Perfect day for a wedding...

 Ze is getrouwd

My sister the unconventionalist  that she is, wanted the small cosy intimate wedding day,with a chic knee length dress, with the summer flower bouquet. She's the cool calm and piano playing bride, that looks forward to thrills on the roller coaster with her new husband as well as the up-coming I do's.
November the 15th: A crisp sunny autumn Friday morning dawned. It was the day that many stressful days of cake baking, dress sewing and much convincing of the bride that, yes, kitten heels are better than flats had led too. Willemina had her morning activities in fully organised. Decorating the restaurant and assisting the chef with his culinary creations. All the while our cool bride was enjoying some yummy poffertjes with her family! One can only imagine the mixture of nerves,(mostly mum and dad) excitement and of course the healthy dose of chaos, mostly provided by the 8 year old. What wedding isn't complete with it's helpful minion or two!

  
Cultural difference
Wedding breakfast: Dutch poffertjes.
Small, yeasty pancakes cooked in a special frying pan.
served with  melted butter and sprinkled with icing sugar.
Just perfect!



There was much activity at the Bruno establishment, everyone had their part to play  to get this wonderful day started. Even for an understated wedding such as this there were many jobs to be done. Cars to dress, cakes to dress and pack away and the button holes to keep track off (proved a harder challenge than was anticipated). But everything was closely supervised by Oma de Vries, who much like the bride, is one who knows exactly what she wants and how you should do it. 

Before we all knew it the hour had struck the wedding was on!! The dress was on, the shoes where on, (oh the beautiful beautiful shoes.... I digress) the bouquet in hand  and a smile that would light up the entire room. The bride with the tiniest hint of nerves mixed with a plentiful amount of excitement. She was ready to meet the groom.(luckiest man alive to have such a beautiful bride) 







 

Cultural difference: In the the Netherlands the bride is picked up by the groom and they come together to the wedding venue.








For the understated and simply elegant bride who's marrying the simple creature(as he calls himself). the wedding transport was far from it. Beautiful none the less, and lovingly provided by the groom's father. 

Lani just looked gorgeous and suited to it! Not forgetting Mick's outstanding chivalry.

Just a few of the pre-ceremony photo's and yes Mick, the pretty girl next too you is all yours.

OOTD: Wedding dress made and designed by Hannelore Cossins. 
Shoe's fromEbay. 
Bouquet: Flowers bought on the internet, arranged by Hannelore Cossins.


 








 Bride and groom looking amazing against there autumnal backdrop.(Nature trash)   


The Ceremony was simply beautiful (going along with the theme) and the couple.
Its was conducted my Willem de Rode, Retired Air traffic controller, now a registrar. He enjoys marrying beautiful young couples. (Just as well really, isn't it).  


It was translated from Dutch to English for all in attendance to understand. All were welcomed and to be honest it really was very humorous, with every pet mentioned and how Mick got sick as soon as he visited Wales....
Once the formalities where over and the couple signed their lives away... I mean got married and made it legal, it was on with the party and the much awaited cake.

 

 

Now let me talk you through this previously mentioned cake.
The culinary creation, all four layers. The top one is the story of how
the couple met whilst snow boarding. A yeti disguised as a tree leaped out and chased them, and swept Lani into Mick's arms. They snow boarded as fast as they dared to out run this yeti, but it was no good the yeti had disposed of his disguise and was gaining on the couple. There was only thing for it. Mick had to unload his beloved coke cans and throw them at the yeti to try and trip him up. Eventually one hit him in that face and he fell in a massive pile of snow. And Mick saved the day! He had then  to do the decent thing and marry the girl or something like that!! 

Wedding cake Credentials: top layer black forest gateau with white chocolate ganache, cut to make a ski slope, layer below vanilla sponge with white chocolate ganache and then two layer of fruit cake soaked in plenty of booze with a  layer of apricot jam and a marzipan and a royal white icing. Made and designed by Ben Cossins.

 Here's the newly weds cutting the cake with chef watching on eagerly! I love how this photo  has really captured the mood of this special moment! 











And so this almost concludes this exciting blog post. But not completely.
My sister Lani, asked me not too do any speeches at the wedding and to 
be honest  the glass of sparkling wine I had drank caught the express train to my head. I thought that it be best to sit down and save my speech for a clearer head. 



So Mick and Lani this is for you. 


 I'm really happy for you two..that you both found someone that will make each other smile each day. I wish you every happiness, I hope that you will find happiness in the little things as easily as the big things and that you will  laugh more than you cry. I hope that you have many adventures together and that you look after each other and make lots of memories to enjoy when your grey and old.

