LIFE: Small Things #12

With the clocks jumping an hour forward last Sunday here in the US, there's a extra sense of spring in the air. The days are getting warmer and longer, bulbs are popping up everywhere and more and more birds are chirping and fluttering in to garden for a nosy. Oncoming spring also means the arrival of annoying weather like three hour long thunderstorm early Wednesday morning, I always forgot how hideously loud the bangs and booms are in Michigan. 

The promise of spring has created a little bit of inner peace within myself. This week in particular I feel I might be getting somewhere with my stress and there's lots of plan making to be doing. 

So without further-ado, here's an assortment in no particular order (order being overrated) of random small, but happy things.

• Getting my Brit fix while popping to the store that has a decent British international section - this trip calling for Wetabix and salad cream. And no, sadly to everyone who thought I ate them together when I shared this on instagram, I don't. 
• Talking about British food, those scotch eggs from One Eyed Betty's.
• Finding Tubi TV on our Roku which has a sizable collection of British shows, even ones more recent then Netflix. Even better it's FREE!
• Said Tubi TV also has a couple of Transformer shows on which makes the OH happy.
• Speaking of TV, the second seasons of Happy Valley and Dinotrux popping up on Netflix - happy TV days indeed. 
• Reading - Midnight in Perking and The Other Daughter. 
• Starting out new tradition of (homemade) taco Tuesday, even making my own guacamole and taco sauce (playing with all the spices!!) for the first time. 
• Talking of spices, turning an old spice rack into a nail polish holder. Sometimes those Pinterest craft ideas actually work.
• Lots of spring bulbs popping up around my garden - tulips, daffodils and flowering crocuses. Especially excited for the bulbs showing in the two new flower beds I dug lining out front path last year. 
• Cuddles on the sofa with Joe and Eddy - purrs all round.
• Cats and paper bags, which are nearly as good as empty boxes. Also getting an empty box and now not being able to remove it from the living room because the cats love it.
• Onto god knows what week of using Daily Burns True Beginner workout (for everyone who has asked, I will be doing a review/round up once we finish this program) and getting a lot stronger. We started kickboxing which week and it's AWESOME!
• Also starting Pilates, which ached and killed me, but fun all the same. 
• Finishing my crochet wreath! 
• Ordering lots of seeds for the garden - herbs, flowers and even going to attempt to grow cacti!
• 1940's radio. I'm sick of constant Trump & US election talk on the radio, so I spend most mornings chilling out to the 1940's UK radio station, which suits me perfectly. 

And everything I came remember, and if you made it to the end of the list, well congrats to you!

What's been rocking your world?

Rachael

LIFE: TV Shows From My Childhood

There are some shows and most often their theme songs which take me right back to being a child. Being born in 1986, I remember most shows from early 1990's onwards. Admittedly I was always more of a fan of BBC children's show, for some reason they seemed to grip me more, and i guess even as a child, adverts annoyed me.

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Round The Twist

Now, I can still sing the Round The Twist theme song - I think most people who grew up watching this show probably can. Round The Twist followed the life and adventures of three kids in Australia who grew up in a lighthouse (wow) and their bizarre magical adventures. It was a show that was often recast between the series, and I admit I've never seen any of the "newer" series (3 and 4) that aired in 2000. 

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The Queens Nose

Based on the Dick King Smith (how I loved his books as a child) The Queen's Nose was one of my favourite, favourite shows on the BBC. Both follow the story of Harmony Parker who is given a 50 pence piece that can grant 7 wishes. Who of us didn't then wish for a magic 50p for ourselves and began rubbing all the ones we had?

The Demon Headmaster

Another book to TV adaptation by the BBC was The Demon Headmaster which started airing in 1996, which follows a show run and manipulated by a Headmaster.

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Byker Grove

Byker Byker Byker Grove ... yeah who doesn't remember that theme tune? Byker Grove is actually my first memory of hearing about Newcastle (rather than knowing family ties to the city - and then my determination later to move and study there - I even lived a street away from Byker itself although everyone knows the youth club wasn't filmed in Byker in real life). I remember that infamous episode of PJ going blind from the paint balling accident, Jemma being electrocuted (1994) and it's often marked as being one of the first to address issues of homosexuality and teen pregnancies to a younger audience.  

So those were my top four favorite kids TV shows going up, i'd love to hear what yours were!