Garden Joy

 Good Day Everyone,

How a-mazing has the weather been lately in England?! I cannot remember the last time we had such a great summer, although I’m sure we (well not me as I’m now back in sunny Singapore but you get what I mean) will pay the price with an  equally bad winter, but for now lets enjoy and reminisce about how fantastically sunny and hot August was :o)

When I was younger I was never an out doorsy person or even a garden person. The bugs and creepy crawlies were enough of a deterrent to keep me tucked away safely indoors. I never had pets as a child as I struggle with anything that moves and I can only just about cope with fellow human beings ;o) I’m not quite sure what it is that scares me of other living / moving things but I just don’t like the idea of something pouncing / crawling on me when I least expect it. I think it might be a combination of my nervous disposition and over active imagination which results in me having a tendency to freak myself out!!!


However, over the last few years I’ve experienced, first hand, the satisfaction and pleasure gained from growing and then hand picking your own produce. In fact, one of the first gifts my hubby (then boyfriend) gave me was a beautiful plant pot with coriander and rocket growing in it. My mum has always grown some sort of herbs and vegetables for as long as I can remember, as well as her own flowers. When my hubby and I renovated our last house we had a small garden in which we grew our own potatoes, tomatoes, peas and strawberries as well as an array of herbs. Oh, the joy of picking tomatoes fresh of the vine and basil leaves straight from our garden to create our own salad was incredibly immense – I loved it!!! 

Spinach and garlic

Fresh coriander

A turnip poking through the soil

Being back home in England last week allowed me to spend some precious time with my mum in her garden. She’s been growing her own organic spinach, garlic, potatoes, turnips, rocket  and coriander in a makeshift vegetable patch. It was amazing to prepare fresh salads with spinach, rocket and coriander freshly picked from the garden :o)

My parents also planted several fruit trees this year and the cherry tree even managed a few cherries :o) Around one of the edges of my parent’s garden there are some wild blackberry bushes where local children come to pick their own blackberries. Whilst very sour, the blackberries make a great fruit crumble mixed with some green apples and honey.



My parent’s garden also has a few beautiful rose plants including a peach and red rose. The roses are amazingly fragrant and my mum tends to keep a vase of them in the living room as well as her bedroom as natural potpourri. In addition to the roses, she has a beautiful purple hydrangea bush, as well a lavender bush - oh, I can just smell it now, it's so relaxing :o)

There is large old tree in my parent’s garden where birds often nest and my hubby actually bought some bird feeders from the garden centre we went to the week before (click here to read that post) that he hung from the tree for the birds. I only wish I was going to be home long enough to watch the birds feeding from the heart shaped feeder.

 

The garden is an absolute feast for the eyes and I loved spending time in it with my mum, taking in all the different colours, fragrances and marvelling in nature’s beauty. It really does have a very calming effect on one’s mind and kind of helps you to take a break from the hectic pace of modern life and appreciate the things in life that we so often dismiss and ignore so easily.

What do you most enjoy about your garden? Do you grown your own flowers or herbs, fruit or vegetables? Do you get the same pleasure of handpicking fresh produce from your own garden as we do?

Love Sheen xxx

Sunny Summer Day

Good Day Everyone,

I’ve really been enjoying being back home in England this past week. I arrived in time to enjoy a few days of the glorious weather England has been having recently. I absolutely love love love the English countryside. The bright colours of nature with the green hills and fields against the bright blue sky are great for lifting one’s spirit. From the vibrancy in the colour of flowers and summer berries to the sunshine yellow of the rapeseed fields, beautiful hedgerows, and not to mention fields of sheep, cows, and hens – it really is idyllic. Whilst Singapore is incredibly green and beautiful in its own right – it has more of a ‘man-made’ beauty about it. You just don’t get the stunning views of nature or see fields of animals or crops.

Although, it has turned a bit chilly these last couple of days, I managed to spend a few leisurely afternoons out in the sun. One particular afternoon, my hubby and I took his mum to Lakeside Plant and Garden Centre in Shropshire (website). It is a lovely family run garden centre that, as well as having the usual plants, garden furniture and ornaments, also has a dedicated farm area where various animals, that would otherwise be homeless, are now homed.  We saw a pigmy goat, pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks and even wallabies.

The garden centre has an allotment area where the family grow fresh fruit and vegetables including tomatoes, peas, runner beans, potatoes, strawberries and lots more. Walking around the allotment really tugged at mine and my hubby’s heartstrings as one of the things we miss most about living in England is growing our own fruit, vegetables and herbs. During our last couple of years in England we had our own house with a small garden where we grew our own tomatoes, peas, potatoes, strawberries, carrots and a huge variety of herbs including basil, coriander, mint (our favourite herb), sage, rosemary and thyme (I’m sure there’s some that I’ve missed but you get the idea ;o)).

In Singapore my hubby has tried so many times to grow our own tomatoes, even experimenting with different methods but to no avail. Even our herbs don’t tend to do very well on our balcony :o( So this garden centre visit was a lovely treat for us. We even walked away with a few vegetable seeds for my mum to grow as she has a large garden.

