Autumn Magic

Yesterday I went for an 'Autumn Walk' with James and by autumn walk I mean I had a wander through the park walking on crunchy leaves and taking pictures!

There's something quite therapeutic about autumn, I know it's when things start to wither and die off but it's like bit like a scrubology where nature has a bit of a clean up by clearing out the parts that have gone into disrepair or gathered a few dust bunnies too many in order to make way for all the new things that will replace them in spring.

I also like that autumn is when pollen stops being released and I stop sneezing briefly until I catch a cold! 

My only regret from yesterday is that while I was walking under some trees there was a big gust that blew lots of leaves off the trees and it looked as if they were dancing in time with each other as they fell to the ground - by the time I got my phone out to take a picture, they had all landed.  It was a magical thing to see though.

Another magical moment was watching squirrels, which I didn't get any photos of either because they were too speedy. I saw two squirrels in particular approaching a family with two young boys who had brought some tiny nibbles for them and actually come right up to them and take food from their hand.  Usually when I see squirrels and humans in close proximity, the squirrel runs off fairly quickly so it was pretty cool to see that.  

Here's some of the pictures that I took, most of them will probably find their way into what's left of my 100 Days of Happy - 20 days left!

Read More

Personal Space/Personal Bubbles.

I can come across as a bit weird sometimes - hardly surprising to anyone who has ever met me! Haha!

Sometimes I come across as weird because I'm embracing my quirks or being a bit silly but sometimes it's because I have a mini internal panic if someone is standing just a bit too close to me or randomly touches me without prior warning.  

I used to think I was just a bit weird, as I kid I never liked holding hands with other kids in the line as we walked from classroom to classroom, I hated hide and seek because I'd often have to hide in a small space or in close proximity to another human, 

Even now as an adult, I don't especially like people touching me or standing too close to me, I prefer to initiate hugs unless it is someone I know very well and trust, I feel uncomfortable if I'm boxed into space between two people, I feel uncomfortable if someone is standing so close to me that they really ought to have bought me dinner and a bunch of flowers first. 

I've slowly started to realise that while I could be doing with calming down a little about things like that (even if I only have a bit of a freak out inside my head and don't actually mention to anyone for fear of coming across as rude) and my issue isn't that I'm weird - my issue is that I have a thing about personal space. 

I like having my own little personal space of safety - that tiny little space between myself and the rest of the universe that belongs to me and where any traffic that passes by be it human or object does so  fleetingly or with my permission.   My mother and I refer to it as 'My Bubble'.

Sometimes I need to get a grip, I absolutely want people to come sit with me, stand with me, talk to me and spend time with me,  I would hate for someone to think I was unapproachable or being purposely rude.
 I just need that tiny little space where I can breathe and feel comfortable.
There are times however when I feel like I need to trust that my gut is telling me that taking a physical step backwards or to the side is for my own safety or comfort. 

I'm not the only person in the world who has a thing about personal space, there will be plenty of others who feel the same way.  If anyone reading this has the same issue, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments! Do you have any coping methods you use?

On a completely unrelated note.........

My big brother got married last week and one of my fave things about the day was that set out at everyone's place at the dinner table was bubbles in a little wedding cake bottle!
On this occasion - I really did have my own personal bubble - many bubbles to be precise!
I've been having way too much fun with these at home!

Read More

Quirky Reads: Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

Rachie's Musings on: Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

It has come to my attention recently that my mother reads my blog which has paid off because after mentioning in a previous post I'd quite like to read Giovanna Fletcher's new book Dream a Little Dream....she bought it for me......thanks Mum! :-)

This is my second Giovanna Fletcher book, the first one I read was Billy and Me and it very quickly became one of my favourite books.

I mentioned that I could relate to the main character Sophie in Billy and Me and I found myself also relating to the main character Sarah in Dream a Little Dream. 

Sarah is 29 and a bit dissatisfied with life, she's become bored of a job she hoped would be a stepping stone after graduation and aspires to have the career she always dreamed of. I can sort of relate to that.  The world isn't always as shiny and exciting as we hoped it would be after university/college/school.
For every graduate who secures their dream job, there are just as many, if not more, who have to settle for what they can get rather than what they dreamed of. 

There are similarities between my friends and Sarah's group of friends, so much so that I could imagine some of my friends saying their dialogue!
She also loves a Katsu Curry - my kinda woman!

As the title suggests, Sarah has some seriously interesting dreams which become very interesting when the subject of her dreams - Brett, a friend of a friend she met about 10 years earlier - gets a job in the same office she works in. 

I really enjoyed Dream a Little Dream, there were one or two saucy bits I wasn't expecting and took me by surprise! It took me three evenings to read, only stopping when my brain informed me it was time to go to sleep.

Having watched some of Giovanna's videos on youtube, I sort of pictured her in my mind as Sarah, which may or may not be a good thing, but I don't think it does any harm.

Similarly with Billy and Me, I felt like I wasn't reading a story.

Giovanna has this amazing ability to make me feel like I'm part of the world her stories are set in and I'm deep in conversation with her characters for a few hours.

Something that I took from Dream a Little Dream was that while dreams are great, it's important not to use them as a place to set the bar.
Sometimes great things come along and while they may not be exactly what you dreamed of or were hoping for, they can be really awesome and in some circumstances they can be even better than you imagined!

