Category: Views & Ramblings

1. What's In A Smile?

   Posted on 12:00pm Sunday 28th Oct 2018

   It can’t just be me, can it? When the weather gets cold, the evenings are shorter, and the mornings are dark, it sure can take the spring out of your step. I definitely feel it. You likely do, too. And for some folk, autumn and winter can be absolutely awful. With reduced sunlight, hectic school timetables, and all the additional monetary and social pressures of the festive season, these upcoming months can be darn difficult.

   

   Those who have it really rough may suffer from SAD, that is, Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yeah, it’s a real thing. If you’ve been feeling gloomy, find some peace of mind in the fact that you’re not alone right now. Us humans need all the good stuff you get from sunlight and fresh air – ie. Increased serotonin levels – to boost our moods. Without it, we can feel down in the dumps, tired, lethargic, even depressed.

   Now, there’s plenty of advice out there on the Internet for anyone who’s really struggles with this. I’m no professional. That said, do we actually need to be to help? As part of various communities, including blogging, social networks, actual work, towns, and social groups, we can each do our little bit to help people feel just a tad better.

   What your Nan always said was true all along: a smile can work wonders.

   Of course, we’re not talking fixing huge mental health epidemics here. Rather, offering a glance of appreciation, friendship, warmth, that could turn someone’s day around. It may be momentary, it might last merely seconds, but by offering your smile more often to more people, you could well be the highlight that gets some people through their day. If you’re struggling, someone being kind towards you is often enough.

   

   So many people struggle with a smile, whether it is because they don't feel comfortable expressing themselves like that or feel self conscious of their teeth. You don't even have to go to a dentists anymore as you can get a free dental consultation online. My husband hadn't been to the dentist for years but after ecouraging him to go back, he genuinely now smiles with confidence. I personally had my teeth whitened for our wedding, I didn't want to feel self conscious about my teeth and having the confidence to smile can be infectious.

   It sounds simple, but it’s oh-so hard. After all, we’re all busy people! Reading school letters at swimming lessons, not looking up from your printed memo as you walk through the office, zoning out while you take the Tube across the city. It’s so easy to be wrapped up in what we have to do, meeting demanding deadlines, attending activities and appointments, that we can forget to look up and truly take in what’s going on in the world around us.

   For others, and for yourself, let’s try to be mindful as we go about our day. Make the effort to turn that frown upside down and, who knows, smiling may just becoming a mood-enhancing habit.

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2. 21 Random acts of kindness for kids

   Posted on 10:00am Friday 26th Oct 2018

   No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted’ Aesop

   A random act of kindness is basically an act of kindness for no particular reason or reward. You can do these for people you do or don't know.

   

   It is a brilliant idea to involve children in random acts of kindness as it teaches them so much about giving and how absolutely wonderful giving is for both the giver and receiver.

   Here are lots of lovely ideas for random acts of kindness. Why not encourage your child to pick ones they would like to have a go at or help them come up with an idea of their own. Maybe this could be a Friday thing, a project for each day of the holidays or just, perhaps, an occasional activity for when the mood takes them:

   • Take flowers from your garden (or the shop!) to a local older person care home
   • Donate your pocket money to a charity
   • Feed the birds
   • Tell someone a joke
   • Say something lovely to your teacher
   • Ask your grown up if you can do some chores for them
   • Leave a book on a park bench with a note inside saying ‘Enjoy this book and once finished pls place it back on this bench’
   • Make your grown up breakfast in bed
   • Put enough money in a vending machine so they next person gets a freebie
   • Put together a little photo album for a relative
   • Smile and say good morning to someone new
   • Litter pick for 15 minutes in your local park
   • Read a story to someone
   • Offer to make everyone tea
   • Start a collection for your local food bank at school or on your street
   • Make a bookmark and leave it in a library book
   • Give someone (you know) a big hug
   • Paint rocks with kind messages and leave them hidden in your local park
   • Make a handmade gift for someone
   • Take some pet food to your local animal shelter
   • Run a second hand stall and donate the money to charity
   • Ask someone new to you if they want to play

   They could also keep a little journal documenting how their acts of kindness went if they wanted too to record their kindness journey.

   If you have any ideas of your own for random acts of kindness kids could do please leave them in the comments below so we can all learn from each other about the joy of giving.

   

   This is an extract from Create Your Own Happy – an interactive book filled with happiness boosting activities for kids age 7-12 written by Becky Goddard-Hill and Penny Alexander (Harper Collins, 2018)

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3. How to Make Your Garden Look More Colourful in The Autumn

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 20th Sep 2018

   As I look out of the window today, it just all feels a bit grey and the colder weather makes everything seem a little less brighter. Summer in the garden serves up a natural palette of bright and vibrant colours. Autumn has its own hues to offer, but they are much more muted.So, in order to inject your garden with a range of rich and interesting shades once the air turns colder and the nights close in, you have to get a little bit more creative.

   Whatever your favourite colours are, never fear, Sloane and Sons Garden Benches has a few interesting ideas up its sleeve to give you the tools to really brighten up your outdoor spaces this Autumn!

