For Navy WAGS...Parcel ideas.

It has come to my attention on a lot of the Navy WAG support pages that we enjoy sharing all things RN, So, I thought I would share a long list of parcel ideas for our men at sea x

PLEASE feel free to message me with your ideas that I can add to the list

Bathing

Facecloth

Luxury soap or favourite shower gel

Spot cream...just in case

Toothpaste

Electric toothbrush head

Dental floss

Luxury sponge(men like them too)

Hand sanitiser

Aftershave

Bottom wipes

Cotton buds

Shaving Gel
Hair Gel
Mouth wash
Comb
Nail brush
Moisturiser
Nail Clippers

Snacks

Noodles, super noodles, pot noodles(easier if you empty dry contents of a pot noodle into sealed bag)

Cous Cous

Savoury rices

Cup Meals(cupasoup, pasta in sauce etc)

Biscuits

Chocolate

Energy bars/breakfast bars

Nuts

Dried fruit

Mints

Sweets

Mini cereal boxes

Crisps(always check date as it can take weeks to arrive)

Crackers

Popcorn

Foods

Tinned(tuna, tinned ham, sardines etc)

Small rice pudding

Custard

Coffee

Tea bags(especially if they like a specific tea)

Hot chocolate

Syrups

Jams
Coffee whitener
Sauce sachets
Mini squash bottles/packets(robinsons make nice little squeezy packs)

PLEASE CHECK REGULATIONS FOR ALL FOOD ITEMS.

Clothes

Vest tops

T-shirts

Boxer shorts

Socks

Vests

Cap

Gloves

Scarf

Hat

Your t-shirt(sprayed with your perfume or scent)

Sandals

Spare shoes

Umbrella

Mac in a Pac

Pyjamas
Belt
Swim shorts
Goggles

Extras

Sunglasses

Blueys

Pens

Lube(for chaffing!)

Sun Cream

Hand warmers

Multi vitamins

Favourite bottle of beer or beverage(please check packing guidelines, and there is a alcohol % guide)

Family photographs

Diary

Mug(maybe with family photos attached, I did this and he loved it because it was large!)

Keyring

Book

Magazine

Amazon Voucher(Kindle/App purchases)

Cuddly toy

Kinky letter

Chewing gum

Paracetamol

Eye Mask

Ear plugs

Headphones
Back Scratcher(because you are not there to do it!)
Pack of cards
Drawing pad and pencils
Mini games(chess, draughts etc)
Pain gel
Blue tac
Water bottle

Obviously there are so many more items you can send, I would love this list to get bigger for future newbies to the Navy or military scene.

Please remember to check for any restrictions regarding items you can send to each deployment.

Post Office Information

Happy Tuesday xxx

Bon Voyage...

PHEW!!! What a hectic few weeks it has been.

I haven't stopped and my head has definitely not had a chance to stop spinning.

Bonjour to Bon Voyage...

I met my husband in March 2006. St Patricks day to be precise.

I had been ill for 2 solid weeks and I mean ILL!!! 

On this particular day I felt much better, my hair though still had essence of vomit giving it a distinct scent, my skin was still that lovely shade of grey and I hadn't bathed in the entire 2 weeks...yep! That ill!

I threw on some clothes(pyjamas and an old cardi), my slippers and headed to my friends house a few doors down.

As I entered I realised immediately she had company! 

"Emma, this is my brother David"

BROTHER??? 

WTH! My brain racked trying to think of any conversations we had, had in the 3 years of our friendship that mentioned a brother. I had nothing!

Then this 'thing', sorry it is the only way to describe it, scuffles into the kitchen...Of course this is when your polite side comes out. The pleasantries of the first introductions etc

"Are you trying to be a goth or something?"

WHAT THE HELL JUST CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH???

Who does that? Me! That's who!

"Trying.." He says...clearly much politer than me!

At this point I was still married. I was telling my then husband every day that I wanted a divorce but some people just don't listen!

Long story short, I didn't see David(Dai) again until a few months later when he just turned up at my front door for a "coffee" and the rest as they say is history...

