Join me on Regina Paul's blog and find out twenty little
snippets about me and my life!
Speculative Romance Author Regina Paul: Guest Blog: Twenty Sentences About Author Dilys J....: 1. I was born in Middlesex London. 2. At the age of two months my parents moved to Scotland where we lived for ten years. ...
Christmas Time!
Music is a part of my
life like eating is to surviving. I love jazz/blues, Etta James, John Coltrane,
and Mel Tormé. The list is endless with my latest discovery being Gregory
porter. How many people can name a song that was significant to a part of their
life’s that mattered…?
I was listening to my preferred radio station this afternoon, Jazz FM and James Tormé was presenting it and I hadn't realized that
his father had written Chestnuts roasting by an Open Fire which is one of my
most favorite Christmas songs which was a hit for the gorgeous Nat King Cole
another one of my all-time preferred singers.
Which now has me
thinking about Christmas and how very close it is…where has October gone? It’s
passed me by in a blur and it seems like the older I get the quicker the days,
months pass me by.
Do you remember when
you were a kid and the days seemed to last a lifetime? Oh my I wish that was
the case now.
Christmas is one of my
much-loved time of the year, off course
now my children are grown up it takes away a little of the sparkle but I’m
fortunate that I have nieces and nephews that keep the excitement alive.
Although, my twenty four year old daughter will revert to her childhood. And with
the same love of the holiday season as me, if you stand still long enough she’ll
decorate you. The poor dogs even get wrapped in tinsel much too there disgust!!
My son reaches the
ripe old age of 21 in four weeks and I find myself going down memory lane as
those years are at the forefront of my mind. I shake my head and think wow; I
can’t believe that he has reached an age where he has a girlfriend, a job and a
car…Life really does pass by at a supersonic speed and I wouldn't have missed
one second of it. There have been tough times and good times but each part has
been lived and made them what they are today, I’m so proud of them that I couldn't
possibly put it into words.
So at this time of
year we would be saving all out toilet/kitchen toll holders and I would be
buying cotton wool, glitter and coloring pens ready to make Christmas cards,
and decorations for the house…it was such a great time of year for family time
and Christmas music playing solidly for four weeks.
Christmas time is a
wonder and excitement reflected in the decorations that erupt in homes. Making
decorations with your children is a great way to be involved in a time of their
life’s that will always be remembered. Mine still remember those days round the
table making Santa Clauses.
All you need is-
Empty toilet roll
holders
Red crepe paper,
Cotton wool,
Glue
Glitter
Black velvet
Pipe cleaners
Hey presto home made Santa!
http://www.dilysjcarnie.com/index.html
Welsh Cakes...delicious!
I love
to bake, but what with one thing and another I found I had no time to get my
culinary skills back in action. However, somehow I’ve managed to get
back into the baking habit and I’m loving it. There’s nothing nicer than using
basic ingredients to concoct a recipe that has everyone drooling. No preservatives,
no E numbers just honest to goodness food.
So
what’s cooking in the oven I here you say?
Well
today recipe is Welsh Cakes.
Welsh
cakes originate from Wales and were originally made by the lady of the
household as a treat to serve for afternoon tea, or to put into their children’s
lunch boxes. These cakes are a cross between a cookie and a scone and a little
bit like a pancake. They also became favored by coal miners as they were a
perfect size to slip into their pockets and take with them deep into the mines
for them to snack on throughout the very long hours they spent deep in the
mines.
Try them;
they are delicious eaten hot or cold, plain or with butter and jam on.
Welsh Cakes
Ingredients
- 225g/8oz self-raising
flour, sieved
- 110g/4oz (preferably Welsh) salted butter
- 1 egg
- handful of sultanas
- milk, if needed
- 85g/3oz caster
sugar
- extra butter,
for greasing
Preparation method
- Rub the fat into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs. Add the
sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, and then form a ball
of dough, using a splash of milk if needed.
- Roll out the pastry until it is a ¼in thick and cut into rounds
with a 3-4in cutter.
- You now need a bake stone or a heavy iron griddle. Rub it with
butter and wipe the excess away. Put it on to a direct heat and wait until
it heats up, place the Welsh cakes on the griddle, turning once. They need
about 2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before
turning .
- Remove from the pan and dust with caster sugar while still warm.
Some people leave out the dried fruit, and split them when cool and
sandwich them together with jam. But I love them with fruit in, they are
just delicious on a cold afternoon with a nice hot cup of coffee.
America 2013 the final few days of my time away!