We are all travelling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do out best and relish this remarkable ride. 
Peace out, enjoy life and live the adventure.
(And long live Bozo)

A massive Thank you to Willemina and Humphrey, Peter and Hannelore, Ben for all their hard work, to make Lani's day perfect,xx

To Save a mocking bird!

Welcome back to my blog.

Today's blog post in all about saving lives. I have started a journey to become a fully trained
Community responder, which is just as daunting as it sounds. Responding to 999 calls from ambulance control day or night, come rain or shine. But the rewards of saving some-ones life will dramatically outweigh the down side.This is something I've wanted to do for years. As helping others in a less fortunate position to me is one of very few qualities has come very naturally to me.

My love of helping people started at a very young age or so my mum tells me. But one instance really stuck out in my head. And I think this is what made me want to be an emergency responder. one evening in 2006 I was returning from college and it was dark cold and rainy, typical winter weather.
I was sat behing the driver. we where on a narrow bendy main road. as we approached a narrow bridge there was a car stopped at a very strange angle almost as though the driver had just stopped
as he was going around the corner, Something told me that this situation wasn't right. As the bus driver slowly inched it's way past the car the driver was totally slumped over the steering wheel. I called out the the driver which stopped I ran over the the car. the driver was in and out of conciousness and totally incoherent.I asked the guy if he had any chest pains or if he had hit his head. he mumbled a very incomprehensible answer. I took no chances and called the ambulance for him. This later on was to be the right thing to do as I had saved that poor fella's life. As I took some satisfaction in knowing that I had made a difference a little bit of me was always left thinking, I wish I could have done more, This incident has stayed with me all this time and will do so. It's carried me though to all sorts to working in the care home where I also restarted a residence heart, and all the way to what I'm about to Emabark on.

So you might be wondering where I am going with this? Well I would like to invite all my readers to
come along on my journey from first aider to fully fledged community responder. I will regularly blog and update on my progress. If you are interested in also training as a community responder or would like more information click here!

another link for more interesting reading.
Thank you and I hope that in a small or a big way this might inspire someone somewhere to take any course and make a massive difference to someone else's life. After all there is more in giving than there is receiving! take care and peace out!

Never a posh shoe for a horsey person.

This post is for one of my dearest and closets friends Jessica. she has been there for me through everything and vis versa. She one in a Million.

I thoroughly enjoyed my 20 odd years of friendship. Yesterday I had a brilliant day, one of those days you will talk about when your grey and old and using walking sticks.

I was very kindly Invited to help steward at the Cardigan Bay Riding club Annual summer show!

For as long as I can remember I have always had something to do with horses even without a equine background or  horse addicted parents. I have been out there riding, grooming or mucking out in all weathers. This all came about because I adopted a new family. And this family happened to be the lucky Muir's or More Importantly Jessica!!
Jess has always let me ride with her and we have had many fantastic adventures on her horses.my earliest Memory was riding her Massive bay horse *Rufus up and down the barn with just a rug and head collar and lead rope. (To be honest I think that's how we always rode!!) But it was through Jess that I fell in love with horses! I went from Riding her Mums Donkey Katey who would walk happliy and then stop dead in the middle of the feild and no amount of kicking nudging or bribing would make her move forward so your ride was usually cute very short. Then I went on to ride her dear Pony *Midge he was awesome little fela. he managed to slide me off and escape this was when I started stunt riding. But it was Nothing but all good fun. through the years I learnt not to be afraid of horses and how to handle them properly.what not to do with horses. via some very painful lessons. And a stern word from mother Muir. (ekk) But through the years I done more and more. Even ending in Equine college doing horse management. And getting a job in a equine re rehabilitation centre. (a story for another post)

I don't think I would have had the oppitunites that I have had if it wasn't for Jessica and her family! and Yesterday helping them run the show, was My small way to give something back after all they have given to me!! So I would like to say a big thanks to, CBRC (Cardigan bay riding club) Moody cow Catering for the yummy Burger. (Yes I do eat!!), To Mitch who put up the jumps and who stood in the rain all day! and The biggest thank you too Jessica for everything. here's some photo's of me doing things.

 Llanechaeron house. was our Beautiful back-drop!

                                                supervising the Men!!






Putting the jumps away a real life game of tetras.