Some Strange Stuff!!!

When I was younger I said for years that if I had a son I would call him Pierce. Even when I was pregnant with my first child it was high on the list but something stopped me...

I married Dai Pearce!

For the last 2 years of my marriage I would have the same dream over and over, which I only ever told my best friend about.

I was on a ship, a navy ship and there was CHAOS! Sailors running everywhere, alarms sounding, when all of a sudden I am pulled into a room, bent over a table and, well...you have imaginations!

The first night that Dai turned up at my home(I was not impressed, it was 11pm, my door was open so he just walked in, and I was in my pjs wearing a turbi towel on my head!)

Well, as he left and I got up to see him out we passed a table and all of a sudden he(he was in the RN for 6 years and had left a few months before we met) bent me over a table and, well...you have imaginations!!!

I know all of this post is random and a bit naughty but I am going somewhere...I think.

In 2006 when I met Dai he told me from the start that he regretted leaving the RN and as soon as he had the chance he wanted to re-join.

He tried, every year. Every year he was turned away because the RN was "full"

At first I was supportive, apprehensive and then gutted each time this happened. Then I got to the stage where it was routine, and just part of our year.

He applies, he gets a no, we move on...

That was until 2012

In 2012 Dai applied again. He was told the same thing except this time he was told not to even bother in 2013 as he would get exactly the same answer.

4 months later.

January 2013.

I get a call.

"Can you tell us if David is still interested in re-joining? We are looking to place him in the marine something or other, and we NEED him asap!"

Confused? I certainly was.

Anyway he went through the whole thing...he got through the stages needed but the snag was he had a tattoo on his hand...this tattoo took a year to be removed!!! A Year!

I was convinced at this point that he would be told that it was too late...It didn't happen.

April 1st 2014

He is in. Not any part of the Marine unit, but in.

Goes off to base. Does Navy stuff.

May 2nd 2014

Confirmed shore based for rest of year...

May 19th 2014

Dai phones, tells me to sit down and informs me that on the 16th June he would be flying out to meet a ship for a 6 month deployment! I was floored!

It was like the ground just disappeared from under me. I couldn't believe that it was happening so soon, so little warning. I didn't know(and still don't) the first thing about being a Navy wife!

From that point on we have done all we can to prepare the boys for the change, the separation and the loss. It truly has been heart-breaking.

We have spent every penny we had on train fares for him, days out with the bugs, meals out for the two of us. Basically making the most of the little time we had.

This is why I have neglected my lovely little blog. It is why I have neglected all my wonderful blog friends.

May 15th 2014. Fathers Day.

I won a competition for entering Dai into a 'best dad' fb competition and he won!

£50 to spend in a restaurant that has just opened up(part of a chain, lovely to look at, average grub but AWESOME red velvet cheesecake that I could get in Manchester but not down here...so happy!)

It was our last day together as a family until December. I couldn't eat a thing and I was glad to be wearing sunglasses as I turned into a blubbering wreck. I just couldn't hold it in.

I was distraught. We have had a really rough time lately. Things in the relationship have been very strained due to some crappy events. Things were not 'fixed' and we had run out of time. 

How do you say goodbye to someone when things are not 'fixed'?

He put smallest bug to bed, then he broke down. He played his last game of cards with the bigger bugs and held them so tight.

Then he held me. I don't know how I let go.

When he was in the Navy first time round he never had a family to leave. He never had to walk out of a home.

I know all this seems very melodramatic but it is how it is. We know it is not forever but it is a long time. It seems like forever.

As he waved his way down our path and into the taxi waiting to take him on his new adventure we all cried. I watched my eldest bugs break down. We held each other and reassured each other, I don't think any of us believed the clichés we were spouting, but they helped.

Little bug slept as we waved his Daddy goodbye.

And now we wait. Now we love. Now we get on with every day life as if every thing is OK. 

Please let it be OK.

Fair Winds our Sailor. 

Come home Safe.

We will be waiting.

Happy Thursday 

xxx

(This guy is actually 30!!!)

Too Much to do...

WOW! 

