All God's Gifts Around Us...........

I am now back from my very enjoyable holiday with my youngest and his family and, as promised, here is a follow up from one of my previous posts The Monkey Made Me Do It

You may remember that in that post, I shared with you, my dear Bloggeroos, my struggle to come to terms with my secret addiction to Coco Pops.

Well, I said I would give them up - and I did!

Not only that, but I have managed to stay 'clean.'

I did have one really bad day when I had to call my BFF Carol to come round to my house.

There were no Coco Pops in my pantry, but by the time she got here, I was standing in my kitchen holding a bowl of cornflakes, very tightly to my chest.

After she had whacked me three times with my Vileda Pro Mop and promised me a Wagon Wheel, I resignedly gave her the offending cereal, and she dropped it in the wheelie bin outside.

Phew! - that was a VERY close call!

Anyway.............where was I going with this tale?

Errr, oh I remember...........

All those Coco Pops have done untold damage to my body.

The only way I can get into my best pair of jeans is to lather me bum in Nivea Creme and gently ease them on, lying flat on the bed, using my three, very best, tortoiseshell handled shoe horns.

So, I have decided to get fit and drastically alter my diet.

Most importantly, I need to get back to my "Five a Day" fruit consumption.

Before I share my new diet with you, I would just like to share this old picture of me and my little pals placing our fruit and veggie offerings on the Harvest display years ago.

No! I'm not the one holding the marrow.

I donated 2 tins of Heinz Spaghetti and a bunch of rather limp celery.

The picture was taken at the Lincoln Salvation Army Harvest Festival 1967.

I'm the one with the black buttons down the front of my dress. (I wasn't wearing my Junior Soldier uniform, as I'd attended an Anglican Baptism earlier that day.) The little girl standing next door but one to me, with only her cute little head showing, is my Ickle Ditder Mandy.

Three of the other girls weren't only friends - they were also charges of my Mumsie's, as she used to be a Childminder. (Or "Auntie" as we called minders in the 1960's !) The three of them were sisters and had many cousins, one of whom was called Glenn.

I went on to marry Glenn in 1975, and he is the father of my two sons.

Although we divorced in 1994 and Glenn has since remarried, he is still very much part of my family. He still visits my parents, invited them to his wedding last year and remembers to give cards and presents to them for birthdays and Mothers'/Fathers' days. Glenn and his wife Rosemary are also invited to our (very frequent) family gatherings.

Anyhooo...........I digress.

Here is my 'Five a Day, Get Fit' Diet.

You must consume at least five of the following, one from each group...............................

APPLES GROUP

ORANGES GROUP

BANANAS GROUP

STRAWBERRY GROUP

GRAPES GROUP

If you tire of the fruit, you can add any of the following......................

Of course, changing my diet won't solve the problem on its own, so I have taken up a new, very sporty hobby.......................

It's called "Extreme Ironing" - D'ya think it'll catch on?

My Favourite Beauty Products & Corners of my Home

TENA LADY EXTRA - PROUD SPONSORS OF DOLLYTUB COTTAGE

First of all, before I continue with the usual ramblings of a post menopausal nutcase, I would just like to thank you all.

I am absolutely over the moon at recent developments.

You may remember last year before I took my protracted blogging break, that I was in the process of securing sponsorship for my blog from Major Wettam, CEO of Tena Lady Inc.

Tena have now agreed to sponsor Dollytub Cottage blog by paying my extravagant broadband bills.

This is all down to you my weak bladdered little bloggeroos for reading my posts. Once more Tena Lady Inc. have seen an increase in sales over the last few weeks as my kind followers have thrown caution to the wind, and laughed unashamedly at my recent antics.

I cannot thank you enough.

So..................er, what was I going to talk about today? Oh yes, I remember......

Following my post "What's in my Handbag", I have had numerous requests to write a post on my favourite beauty products, or a corner of my home.

In a bid for energy conservation, (namely mine,) I have decided to write a post that will cover both topics.

Where is my favourite place to pamper myself?

Well, like most ladies, I choose the bathroom.

I haven't always used the bathroom for this, but I've not been across the other side of my bedroom for ages so I can't quite get to the dressing table.

So, here we are in my bathroom, excuse the bath, but like all good Northern Lasses, I have been keeping the coal in it.

Excuse the shower too, but I have got a new one somewhere.

I prefer a large sink, well there's so much of me to wash!

Oh look, there's my new shower too!

There is a toilet in here, but this is just for visitors.

I just love fresh air so I use the outside loo................

And of course, no outside loo is complete without.......................

Paper!

If you think that looks a bit draughty - you should see where the bidet is sited!

Here are some of my beauty and make up products.........

Toothbrush, this one is fantastic - it doubles as a washing up brush

I get through a lot of toothpaste - I've got a big mouth. (I bet that's not much of a surprise!)

It's a bit awkward for my nephew though............

Those of you who are around my age will have noticed that the older we get, the more important flossing is.

Sadly, with all my medication, I have very large spaces between my teeth

Still - it's supposed to be lucky isn't it?

Last of all in my dental arsenal, industrial strength mouthwash........

Yummmmmmmmmmmmm! My favourite.

(Since I've been using this brand, I've not suffered with ear wax either!)

Now I start with my face............

I refuse to use any moisturiser that isn't 100% Pure

Then my anti ageing product. This one comes with free applicator..................

If it's good enough for Andie, it's good enough for me!

Now onto my hair products...............

Shampoo....

This brand is great, it doubles up as a Nail Varnish Remover. (And you know how much I love my multi-action products, don't you?)

Conditioner next..............

This really tames my flyaway hair. It also covers the grey hairs. How neat is that?!

Every couple of weeks or so, my friend Winalot Wanda pops round to give me a light perm.......

(You may remember my mention of Wanda before. She earned her Winalot nickname not because she wins competitions, but because..........................er, quite frankly, she's a bit of a dog!)

It's called a 'light' perm because the rollers hook up to the bathroom light fitting.

(Sorry I look so miserable in the pic, but Wanda has just eaten my last two wagon wheels.)

A dab of my favourite "Lippy".............

And I'm ready for the World.

But..............

Is the World ready for me, I wonder?

P.S. Some of my newer followers have asked how Legover Linda got her nickname. She earned this title when we were all about 17 years old. She carried with her a very large capacious handbag. Inside she had an inflatable mattress. This inflated within 60 seconds and came in handy if she got "lucky."

When I do my next post, I will include my award from coco loves vintage

and a pic of my beautiful Lavender Heart from Sal