I just like to make an entrance.... the falls and mishaps of a blonde.

It is a known fact among my family and friends that I have an amazing inability to remain upright, and no I don’t drink alcohol at all. My tendency to fall over makes me wonder if I am channelling the spirits of Laurel and Hardy or whether I am just clumsy.

Before this weekend (more of that later), my most spectacular fall was at the 2016 orthodontic show at the Excel Centre in London. I was walking towards a stand to speak to some guys I knew through work and I totally overlooked the edge of the stand. To be fair it was neither low nor high so not totally my stupidity; one minute I was walking and the next I  found myself face down on the carpet having totally misjudged my step. I do have to admit that I went down with a terrible bang and everyone on the stand rushed over to see if I was ok. As I got up I was asked if I was hurt and, in typical Sara style, replied “I just like to make an entrance.”  To be honest I was totally fine apart from a small bruise on my arm. My ego, mind you, was rather dented.

Another memorable moment occurred coming into the concourse of Guildford railway station after work one day. As always work had over run and I was hurrying so I didn’t miss the train. To save time I pulled my ticket holder out of my bag as I walked in and unwittingly pulled out an individually wrapped tampon at the same time. It flew in a dramatic yet graceful arc across the concourse to land at the feet of a group of young men. I swooped down, picked it up while muttering “excuse me”, and scuttled off to the platform to hide on the train. (Stop laughing!)

Of course Guildford station was also the scene of my trip and run incident on the dodgy paving slabs. Every day I would walk out the station past the men waiting with the minibuses to take people to the big firms on the industrial estate. One day, and I can only blame the dodgy paving slabs for this, I tripped. I did that thing that comedians joke about where you trip and then run to disguise it. The only difference being that I had no choice, the momentum of the trip made me run a few steps.  One of the men did ask if I was ok so my reply was “I just like to be entertaining”.

Yes, we are seeing a pattern emerge. I do something stupid and disguise it with a supposedly humorous quip. It is better than going into a state of total embarrassment and crying or spontaneously combusting or whatever reaction other people have.

Anyway, back to my inability to stay upright. I have slipped over in a shop on carpet with absolutely nothing to fall on. This is a feat that Harold Lloyd would have had to practice for hours to perfect.....I really should have been a star of the silent screen.

There have been at least three times I can think of that I have fallen over in the street for no discernable reason. No ice, no snow, no rain or trip hazards, just me ending up far more horizontally than I would have chosen in an outdoor setting. Though I have skidded on ice and fallen on it too, but that goes without saying I suppose.

Ironically I managed seven weeks on crutches and special shoes after a double foot operation last year and I didn’t fall or slide or trip once. It has been suggested to me that may have been because I was not charging around like the proverbial bull in a china shop at warp speed, but I am not so sure.

Now a long time ago I used to be a waitress and never dropped a thing. However, things just leap out my hands at the drop of a hat these days. So far I have been lucky on the occasions that I have to carry a loaded tea tray into the boss and his visitors at work. So far I managed not to trip over and throw a tea tray full of coffee, sugar, milk and biscuits over any of the distinguished people that have come for meetings, but I do have rather a look of Mrs Overall about me when I carry a tea tray.

My luck has not been so good in Cafe Nero. A couple of years back I carried a latte on a tray upstairs at Nero’s and, as I went to put it on a low table my bag swung, knocked the cup and it went flying. This somehow resulted in a large amount of coffee spilling down INSIDE my boot. What are the odds? I was lucky that they cleaned it up and gave me another one, but I am not sure they really believe I won’t do it again. I would like to blame the low table, gravity and the shape of the latte mug, but there is probably no point, we all know why it happened.

People have laughed at my fear of going on the down escalators but stop and think for a minute...... what could go wrong? A woman who has a history of falling over and about as much grace as a Meccano giraffe going on a fast moving electrical staircase travelling downwards. I think that’s an episode of Casualty right there.

