Folláin Jams

Jam always reminds me of childhood, not mine in particular but just of being a kid and having jam sandwiches or those butterfly cakes with jam and cream in them. A treat if you will so I was only delighted to recieve this pretty little hamper in the post from Folláin, any excuse to make some fresh scones (or for the mother to make fresh scones so I could eat them!). 

Folláin is an Irish company based in Ballyvourney, Co Cork , my home county and have been producing delicious jams, relishes, sauces, marmalades etc since 1983. 

We were sent 3 different flavours of the No Added Sugar range but the Blueberry & Raspberry is my favourite, it's so delicious and not too sweet, just sweet enough. It was so smooth and spreadable, if there was a cruunchy and smooth version of jam like there is with peanut butter, then this would be the super extra smooth version, if that makes sense. 

If you ever needed an excuse to whip a fresh batch of scones or bread, trying out this delicious jam is the perfect excuse to do so.

You can find Folláin products in your local Tesco, Dunnes Stores, SuperValu and Super Quinn. 

Things Making My Life Nice Lately

I've been absent on the blogging front, regular followers will be used to it by now, same time every year, works kicks up a notch and I lose my life outside of work / keeping the family alive hours! 

However in the last couple of months there have been a few things making my days that little bit brighter.

• Sunshine and beach trips. Well one beach trip but Luke had so much fun I can honestly say it was the highlight of the Summer. Unplanned but with a hand towel and spare pair of shorts in the car, he just couldn't wait to get soaked on day trip to Ardmore Beach. 

• Getting my make up and hair done for my best friends wedding. My bestie aka the bride is my usual MUA and my hair dresser Debbie of DKH Hair was busy looking after the bridal party so I had to look elsewhere for these services on the day and I'm fussy so it wasn't easy! A bit of late night Facebook scrolling though led to to me finding an MUA and hair stylist that would come to my house on the day, sure totally spoil myself altogether! Kristina MUA did my make up on the day and Bozena of Freelance Hair Styling Cork looked after my hair. I was delighted with their work. Y'know when you just feel great in yourself, hair was on point and make up was on point, I liked my dress, my whole look came together so well and I was delighted heading off.  These ladies are so professional and truly talented in what they do, I'd highly recommend them. Also the convenience of getting it all done in my own was only fab, no rushing around or being late for appointments! 
  
• Colourful nails! I'm always changing the colour of my nails, usually to match what I'm wearing (because there isn't a million and one other things I could be doing in the evenings!) but the brighter the better in the Summer months. This shiny orange was my favourite - yes my ring finger is always a different colour, it was a trend, it may not be anymore I can't keep up but I just cannot cope with all of my nails being the same colour, we'll put that down as a weird quirk of mine! 
  
• Glenisk Vouchers - Sure who doesn't love a freebie eh?! Especially when it helps to fill the snack boxes and keep a bit off the weekly shopping bill. The lovely peeps over at Glenisk sent us some along with this cutesy bandana bib that is just perfect for my little 10 month old godson! 
  
• CozyPhones - How cute are these things eh?! We were sent these for review and while Luke thinks they are "awesome" he won't let me get a blimmin' picture of them on him. They are headphones in a soft fleecy headband, to protect their little ears and you can pick from various designs. I should really get an adult pair for when I listen to music in bed becuase it's slightly uncomfortable trying to doze off with an earphone stuick in your ear! 
  
• Lipsticks - I should wear them more I think. They always finsih off my made up look but I just forget to put them on. I picked these shades from the Essence range in a sale in the chemist next to my office, serioudly need to stop with the lunch time buying but I love them all.
  

Normal blogging shall resume soon! 

Hope you all had a lovely Summer.

Linking up with Lady Nicci

Dropping A Ball

I'm always busy. There's always something that needs to be done, people to be organised, lunches and dinners to be sorted, a 4 year old to look after, a full time job to go to, family gatherings, meet ups with friends, events to plan for, cumann business to attend to, a partner working 2 jobs so I've to make sure he doesn't over do it and run himself into the ground...it's a constant juggle and there's a lot of balls in the air all the time, there's been no let up in that for a while now.

However recently I have suffered a back injury that has forced me to slow down and step back and drop one of those many balls I juggle on a daily basis. 

I thought I was fine, I mean all I did was slip on water, not fall but whatever way I jerked myself back to keep myself upright has resulted in some pretty painful damage.

I went to the doctor who gave me a prescription, I said I'd be fine for work because I can sit and stand as I needed so wouldn't be stuck in the same position, also I don't take sick days lightly.

Two weeks later and I still wasn't feeling right, in fact it was getting worse so back to the doctor I went. I need to say here that up until this incident I felt like I was finally on top of things health wise - I'd finally got my shoulder seen to by the physio, the migraines had stopped, I was out walking again, taking my supplements and really felt good so to be in this kind of muscle pain again I felt like I was being thrown backwards.

A few tears to the doctor and her advice was to take time off work so that she could prescribe stronger medication and that I rest up properly, no unnecessary driving and that would in turn help ease the pain and heal the injury faster. 

I didn't take the time off work part lightly nor the resting up as I really don't have time for that but I had to admit defeat and one of those balls in the air had to drop for a while.

So here I am 2 days into sick leave with deep heat and Valium as my new best friends and I am resting, for the first time since I was pregnant I'd say, I'm resting up. 

It feels a bit weird and yesterday I felt like I should be doing something, I'll admit I logged into my work email and answered a few emails but I wasn't quite comfortable with this whole doing nothing. 

Do you know what though? I need this, not only for a hopefully speedy recovery but I needed it for my mind. To have that little bit of control taken out of my hands and being told to stop, even just for the week is what my body and mind needed. 

Movement is restricted obviously and I'm spending time trying to get comfortable either sitting, standing or walking but I'm not over exerting myself. I've managed a bit of cleaning, did a small food shop but everything else can wait.

It's funny how now it can wait but up until this point I couldn't leave anything go, everything had to be done and it had to be done there and then.

I hate the thought of letting my co workers down and it's not something I'd do lightly but right now it's a must and they are chugging along just fine without me. 

So sometimes, like a lot of us I'm sure, sometimes we have to let a ball or 2 drop, just for ourselves, to keep ourselves in check and remember to look after number 1 - me, because if I don't look after myself properly then I can't do any of the above to the best of my ability.

It's a tad annoying it's taken a back injury to slow me down but silver linings and all that eh?!