Don't judge a giraffe by it's pattern

This blog post was sparked by some comments  on a particular video I saw on youtube.As a subject close to my heart. I wanted to write this post to help people try and Understand the difference between being skinny and anorexic. As I don't know this girl on youtube, I can't personally defend her and I don't know her story! So I'm going to help you all to understand through my story!

Way back In the 1988 I was Born a happy healthy-ish baby, but judging by my dads hair or lack of not all was good and rosy for long. Almost from the day go, food was a battle for me. after spending months in hospital, I was soon nicknamed the Anorexic baby! Eating and keeping food down was a daily struggle for me and my parents. After some time the doctors  told my mum and dad that unless I started eating properly soon, I would die and that they should take me home and enjoy what time I had left!I can't Imagine how heart breaking that must have been for them. My parents took me over to the Netherlands, I think to say good bye to my Dutch family! Little did they know that this was when I would start eating! And I ate a-lot my mum said,she brought me back to Wales, had me weighed, and I hadn't put on a gram! Needless to say mum wasn't Impressed. But I was on a slow road to recovery and I wasn't going to die. So smiles all round.

From that day on, I struggled with food, never eating enough food. always trying to avoid food one way of another. I'm not sure why? But after a few years of me not eating and being a general pain in the butt, for my mum and dad, they had me referred me to a dietitian, I was dragged of to this one and that one , but me being me a stubborn pain never took the supplements they gave me or my peanut oil the all tasted odd, I was convinced, I would be sick if I had taken them. I now wish I had and I would have put weight on. (hindsight a wonderful thing) The struggle continued all the way through school. I wasn't worried about putting on weight at all that never really concerned me. I failed to ever maintain much weight and remained a skinny child and teenager. I just hated feeling full, so I'd eat as little as possible. If I had food left over, Id either throw it away when no one was looking, or Id hide it so as not to finish it. I think my brain confused feeling full or satisfied with, your going to throw up and so I'd rarely finish meals . . I'm no psychologist, but this is the only reason I can think of why I wouldn't eat properly.

I've Inserted a photo below, this was me about four year ago, so I was just 20 and I believe this was me at my skinniest!

Your probably wondering how my story has anything to do with the video I linked above?

Well during my child-hood and now into my adult life. I've had my fair share of criticism
and comments about my weight and appearance, some from well meaning relatives who where showing genuine concern and some where flippant comments from random members of the public.
these how ever they are said where untrue and hurtful. My mum and dad where obviously concerned for my well being and would encourage me to eat, This now that I'm older I'm extremely grateful for.

But the other comments I had from people I shall list but a few below really did upset me.
Stay with me a week we'll fatten you up you don't look like you've eaten a proper meal in your life
go eat a sandwich look at you your stick thin.
push you over you'd snap what you live on celery?
you'll wash away down a plug whole one of these days,
And here comes the cracker. this was from a lady in a changing rooms of a well known clothes shop
'' you want a smaller size - you are disgustingly thin. look at you. you should be ashamed to come out in public  you put people of there shopping''
this really upset me. (I can only assumed she didn't reach her target at weight watchers that week.)
I have been held back from activities at college  because I wasn't deemed strong enough to fulfil the tasks. ( I was at Equine college carrying twice the amount of feed on my shoulders than the other students but what ever!!)

I have even been threatened with my job as my boss was convinced that I was anorexia.  thanks for that assumption! well done. and forced me to eat infront of other members of staff of I'd get the sack! not sure how he'd work that in a work tribunal but there we go!

The point is that the term of the illness Anorexia is such a big label to stick on someone, Anorexia or Bulimia is and eating disorder as well as an mental illness. And those suffering with such affliction should be treated with the utmost respect and tenderness, as it's at such a time when they are as there most vulnerable and most self conscious.

So then to Label someone so quickly with the term anorexic just because they appear under weight, does not then mean that they are. And that poeple should be free of such prejudice. Just as much as some-one who is over weight, should just go on a diet. There is no quick fix solution to these issues. That person you may make a comment to, may well already be feeling extreamly self conscous and have low self asteem, there is enough in the world to bring us down we shouldn't then go out to pick wholes in our fellow human beings. encourage each other to enjoy the bodies we have been give and to cherish it and look after it.

Thank you for reading this.

To Olivia. If you are reading this, Girl, you are gorgeous and beautiful. You had guts to get up on camera and make that video. I did one and deleted it, because of all the hate, I would get now that you have done it, I will upload mine very soon .thank you for the Inspiration.x

Undress your skin foundation review.

Undress your skin Illuminating foundation.