Of course I started my career as a potential stunt girl at a very young age. When I was just under a year old I escaped and was seen walking off the top stair straight into the air like a cartoon character. As in every good cartoon, I didn’t walk in the air, I fell. I had no injuries and was fine...... and no, I didn’t bang my head. J

Something I manage to do occasionally is to hit myself in the face; yes, truly ridiculous. This has happened with a coat hanger on several occasions and I am really not sure how. I have also managed it just with my hand too. I think it comes from rushing around and doing too many things at once rather than being a total fool. Sheer carelessness is as good a reason as any for forgetting cupboard doors have been left open and walking into them. This is a classic Sara cooking scenario and I should just close the doors.

Back to specific incidents, I have had a few moments worthy of a comedy sketch.  The curtain in my bedroom used to be on a tension rod and this is why it was a bad idea. Picture a hot night, sleeping naked and I wake up to a wasp the size of an obese hornet dive bombing me. Why do they do that? I jumped out of bed, grabbed my fly swat and went in hot pursuit round the bedroom. It ended up, after many attempts to escape, sitting on the curtain. Forgetting the fragility of my window dressing I swatted the wasp. The curtain, attached to the tension rod, came crashing down leaving me totally naked in front of the window. The result of this fiasco was that the wasp finally went out of the window and I dived for my dressing gown hoping that I had not scared too many of my neighbours. It was early so I like to think there were no witnesses and my curtain is now up on a proper curtain rod. 

An incident that could only have been choreographed by Norman Wisdom was the day the tomatoes made a bid for freedom. I am making a salad so have got out all the salad veg, the chopping board and salad bowl. As I pull open the drawer to get a knife I catch the punnet of baby tomatoes with my arm. The tomatoes scatter across the floor and, as I bend down to pick up the tomatoes I crack my head on the cutlery drawer which, of course, is still open. I did clear everything up and I did get my salad, but how funny it would have been to watch and what a typical silent movie slapstick scene.

I have decorated a lot in the past which clearly couldn't go without incident. Trying to paint the hall, stairs and landing with a long handled brush, standing on a slippery plastic dust sheet....... well it is a miracle I am in one piece. The rickety old wooden step ladder I used to use to decorate finally managed to get it's revenge when I was painting a ceiling in my old house. One minute I was painting the ceiling, the next I was falling ( I can see a pattern here.)  Luckily I only had a small container of paint so the disaster of the  incident was not as monumental as it could have been. All I will say is that there was paint to clear up, yes I had a bruise and yes the ladder was replaced.

Now last weekend I managed to have a proper accident. The lovely man in my life was trying to teach me to ride a bike and for my first time I think I did well. I was staying upright (miracle) and cycling. I was doing well until I somehow managed to cycle into a fence, bend my arm back behind me and go into shock. Luckily I only seem to have hurt the muscles in my arm and I have quite a few grazes and bruises. I was well looked after as I really had gone into shock. (My body does seem to like extreme reactions.) It is a mystery how I crashed into the fence because I was cycling, looking ahead and going in a straight line before veering off into a fence for no reason known to me or anyone else for that matter.

It is amazing how people react when they see you have an accident. With the bike accident my lovely man was amazing, however, not everyone is.  I have had people rush to help, I have had people laugh and people totally ignore the fact that I have fallen. For example, I have slipped on the concrete steps at the station and only stopped a major fall by grabbing the banister. Of all the people going up and down those stairs, only one person asked if I was ok.

Clearly I know that I need to be more careful but I still do silly things. My desk at work is quite large and I am quite short, so to reach something at the back, I need to stand up. However, on a daily basis I try to reach too far and my chair starts to slip (yes it’s on an anti slip mat). I actually suggested to my boss that he might want to put a camera in my office as he could make £250 on You’ve Been Framed when I actually slip off my chair. Alternatively I could be sensible, but is that really going to happen? 

I am sure I will think of other examples of Sara slapstick as soon as I have posted this piece but maybe my mind has blocked them out due to the level of embarrassment. My family and friends will probably remind me of incidents that I have totally forgotten, but I think you get the picture; basically I really do need to be more careful.

 

Surely I can't fall over in here?

The secret inner contents of a woman's bag.

