Books by my bedside

I love reading. In fact I adore reading. So when I was tagged by Caz from Charismagick in a book meme I found it shocking that I’ve never mentioned ANY books on my blog before! 

The last book I read was “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham. Some of you may have heard of this from the film adaptation that was made. The book features three generations of women who all have some connection with Virginia Woolf. The first is Virginia Woolf herself and how she struggles with her mental health and writing the novel that becomes “Mrs Dalloway”. The second is Mrs Brown who is stuck in a perfect 1950s world and hating every minute of it, and third is Clarissa in modern day New York. Mental health is the theme that runs throughout this book and it is just beautiful. I adored the characters, and how even across different countries and decades their worlds are linked.

I also recently finished reading “Any Human Heart” by William Boyd. Again, I watched the adaptation by channel 4 featuring Jim Broadbent first and was hooked. The book is even better. It follows the life from adolescence through to old age of Logan Mountstuart. It’s gripping, shocking and sentimental. I loved it.

Sadly this book will also stick with me for another reason. It was the first book I ever ruined. My lovely friend Jess had leant me her copy (a penguin classic cover I might add) and I somehow managed to knock nail varnish all over it. I felt sick! Jess insists she isn’t the slightest bit bothered and is often doing this to her books, but I felt awful - ruining a book is bad enough but ruining a borrowed book! Unthinkable.

At the moment I’m reading “Mrs Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. I first tried reading this book in my late teens and just couldn’t get on with it at all. I found Woolf’s style of writing irritating, with her long sentences and wordy descriptions. However after reading “The Hours” it seemed so appealing! This time round (at first) I was enjoying it but already several chapters in I’m starting to remember why I put it down last time. I’m determined to finish it this time. 

I’ve got a big stack of books waiting to be read. 

These include:


The Siege by Helen Dunmore - I've read some of her stuff before and really liked her style. This was a present from my Dad - I love it when he buys me books he thinks I might like!

'Brighton Rock' by Graham Greene (I've lived in Brighton for 10 years and still not read this book or seen either of the films!)

My stepmum gave me the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness to borrow. I'd never heard of them but the synopsis sounds fantastic and I adore teen fiction.

Now for my tags! Don’t feel you have to participate but it would be great if you did:

Rachel - Sew, Ray, Me
Elizabeth - Rosalilium
Kate - Bluebell & Rosie
Bex - Shiny Pigeon

Allow me to introduce you to....Mr Rocky Reynolds!

So on Saturday Tom and I picked up our new addition to our household! Meet Rocky! (Tom insists we spell it Roky as the name came from Roky Ericsson who sang on Mogwai's Devil Rides; I however don't like spelling it that way as everyone will think it's pronounced Row-kee!)










We've spent a lot of time settling him in, playing with him and giving him buckets of attention.

 

He was a very nervous kitty when we got him but his confidence is growing every day and he has quite the little personality!

Rocky is a very chatty cat, meowing when he wants attention and he adores fussing and cuddles.

 

It's so lovely to see him gaining more confidence and exploring his new home.

At night he sleeps on our bed - and he absolutely loves sleeping deep under the duvet! We are over the moon that he's become part of our little family!

Confession Corner: Confessions of a shoe lover

I'm starting a new feature on my blog called Confession Corner. I've got a lot of things to confess to you dear readers. Don't worry nothing dark and sinister!

For my first confession corner I am confessing to my love of shoes. I really really love shoes. Not just shoes, but boots, slippers, flip flops - anything that goes on your feet really. More than anything, I like bright colourful shoes. I also love it when people take photos of their amazing shoes and put them on instagram! So if you have a love of shoes and taking photos of them - I would love to see (I'm not even joking right now - I love it.)

Red Brogues - Primark, Flamingo deck shoes - Dorothy Perkins, Turquoise Brogues - Ebay (originally Primark), Yellow Peep Toes - Ebay (originally Topshop)

I mainly wear flats - I love heels, but I just can't walk in them and end up doing that stupid bendy knee thing to stay balanced. It really isn't pretty. Having said that I do have a couple of heels that a are amazing. My red heels came from ebay (originally Ravel) and they are unbelievably comfortable. I've also got some fantastic Hush Puppies that are ankle boots and just the cutest thing - Victorian style lace ups. Amazing.

My all time favourite type of shoe is a flat bow - peep toe. As you can see in the photographs I now own three pairs! The black and red ones were by Rocket Dog but they stopped making them! They are so worn and tatty but I can't bear to part with them! When I saw the yellow ones on ebay I was so excited and even though they are Topshop they are still super comfy!