I never get tired of
my yearly trips to America. First and foremost I get to visit and stay with my
friend and her family and that in itself would be enough to keep me there. But
have I told you about their porch where I sit and write…No?
I love it, it’s hard
to imagine doing that in the midst of October when the temperatures have
dropped here in the U.K and it is but a recollection. What a lovely memory to carry
me through the dreaded winter. I sit there on my chair watching the banana tree
sway gently in the breeze and my mind becomes like an idea book where I have so
much going on in my head I can barely get it all down on paper quick enough.
It doesn't matter if it’s
sun shine or cloudy, rain or shine, windy or calm I can sit out there and
listen to the humming bird’s wiz past my ear and enjoy the play between them as
they slurp their way through the syrup that I recently filled. What beautiful creatures they are, so
perfectly formed and so tiny that you have to be quick with the eye to watch
them.
I wonder how on earth
three weeks have gone so quickly, this last time I did so much. My visit to oc
When I sit on the airplane to come home, I miss it before I even take off; miss my friend and our shopping trips, and just sitting on the porch chatting with our cups of coffee in 100 degree’s heat ! Yes I kid you not, we drank it hot! We’re both coffee addict. So my 2013 trip to America is but a memory but all I can say is roll on 2014 for my next trip! Here are some of my favorite photo's from this trip
Hair Shine!
So…do you want shiny hair that doesn't break the bank…?
Doesn't everyone!
In today’s climate of ever mounting food and house bills there isn't always a lot of money left to buy luxurious items for hair and skin.
So what if I told you that for a minimal cost you could have beautiful
shiny hair? Would you believe me? Only one way to find out…try this recipe and oh
boy you will be so surprised!
This is from my grandma’s homemade skin and hair recipes that I used to
make with her in the kitchen in the days where we went out into the garden to
pick our ingredients and used the honey from our bees to have on our hot crumpets when
we came in from school and pick the eggs that we used to bake cakes with.
Yes those were fabulous days that I remember with the fondest of
memories.
Hair Shine Conditioner.
Depending on hair length, I have fairly long thick hair so just adjust
for your own needs J
Four tablespoons of honey,
Ten tablespoons of conditioner that you normally use.
And that’s it, but I kid you not
you will have beautiful shiny locks.
Mix the ingredients in a bowl and put over dry hair, comb it through so
that it completely covers your hair. Cover with shower cap and towel and leave
on for about an hour.
Wash hair twice to get rid of it and condition as normal, and just see
how it shines.
Competition!
I think a competition is on the cards as I have just received my lovely book marks for One Night One Mistake that I helped design with the lovely Jo-Anne Miles Tonks So for one of these and a signed copy of One Night One Mistake visit my websitehttp://www.dilysjcarnie.com/index.html and tell me what type of nurse was I?...I will choose a winner on Saturday morning 14/9/2013. This is open to everyone!
Please visit Jo at her gem shop!
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/joannes-jems?_trksid=p2047675.l2563
Please leave your answer by Private message on my Facebook page :)
https://www.facebook.com/dilysj.carnie.3
Please visit Jo at her gem shop!
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/joannes-jems?_trksid=p2047675.l2563
Please leave your answer by Private message on my Facebook page :)
Frizzy Hair!
So...I'm always at odds with my hair...What color I'm going to be...Straight or curly...up or down...cut it or keep it long...ahhh it's never ending. If I go out and and I have the best looking clothes on I just don't feel right if my hair is a mess.
Vanity?? Oh yes lol
Everyone who knows me will tell you I have been every color under the sun, had it short, then grown it long. I've had layers and then had it all one length...am I ever happy with it, the truth is no. However on learning that a friend of mine has cancer and is going to loose all their hair from chemo I feel like an utter louse being so utterly vain about it and I thank God that I still have hair to worry about.
It started me thinking about all the chemicals and rubbish that I put on it. At the moment we have a wasp problem outside our back door, probably a nest but they always seem to chase after me and my daughter said it's because of all the stuff that I put on it and she'd absolutely right...I do. I'm so finicky about using natural products on my skin and then I go and use all sorts of multifarious junk on my hair. Well no more!
I started to go through my old skincare books and found a hair section that I'd written with my grandma and it's from the same preparations we used for many an afternoon making skincare. So here is a recipe that I have used twice in the last week and I have to say I am so impressed with the shine and the way it had tamed down the frizz I get with my naturally curly hair.
Depending on your hair length as to how much you use. I have thick, longish hair so I need quite a bit.