A women’s handbag is a private and mysterious world where everything is personal and important to the owner of the bag. It is a place where no man dares to go.

I thought today, however, that I would share the inner most secret contents of my handbag. Now to be honest mine is not the most interesting or exciting bag, the contents are more practical. In contrast I will also show you the undiscovered delights which lurk in my daughter-in-law’s handbag. Gillian has a fascinating selection of things that she feels are essential to carry around with her.

Now I will say that my bag is organised, I change it a few times a week to co-ordinate with my outfits and clear it out whenever I change it. Yes, sad, I know. Receipts either need to be filed for checking against my bank account, kept as I paid in cash and they may be needed, or cash and they won’t be needed. (They go straight in the recycling bin.) I also clear my Filofax out a couple of times a week as there is no point having an organisation system that is in a state of disorganisation.

The 3 main bags I am using for work are 3 satchels that I got this year. One was given to me, one was from a charity shop and one was a bargain in the sales. I do have other lovely bags but they are my main ones for right now.

The contents of my bag on the day I wrote this are as follows:

·         My ochre Malden Filofax;  which also contains propelling and ordinary pencils, a selection of post it notes, a photo of my lovely children, a Donor card, my blog cards, Philofaxy blog cards and chameleon Upholstery cards.

·         My navy blue spotty Paperchase pencil case; which also contains spare propelling pencil leads, a pencil sharpener, my favourite pen, and my Welsh pen.

·         My sunglass case; which contains my prescription sunglasses, a glasses cleaning cloth and a mini cleaning spray.

·         My blue M2 Filofax wallet; this contains my shopping list, mini pen, reward cards, bank cards and paper money ( if I am really lucky).

·         My pink unicorn coin purse; this contains my loose change.

·         My phone.

·         Home keys and work keys.

·         Tissues.

·         A make up bag; which contains lip gloss, comb, mirror, floss and eye drops.

·         I also carry migraine tablets, anti car sickness tablets and an asthma inhaler.

·         I always carry a mini spray deodorant and a Charlie Pink spray too.

                                                   

I do also carry an extra little bag on work days containing an Eco water bottle, an Eco coffee cup for takeaway coffee, an umbrella and my lunch. I also always carry a fold up shopping bag at all times.

Now my daughter-in-law carries a far more interesting array of belongings with her than me and has been known in the past to pull some weird and wonderful things out of her bag. Examples are: a potato, clothes pegs, spare clean socks and a tin of tuna.

When I took the photographs for this piece Gillian had in fact two bags. One was a handbag and the other an over spill

bag. I have, therefore, split the lists into two. The photos are just a mixture of the contents of both bags.

Gillian’s main bag contains: ( In the order they came out)

·         A purse.

·         A hairbrush.

·         Glasses.

·         Sunglasses.

·         Make up dregs and new makeup.

·         Ibuprofen and paracetamol.

·         Rescue remedy.

·         Adrian Mole the Wilderness Years cassette 1.

·         A loose 50p.

·         Pellegere Woods hand book

·         Answers to Welsh language test.

·         A pen.

·         Adrian Mole The cappuccino Years cassette 1.

·         2 sets of headphones.

·         Half a phone charger.

·         6 hairgrips.

·         Antihistamines. 

·         Tissues.

·         Receipts.

·         2 random keys of unknown origin.

·         A deodorant.

·         A loose 2p.

Gillian’s overspill bag contains: ( In the order they came out)

·         Glasses case.

·         Beetroot seeds.

·         Squash sees.

·         Spring onion seeds.

·         2 notebooks.

·         Phone case.

·         Moisturiser – expired.

·         2 hairclips.

·         Five Get into Trouble cassette

·         Pine nuts and pumpkin seeds snack.

·         Five Go Adventuring Again cassette.... unravelled.

·         Third Year at Mallory Towers cassette.

·         Pair of clean socks.

·         Five Go off in a Caravan cassette 2.

·         Perfume.

·         4 2^nd class stamps.

·         Glasses.

·         AAA battery.

Gill's purse ....probably full of receipts?