Gold daps - Peacocks, Purple T Bars - Peacocks, Red Brogues - Primark, Red PeepToes - Rocket Dog, Yellow Peep Toe - Ebay (Topshop), Black Peep Toe - Rocket Dog, Flamingo Decks - Dorothy Perkins, Red Heels - Ebay (Ravel), Turquoise Brogues - Ebay (Primark)

So lovely readers, are you a big shoe fan? What shoes are your favourites? Or do you have another fashion favourite above and beyond shoes?

Fran

x

Medication Overuse Headache

A few of you have asked me to write about my experience of going to the National Migraine Centre so here it is!

A few weeks ago I blogged about how bad my migraines had got and how I really needed to take action. Finding Victoria's blog The Migraine Monologues was a turning point for me. I started by getting a few books she recommended and realised that for years I've been pretty uneducated about my migraines. In the same week I also booked an appointment to speak to a migraine specialist nurse through the charity Migraine Action that I'm a member of, made an appointment with a new GP surgery AND made an appointment at the National Migraine Centre.  I figured at least one of these might help!

I spoke with the migraine nurse first. It's a great service. If you are a member it costs £10 and if you aren't then you can still access the service for £30. The nurse was lovely and really helpful. We talked through a lot of my concerns about preventative medication and she explained that like antidepressants - preventative medication for migraine isn't supposed to be for life; it's just to help you gain a bit more control. Often people only stay on preventatives for six months and then start reducing the dosage. I had never seen it like this and it was a big revelation for me.

She also explained that the dosage of amitryptaline I was taking (a preventative) was very low and so to feel the effects I would need to up dosage but I could do this very slowly, and if I started experiencing bad side effects could take it down again. It might seem daft, but I had never even thought about taking my dosage down if things got rough!

She also told me about two other drugs that could help me. The first was Naproxen - an anti inflammatory that I could take with my triptan (the drug I take when I feel an attack coming on) which would mean it would hit the migraine harder therefore making it more likely to work and in turn it would mean I was less likely to get more migraines in the future.

The second drug she told me about was domperidone which is an anti sickness drug. When you get a migraine, your whole body shuts down and this drug helps get your stomach working meaning you can absorb your medication in tablet form quicker. I was so over the moon to talk to someone who knew what they were talking about.

A few days later I went for a visit at my new GPs. I walked in the room, sat down and said "I'm here to talk about my migraines and I warn you I'm probably going to cry" and then promptly burst into tears. I blubbed my way through my story and lo and behold she was AMAZING! Incredibly supportive, kind and took the time to listen to me. Hallelujah! She prescribed me the Naproxen and Domperidone and we talked about upping my dosage of amitryptaline. I also told her I was planning to go to the National Migraine Centre and she couldn't have been more supportive. Her exact words were "...and if they tell you something different to me, then trust them....they are specialists and really know their stuff." I was gobsmacked. She was a keeper.

So the following week, I jumped on a train to London and went in search of help. The doctor I saw was fantastic. By this point I had done a lot of reading and from my own education, speaking to the  migraine nurse and the GP I knew my diagnosis before she even said it. I was suffering from something called "Medication Overuse Headache (MOH)". This basically is what it says - I had taking too many triptans and as a result was now getting constant headaches on a daily basis because of it.

The doctor told me the best way to get out of it, was to go cold turkey off the triptans for six weeks. "Uh...what now?! but but but....triptans are my saviour!" I shut up and listened and it all made sense. If I could stop taking the triptans then my body would be able to sort itself out, I'd have time to give my preventatives chance to kick in and after the cold turkey, the triptans would actually work better...so in the long run, less migraines.

But how was I going to function for six weeks? The first thing she prescribed me was a course of Naproxen. I could take 250mg three times a day for the first two weeks, then cut it down to two times a day for the next two weeks and finally once a day for the final two weeks. If I was in desperate pain I could take 900mg of aspirin in coke but had to be careful not to overdo it. When people are going cold turkey they often get signed off from work full time - we agreed part time should be enough so she recommended this to my GP. We also talked about lifestyle and other things that could help - but I'll write a separate post about that.

I came out from the centre feeling relieved. Finally, I was getting somewhere - I was understanding what was wrong with me and I could do something about it. Funny, because ahead of me I had a very harsh six weeks to get through - yet I felt positive. I felt, for the first time, that I actually could get my migraines under control.