   1. Red 

   Red, and even brown, is certainly one of the colours you think of in conjunction with Autumn. So, naturally, there are many plants, shrubs and trees that will see your garden full of scarlets, burgundies and crimsons. Here are a few you might wish to try…

   Red Maple. This variety of maple is, as you may have guessed, at least partially red for the whole year. Although all maples produce red leaves at some point during the Autumn, this one is known for its abundantly red pigmentation. It is at its deepest red in mid-Autumn. If you plant a fresh one, you will be starting small, but when planning for it you might want to consider that some varieties can grow up to 50 feet tall!

   

   Holly. These bushes are prolific and do require regular pruning. However, the bright red berries are a dramatic splash of colour and can really lift your garden when they come through in the late Autumn.

   Tulips. They come in many colours, but the red variety has a similar hue to the poppy, and is quite the contrast to the more rustic red tones that occur in decaying foliage. 

   2. Orange and Yellow

   Orange is perhaps the most common pigmentation around at this time of year. However, there are ways you can inject even more of it, other than that which comes from the leaves, into your garden.

   Pumpkins. The bright orange of the pumpkin is a wonderful thing to see. Pumpkins, and other squash, also come in yellow, as well as a bunch of other colours. They grow very easily and to quite a large size. Plant a few of these and you could have a garden decoration that is not only your favourite hue but is edible as well!

   

   Rust. This depiction of decaying metal might well spell the end of the road for your old wheelbarrow, rake or garden chair. However, if preserved, your old rusting kit could become quite the injection of orange if you repurpose them as garden ornaments!

   3. Green

   Green, although it is not a classic colour for this season, is remarkably easy to get into the garden all year round. Evergreens, so called because they retain their pigment at all times, are brilliant additions to your plant collection. There are a lot of varieties to chose from, however, favourites include Daphne, Fatsia and Holly. 

   

   4. Blue and Purple

   These are harder to find in nature in the Autumn, but there are many ways to both blue and purple in if they are what you desire.

   Bulbs. There are a number of Autumnal and Wintery plants that you can put in at this time of year for blooms of this colour. Lavender is an excellent choice as it is not only a vibrant purple/blue colour, but its perfume is amazing, and it is an evergreen, so will produce flowers all year round. The Purple Emperor and many varieties of winter lily are also brilliant.

   

   Bird Food. It is always advisable to encourage wildlife into your garden, it aids both the life and the general quality of your gardens eco-system. Indeed, a tempting bird feeder might also bring a flurry of colour into the picture in the form of a brightly coloured bird, such as a Robin or the odd Blue Tit!

   5. White

   Other than the various plants you could grow in your garden (such as snowdrops and Nippon daisies) to bring the freshness of white into its palette, you might also take this opportunity to get some paint out! Autumn and Winter are darker months, so a bright white shed or fence will make a welcome addition to the place. Make sure you go about it the right way though, it is not as simple as just splashing a bit of paint directly on to the wood! As well as appearing to be uplifting and fresh, it will also help to extenuate the other colours around the garden.

   

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4. Eye-related cat injuries & how to spot them : The day the cat got conjunctivitis

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 29th Aug 2018

   Our cat may lack a tail following a childhood accident and likes to bring us unwanted presents on a regular basis, but she is our little bundle of joy and is part of the family. We don't often blog about our pets and trust me we have a few but like any member of the family, it is just as scary when she gets injured or sick, especially as cats often hide their injuries and attempt to deal with them on their own. According to pet specialists James Wellbeloved, there are a whole host of injuries that commonly afflict cats, from broken bones and insect stings to kidney failure and tooth disease. One of the most vulnerable areas to injury for any cat is their eyes. This is hardly surprising when you think about how often they run through bushes with sharp branches or stick their nose in a bed of thorny flowers to have a good smell.

   Our cat was recently diagnosed with conjunctivitis, which is the inflammation of the lining on and around the eye. The white of the eye turns red and is quite uncomfortable for your cat, so, even if they do their best to put on a brave face, you can usually tell something is wrong if they are winking, struggling to open an eye, or have discharge around the eye. You may also notice the eye begins to swell.

   

   Sometimes the cause is easy to spot, especially if it is by a foreign object or irritant still in the eye, or a particularly nasty puncture. However, some scratches can be too small to detect, and invisible bacteria or fungi are also to blame. If you can catch the problem early enough before it does further damage, your vet will probably treat the injury by washing the eye out with a clean solution and monitoring the healing process. Unfortunately, causes can also be viral and seemingly unrelated, including being a symptom of upper respiratory illness, so indoor cats are also at risk. For viral causes, your cat will need a course of antibiotics.

   

   Conjunctivitis is the most common eye injury in cats because it has so many differing causes. However, owners should also keep a look out for other frequently occurring eye injuries.

   * A cloudy, milky eye lens is a clear indicator of a cataract and causes impaired vision;

   * Excessive eye rubbing and squinting is a sign of pain and may mean your cat has glaucoma — a build up of pressure in the eye;

   * A nasty fall, bump or fight can even result in cats’ eyes protruding from the socket.

   Whatever the symptoms, eyes are delicate and need to be treated with care, so you should see your vet for the best advice for how to treat your cat.

   Just remember, like our children, we can’t always keep our cats from injuring themselves (as much as we would like to!). So, instead of wrapping them up in cotton wool all their life, make it a habit to keep a close watch on your cat, have regular bonding time, and always check their eyes for anything unusual.

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