I have tried many many foundations, mostly highstreet brands.such as Rimmel wake me up foundation and Rimmel colour match foundation also Bourjois healthy mix foundation in 52 this so far has been my favourite. My only hang up so far that how quickly I was using the product and the price. Admittedly they aren't as expensive as some high end products, but when you are on a very tight budget it's expensive enough,

The Undress your skin foundation has brilliant pigmentation and blends well into the skin. A little product can go a long way. the consistency is a little to runny in my opinion, I guess if I was using a beauty blender or foundation buffing brush, the consistency  wouldn't matter as much, but using my fingers I have to work quickly and make sure I blend it in really well to avoid streaks.

I also like the fact that, it has come in a light enough shade, that blends into my ghost like complexion, 

overall staying power. very good, it lasts all day. if accompanied with the pro base fixing mist, you are guaranteed your make up to stay all-day long.

 The packaging is brilliant, if you have come to the end and can no longer squeeze any more product out then you can simply cut the top of the tube and scoop out any remaining product, there fore none gets wasted, which was always a bug bear of mine with Rimmel foundations, that they where packaged in glass bottles. 

so overall I'm very happy with this product, and will defiantly be repurchasing it again.
Undress me Illuminating foundation retails at £3.00 from the any superdrug store or on the MUA website, http://www.muastore.co.uk/index.php/undress-your-skin-illuminating-foundation  
  

Workers or Shirkers?

 


As we all know we are living in trying times, money is tight we are all having to tighten our belts and save as much as we can wherever we can.  We are working harder for longer, as our pensions are decreasing all the time. We are all living longer.  We may feel that we are all being unfairly taxed and that we aren't getting back what we pay for.  Some think that there are a lot of people out there that should be working but aren't!

The benefit claimer?  Like it or loath it many suspect that a lot of our hard-earned cash goes to "can't work won't work" members of society! 

But think on this:  regularly we see on the news about companies going into administration, sometimes at the cost of hundreds, or even thousands, of jobs.  I imagine some of these people have been working for these companies for many many years, never missing a day's work and are suddenly finding themselves in the Jobcentre, along with their similarly long-serving colleagues.  This is a completely new environment to them, where they are suddenly slapped with the stigma of "Benefit Claimant". This must be heart breaking to (i) find your self in the predicament in the first place and (ii) to be so harshly judged. Try looking at it from their perspective.

Figures out from the Office of National Statistics in April 2012 detail 9.27million economically inactive people.   Does this though mean that everyone of those 9.27million have specifically chosen to not look for work and decided to live the benefit career.  Or among that figure are there the sick, disabled, young (school and university leavers), single parents, or the widowed, who have for whatever reason have be unable to get into work.  We shouldn't cast judgement on those who are claiming Benefits as we don't fully know their situation.  And we should accord them respect as fully valued members of society, not second-class citizens.

I'm sure that there is a individuals within the figure that perhaps aren't doing all they can to look
for work, but it's unfair to brand everyone with that judgement.  I know many people that are desperate for work.  I have been in that position and, on one occasion, jumped at the chance to disinfect lorries to earn money rather than live on Benefits.

Living off benefits can be soul destroying all on its own.  But when you are in that situation, have to visit the Jobcentre to sign on and you get smarmy comments from the staff, who I'm afraid do
look down on you as they have the job and you don't, coming out with phrases such as (and I quote) 'have you bothered to look for work this time', 'well you can't be that poor if you look that smart' and don't think this is a threat but as soon as you're better there are jobs out there - go get one or things will get uncomfortable for you' - some among many hurtful and unnecessary comments that I have had from Jobcentre staff.  Some seem to feel they have the Power of God, but it would be brilliant if they would just do their own jobs with appropriate courtesy! It has to be said that there are honourable exceptions to this observation.

But when you are genuinely sick and start getting letters threatening benefit cuts?  No ifs, no buts?  Surely the very reason you can't get out for work may also make it difficult to attend such appointments?  To then to be interrogated on every aspect of your condition? - this shows up more about The System than the attitude of those claiming the benefits

So next time you see that mum at the checkout carefully counting her change or the queue outside the Jobcentre, don't be too quick to judge.  We are all in uncertain times and you may just one day find yourself in the exact same place.  Treat others as you would like to be treated.

UK Top 40???

Who Are You Kidding?!

So I think we can all agree that over the past few hundred years our music has changed,
our tastes have changed and life events have influenced and inspired us to create music,
whether this is to express are views on issues such as poverty, (Plan B Ill Manors), highlighting poverty or discrimination again social classes.