Six tablespoons of full fat mayonnaise( I used jar bought but my grandma used to make her own)
Four tablespoons of olive oil
Four tablespoons coconut oil
Two tablespoons of honey
One egg yolk
Mix all the ingredients together until its smooth. Shampoo your hair and towel dry (make sure your hair is not dripping it has to be just damp)
Spread the mixture all over making sure its from roots to ends and then either wrap your hair in clingfilm or use a shower cap. Take a large towel and put this on top and that will keep the heat in so that the mixture can penetrate the hair shaft.
Leave on for as long as you can, an hour. a few hours or all day.
Wash hair twice to rinse off and condition with your usual hair conditioner.
Vanity?? Oh yes lol
Everyone who knows me will tell you I have been every color under the sun, had it short, then grown it long. I've had layers and then had it all one length...am I ever happy with it, the truth is no. However on learning that a friend of mine has cancer and is going to loose all their hair from chemo I feel like an utter louse being so utterly vain about it and I thank God that I still have hair to worry about.
It started me thinking about all the chemicals and rubbish that I put on it. At the moment we have a wasp problem outside our back door, probably a nest but they always seem to chase after me and my daughter said it's because of all the stuff that I put on it and she'd absolutely right...I do. I'm so finicky about using natural products on my skin and then I go and use all sorts of multifarious junk on my hair. Well no more!
I started to go through my old skincare books and found a hair section that I'd written with my grandma and it's from the same preparations we used for many an afternoon making skincare. So here is a recipe that I have used twice in the last week and I have to say I am so impressed with the shine and the way it had tamed down the frizz I get with my naturally curly hair.
Depending on your hair length as to how much you use. I have thick, longish hair so I need quite a bit.
Six tablespoons of full fat mayonnaise( I used jar bought but my grandma used to make her own)
Four tablespoons of olive oil
Four tablespoons coconut oil
Two tablespoons of honey
One egg yolk
Mix all the ingredients together until its smooth. Shampoo your hair and towel dry (make sure your hair is not dripping it has to be just damp)
Spread the mixture all over making sure its from roots to ends and then either wrap your hair in clingfilm or use a shower cap. Take a large towel and put this on top and that will keep the heat in so that the mixture can penetrate the hair shaft.
Leave on for as long as you can, an hour. a few hours or all day.
Wash hair twice to rinse off and condition with your usual hair conditioner.
Wilmington North Carolina
Wilmington North Carolina is a spectacular place to visit.
We drove from Moyock and it took us five hours to get there, but
we went the scenic route and what a fantastic way to see old America. So much
history from the tobacco sheds to the old type motels. I loved it.
Meandering downtown along the historic streets
and browsing the small unique shops, to walking along the front and the
sumptuous golden sands of the beaches.
The individuality of each shop is a breath
of fresh air from the usual large rowdy shopping malls.
There's so much to see that you most
definitely need at least a week to visit them all.
Alas, we had only a few days as we were
staying with my friend's son who goes to UNCW (University of North Carolina
Wilmington)
It was great to have a guided tour of the
school where he had already done his first year. Famous for the filming of the
American teen drama Dawson’s Creek and Iron Man 3.
And off course no visit would be complete
without visiting The Britts Donuts shop Located on the boardwalk at the beach
in Wilmington Britts Donuts has been making these delicious sugar fantasies
since 1939. The shops are basic...just one type of donut but you don't need
anything else except off course a cup of coffee to wash it all down with.
Britts is only open during the tourist
season so if like my friends you adore them head on out there and enjoy the
sugar heaven.
Boardwalk
Dianne&Wynn Wilmington Beach
Outside Britts Donuts
Outside Britts Donuts
Wilmington-Beach
UNCW
Wilmington
Wilmington
Wilmington
Dancing with Temptation
Book 2 of the Fitzgerald Brothers series. You can find out about the sexiest attorney...ever, and how he tries to win over a stubborn Welsh girl who seriously tempts him in every way possible!!
Blurb for Dancing with Temptation
Her trust in men is sorely blighted by past experience.
But when Bronwyn
and Jessie meet, the chemistry between them is electrifying. The barriers come
up and she refuses to acknowledge any kind of relationship between them.
He can’t understand what’s holding her back.
Jessie is confused
by her resistance, yet he knows she is attracted to him. When an old boyfriend
turns up determined to hurt her he fights to give their love the chance it
deserves.
http://www.dilysjcarnie.com/index.html
http://www.dilysjcarnie.com/index.html
Home made skin care...Great fun!
Making your own skin care products is not only fun and full filling it
rewarding. No one wants harmful chemicals on their skin. People assume that if
you make your own skincare that it isn't going to be as good as shop bought…rubbish!
