CURLY AND CANDID


photo by baboonâ„¢	via PhotoRee

Apologies in advance to any gardening enthusiasts who have have happened upon this post looking for hints and tips on sprucing their garden up. This IS about bush trimming but is probably not what you are looking for.

The trimming of the bush!

It’s the beginning of a new year and many of us have decided to ditch the crap and lose weight, becoming healthier as we go. After reading a post by Liz Jarvis about wanting to ditch the bigger knickers, I vowed to ditch the M&S belly grabbers and get into smaller and more lady-like knickers. The only problem with this is… what do I do about the topiary?

I’m a Northern gal; it gets cold up in here in Yorkshire and I believe that the fuzz is there for a reason. That said, there is a difference between warm and protected and looking like there is an escaped fur-ball on the loose in your granny pants.

What IS the “best” way to sort the shrub? I vividly remember someone telling me once about their Brazilian Wax appointment (we don’t talk any more, clearly we had nothing in common), and I’m told that you can indeed shape your bush topiary-style if you wish. What do you do? I’m quite happy as an established married woman to give myself a quick short back and sides with a razor but is it enough? What if my lady garden is no longer up to spec in the design department? Should I be shaping, tweezing, waxing and buffing?

More to the point, how does one know what is fashionable? I am not going to Google “how to shave my Mary” because I am pretty sure my laptop will explode. I have never seen a tweet that reads, “Hey guys, my bush is overgrown, what do I do?” so I’m guessing that is not the done thing to do either. I know, I’ll do a post about it, that’s nice and discreet!

So come on ladies, what is the right way to spruce the bush?


photo by John Althouse Cohen	via PhotoRee

I was always the one who got excited by a new school year when I was younger. Brand new sharp pencils, the smell of the new books and that first clean page on the exercise book. Apart from the fact that I don’t wear school skirts rolled up short or indulge in ridiculously heavy eye make-up any more, little has changed, I still love a new year!

Every January I lovingly unwrap the new calendar and fill in it and get the diary set up (this year it’s a Dodopad Pax – for a stationery tart such as myself, this is like heaven!). Then it’s money time!

I’m told money can’t buy you happiness. I’m sure it can’t, but being skint can make you pretty miserable too. After Kieran was born I gave up my well paid career to work from home. An income that disappeared overnight was a challenge and a half and taught me a lot about not only how to budget better and save but also about my attitudes towards money. Even now, with my income restored I’m still careful and hate waste.

I set myself a few tasks at the beginning of each year:

Ring / contact all providers (ie gas/electric, phone/broadband/ insurances etc) and check I am on the correct / cheapest tariff / packages
Adjust budget accordingly
Use the new budget to update the standing order payments for savings.

Three simple steps when set me up financially. I do check tariff info throughout the year and when contacts expire but it’s important I start the year off properly.

Record keeping.

My business books are always kept up to date and I file my tax return in May every year (I like to get it out of the way). My household books are run the same way. I use free bookkeeping software to track my spends. Knowing whether or not you are keeping within your budget is important but looking closer can be helpful! Last year I looked back at my spends and realised I was doing a lot of top up shopping, despite doing a weekly shop. I was going mainly for fresh fruit and veg and while there I always managed to pick up some unneccesary items. Looking at this I decided to have a veg box delivered weekly and this has saved me a fortune.

This is just one example that shows how a bit of planning and organisation can make a big difference.

I enjoy my new page at the beginning of the year and getting organised. What do you do at the beginning of the year to start it off on the right foot?

The Lady Garden

Money, Money, Money