I do believe that Gillian's bag, though slightly disorganised in approach, does show a sense of being ready for anything and also a fun side too. All the various cassettes to listen to in the car are fabulous.

My bag is structured and organised but does not show my fun side. I think this is because I do like to be ultra organised and it is important to me to be able to access what I need when I am out.

ISSUES WITH EMAIL UPDATES

Hi lovely people. If anyone has signed up for the email notifications and not received them for the last two posts, can you please let me know at

saraorange69@gmail.com 

Thank you. xxx

Sara’s Philosophy on Life

While reading the fabulous book, “12 Rules for Life” by Jordan Petersen, I started thinking about my own “rules for life”. Do I have a set of ideals that I live by? Do I have a kind of philosophy that I aspire to? Well yes, I do.

Some of the way I live my life is based around positivity, confidence and kindness and some around self –preservation. I believe self –preservation is important and not nearly as narcissistic as it sounds. You cannot be any good to anyone else if you don’t look after yourself.

If I summed up my way of life in short paragraphs it would look like this:

·         Walk with confidence. The old adage of walking into a room like you own it serves me well. If I feel and look confident I will come across better. I urge people to try this because, even if you are having a bad day, it can lift your mood. I have also taken on board Jordan Petersen’s “stand up straight with your shoulders back”. This instils a sense of purpose to your stance and, again makes you look more confident. ( Ladies, a little tip, it also makes your boobs look better J)

·         Smile at as many people as possible, you will feel so much better and so will they. You never know, you may be the only person who has smiled at them today; you may actually make their day. If nothing else it just makes the world a happier place.

·         Take time to do something for someone else, it really will make you feel good. This is not a myth, it is a fact and I am speaking from experience. No one wants to be that selfish, bitter person who is totally self-centred and thoughtless. There are many of them about; I have come across a lot in my life.

·         Take time for yourself. This is not selfish, it is just essential. Self-preservation is important. If you are falling apart you will not be able to help anyone else.

·         Look after your health as much as you can. I know it does not stop you getting ill, but just do what you can to help yourself.

·         Make every second count. If you are resting then that is essential so still counts. Don’t look back in twenty years and realise you attached yourself to the sofa and did nothing.... you will regret it. If you want to go on a big adventure then do it but even the small things are worth doing.

·         If you have something you don’t want try giving it away to someone who needs it or giving it to charity. Giving rather than selling something feels so much better and it is a good way of recycling too. In my past I have had others help me when I really needed something and I have also done the same. When I downsized three years ago I gave away so much stuff that I didn’t need. It felt fantastic every time someone took something away that they needed.

·         Never give up! However low you feel keep trying, keep pushing and always try really hard to get on with life. I know this is not possible for everyone, but at least try. If you know you gave it a go then, however small the achievement, you will feel better about it.

·         Talk to someone if you are not feeling your best, never isolate yourself even if it is the only thing you really want to do. Pick up the phone and call or message someone. It helps and you will be surprised how many good people are out there

·         Be passionate about people, life and whatever makes you smile.

·         A strange one but something I do..... Always check out the room. I like to know where I am, get my bearings, and see who is there and what is going on. This is also helpful with people watching.

·         Be the best person you can possibly be, the very best version of you. Never be a clone, you are not someone else; you are a unique person.

·         Be open to new ideas and be adaptable. You may not think you can do something or want to do something but you never know what the future holds. Trying new things can be fun, it can be interesting and it can be scary. You never know until you try and you never know what you might achieve.

·         Never be anyone’s second choice. If you are not important to them, then walk away..... Self preservation!

·         Be organised, be efficient and be clean. You can’t live in mess and chaos. Get the jobs done first and done efficiently and you will have so much time to enjoy life.

·         Read the books you want to read, listen to the music you like and watch the films that interest you. If something is popular but does not appeal to you that is fine. We are not sheep or lemmings, we are individuals. Always take opinions on board but don’t compromise your choices.

·         Finally, be happy, be cheeky, have that glint in your eye and that smile on your lips. 🗢

GDPR .....stop yawning, it has to be mentioned...... and how it effects my readers.

Hello lovely people. This may be a dreadfully tedious subject, but it is sadly necessary. 