At the next opportunity I went back to my GP. She was so lovely, and really eager to hear about what I had learnt. She prescribed me the necessary drugs, and signed me off part time. This was terrifying. I had only been at my current job for six months and here I was asking to take time off (not to mention the 8 sick days I'd already had in that time). The GP was very reassuring, saying that in the long run this would be beneficial for everyone, and that she'd be surprised if they turned it down. I still felt sick.

My boss had been away on annual leave for a week, so I felt terrified of telling him. I told my (sort of) manager and she was really supportive. When it came to telling my boss I was so stressed out I had a pounding headache. Luckily, he was fantastic and very lovely about it all. He said he just wanted me to be able to get better and that he couldn't imagine how awful it was for me.

I worried that my boss and my colleagues would think I was such a skyver and that I was just taking the piss. I tried to focus on the positives, like how hard I'd worked in the six months I'd been there and how many good things I'd done for the company. The next day, my manager sent an email round to everyone in the company telling them I was going part time for six weeks and the reason why. I was completely taken aback when I had several emails from colleagues telling me they were sorry to hear things were so bad and offering their support. I was speechless. It was so nice to feel supported.

So here I am. Week 1 of cold turkey. So far I've had a pounding headache every day and the only way I can describe it is like a really awful hangover where you don't feel sick. If you don't suffer with migraines then you might think that's quite bad, but I'm telling you - it's a walk in the park compared to a migraine! It might hurt and be very annoying, but it means I'm not completely debilitated. My body still aches and my skin still feels raw but I'm still positive.

I'm trying not to feel terribly guilty about not being at work and instead focus on getting better. I don't know what the next five weeks will be like - but right now I feel positive that I can take back control of my life and manage these wretched migraines.

I'll be writing another post very soon to share some of the information I've read and learnt recently about managing migraines. Of course, it goes without saying, if you suffer from migraines and are having a rough time then please leave me a comment or drop me an email.

How to make a bowl from a vinyl record

The other day I came home from work to discover a little present from Tom. He’d made me a turquoise bowl out of an old vinyl record! 

I absolutely loved it and begged him to show me how to make one.  I thought they looked great – and would make great fruit bowls or bowls to store crafty bits and bobs in – so I persuaded him to help me put together a tutorial for you lovely readers!

What you will need:

• An old vinyl record – perhaps one that is scratched or you can pick one up from a charity shop for next to nothing. Coloured vinyl looks really great (don’t however go rooting through anyone’s vinyl collection! Hilariously – the blue record we found was Eiffel 65 and that terrible song “Blue” – you know the one that went “I’m blue dabba de dabba dah, dabba dee dabba dah…” – yep that’s going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day….sorry.)

• Two metal bowls that fit inside each other -your finished vinyl bowl will be roughly the same size as the small bowl

• A potato masher – or something to hold the vinyl down with

• A couple of forks

• A kettle

• A friend/family member – not essential but useful with the fiddly bits to have a second pair of hands

Step 1

Boil the kettle. You’ll need the water for melting the vinyl and for making a cuppa afterwards to admire your work.

IMPORTANT: In this tutorial you will be using boiling water so please please please be very careful and don’t scald yourself!

Step 2

Place the large bowl in the sink.


 

Hold one side of the vinyl and carefully begin to pour the boiling water onto it (AND NOT YOUR HAND). You want the boiling water to hit the vinyl and end up in the bowl.

Step 3

Slowly start turning the vinyl, pouring the boiling water continuously as you go. You’ll see the plastic begin to bend.

Step 4

Grab the potato masher and start to put pressure in the centre of the vinyl. It will eventually become submerged in the water.

Step 5

This is the tricky part – you want to try and create even waves in the sides of your bowl (the outer edge of the vinyl record). It doesn’t need to be really neat – because this is what makes the bowl unique – but if you don’t spend a bit of time on this phase you might not be happy with the results.

Use a fork to twist the sides into waves. During this phase I found it helpful to have Tom hold the potato masher - so rope in a friend or family member to help.

If it doesn’t turn out right, you can always put it back under boiling water and use a fork to pull out the edges you don’t like until it looks right.

Here’s one I did that didn’t turn out so good.

Step 6

You now need to put the smaller bowl inside the vinyl and the larger bowl.

PLEASE BE REALLY CAREFUL AS THE BOILING WATER WILL COME OUT THE SIDES OF THE BOWL.