Do you grow your own herbs, fruits or vegetables? What, in particular, do you grow? Or do you have your own allotment? That would be amazing!

Love Sheen xxx

Life Without A TV

Good Day Everyone,

Ever since I left home at 18 I have always had a television (TV). More specifically, I have always had the television on. Whether I was living in student halls, flat share, with my hubby, in a hotel or even on my own, the television has always been on! Turning the television on was typically one of the first things I would do when I woke up or when I came home.

This was never because I loved to watch TV, but more because I liked the sound of people’s voices, it made me feel less alone (especially when I had to live on my own). I was less likely to hear creaky sounds that had the capacity to send, my already overactive imagination, into overdrive and completely freak me out (or worse still give myself a heart attack, as such is my jumpy disposition). Radio just wasn’t the same, I not only needed to hear the people, I also needed to see them, even if it was just from the corner of my eye whilst I was doing something else, in order for me to feel that I wasn’t on my own.  

When we moved to Singapore in 2011 we stayed in a serviced apartment that had a TV with local channels. We didn’t really enjoy many of the channels. So when we moved into our own condo/flat I managed to persuade my hubby (albeit with some difficulty) to try life without a TV.

View from our balcony

Sky & sea changing colours at sunset

Over 2 years later and we can both say it was one of the best decisions we ever made! We’ve found that we spend more time talking and listening to each other about our day, supper is had at the dining table at a more leisurely pace (instead of rushing to get back in front of the TV to watch some show), we listen to a lot more music and have discovered a lot about each others taste in music. We are lucky to live by the coast with a gorgeous sea view and sometimes we just sit and watch the sea changing colours as a storm approaches (we get the most amazing lightning bolts), we watch the sky, especially at sunset, and the stars at night. All the ships and boats out at sea light up at night and every night there’s a different scene of lights and colours to see – I love it! Personally, I have also found it a lot more calming (mentally) to not have the sound of lots of voices in our home (shock horror or what) and wait for it... I actually really enjoy the silence (maybe I’m getting old ;o)).

A storm approaching from Indonesia

Now I’m not saying that we don’t watch anything at all. We both have laptops/ipads/iphones etc. I still (and I’m not ashamed to admit it) watch Eastenders and Coronation Street (UK soaps/dramas for all you non-Brits). They make me feel close to home because of the British accents. We watch movies and read the news on our laptops. The great thing about watching programmes on our laptops is that we watch just the programme we want to watch and then it’s turned off!  It’s not like having a TV on constantly in the background.

Now when I watch TV in a hotel on holiday, it’s quite a novelty, a bit of a treat and that’s the things with treats – if you have them all the time, they no longer feel like a (naughty) treat and I’m happy for the TV to stay as a treat. We’d like to think that we will continue life without a TV for many more years to come. I feel the longer we go without a TV the less likely we are to ever have one again. We’re getting too used to enjoying the peace and quiet. However, never say never as this could all change if, for example, we have children or we move to another condo or country where we don’t have such a beautiful view to stare at. 

Could you ever live without a TV? Have you ever tried it? Would you try it even if it’s just for a week or a month, just out of curiosity? What do you think you would do with that time where you would normally be watching TV?

Love Sheen xxx

It's A Wonderful Wrap

Good Day Everyone, 

On a recent trip to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, hubby and I went to have a mooch around Central Market. We’ve been to KL several times but never visited the Central Market before, a classified heritage site by the Malaysian Heritage Society. It’s full of colourful arts and craft stalls where you can pick up some great touristy gifts as well as get a delicious bite to eat.

 Whilst I was paying for a gift for my mum in law I turned to find that my hubby had wandered to a stall further down the street. As I approached to join him I immediately ‘clocked on’ to what he was looking at for it caught my attention straight away too. There on the floor in a bucket were rolled up sheets of colourful geometric patterned wrapping paper. My hubby looked at me and we both simultaneously said, “Marrakech!” The wrapping paper conjured up memories of our trip to Marrakech – one of our most favourite holidays. We’d stayed at an idyllic converted riad owned by a Belgian couple where, despite being just a few minutes walk away from Jemma el-Fnaa (the main market square in the old part of town) it felt like we were in a tranquil little oasis. To this day, I do not understand how the noise from the hustle and bustle of the medina quarter (old town) did not infiltrate in to the beautiful peaceful garden of the riad.

Clearly there was no way we were leaving this stall without purchasing a little ‘nostalgia’. So hubby and I both picked a roll of wrapping paper each to add to our collection of ‘memartefacts’. You’re probably wondered what ‘memartefacts’ are given that it’s not an actual word in the English dictionary (memory and artefacts combined). Nope, it’s another one of my made up words (I have a tendency to make words up by combining multiple words to make a word that represents what I actually mean). My hubby and I have this tradition of buying something, something that we can keep forever and ever from each and every one of our holidays. The idea being that we will display all of these ‘memartefacts’ in our permanent home (once we find it and put down some roots), as a reminder of all of our wonderful times together. So when we’re grey and old (and less mobile) we can take trips down ‘memory lane’ without leaving our home :o)

The wrapping paper is sooo beautiful that it really will have to be a very precious gift that gets wrapped in it, for a very special person. If I ever do end up using my sheet of wrapping paper, I know that I will keep whatever remnants I can to make some sort of ‘visual’ that I can then hang up and keep forever as a ‘memartefact’.

