NATURAL BEAUTY

Natural oils are a great benefit to the skin. The skin care companies charge a great deal of money for these but why should we pay those ridiculous prices when its so easy to make the same product ourselves. Search the web, find a good quality shop that deals with cold pressed oils and make up your own blend to suit whatever will benefit your skin the most...its that easy! As the weeks go by I will be introducing more oils, some well know and some not so well known...

Cranberry Seed Oil 

Not just great for inner body health but also a great skin supplement either on its own or made into a blend with other oils Cranberry seed oil supplies the skin with critical essential nutrients. It contains a ratio 1:1 ratio of Omega-3, Omega-6 fatty acids. These essential fatty acids are critical for normal skin function. The high concentration of tocotrienol antioxidants, found in cranberry seed oil, protect the skin from environmental pollutants.

Argan Oil

Argan Seed Oil ! Argan oil is considered to be an effective anti-aging oil due to properties such as the high levels of Vitamin E Tocopherols (anti-oxidants help neutralise free radical damage ' Use it on your nails and hair. It takes away fizz and replaces it with shine and definition.

Rose Hip Oil

Rosehip Seed Oil can help alleviate dermatitis, eczema, rebuild burns, scars, moisturize and soothes sun damaged skin, promote elasticity and firmness to help keep you looking younger. Great for helping to fade those dreaded stretch marks.I used it on my hysterectomy scar and now you can't even see it. Rosehip essential oil works great for all skin types; dry, blotchy, dull and oily skin. It is especially good for mature and ageing skin.

Cranberry

 Argan

 Rose Hip

A FORGOTTEN PASSION Chapter 3

      Amy Brooks was not exactly pleased to be at Heathrow airport and have no one here to meet her. It was ten years since she last stood on British soil and she didn't mind admitting that it scared the bee-Jesus out of her. She had made her home in Malaga Spain and it was a good life,she had her own beauty salon where she had six girls working for her.

      Her cell rang and she plucked it from her jacket pocket and listened to her mother with a disturbing amount of violence surrounding her already hot and desperate for a shower body. 

      “Mother you wanted me to be part of this marriage and now you’re telling me that you've already left the country…Where the hell are you?” Amy breathed in a frustrated amount of anger.

      “Darling Dan surprised me with tickets for Las Vegas I did try and get hold of you but you had already left.”

      “You mean to tell me I have flown for nearly four hours and you’re in the states?” Amy was flabbergasted at her mother’s selfishness; no why would that surprise her  because quite clearly nothing had changed.

      “What is a girl to do,” she giggled and Amy seethed from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair.

      “You’re hardly a girl mother.”

      “Don’t be facetious darling, I've arranged for someone to pick you up…Have a holiday, enjoy yourself.”

      A click at the other end made her stamp her foot. Off all the inconsiderate things to do that took the biscuit but why was she surprised her mother had always been selfish.

      Suddenly the pressure of a hand on her shoulder made her turned around.

     “Still stamping your feet Amy, I would have thought you were a little old for that.”

      The pure panic that soared through her body laid an avalanche of feelings to the front of her mind.

      “Oh my God it’s you…she sent you to pick me up.”

      Jake smiled, “You weren't expecting that were you,” and the smile that passed his lips did not reach his eyes. His large hands framed her hot face and before she could fathom out what was going on he leaned into her. For some reason her legs felt like lead weights and the warm breath on her cheek set her heart rate at a speed that wasn't conducive to staying alive.

      His eyes lowered to her lips and damn if her  tongue dipped out to replenish the dryness. The heat from his body seeped through the thinness of her white T-shirt and her body erupted into a furnace.

      Her mind reiterated,say something, move away…for God’s sake don’t just stand there, but she couldn't move and in that split second she wouldn't,  couldn't, and didn't run when she had the chance because as she was about to, day light was extinguished and the world was in darkness a bubble enveloped around her as she felt the first touch of those lips.

       It was like a power surge of gigantic proportions and she felt it from the roots of her hair down to the soles of her feet and she would have sworn her toes actually curled and the earth shifted on its axis.