It has been a while hasn't it? Doesn't the time fly when life gets hectic???

Well even now as I am writing this I am in a hurry as I HAVE to get to sleep soon for another busy day tomorrow, but I had to pop on and say hello. I have missed the blogging world so very much lately and all the gorgeous, inspiring posts but I promise as soon as I am more organised I will be back with vengeance :)

For now I will share with you the exciting news that my friend has had her baby girl.

Ruby-Mae made her entrance into the world on May 25th.

She is beautiful. I am totally in love already.

Becky is never quite organised...Late announcement hehe!

ooooo and I can show you the blankets that I had to keep hushed about...

I love the vintage look of this blanket. I used the old candy stripe bedding as inspiration. It was so lovely using other colours than just pink and white for a girl blanket and still having the same cute baby girl effect.

I even have one of her very first photographs and you can just see it peeking through...

Isn't she just ADORABLE?!?! How I didn't bungle her home with me I don't know.

So beautiful x

So I will be back soon and hopefully will start to become much more organised :)

Happy Sunday xx

A Sad Geek...

When in life did being a geek become the coolest thing???

When did knowing all the Marvel comic heros become cooler than knowing the latest pop stars whereabouts?

I do not know the answers to this. All I know is I AM THRILLED!

I never really liked boy bands in school(although I was a massive Spice Girls fan...I am not ashamed. GIRL POWER!) I never conformed to the "must have" fashion style, or the latest sports wear. I didn't care if a boy fancied me or if my cupboards were filled with no frills food and my charity shop school blazer lasted me 3 years because I would "grow into it"

I was cool. I was cool because I had the confidence to pull off all these high school faux pas'

Some people didn't. I made friends with a lot of these people. They became cool by association, with their winkle picker shoes, daft conversations, sad fan fiction obsessions, AWFUL hair cuts and clothes that had seen better days 3 people ago.

I know that sounds so deluded and I sound a little too self assured, but I only know all this because they have all told me. I loved each and every one of my friends, geek or swat, popular or wall flower. I didn't care.

One thing I couldn't stop though was the geek teasing! It was not cool to be a full on geek.

Glasses were NOT the one. Knowing all about Star Trek was not cool, being teachers pet did not do you any favours.

THIS HAS ALL CHANGED!

HOW?

WHEN?

WHY?

I have no idea. I think programmes like the Big Bang Theory have helped, along with a lot of celebrities admitting they are closet geeks and tweeting pictures of themselves looking cool in glasses.

I have to say I love the geek revolution. I can have conversations with my boys that I actually understand. Turns out it is cool to be clever, comic books are awesome and Enid Blyton is for girls AND boys!

My eldest goes to a high school where all the kids remind me of shaggy sheep dogs with their untamed hair and heads facing the floor as they scuff their no name shoes by dragging their feet.

All their blazers look like they grew into them a few years ago or have a few years left to reach that goal.

I see young girls unashamedly speaking out about their feminist views. They are no longer going to be objectified by boys or worry about being cool because the popular boy fancies them.

They are gathering on social media sites, not to discuss the latest lipstick shade but to discuss the art and culture they see around them.

Now obviously not all boys and girls are like this. I myself still love flicking through magazines and cooing over pretty handbags and dresses, and we all blush when a handsome chap or lady offers us a smile, but being who you are seems to be more OK now.

I know this is a very random post but each time I have conversations with teenagers I get so excited, mainly because I can have conversations with teenagers...I found this difficult when I was a teenager hehe!

So here is to all the people in the world.

Here is to acceptance and friendship. May it long continue.

And here is to my new, fabulous glasses...

Baby Showers and Spring Flowers...

Good Morning all you lovely people. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend and have all been well. Sorry for my disappearance lately...I could tell you why but then I would have to add a moaning tag to the post and this post is far too pretty for that!

It has been a bit crazy in these parts lately, there have been family visits, school holidays, baby showers and men in uniform...yum!