Carefully place the smaller bowl in the centre of the vinyl and use the potato masher to slowly push the bowl down until it is submerged into the water. The water will spill out of the sides – so go slow and you won’t scald yourself.

Step 7

When the bowl is at the bottom of the vinyl and bigger bowl – keep the potato masher in place and run the cold tap into it and down the sides of the larger bowl.

When the bowls are no longer hot you can stop.

Step 8

Now you can take the smaller bowl out and your vinyl bowl is complete!

If you don’t have any use for a bowl – they also make jolly excellent hats.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and if you decide to make one yourself I’d love to see your finished bowls!

Fran

x

Girl's Night In

Sometimes there is nothing like having a girls night in - painting your nails, eating ice cream and watching back to back episodes of Sex and the City.

Between me and Alice we have A LOT of nail varnishes

I recently came across some amazing nail transfers by Kate Broughton. I particularly loved these little deer ones which I put over a turquoise/green colour:

The nail transfers were a little fiddly but for a first attempt we were all pretty pleased with the results!

Alice hard at work

Nats went for red nails with a white crackle effect over the top. Seriously this stuff is amazing! Magic (I mean science) blows my mind!

This week I've been wearing....the bird dress

I'm currently loving my new green dress which I found in one of the many dress shops in the North Laines. I liked this bird dress so much I bought it in black too!

It's funny, I would never have thought green would have looked so awesome with pink but it really works!

Dress - Lily Y

Horse Belt - Primark

Cardigan - H&M

Necklace - Stars N Scars Etsy

Tights - Peacocks

Surviving a Long Distance Relationship

Tom and I spent two years having a long distance relationship and it wasn't easy. In all fairness, it wasn’t that long distance; I was in Brighton and he was in North London - but when you can’t just pop round for a cuppa it can be tough. 

Door to door it was a two hour trip - 20 minute walk to the station, hour on the train, half an hour on the tube and then a 10 minute walk at the other end. Doesn’t sound so bad does it? But when you have to do it every weekend it can get quite tedious.

The worst thing about long distance relationships is the planning. It can get quite frustrating when  all your weekends have to be allocated.  It also means you are asking a lot of your friends. It means they have the choice of either not seeing you because you are out of town or seeing you with boyfriend in tow. None of my friends appeared to mind (or at least they never told me) but I was very aware of it and as a result it meant I had to go to extra lengths to see people in the week so they could spend quality time with me as an individual, not me as part of a pair. 

Long distance also means your relationship is unevenly proportioned; long stretches of time spent apart and bursts of intense time spent in each other’s pockets. These combined create an emotional roller-coaster. Tom and I would often feel very flat after a weekend spent together - we called it the weekend hangover. During the week I would miss him terribly but at the same time could get very frustrated when it came to seeing him again because it meant my time was all allocated to him.

I should state right now that I am incredibly precious about my time and have blogged before about how I need a lot of time to myself. Having my time allocated in advance was in some ways good, as I knew I had the week to myself - but in some ways bad because on the weekend if I wanted time to myself, it meant I had to completely sacrifice time with Tom. 

Now that we are living together, I am over the moon. I get to see Tom every day but can take time to potter about, craft or read on my own. We are starting a new chapter of our lives and I am so excited. Having spent so long doing long distance, I was nervous about living together but I won’t forget how much I disliked not seeing him for long stretches. As a result I wanted to share some of my top tips on surviving a long distance relationship.


1) Make time to talk during the week - even if it’s just for a 10 minute chat, make this a priority.

2) Skype is your new best friend - Sometimes a phone call just won’t cut it - seeing your other half animated can make a massive difference and makes you engage more in the conversation.

3) Compromise - I’m not very good at this one as I like to get my own way, but compromise is imperative for a successful long term relationship. Whether it be compromising on location or a weekend activity, you have to learn to let other people’s needs come before your own sometimes. 

4) Enjoy your free time - Rather than wallowing over the fact your other half isn’t with you, focus on the positives. Focus on all the things you can do without them there. I made use of my own time to watch tv shows and films I knew Tom would hate!

5) Have an end point - For me the hardest part of our relationship was not knowing whether we were ever going to be together. We’d talked about what would happen a lot - but it wasn’t until Tom decided to start looking for jobs in Sussex that I was able to feel a whole lot better about the future. The not knowing means it’s very hard to concentrate all your efforts into a relationship.

Have you been in a long distance relationship? Or perhaps you are in one now? How did you survive it? I’d love to know.