Is Beauty Skin Deep ?

How many women out there DON'T worry about how they look?

How many times have you bought creams and lotions promising the world...well at the very least a line free complexion?

And how many times have you said never again will I spend that amount of money on a face cream?

Well I can answer yes to all of the above.

The older I get and the more lines that appear not to mention the saggy jowls and the turkey neck. I seem to find myself scanning the internet for some miracle cure which isn't there.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m vain. I do care how I look whether it is staying in the house all day or going to the stores to do the dreaded grocery shop or on a night out and if my friend Dianne was here she would tell you that I even do my hair and makeup to go to the beach and get it totally ruined by the ferocious Atlantic Ocean waves.

So a few years ago I took to doing a lot of research into skin creams and the ingredients that went onto making there beautifying potions and I will tell you I was shocked to the core at what I found.

Parbens, Propylene Glycol (garage floor cleaner) which is also used in a very well-known baby lotion, Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) (used in oven cleaners) I could go on and on. So I decided to start making my own alongside some organic skin creams that I sourced for my skin care shop.

Oils are better for the skin because they penetrate the layers better than any cream. So I’m going to give my recipe for the best facial oil you will ever use and at a quarter of the cost.

Blend your own oils for great smooth skin and at a quarter of the price. Make 10mls at a time, I use a roller bottle of this size. All cold pressed and organic oils where possible Prickly pear seed oil, borage, argon, pomegranate, cranberry, blackcurrant, carrot( natural spf) rose-hip, neroli (pure) Use on your skin at night, face, neck, decollete ,hands ,nails ends of dry hair.

A FORGOTTEN PASSION Chapter 2

                  The soft shadows of the sun setting were dancing around him as he slipped into the comfort of his car. As he started it up he listened for a moment to the growl of power it eluded into the quietness of the area where he lived.

                  The irony of his father’s voice still plagued him when he had rebuffed Jake’s pleading that he’d been in love, which suggested that in some ways he wasn't all together sure after what had happened if such a thing existed. Was it just another word for lust? Wasn't it just a lot of romantic hype?

                  At the time he had felt so confused and had found out the hard way that being true to one’s own judgments and never wavering was the right way to deal with life. Every time he thought about the woman who’d been in his dreams more than he cared to admit he scolded himself for letting it get to him.

                  The image of her face was still indelibly seared into the walls of his mind. Aware that he could very easily slide into a mode of self-pity he pushed her back into his memories after all she hadn't come home to see him.  He no longer tried to fill the empty space in his heart. For his own sanity he had to keep it that way.

                   Crunching the gears he winced and Jake put his foot down on the accelerator sliding the past behind him and ignored the biting pain in his gut just as he always did when he thought about her.

                    He pulled into a vacant parking place at least fifteen minutes before her flight was due in. As he made his way towards the terminal he had to pass through a line of placard carrying people waiting for their name carrying passengers to appear. The building seemed full to capacity of all walks of life.

                   The sound of laughter brought him back from the past, now those thoughts were just ahead of him. Despite the change in her appearance and a drop in dress size which he didn't like, he preferred the curvaceous figure he remembered. Her blonde hair was a lot shorter and curled around her face in wisps of golden highlights.

                   Looking at her he really wanted to follow his instincts. A predatory glow surrounded him as he smiled. He could get arrested for what was scrambling his brain. Raising a brow he pursed his lips as he made a determined walk towards her...a walk that said it would be worth a night in a jail cell.

A FORGOTTEN PASSION Chapter 1

       Grimacing Jake Owen swallowed the cold coffee and bitterness surrounded his taste buds . A quick glance at his gold watch confirmed that with any luck he would be at his desk by eleven.

    It was late for him but as the boss it was a privilege he rarely took. He smiled at the thought some would have said that his whole life had been privileged and that assumption would be right. His younger life had been that of a life style many would have envied.

     Starting at the bottom rung of the construction business his father had started had pulled his once wild nature into line. It was a hard business and he'd worked his way up to the desk he now had as head of the company. His father William Owen started it forty years ago and stood down last year leaving Jake in full command.

