R is for Reality

Welcome to the A to Z blogging challenge where for the month of April we post everyday except Sundays, corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. I've chosen to blog about keeping the romance alive in a relationship along with ideas for married couple dates. Each post will also have a romantic song for you to listen to whilst you read.

Today's song is the wonderful Lionel Richie and Shania Twain - Endless Love.

R, is of course for romance and in 2016 Romance was my A to Z post, but today it's also for reality. Romance isn't something that just happens magically without any thought or planning, the reality is that it takes effort to keep it alive. The reality is also that romance isn't all hearts and roses, it can be found in the simplest of moments and gestures.

It may be sitting in a cafe, looking at your special person, and realising how lucky you are to have that person in your life.....

Or smiling every time you look at that silly little gift, like my pink kangaroo that my beloved found in a charity shop - I absolutely love it.

By thinking that romance is only in the big gestures you put too much pressure on yourself and set yourself up for disappointment. The reality is that romance happens in so many little moments throughout your life.

Pick a flower, buy a favourite chocolate bar, give a foot massage, and the list goes on.

Today's quote is from the very wise Dr Seuss:

Pamela & Ken
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Previous A to Z posts:

2017 = Random Highland Finds

2016 = Romance

A Romantic Hodgepodge

This weeks hodgepodge falls on (supposedly) the most romantic day of the year, Valentines day so our host, Joyce, has asked questions around this theme. Make sure you visit her blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their answers - From This Side of the Pond.

1. When's the last time you had a heart to heart talk with someone? A change of heart? Experienced figurative 'heart failure?'

The last time I had heart failure was when we were packing our flat in London up and we thought our little black cat Muffin (RIP) had gone outside, somewhere she'd never been before in her life. It was about 6am in the morning in December so pitch black and we were wandering around trying to find a black cat. Thankfully we discovered that she was actually hiding behind the fridge - I think I nearly squeezed the life out of her when I got a hold of her as I was so relieved.

2. Champagne, chocolates, flowers...what's your Valentine pleasure? Any special plans for the day?

Chocolate all the way for me. We don't have any special plans for the day as I have to work until 7pm. Some years we've gone out to dinner but we just as often stay in. We always get each other a card and a small token of our love for each other. The funniest present that my beloved has ever given me was quite early in our relationship when I still hadn't aclimatised to the British weather so he gave me thermal underwear - it still makes me smile.

Here's what I received this morning when I woke up - my beloved knows me so well.

3. Are you a hopeless romantic or do you fall more in the category of practical and pragmatic? What's a gesture you find romantic?

I'd say I fall in between the two. I am hopelessly romantic but this is tinged with my natural tendency to be overly sensible. When it comes to my beloved I can't help myself when it comes to romance, as he inspires me to feel like this. If you want to understand a bit more about how I feel about my man then read this post I wrote for our 14th anniversary - 14 Years of Wedded Bliss.

I find all sorts of things romantic, especially the little things like my beloved bringing me a hot water bottle when I haven't even asked for one,

4. Do you ask a lot of questions in life or are you pretty content with what you already know?

I'm a bit of a question asker and I'm very good at yelling questions at the TV (no, I haven't gone totally crazy yet), especially when historic shows give facts about the past that I feel they have no way of truly knowing about. For example, they may be talking about the behaviour of dinosaurs to which I will sit here repeating 'how do they know that?' The I'll ask my beloved how they know that, before again asking the TV.

5. Your favorite power ballad?

So many to choose from and it totally depends on my mood for which one I'd want to listen to, but for today's post I've gone with Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

As we're about to become the proud parents of a new little black cat, I thought I would share two photos of our Muffin Monster who left us 15 months ago. She was a funny little thing that one minute could be extremely loving, including kisses on the face, and the next she could be very grumpy and scratchy. The first picture shows how we used to put the chairs on the sofa so that our old dog couldn't get on there when we were out, so the cats took advantage and made them into their special beds.

Do you like valentine's day or do you think it's an overhyped and meaningless day in the year.

Until next time we hope that all is good for you wherever you are in the world.

Pamela & Ken

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Top Ten Thursday - Christmas Song Back Story

This week's top ten is a little different and I'll let Tamara, our challenge host from Part-time Working Hockey Mom, explain;

"....choose one of your top ten Christmas songs (if you participated last year) or just pick one you like and create a back story.....We want to hear about the characters in that song, and especially all the fun they had last year! Your story is only supposed to contain ten sentences."

