Empty Spaces

It - (did I actually start my sentence with the word 'it'? Yes I did!)... IT, is a well-known fact that nature abhors a vacuum, so what should a person do once the inessentials have been removed? 

Well first off is to pay attention to what one allows back into that cleared space. For some people this will require being hyper-vigilant of what to allow back in. 

For others, this requires trail and error experimentation. For yet others this may mean allowing a greater spirit of creative courage and adventure back into their endeavours. 

My current L.O.VE Focus is on L.O.VE Crafted stories. I have enjoyed my blogging adventures this past month. However, it's now time to knuckle down and continue with my L.O.VE Focused projects.

Shedding the Inessential

A well known author once said that one of the greatest benefits of failure is that it:

'....strips away .... the inessential...'

I love this quote and can totally relate to it. Over the past few years, I too, have been shedding the inessential. 

Old habits, outdated beliefs, possessions that are no longer of value. All have had to go. I don't know whether it is because I am a minimalist or whether it is because it's such a cathartic process. 

All I know is shedding the inessential is very very liberating!

Hot-Housed Humans

Last weekend, I read the Scotsman, Ian Robertson's recently published book, The Stress Test: How Pressure can make you Stronger and Smarter.

I enjoyed this book over several delicious hot chocolate CUPPSOs. 

This book covers real-life accounts of how different people dealt with unexpectedly stressful events.

What the author wanted to know was: 

Why do some people show great resilience in the face of traumatic, often life changing events, whilst others struggle to cope with smaller ordinary events?

The author stumbled on (a part of) the answer in a conversation of all things about ... grass! He describes this under the wonderfully titled "The Grass and the Greenhouse"  - a lovely name don't you think?

Some grass species survive in the toughest of natural environments such as the Russian steppes, where gale force winds batter their stems flat for days on end.

This wasn't the remarkable part though.

What Robertson found most telling was that, when the exact same grass was grown in the sheltered environment of a greenhouse, then:

 "... planted out in the open, 
the first gust of wind (would)
...snap and kill it."

The author concludes (my  words here) that one can get too much of a good thing. In other words too much of the happy, easy life can have a detrimental effect on some people.

This is because such people never had to develop resilience or adaptability.... which reminds me of a saying I heard long ago: 

True friendship is like a teabag in a cuppa CUPPSO. The hotter the water the stronger they get! 

How to Grow 2cm (I Inch) in your 40s (I kid you not!)

Last month I measured myself and was back down to 170cm tall. Although this has been my normal height since my teens, I was still disappointed.

But not surprised.

Four years ago age 40, I managed to grow an extra 2cm in height; this was all down to practicing hot yoga regularly. All that s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g in a hot room did wonders for my spine and posture. 


Since moving house there hasn't been a yoga studio nearby until now. Although i've tried other styles of yoga, Bikram is the one I love the most.

The fact we students come out of class looking like we'd had buckets of water thrown over us is all a part of this amazing practice. 

Shrinking Tv Sets

While most people continue buying ever bigger Tv sets with flatter screens, I am moving in the opposite direction. 

Just this morning, I found the sweetest little Tv / DVD set, not much wider than an A4 sheet of paper, with a screen that's half the size of a standard laptop; it's called a Roadster, and is meant for camper vans and such like.

As our home can best be described as doll-sized, in other words tiny, I was very happy replacing our former, also small Tv set with this, even tinier one. 

Less is definitely more! 

The Grasshopper Mindset

I like to describe the kind of mind that endlessly hops from one activity to the next (without completing much), the Grasshopper Mindset. 

I am forever cautioning my daughters against this type of thinking. I don't believe the ever-shortening attention span is a harmless thing. 

My personal feeling is that if this type of thinking becomes a life-long habit then it can lead to mental health issues.

Even the most focussed of people will find an area of their lives: relationships, home, personal belongings, outdated beliefs that needs decluttering.

The Grasshopper Mindset balloons from clutter of any kind; unfinished or half-finished business for example.


This year I took my decluttering activities one step further by turning it into a seasonal activity which, started in early spring and was only recently completed. 

Pint-sized Human Radios

I love my morning Cuppso's. One or two a day is just perfect, but any more than that and I become jittery and slightly manic. 

The same applies to the two most recent major interrupters in my life; NP's and UI's. Noisy People and Unexpected Interruptions.

Like a good Cuppso, both in moderation are great sources to write about. However too much of either (or God forbid both together) leave me feeling I have attended the Mad Hatter's Tea party far too many times; all that noise, sugar and the unexpected interruptions!

Don't get me wrong - I DO like the company of other people, especially those of the pint-sized human variety. Though, over the recent holidays, I encountered one too many of the pint-sized ghetto-blasting variety. 

I sometimes wish there was a shiny round dial attached to the tops of their heads. For easy location. This would make turning down the volume quick and convenient for all involved!

That Secret Extra Ingredient

Sigh! What to do when, as an introvert, one totally- physically, spiritually, emotionally runs out of energy and motivation for entertaining one's children? 