     The biggest and oldest construction firm in the country and now spreading across Europe he was proud of what he’d achieved and it was with great relish that he had been able to prove his father wrong. However a broken marriage that he had been forced into when he was too young to fight back had resulted in him having to give up the woman he’d loved all his life.

    Today he would see her again for the first time in ten years and she didn't know that it would be him at the airport to pick her up. He pursed his lips and imagined that he would not be welcome in fact he knew that but it would not deter him and just thinking about her set his heart rate to supersonic speed and this evening could not come fast enough.

Caring hero!

Normally this house is more like central station than a small welsh cottage hardly big enough to swing a cat but today there is just me and the dogs and I'm making the most of the silence...What was that? Yep not a sound can be heard and it is heaven!

So here  is a short piece from my current book 'Her Passionate Protector'

“I’m already involved.” His eyes narrowed. “I’m not leaving here without you.” A muscle was ticking in his jaw and the tone in his voice suggested he could be just as stubborn as she was.

Staring up into the sincerity of those emerald cut eyes, his expression was deeply concerned. Her shoulders slumped. She was honestly too tired to fight anymore.
“Come on, pack some things and we’ll get out of here.” The rhythmic movement of his thumb pad on her inner wrist was soothing, and she looked down. His hands were large, but she knew even the size of them didn’t frighten her, they were gentle

Her Passionate Protector

$5.10

Available at:

SWEET CRAVINGS PUBLISHING

AMAZON

BARNS & NOBLE

BOOKSTRAND

 

Winter time!

I guess with all this cold weather everyone is thinking about holidays and when to go. My goodness I can't believe we are almost half way through February it seems like only yesterday that it was Christmas.

So sun or snow which do you all prefer. The snow is nice for a few days, great to have snow ball fights nice to feel the fresh coolness against your skin,great to look at  but after that I've had enough for me I love the sun on my face, the feel of the heat seeping through to my bones. The beach beckons and I love it. Waking up and pulling the curtains to sunshine is the best feeling in the world.

It seams like the winter has dragged on , I seem to be forever cold. The  gusting winds on this small island have always been rough but just lately they seem to be worse. We had three small earth tremors last week and that is always scary.

Don't you think the weather is weird all around the world? When we were children I remember my mum putting our summer clothes away for winter and bringing out our thick sweaters and woolly socks, now it seems we more or less wear the same clothes all year round. However the one thing that hasn't changed is when the first snowdrop pops up from the ground I know spring in round the corner and that makes me breath deep and think yes at last.

The winter has been a busy time for me, with four books coming out this year I have been ensconced into my writing cave with what seems forever. These books have been  so much part of my life that I feel sad as each one ends, almost book three finished and book four ready to be typed up . I am ahead of schedule which for me is important, I like to keep my deadline in focus and it stresses me if I don't and when I'm stressed everyone avoids me because I just grunt like a bear at any direct questions, I cook whatever I can find and hope that I haven't mixed the main meal with the pudding, and thank god for the dishwasher.

A writers mind is a crazy disposition!

As a writer I find that I work better with a dead line whether it be self imposed or from my publisher.  I'm very good at sticking to my guns and plodding on until its all done and finished but I have to admit the most favourate part of the process is not the drafting out but the editing...Oh my God I love the editing for me this is where my story takes shape and becomes the book that I want to send to my publisher.

Usually for me I am a planner and I know right at the beginning where my story is going and how it will end, but something strange has been happening to me with my last two books. I have started writing and all of a sudden the characters have completely taken over and its not me that's doing the writing its them telling my fingers what to type and they are inside my head even through the night I am compelled to get up and write because they are pushing ahead with there story and I don't want to miss out by not getting it down on paper. Does that sound weird? Honestly I'm not crazy...well only a little!

You have to be a little crazy to be an author, the hours are rubbish, the extreme isolation is beyond anything I have ever experienced before and there absolutely is no time off,  I am constantly thinking about my latest manuscript whether it be when I am cooking, perhaps cleaning and even in the very rare occasion that I do iron . I can be having a conversation with friends or family and all of a sudden something comes to me and I drift off into the world I am creating on paper until I unceremoniously get poked in the arm to be reminded I'm supposed to be part of the conversation that is going on.