Do you have any such traditions or ways of remembering wonderful holidays or experiences? Do you collect ‘memartefact’s aka keepsakes for you to reminisce in the future? Or do you have a tendency to make up words? If you do then I’d love to know what they are in the comments box :o)

 Love Sheen xxx

Stila One Step Illuminate

Good Day Everyone,

This was the first product that I ever purchased from Stila (website) and I can tell you that I have become a huge fan ever since. Living near the equator in year round temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius in high humidity can make wearing a full face of makeup a little challenging, especially if you’re going to be spending time outside without air con. I was looking for a product (other than my bodily sweat!) that would give my face a nice subtle luminous glow for the days that I don’t wish to wear foundation and this is perfect!

Firstly, I absolutely love love love the packaging! The product comes in a clear plastic bottle containing 30mls (1 oz) of product with a black pump and lid which, in my humble opinion, has many benefits;

• As the bottle is clear I can see exactly how much product is left before I run out.
• The clear bottle also means that I can see the triple swirl helix and it looks sooo pretty (ok so that's not really a benefit but hey it makes me happy!).
• The pump makes using the product very hygienic as there’s no finger dipping involved.
• The pump also allows me to control the amount of product I dispense and it is easy to dispense half pumps.
•  Being plastic I don’t need to worry about breakages if I drop the bottle (which happens a lot given my arthritic fingers).
• The lid snaps shut when I push it on making it quite secure and does not come off easily which is great if I ever need to travel with this in my luggage. At the same time my arthritic fingers do not struggle to open it either which is a huge bonus :o)

Another great thing about this bottle is that, from what I can tell thus far, there is no product wastage due to the packaging. This is quite tricky to explain so here goes. You know how with some bottles the product sticks to the sides and bottom and no amount of pumping can ever get it all out? Well this bottle has a mechanism, a sort of platform, which pushes the product upwards from the bottom and sides of the bottle so no product is left behind that you cannot get to – genius or what?!

This product is one of those multi-functioning products that offers numerous benefits all in the convenience of one product. The product consists of 3 coloured swirls suspended in Stila’s youth revival bio-available mineral complex^TM serum which is clear in colour. The swirls are;

• Light gold which highlights the skin.

• Pale pink to warm the complexion.
• Kitten which brightens and illuminates (kitten is Stila’s famous eye shadow colour which is also available in other product forms e.g. eyeliner, powder shimmer, liquid luminizer, lip gloss etc).

According to Stila this product instantly primes, brightens and illuminates the skin, improves skin tone, even outs your complexion and helps smooth fine lines and wrinkles. In addition it claims to;

• Helps diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
• Helps minimize pores.
• Helps hydrate and balance.
• Helps control oil.

Wow! Now that’s a whole load of benefits all within just one product! I tend to use this product instead of a foundation on days when I want to go for the no makeup makeup look (rather than as a primer) and I have to say it does an amazing job! The texture of this is more mousse like than serum and it feels incredibly light weight on my skin. It doesn’t leave my skin feeling tacky or sticky or looking shiny or oily in any way.
 

I typically apply this, using my fingers, after my moisturiser concentrating on my cheeks, centre of my face and eyelids and I have to say it just melts into my skin beautifully. I find that one pump is more than enough to do my whole face and therefore this bottle will easily last me for several months. This product instantly brightens my skin giving it that kind of ‘glowing from within’ luminous look. The shimmer in this product is so incredibly fine that it leaves my skin glistening beautifully whenever the light catches it and I don’t have to worry about looking like a disco ball. The glistening effect is why I tend to wear this on my eyelids as then I don’t need to bother with eye shadow and I just use a couple of coats of mascara and voila my eyes are done!

Blends out to give a luminous glow

I tend to have normal to dry skin and I find this product to be hydrating to the extent that even at the end of the day my skin still doesn’t feel in the slightest bit dry. I generally feel that I am feeding my skin ‘goodness’ whenever I apply this product. I don’t tend to have oily skin and rarely get an oily t-zone and therefore cannot comment on the product’s oil control capabilities but it does seem to minimise the few pores that I have and evens out my skin tone. I think it’s too early for me to say whether this product helps to diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles as I don’t really have any wrinkles (that I’ve noticed) and I don’t think I’ve been using this product long enough to notice a dramatic effect on any fine lines that I may have... I think I need to go examine my face closely in the mirror now to see if I actually have any fine lines or wrinkles ;o)

On occasion I have also used this product on top of my cheek bones, after foundation, to get that glowy highlighting effect and it blends easily without removing the layer of foundation underneath. Overall I have been delighted with my first Stila purchase and cannot wait to try other products from the brand.

Have you tried this illuminator? What were your impressions? What's your favourite illuminator to use? I'd love to hear your views/experience :o)

Love Sheen xxx

My verdict: 5/5

For the UK: http://stila.co.uk/
For Singapore you can find this product at Sephora

(Note: I purchased this product with my own money)