Shop bought creams etc often contain phthalates, formaldehyde (which I’m
allergic to), parabens and other chemicals that more often than not are harming
not just to your skin but to the animals they use in testing them in the labs.
Children love to make their own soaps, lip balms and bubble baths and it’s
amazing how satisfying it is to put something on your skin that is totally
natural or something that you've made.
I remember my grandma making perfume out
of rose petals we picked in the garden, face masks from mayonnaise, hair
treatments from nettles, lemon and egg pore tightening treatments we had such
fun doing this. So in the next few weeks I’m going to put some of these recipes
up…enjoy and have fun!
Peppermint Lip Balm
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1-1/4 teaspoon grated beeswax
2 teaspoons cocoa butter
Peppermint flavoring (or one of your own choice) My daughter liked the mint because it made her lips tingle!
2 vitamin capsules pierced and squeezed into the recipe.( I added this
later on when I made them with my children the vit e acts as a natural preservative)
Take a small saucepan, heat oil, wax, honey and butter over a very low
heat until melted.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Stir in flavoring and pierced capsules of oil and pour in desired containers.
My grandma used tiny metal containers but I bought empty lip salve tubes and
used them and my daughter made labels and we stuck them on with glue. We had/have
the softest lips ever and had such fun making them.
Norfolk VA 2013
One of the most
poignant moments I spent in America this year was at the Relay for Life in
Norfolk Virginia where the largest Navy base in the world, Naval Base Norfolk is
located. The movies Navy Seals, Roller-coaster and Mission impossible 111 were all
filmed in the Norfolk, VA areas so this is a pretty famous city not just for
its media accomplishments but for the famous Navy Seals themselves.
Norfolk VA is a city
nestled where the calm blue waters of the Chesapeake Bay meets with the roughness
of the Atlantic Ocean. It has been given the award for The All- American City.
It has a great support for its veterans and honors those who serve their country
both present and passed with its memorial museums and city named places.
Its unique neighborhoods
give an insight to an old and new America, the homes lined with wrap around
porches and rockers rocking in the breeze. The history so attentive that you
could almost see that historic picture of mama’s sitting in those chairs
watching their children play on the street, fanning away the heat of the day.
The Relay For Life was
an event I attended while I was staying with my friends. Each year, more than
four million people in over 20 countries participate and raise much needed
funds and awareness to save lives from cancer. I lost my dad and many relatives
to this disease; it’s heartbreakingly painful for those with it and those
taking care of their loved ones who have it.
My friends husband
Wynn Evers(I've
Everyone was quiet the whole time, a guy stood up and spoke about losing his brother and because he belonged to a motor bike club his friends did a lap in honor of him, where they rode their bikes which were all decorated with lights…amazing sight!
The most deeply heartened moment for me was when my friend spoke my dad’s name on the list of those who had died from this awful disease, I felt as though at that moment my dad was there and took my hand saying sorry for all the sadness…
I tried to take pictures but it was dark but I hope you can get the feeling of what I’m talking about because it was a truly special moment.
The lanterns all lit with that special persons name
Wynn Evers saying the names
The Scottish bag pipesOcracoke Island 2013
I went to America
earlier than normal and it seems like forever since those few weeks of sun,
sea and friends. I've come to the conclusion that I should go twice a year.
Once in the summer around May, and the second time in the fall because I love
North Carolina at that time of year. But alas at the moment I will have to make
do with the one visit!
I visited a lovely
island called Ocracoke which is part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina and
also is the location of the pirate Blackbeard’s death. The village of Ocracoke
is located around a small harbor called Silver Lake. The stunning views only
added to the beauty of the whole place from the unique little cottages to the
many different types of birds.
The shops were quaint
and full of treasures. Most shops close down in winter as the population
decreases and the tourists go home. There are no franchises or chains and all
the shops, restaurants and hotels are all privately owned.
The size of the island
is around 9.6 square miles and the actual island only lies five feet above sea level.
The lighthouse has been there since 1823 and is still working. There are only
two ways to get on the island, by ferry or airplane where they have their own
landing area.
It was a beautiful
sunny day, and another wonderful sight for me to see. Every time I visit North
Carolina I never need to go to the same place twice because it’s so ginormous
and there’s so much to see and so much history to learn.
Silver Lake
Silver Lake
Doesn't it all look very pirate inspired?
Harbor
Harbor...Great looking hotel!
This is where we ate...fabulous food!
Ocracoke lighthouse...still in working order
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