The winter is for me a great time to write and if we get snow like we have had I find it so much easier to stay cooped up in my writing hole or aperture because it is more like a small passage way, a gap under the stairs where every time my twenty year old son goes running up to his room its like a heard of elephants are stampeding in my head.

So the nights are getting lighter and the days longer it has been a very long winter and I am looking forward to spring. The newly born lambs, the sprouting bluebells, the splash of golden yellow from the daffodils of yes  at last spring is on the horizon.

Disaster Morning!

As an author I am constantly aware of the trepidation I feel when I am writing, the work I do is precious to me and it takes a lot of  acting like a  recluse for days on end, burning meals that my family eat and don't say a word in case I jump down there throats and generally becoming some kind of neurotic person that no one recognizes for me to complete a book. So you would think that I would be diligent in saving my work which I am...I thought!

Save,save,save is always on my mind.

How ever very often I am so engrossed in what I am doing I frequently don't save as I should. I have the hard drive, usb pen, drop box and folders on my desk top so there is no excuse other than I am one of these writers who get totally engrossed in what they do and my mind is in what I am writing and nothing else penetrates that thick scull of mine.

Press save after a morning of great writing and managing to get nearly four thousand words done and I sigh with pleasure knowing that I have achieved a great start to my next book. When all of a sudden all those words that were in front of me are gone and I have a blank screen ..argggg I press buttons that I have no idea what they do and I can't believe my eyes they literally disappeared in front of my eyes.

I shout my son to get here quick and he looks at it and shakes his head and says, "Did you only save it on the usb pen?" and I nod my head affirmatively and he shakes his head with despair and my heart sinks to my feet. I didn't save it on my hard drive that he bought, I didn't save it in my drop box that my daughter showed me how to use and I didn't save it in the new folder on my drop box.

Lesson to myself never be so complacent with something that is precious to you, not just with work but in life in general because oh boy when it bites your ass t takes a might chunk from it.

Its Christmas...and thank goodness the world didn't end!

Well the world didn't end on this cold, damp 21st day of December.
Lets face it did we really think it would? Maybe...just a tiny smidgen of doubt had settled its self into the smallest deepest corner of my mind. I am elated however that I am still here especially after the fortune I've spent  on Christmas presents. Every year I say I'm going to cut back and buy less, after all my children are adults now however I am blessed with three beautiful nieces and two gorgeous nephews who are still young enough to appreciate Santa Claus so buying them gifts is a pleasure.

But do we ever grow up? I have always loved this time of year its a magical merry-go-round that I enjoy so much. Everyone seems to be happy, full of joy and Christmas spirit. For twenty three years I have been hanging stockings up at our coal fire place for my two children and even into adult hood I have carried on this tradition in fact I think my daughter would never speak to me again if I didn't comply with this.
I still enjoy watching the joy on Emma and Chris's faces when they unwrap their presents on Christmas morning.

Today was a day for last minute shopping although I have to say I am remarkably organised this year which is a miracle in the making because I am usually that mad person who is rushing around like a lunatic  on Christmas Eve.Although... I have to confess I still haven't iced my Christmas cake which will be done before the day arrives...I hope!

A visit to the hairdressers was on the cards today and it was a much needed appointment because I kinda looked like a cross between a dried up old haystack and a poodle brushed and poofed to perfection. I have the thickest hair ever and it was in desperate need of a haircut and once again I have to give praise to my hairdresser whom I have been going to for at least twenty years, she plowed her way through  and now it looks somewhere near okay...I think!

Going to have my nails done tomorrow with my daughter and we are having Shellac done so at least it won't chip or fade for at least the Christmas period. I quite fancy having red with snow flakes just to get into the festive season.

Where has 2012 gone, I'm sure I am not the only one who thinks it has flown by, it hardly seems like twelve months have passed since it was last Christmas, personally I think the world has sped up on its axis and that's why it seems like time is flying, except I know I am just getting older and time is flying by quicker than I want it to.