I did participate last year and you can read my list of Top Ten Christmas Songs which included a sneaky addition which isn't a Christmas song. It's Peter Cetera and Cher singing After All which was our first dance at our December wedding (that's how it made it onto the list). Here's the song so that you can relate my story to the lyrics.

Here's what I think is happening in this song:

1. One soul, divided at birth and assigned to two mere mortals who would go through their lives knowing that something was missing but never knowing what. 
2. Watching others fall into relationships or finding a special someone, but preferring to live in solitude rather than settle for less than what their soul knew was out there, somewhere in the world, waiting.
3. Then one day, their eyes met across a crowded room (cliched I know, but that's what happened) and it was like everything in the world was suddenly real. 
4.The souls rejoiced as they recognised each other instantly, but the mortals, they took slightly longer to reach the conclusion that they were meant to be together. 
5. Dating had to happen. 
6. Learning each others hearts had to happen, 
7. Through it all the two halves of one soul waited patiently for the moment they would be one again.
8. Finally it happened.
9. After all the years of waiting.
10. Their hands touched, their souls connected, and forever started in that magical moment.

                                                                                           

What do you think? Do you ever imagine the story behind your favourite songs? Before you go, make sure you visit Tamara's blog, Part-time Working Hockey Mom and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a week filled with calm and peace.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Princess Cookie Cat has gone to the dentist so thought I should include a picture of her.

Top Ten Thursday - Pinterest

This weeks top ten gave me permission to spend time on the wonderful Pinterest - I could spend hours on this site looking at all sorts of things. Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom has asked us to share the things we love but will never do, or maybe we will.

I've decided to split my list into two halves, those I haven't done and those I have.

1. I love the idea of putting together a rug out of pom poms - this one is in the hope to do category. If I do make it I'll have to put it in one of the bedrooms as I think Princess Cookie Cat would have a field day pulling at the threads.

Pom Pom Rug

2. I have a Pinterest board for recycled living and one of the ideas that really appeals to me is making things out of old tyres, and especially painting them bright colours and making them into seats.

Recycled Tyre seat

3. This one is a want to do but don't think I'll ever be able to. Make perfect sugar cookies and decorate them beautifully with icing.

Iced Sugar Cookies

4. This is just an example, but I would prefer to make a birthday calendar out of driftwood and wooden disks. This is a must do but I'm yet to find the perfect piece of driftwood for the project.

Birthday Calendar

5. This one is in the halfway done category - a ribbon wreath. I started one for Christmas last year and got it half done, so need to get it out of the Christmas box and finish it for this year. Mine has greens, reds, golds, tartan, and sparkly white.

Ribbon Wreath

Now we move into the second half of the list and these I have done.

6. Mini Grasshopper Pies. I took part in a bake off competition when I worked at Maggie's West London, and for the semi-final we had to make a pie, so mine were these green marshmallow delights, and they got me through to the final (unfortunately I came second). These are no bake with an oreo crust and a filling that consists of Fluff (marshmallow cream), mint flavouring, and green food colouring.

Grasshopper pies

7. This is an idea that I got from the Dating Divas - they have lots of lovely boards that are full of romantic ideas. This is a one week pill box but instead of pills I put sweets into each day's box along with a love note for my beloved.

8. I absolutely adore all the romance ideas that can be found within Pinterest and this is one I did a few years ago for my beloved - a letter with words replaced by sweets, chocolates, or crisps. 

9. 365 notes in a jar - I loved doing this one for my beloved, it gives him a note from me to open every day and hopefully help him never forget how special he is to me. 

365 Notes Jar

10. Another incredibly soppy romantic idea that I got from within the depths of Pinterest. It's a pack of cards with 52 things I love about Ken - one written on every card. It took me quite a while to get it completed, but Ken's reaction when I gave it to him was worth every moment.

Are you a Pinterest fan? Do you have lots of pins of things that you'd love to do if you had more time on your hands? Before you go, pop over to Tamara's blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their list - Click Here to Visit.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and hoping things are good in your part of the world.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Bonus pin shows what I would love to do if we had our own home - create lots of spaces for Princess Cookie (and any other cats we may adopt) to roam around the home.

Cat Friendly Home