What does one do when, as a single parent, one has nothing left to give? 

We are now five weeks into the six-week school summer holidays. I already (panic!) ran out of steam 10 days ago after our long weekend with friends in London.  

As my energy and motivation are currently AWOL, I wake up a soggy, deflated, mass of grumpiness and reluctance.

Facing two cheerfully bright-eyed, bushy tailed, fully recharged little human beings can fill one with dread at this time of the year.

If only top-up service stations were provided for us parents and all we had to do was to plug a hose-pipe into our mouths and fill up on our cuppso beverages of choice...

No one expects a car with an empty tank to "go" anywhere so why do we as parents force ourselves to run on empty? For weeks on end?

Ok the latter is a silly question - sometimes we have no choice.

When caffeine is simply not enough, then something extra is called for. In sheer desperation I attended my first LANO YOGA session this morning. Their philosophy is to Look After Number One. 

Everything came together: physically, mentally and emotionally. I haven't felt this fully re-charged in nearly 4 years. Yes I ache all over but I can feel all this...how do I call it? Suppressed tension that I've been holding on to, leaving all my joints.

So bring on the rest of the summer school holidays, Mary Poppins is back in business!

Bubbles and Teacups

Don't ask me why, but right now i'm going through a phase of associating bubbles and Cuppsos with happiness. Like most children I remain fascinated with bubbles; only combined with a healthy dose of comfort as well. 

Normally going to the park with my daughters fulfills mine and their (of course) joyous needs for: blowing, chasing, briefly catching and popping these miracles of water and washing-up liquid.

However yesterday,  I decided to take my bubble-making interests a step further and capture this joyous activity using pencil, paints and paper. 

I gave up on art and drawing after finishing school but suddenly feel this urge to take up this creative activity once more. Here are my first efforts below.

Neighbours who Bite

How would you feel, if you were attacked for no good reason - and had your bottom viciously bitten by your new neighbour?

Would you be: 

(a)Hurt? 
(b)Surprised? 
(c)Vengeful? 

This misfortune occurred, when our adult pet hamster was introduced to  our neighbour's  pre-teen hamster. Both are male and as anyone with hamsters knows, males DON'T get along. 

But try telling that to 3 primary school aged children ever hopeful that their pets will bond and become BFFs (best friends forever in their lingo) 

This was the second time this toothy young upstart had attacked our Smokey in this way. An apology would therefore not be forthcoming from this furry, unrepentant hooligan.

Had human justice existed in the animal kingdom then Ginger, that sharp-toothed culprit, might have had to do time at a juvenile detention centre for delinquent rodents. 

Or, he might have been given 100 hours of community service, picking up the droppings, nuts, seeds and shells scattered by local wildlife litter bugs.

As it was, Ginger's run-free-in-the back garden grass privileges were immediately revoked. Whilst Smokey was given tons of sympathy, and, a smidgen of soothing, aloe-vera juice for both his pride and his man bits. 

What IS in a Name?

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...." and so the 14 year old Juliet waxes lyrical about her sweetheart Romeo. 

Although three decades older, I too can relate to Juliet's sentiments; as this question has been on my mind all morning.

I too, have been dwelling on the name of my newly discovered love. A name that to me would taste just as sweet in any other teacup, mug, jug or bowl. 

We only met one another three weeks ago. And during that encounter when first putting pen to paper, I wasn't to fully realise the impact of my sweetheart's name. 

We're still in the early stages of getting to know one another. This name. And me. Upon waking IT, is the first thing on my mind. The last thing too as I tumble into the land of nod. So whose name has captured my heart so? 

Drumroll here for... Cuppso! And what is a Cuppso? Well you might ask. Is Cuppso:

An animal? 
Fruit? 
Vegetable?
Mineral?

Or simultaneously all and none of the above? Well it is in fact the name of my latest project. An idea and a concept that continues to develop daily in my mind. 

And should anyone ask at this stage what Cuppso means to me then like Juliet my reply would reflect the impact this name has upon me: 

My Cuppso is All Cuppso 
Fully black and white 
day and night 
Cuppso! 

And my Cuppso? My all Cuppso? 
by any other name 
would look and taste, 
as it brews and it pastes 
its name 
all over my heart 
C-U-PP-SO! 

Its presence more sweetly present
than any other beverage resident,
in my thoughts,
and my bowl,
My Cuppso is
All body and 
All soul 
Cupps-Oh!

Quick 'n Easy to set up if you're a tech-shy newbie-blogger (like me!)

As a newbie I never realised it could be so quick and easy to set up a blog. I had considered using Typepad - a well-known blogger whom I greatly admire uses it. Wix was my second option. However I started to panic when asked to make up YET another password / username.

After a bit more googling, Blogger popped up on the horizon and just seem to coordinate itself effortlessly to my Gmail account so... (deep breath here) it seems this might become my first proper blogging home and all in less that 5 minutes. I love it!

Just one caveat, having a Gmail account makes the setup process effortless.