Reviews!

Hiding behind my fingers I tentatively click on the Amazon link that leads to my newly published book 'Her Passionate Protector'. I want to look to see if I have any reviews but I'm a little wary in case no one has left one...It's such a heart stopping moment. All that hard work, all the sleepless nights and all you want is to know that someone has bought it and left a whopping five starts. Dare I...No I can't...Yes I must...Oh for goodness sake just look.

Moving my fingers wide enough to peep out of I look with one eye open and a whoosh of breath exits my lungs and I jump up and down in my chair like some demented person...Five, five star reviews...Woo hoo! Thank goodness!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00A6D5O84/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I thought writing my book was going to be the toughest job ever and getting a publisher to like it...well I figured that would be almost impossible, and it was hard but eventually that dream came true. As far as I was concerned I was home and dry...

No, no, no,  I wasn’t dry at all I was soaking wet and slipping and sliding everywhere  as the hardest part of it all is the promotions, knowing where to go and how to do it and out of all the thousands of authors out there getting you're work noticed.

My publisher has given me some great advice and I am trying to find my way round this part of a writer’s life. It’s not easy, but I know a lot more than I did two months ago and I hope I will know a lot more two months further down the line.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Passionate-Protector-ebook/dp/B00A6D5O84/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355605482&sr=1-1

Poignant Moment!

I'm sure that I am not the only one who treasures their pets whether it's a dog, cat or budgie. I n my case it's my dog well we have two actually, two Jack Russel's and they are adored. Lucy and Jim had six puppies three years ago and they were adorable it was manic having all these little balls of fluff everywhere. Puddles and little poo piles were frequently cleared up.

You couldn't have two very different personalities. Lucy is quiet but the boss and Jim is noisy and thinks he is the boss but that  is an over thought on his part because Lucy very clearly has the authoritative voice between the two...always. In fact she is the diva of the doggy world. But we love them both and they are very much part of out family.

While Jim is very healthy poor Lucy has had a lot of problems, two discs in her back slipped and she was paralised for some time, but with medication and lots of hydrotherapy she can now walk but sometimes with great difficulty. In the last twelve months we have been fighting to save her from going blind, but after our visit to the vets on Thursday she decided to take Lucy of all medication. She is now totally blind in one eye and has only peripheral vision in the other . To begin with she was bumping into everything and we joked that she would have to have a crash helmet but amazingly she is coping very well and as long as we don't move anything she has managed to avoid concussion.

The sad news was that we were told she may have two months or she may live for twelve months and that was a shock to us. We still take her to hydrotherapy because it helps with her back. Sometimes she surprises us and tries to play actually in her younger days she used to play pool with the guys and pushed the balls into the corner holes with her nose.

Lucy& six pups.

Swimming with her life jacket.

Swimming without a jacket.

Jim and Lucy

She is only young at eight years old but Lucy has a personality that is like no other and we love her dearly so as long as she is with us we will continue to care and hope that the dreaded day of her leaving us doesn't come for a long time yet.

Its Party Time!

So this weekend was exciting, I had arranged a family party and I took everyone out to our favourite restaurant and there was about seventeen of us. It was such fun. Champagne on ice, great food and the best company. We talked and laughed. The children had fun catching up with each other and it gave my heart a squeeze to realise how lucky I am to have sisters and a mum so close by.

I bought presents for everyone all wrapped in Christmas paper and my little nephew Matt( who is my little buddy whom I adore) helped give these out and it was so good to see everyone's  faces when they opened them.
Unbeknown to me I thought it was a party I had organised, but somehow my family managed to turn the tables on me by presenting me with a humongous bouquet of flowers and framed photo's of my first published book and a newspaper article that had been written about me. I was shocked that they had managed to keep it all from me. My two sisters presented me with a gold pen which they said was for all the autographs I will be writing...oh my I just wanted to cry it was so sweet.

It was a fabulous night, one I won't ever forget and it just made me realise how utterly lucky I am to have such a caring family close by.