All through time our opinions on life, society and relationships with people, drugs, alcohol
and sex, have been influenced by someone sitting down like I am today and putting lyrics to paper  and lyrics to music.

Some genres of music have been cast to certain types of society, For instance; classical orchestral music is by some people considered to be reserved to the high class citizens among us, the Oxford graduates, the stately home owners who have spent many a year acquiring a taste for the
sounds of the oboe and so forth.
This is not true, as classical music is slowly being incorporated into the hip hop scene, which is brilliant in my opinion, as two musical genres are coming together to create some hard hitting tracks, (Doc brown - Nothing to lose), for example, was written five years ago and in the background, you'll hear Vivaldi four seasons - winter. The reason I have chosen this song is because I believe it shows that the two genres can work together, it breaks the stereotype that is so often placed on the hip hop scene and opens the way for other artists to experiment. The other example I want to include here is Professor Green - Astronaut. This is an extremely heart felt track about rape and heroin addiction, the base for this song was a piece called Berlin Song by Ludovicio Einaudi, this piece brings home the emotion behind Professor Green's story on this particular track. Just another example of how classical music is being incorporated into the hip hop scene.  .

This leads me on to the common perception of 'urban music' (by that I mean HipHop, RnB, Rap etc) where many people believe it is derogative to women and boastful of drugs, alcohol and violence. 

Some of it is.

But not all of it! Like the saying goes: the minority spoil it for the majority!!! 
There are some really, really good artists out there who take a step back from the world around them and see what's going on and how it might be affecting them, and other people, and this then in turn inspires them to get writing. These artists are seeing the bigger picture, and are putting the word out there. Rap isn't all about guns, hoes and drive bys as a lot of people think it is. That is the stereotype, and a common misconception. For example  (Genesis Elijah  my truth), is a track about how the commercialised version of hip hop is unreal. He talks about not 'repping a gang that I was never in' which refers to the constant glamourisation of gang life in the hiphop scene and the fact that most of theses artists have never been in a gang anyway. His line 'Never been dumb, the music always had a message in' is another example of how some artists are willing to "sell out" to make money in the industry, yet he always remains dedicated to putting a message out there through his music. Many hiphop artists are perceived to be unintelligent 'yobs' and yet some of these artists are some of the most intelligent people you'd ever meet. He proves this point, with his track Bellyfull that was performed at the Occupy London demonstration at St Pauls Cathedral, London. It was taken from the EP 'Civil Unrest'  which is a politically minded collection of tracks, blowing the theory that rappers are all uneducated out of the water, and supports my point that not all rap is about guns, hoes and drive bys! The lyrics were very well thought out and put together and voiced a lot of our feelings and anger towards the economy in a very intelligent way, Something a few Politicians could learn from.

I think that hip hop has an unnecessarily bad reputation for its content. I agree that some hiphop (mainly the commercialised side) can be exactly the stereotype, but with artists such as Genesis Elijah, Jack Flash, Professor Green and Lowkey in the genre, it should be clear to see that some of these stereotypes are so incredibly wrong. There are artists out there who have a message to deliver to the rest of us, they have a meaning behind each and every track (just youtube any of those names and select any song you wish, my point will be proven) and its artists like these who are being underrated in the industry, while there are songs in the "Top 40" that have no message at all, no real meaning, just a club beat with some incredibly cheap lyrics thrown over the top, and a sexed up video to accompany. For example Amelia Lily - Shut Up (And Give Me What You Got). While this song is being played over our airways repeatedly on a day to day basis, no one has picked up on the lyrics. In hiphop when a song is 'degrading' to a woman, everyone complains about it, yet this track is suggesting the 'misuse and abuse' of men and no one batters an eyelid. This song has made it into the mainstream, while tracks like Jack Flash - There No More, and Lowkey - Bars For My Brother which are about real life topics, that people REALLY have to deal with, are left on the shelf. Where is pop's bad rep? Why does hiphop bear the brunt of all the negatives in the music industry when its the industry's fault that the real artists aren't getting heard. Our radio waves are full of generic pop beats with terrible lyrics and negative underlying messages with no musical talent involved. It just seems to me that the real musicians (be it lyrical or instrumental) don't get the recognition they deserve, while the likes of Amelia Lily, Cheryl Cole, One Direction and ESPECIALLY Psy (Gangnam Style) are murdering our ears with mindless nonsense about this girl or that guy and not having much to say. the real story tellers are not being heard!!!

It's because of these ridiculous double standards with today's music industry and on the radio that are making me want to boycott the radio until they start playing music that means something.