Lets start with flowers. Nowadays I buy fresh flowers ALL the time. In fact it is rare that I go shopping anywhere and not bring some home with me. I love them. But this wasn't always the case.
Each time I am in my little kitchen snipping, and pruning a new bouquet or two and gently and precisely adding them to jugs or vases my husband always like to remind me of when we first met and the opinions I had on bought flowers.
"A waste of money, all they are going to do is die! I would rather have something I can keep!"
Yes! That was my opinion back then, but like I say to him now,
"that was before my depression hit rock bottom and I realised that flowers are a beautiful way to brighten up your day, natures very own anti-depressant!"

This is exactly why flowers are now so important to me. To walk up my path and have a cheery colourful bouquet greeting me in the window is uplifting and immediately makes me smile, even if I have had the crappiest day. I am home and my home is lovely and filled with the simplest, lovely things.

Now on to something that has really brought a smile to my face. My best friends bump!

I always think when someone so close to you is expecting you travel with them on each step of their journey. You comfort them when they are going through dreaded morning sickness that makes them look like death.

You call them fatty as the bump grows larger and larger. Moan when said bump doesn't kick on demand, and gently try and persuade them to add your name to bumps when they arrive...no? just me then?!?

Obviously as a friend or sister you can't go through everything with them, it is their journey and it is happening to them, but we get all the fun bits and can make the journey a little more joyous and exciting.

That is why I love the idea of baby showers. A new concept to these shores but a fab gift from our friends over the pond.

And of course I jumped right in...no silly games though, we are all far too interested in cake to be bothered about games :)

This is the fat one...no this is Becky and she is positively blooming and nowhere near as fat as I was hoping thinking she would get ;)

We went with cute pink tea party and it was a big success. We had a fabulous time, cooing over baby clothes and little gifts, baby names and bump.

I love my friend and I was so happy that I could do this for her, and hopefully it will be something wonderful she can treasure. A very pretty and yummy step on this journey xxx

Happy Sunday xx

Hoppy Easter...

I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter and blessings have befallen you.

We have had a lovely time. Peaceful, loving and fun family time.

Flowers and cards x

Warm Carrot and Hazelnut cake x

Melting moments x

Little chef x

On the hunt...

Easter goodies x

Waiting for Easter feast x

Cakes x

Nom...

Nom, Nom...

And cute pup got his first(and much needed) bath with us.

Happy Easter everyone xxx

I Had a Plan...

Yes, indeed I did! I had a plan to plan a speggtacular Easter...

I have not fulfilled this plan. This plan did not come go to plan.

In fact it went the opposite. I have done practically nothing to make it wonderful, other than buy a daft amount of hollow chocolate eggs, eat a daft amount of hollow chocolate eggs and then replace said hollow chocolate eggs.

I am currently lay in bed trying not to nod off again today. I am hungover and I hate it.

You would think at 31 I would know that a few drinks by the chiminea on a lovely Spring evening is never a good idea.

Long story short?

The friend left after a couple of cocktails slurring her words insisting that she was leaving sober, the man spent most of the night hugging the toilet and whilst I was in charge of it, said chiminea crumbled! Other friend then says, "is that a mobile phone melting above the tea light?" Yes, yes it was. My mobile phone! 3 drinks people. 3!!!

NEVER AGAIN...NOPE! I MEAN IT!

I will have a one glass limit from now on!

Anyways, other than the disaster that was last night we have had a wonderful first half of the Easter break.

The kids have been busy enjoying all this glorious sunshine, the new pup Reggie has settled in wonderfully and I can't believe it has only been a week.

I have got lots of washing on the line and have read 3 chapters of my book. So all in all I think it has been very productive!

I haven't even been organised with photo taking so here is a random lot :)
Enjoy x

Easter Bonnet...bunny style.

Park fun x

More attempts at growing stuff. You never know we might actually get a strawberry and a tomato.

Green fingers crossed.

Today was a little productive. A carrot cake was baked, a chocolate bunny was prepared and some chocolate Easter nests were created by the bugs of the house, but all that can wait for now x

There are many more Easter type pictures and I do take them of the older bugs but they are not very active...ergo not that interesting in pics hehe!

Hope you are all having a great Easter Break.

Happy Saturday xx