In this day and age of reliance on electronic devices and the major headache of lost, stolen or sold data, the Data Protection Act has been totally overhauled. We now have GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). This has caused major headaches for smaller organisations and will probably not stop our data being sold or stolen. 

I do believe in personal  responsibility in that we must be careful what we sign up to. If you sign up for a quiz on Facebook and agree to the app having access to your data,  then don't whine when they then distribute it...... that is what you agreed to!  However, I don't think anyone has the right just to use or profit from our data, that is wrong.

So, how does this effect my blog. To be honest, not a lot. I think I have all bases covered and will update  this post as necessary.

• All the people I have written about in my gig or business reviews have given me permission to do so.
• In all other pieces I have not used identifiable data. So basically I have mixed fact and fiction to create unidentifiable characters. (This is especially true in posts like "You Couldn't Make it Up- 7 Disastrous Dates." By mixing up the traits of certain people they could not now be identified even by themselves.
• I don't have my comments open so no one else has input in my blog.
• If you sign up for email notifications of my posts, this is totally run by Blogger and I have no knowledge of who use this facility. Blogger will have their own GDPR policy.
• If you search for my blog under any search engine, their GDPR will cover your search as, again, I have no control over search engines.

My blog is basically for fun and not profit, I do not have adverts and anything I review is because I like it and no other reason.My blog has absolutely no connection to my work and I don't discuss my work on here.

If anyone had any questions please feel free to email me at saraorange69@gmail.com 

The Ecological Waste of Disposable Fashion and What We Can Do About It.

I have come to realise that there is a huge waste of resources in the worldwide clothes industry. So much fashion is almost disposable because it is cheap, specific and easily replaced. Fads in fashion create a need for a large turnover of garments and cheap clothes shops make this possible.

Unbelievably you read about people who buy clothes and put them away in the bags and never wear them. They are generally people who are addicted to shopping, but this gross waste is not just caused by consumers with an issue. I recently read of shops in France that throw away clothes they cannot sell. With people all over the world who have little or no clothes, this is a huge waste. It does make you wonder if this happens in other countries too. Do charity shops not exist in France?

Of course the waste is not just in the garments themselves, but the resources used to manufacture the material and, subsequently the clothes the material is made into. It takes an incredible amount of water to produce cotton, for example, I only found this out last year. How did I not know this? I also wonder just how much waste there is from manufacturing of material through to the shop floor and beyond.

Of course there are many controversies surrounding the world of clothes and fashion, including child labour and anorexic models, but this piece is about the diabolical waste of resources and ways we can personally do something.

I was totally horrified to read criticism of the Duchess of Cambridge for wearing a dress to Harry’s wedding which she had worn twice before.  I think it is fabulous for people in the public eye to lead by example and keep wearing something because it looks good or they like it. With certain aspects of the media having such a ridiculous attitude to clothes, no wonder there is an issue.

I am still wearing things I bought 6 or 7 years ago. They may have had times where they have sat in a box in the wardrobe when I was heavier, but I can wear them again.

There are, of course, ways we can help stem the tide of clothes going to the dump or being bought and discarded in the bottom of a wardrobe.

·         We can think carefully before we buy .... will we wear it?

·         We can buy from a sustainable clothes range.

·         We can buy second hand clothes.

·         We can give clothes away.

·         We can swap with friends.

·         We can up-cycle and alter clothes.

Personally I buy mainly second hand because I hate mainstream shopping, all the racks of garments can be quite overwhelming. Even though I buy second hand I will say that over the last few years I have bought too many clothes. This is partly to do with my weight changes and partly to do with going into the charity shops too often. Now that I have lost 38 pounds, I have given away loads of clothes to friends or to charity. I am now being more discerning about what I buy and really thinking about it before making a purchase.

I recently decided, after always thinking I was horrific at sewing, that I would give it a go. I have clothes that need altering to fit and decided to buy a sewing machine in the sale and try. I do have a bit of a Russian roulette approach to sewing. It will either work or not. So far I have taken in two dresses and both have been successful.  

