Travelling on....

So illness-wise i've been pretty poorly.....so i've had a lot of time to catch up on all the things i don't get to do so often, like catching up on graphic novels, playing on my xbox (which i had forgotten how much I enjoy). I've damaged my foot, so i've had to make the decision to pull out of the Jane T 10k. But I have still the 5k and the shine half-marathon to prepare and look forward to.....

I decided to design a soap to sell to raise money for cancer research along with my fundraising for the events, but also design a ME soap to raise money for one of the ME research charity's of which I've not decide yet. I was inspired by Chlay, who is doing tons to raise the awareness of CFS/ME........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ZJ6gcy_Hc

I have lots of interest in my soap and i really want to get some markets done and dusted after being let down over a few markets recently. I believe that you should explore every opportunity that you are inspired to follow, and should never be held back of fear of it not working. I don't want to be one of those people, for who the highlight of the week is saturday night TV on ITV. I mean my ex was like that, great people, him and his family.....but the key thing that stuck in my mind was that in reality he wasn't happy because he had nothing to aspire to and being forced to watch Ant and Dec, Harry Hill.......even the memory makes me want to rip out my eyes, brain and ears. Don't even mention going out on a saturday night ! Never happened ! He drank every night for something to do, and watched every soap and every quiz show on ITV possible. I have had an aversion to ITV ever since, because that is just so not me. And i'll never grow up and fit into a white picket fence, desperate housewives mould. If that what you want for life.....go for it.......but for me it's not enough........it's my idea of HELL !!!!

Therapy......

Today, I awoke to find that I couldn't damn move and was in a lot of pain and had that horrible exhausted feeling in the masses today, so in bed still :( hey ho. It is getting easier to stay positive though at the moment. I had a difficult weekend trying to find a companion for Ella, my cat. Kiko who I'd had for six years was a therapy cat. We got him from the RSPCA Bradford and he was company on all those poorly days. Although I am a major Cat lady anyway, Kiko was therapeutic because he was always there as company when I was ill, without me needing to make the effort to entertain someone. I think it's easy to underestimate how much a pet can provide a better quality of life for people with long-term illnesses. He sadly died of FIP suddenly 6 weeks ago, and the house is just empty without him. Ella my other cat, who is only 3, is quite distressed and clingy. She cries a lot and that isn't like her. Ella is so soft and I find stroking her really soothing when i'm in pain. She's like a big, cuddly teddy bear, she has gone from being an independent cat, to never leaving my side, wanting to sleep holding on to me with her paw and trying to wash my hand all the time, all signs that she is lonely. I went to the RSPCA on saturday and found them to be so rude, and seeings that kiko must have caught FIP when he was there, unsympathetic. I was quite distressed as they had said that a cat i liked was suitable and she would have been perfect and suddenly on saturday despite 30 years of having pets from the RSPCA, it would appear I am not good enough. This is my second bad experience with them. They are turning down good homes. For a saturday the centre was empty and dead. Anyways moving on to positive ground.....

I have spent some time designing some new scents for soap and i'm hoping to get a bath bomb safety assessment as soon as I can. My soap is getting a lot of requests and interest so here's hoping. I'm having a lot of fun doing this....more than I ever had with Jewellery making and selling. I'm also gradually listing these on Folksy and trying to design a menu/price list :)

Okays well i need to go properly rest now and I think these should involve some disney movies.....

What a weekend....

Had a great weekend .....attended my first clothes swap in Hull. Great way to get rid of clothes you don't want and find some new things. There was also a vintage market there. If you've never been to a clothes swap give it a go ....  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clothes-Swap/163500817042425

Sunday was spent wandering along the Humber with my gorgeous boyfriend. We have still a long way to go in terms of training for the half marathon in September. I'm still a long way of being fit after last year's injury to my foot so it's gonna take a lot of practice. A quick stop at Hull's fruit market on the way.....they have them every sunday and although small, have a nice variety of quirky things including lots of nice eaty things :). http://www.fruitspace.co.uk/markets/

So today is for catching up on sleep.....the anti-biotics they have me on, are making me feel very poorly. But I have four new soap moulds to try out so I'm going to try and get some of those done and plenty of resin brooches to list on folksy finally.

Hoping as well that I start to hear back from some of the craft fairs that i've applied for, I really want to get out there and get some of these lovely products shifted !!