. I needn't have worried though because he made it up there with time to spare. The kids loved the steam engine and were swarming all over it which made my husbands day.

Our son  was also overjoyed and telling anyone who would listen, "That's my daddy's steam engine." Sadly I didn't get pictures, being poorly I didn't even spot the perfect picture opportunity, even though all the other mums were snapping away. Oh well, live and learn.

It's been a pretty pleasant week, bar the sickness, and I have managed to be pretty productive thanks to my new Filofax addiction. Seriously, if you haven't tried Filofax or at the very least having a personal planner you should. It has completely turned my life around.

More has been going on this week than just my Filofax though so I need to pull myself away from that topic.

I started doing FlyLady again, so for those of you in the know that means I have a nice shiny sink and have done a few 27 fling boogies as well. The only thing I don't do is dress to shoes. I find shoes way too uncomfortable and I am not putting shoes on, indoors, for anyone. Not even the lovely FlyLady.

I also started reading Trim Healthy Mama. A book that teaches you to eat healthy for life. I have to admit it's a bit scary. Especially as all the things I like to enjoy together, they say I can't enjoy together. We shall see though.

Well, my shopping is due to be delivered soon, so I am going to leave it here for now but let me know if you  have a Filofax. :) or have ever had a Filofax. Did you love it, or dare I say it, hate it? Perhaps you've been a fly baby, or have tried or are living a Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. Whatever the case let me know in the comments along with how you've found it?

Love and hugs
Joss xxx

Express yourself meme

For those of you who don't know, Express yourself is a weekly Meme hosted by Dani and Jackie. Each week we get a question to answer and this weeks question is...

What's your favourite movie you saw in 2014?

That's a no brainer, it has to be Divergent. 

I loved the whole series of books and when the film came out I just had to see it. Normally the film is a bit of a disappointment in comparison to the book but I didn't find that to be the case at all with Divergent and would highly recommend it to anyone. 

Plus four/ phew is hot, hot, hot, both imagined and in the film LOL. 

He's also my book and movie boyfriend of choice. 

So what was your fav film of 2014? Do you have book or movie boyfriends? 

Leave a comment and let me know. 

love and hugs

Joss xx

Express yourself

For those of you who don't know, Express yourself is a weekly Meme hosted by Dani and Jackie. Each week we get a question to answer and this weeks question is...

What's a musical or play you've viewed?

When I was younger my older sister treated my mum and I to a joint birthday gift, in which we went to the theatre and saw West Side Story. I'd never been to anything that was a live performance like that before and have not been to anything like it since either. Which is a shame as I really enjoyed it. Living in the middle of nowhere means that you have to go a pretty long way for shows like that. For us I think Plymouth or Exeter would be nearest and there over an hour away. Plus with hubby needing to drive us and musicals not really being his cup of tea. It just wouldn't be fair on him.

I loved seeing West Side Story; however, and it is an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life. 

How about your? Have you been to see any musicals and plays? Perhaps you have seen lots, if so which was your favourite? Leave a comment and let me know.