I also want to try up-cycling. Basically you can change and customise clothes to be whatever you want. I have, for example, a dress which does not suit me, I am too old for a handkerchief hem....... it just looks wrong. I do like the fabric so I am going to make it into a top. I do not know how successful it will be, but I can try.

Despite needing to buy new material to do it, I am going to try my hand at dressmaking. too. If I don’t make garments from scratch too often it will not be too wasteful and it will be a good skill to have. I think it could also be useful to use parts of a dressmaking pattern when up-cycling or altering clothes. So often I will see a dress, for example, that is made of a gorgeous material but is too big. With sewing skills I can re use the material to create something different. I am also looking out for decent material in second hand shops too.

So as not to waste the leftover material from altering and dressmaking, I am planning to make fabric gift bags. This will save money, save resources and be a nice way to present a gift. Also, the recipient can either re-use the gift bag or use it for something else. I am even thinking that smaller off cuts can be made into patchwork gift bags.

Not everyone has the time to learn a useful skill such as sewing, but I have and I am giving it a go. I do feel passionately that we waste an incredible amount of resources on things that are not necessary. No one needs a new outfit every week, no one should have so many clothes that they do not know what they have and spending money on yet another disposable fashion item is pointless. Shop carefully, buy second hand and be aware.

Once I have altered a few more pieces,  I will do a blog piece highlighting what I have done. 

Any comments to: saraorange69@gmail.com

My updated Filofax collection and my new hobby planner.

My large collection of Filofax and ring bound planners is an ever changing collection. At my last count I had 75 planners and most of them had an active purpose. Since then I have been having a bit of a change around with what is in each Filofax and how I store my spare inserts and dividers.

I have moved all the personal inserts and dividers into a fabulous shoe box size box from Hobbycraft. (2 for £4.) I chose the boxes with a cool map design on them purely because I like the imagery of maps.  My pocket and mini inserts are in the second box along with spare Filofax rulers. I have kept my spare A5 inserts in the two black A5 Filofax boxes which I already had and deskfax paper is in my desk faxes and A4 in my A4 Filofax. This is purely because I only really have what I need in both sizes.

I have recently managed to get a boxed, orange, Finsbury personal in a charity shop and a thin pocket 4 ring Filofax from the late 80’s, also from a charity shop. I have included a picture of the 4 ring Filofax but not the orange Finsbury. I think the Finsbury needs its own post once I have decided on a use for it.

I also was, very kindly, given a personal purple Malden by a friend just before Easter and I am using it as my diary/main planner. (This will also be included in another post). A couple of months ago I bought an M2 and am using that as a wallet and I also received a beautiful Carpe Diem planner free on the same day. (Again, they will be on another post.)

I need to do a re-count of my planners as I have also given away a few planners too, non branded and Paperchase brand. These are ones I won’t use and I am hardly likely to go short. 

The main reason for today’s post is to show my newly converted sewing Filofax. I was using my zipped, A4 Pennybridge for recipes but have changed the use as it is really better suited for my new hobby. I have taken up dressmaking and altering clothes. This is only for me as I am very new to it and need lots of practice.  

In the rings of my beautiful, blue Pennybridge I have put the printed copy of my sewing machine instructions. (It is do much easier to print the booklet than view it on line.) I have also put a divider marked notes, and have started to put in relevant notes I need for sewing.

There is a big pocket in the Filofax where I have put the two dress patterns which I have bought so far and a smaller pocket containing the DVD which goes with the sewing machine.  There is a long pocket behind this where I am storing warranty details.

A new hobby definitely warranted a change of Filofax and this is perfect for my sewing notes. I may also set up another smaller Filofax to list possible dressmaking projects and ideas. I haven’t yet decided which one so I will work on that. I may use an A5 as it will contain pictures and maybe material swatches.

Coming soon on Orangecoffee69:

·        My new hobby..... Up-cycling clothes, altering clothes to fit and dressmaking. (Including before and after pics).

·        Inside the bag.... an in depth view of the contents of a handbag of the not rich or famous. J

·        Updated Filofaxes...... as mentioned in this post.