Read More

Embracing the happy and sad.

Embracing the happy and sad.

If you've read any of my other posts, or glanced at my twitter or Instagram, you'll know that I'm into Disney and embracing happy.

I watched Inside Out this week and I noticed a lot of similarities between what goes on in my head and what goes on in Riley's.

I wouldn't like to spoil Inside Out for anyone who hasn't seen it yet so I'll try not to go into too much detail.
The basic premise of Inside Out is that Riley, a fairly upbeat 11 year old girl, is controlled by her emotions, Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger who spend their days manning the control board and making sure that Riley's emotions and forming memories run smoothly and for the most part, Joy has things under control....sometimes a little too under control.

I've mentioned before that I like to embrace the happy in situations and that it's my comfort zone emotion, but I don't actually cope well with some others, particularly being sad.

I went for an interview last week and found out that I didn't get the job, which isn't an uncommon occurrence, but it doesn't get any less unpleasant or disappointing to hear it.
I spent a few minutes trying to brush it off but eventually, I allowed myself to be a bit sad about it before finding a way to cheer myself up.

What I learned from Inside Out is that while Joy should absolutely be working her butt off to make sure that everything is going good in the world of Rachie, it's okay to let some of my other emotions come to the surface as well.  For example, sometimes I have to be a little bit sad in order to pick myself up  and discover something else that makes me happy. 

I mentioned a few blog posts ago that I'm trying to embrace the happy challenge (photo a day for 100 days on my Instagram), I think it would also be good for me to be a bit more accepting of some of the things that make me sad - although I probably won't post a picture of those every day! :-)

I made another happy list this week :-)

Read More

Clumsiness and Muppet Dreams.

Clumsiness and Muppet Dreams.

My name is Rachie......and I am Muppet.

When I say Muppet, I'm not referring to my aspiration to join Kermit and co on their travels, swap shoe advice with Miss Piggy and hang out with Animal, Beaker, Fozzy, Rizzo and Gonzo....although I'd totally love that and if someone wanted to make that happen I'd be eternally grateful.

I'm referring to my tendency to do silly things.

I'm not sure if clumsy is a better word for it, or maybe spatially unaware.... 
For example, I have lived in the same home for the past 26 years and have had the same bedroom for at least 15 of those years if not more.... I still manage to walk into the door on my way out every day.

Most mornings, I find that I wake up because I've hit my head off the wall or my headboard, I constantly hit my arm or my hand off of the door post on the way into the living room (which is basically a straight line across the hall from my bedroom).

When I invigilate, I'm forever tripping over wires and bags or walking into table corners and when I'm playing my brass instrument, I always find a way to hit myself in the face or drop it on my toe or whack my hand off it.

My mum suspects that I could sit alone in an empty field and still find a way to cause myself an injury  and whilst she's joking - I don't think she's wrong!

Sometimes I can be accident prone without even doing anything, the other night I accidently got hit in the head with an unfolding music stand because I was bent down in the wrong place at the wrong time so even when it's not caused my own stupidity, I still find a way to be clumsy!

I'm also particularly talented in dropping things, like my phone (which thankfully has yet to smash), my keys, food, I once spectacularly tipped an entire bowl of microwave popcorn all over the floor, it literally looked like the carpet was a sea of popcorn and my mum was still finding un-popped bits months later.

Getting back to my earlier Muppet thought, I think I'd make a great Muppet and they found a place for Walter, although to be fair, he did help them save the Muppet Theatre!

I'll find a way to join! Maybe my clumsiness could be my talent! :-)

Read More

Quirky Reads: The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kauffman

Rachie's Musings on: The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kauffman


The Tiny Wife was a fairly short read but it’s packed full of awesomeness.

At the beginning of the story a thief comes into a bank.
Instead of taking money from everyone, he instead takes whatever item in the possession of those in the bank that holds the most sentimental value to them.

The story takes some strange twists and turns as a result, but the most notable consequence of the robbery is that the narrator’s wife, who was in the bank that day, begins to shrink a little more each day and begins to lose sense of herself and who she is as she finds navigating her way through the every day tasks and experiences.
Her shrinking also has an effect on her relationship with her husband who does his best to try and help with her situation and keep her spirits raised.

Whilst I can't relate to shrinking, I can relate to allowing something I can't control get to me and start to influence how I feel, act and live my life.

The story, without getting too cheesy, reinforced to me that even when you are feeling at your lowest, other people can help you feel like your normal self again.

I'm looking forward to reading more Andrew Kaufman stories.

Read More

100 Happy Days

100 Happy Days


I mentioned in previous post 'Things That Make Rachie Smile' that Happy is my favourite mood to be in and that sometimes when I struggle with the happy part, I make a list of things that make me smile.  

I recently came across a challenge called 100 Happy Days, where you post a picture every day for 100 days, using either your facebook, twitter, instagram etc and use that one picture everyday to mention something that made you happy.  

I thought it would be fun to try and I'm currently on day 4, hopefully I can keep it up for another 96!

If you fancy checking my 'happy' progress, I'll be sticking them on my instagram which is linked at the top of the page!

Something I'm really happy about just now is that it's almost Autumn, I adore Autumn! Spring and Summer and Winter are great, but those are my prime sneezing, sunburn or shivering months!

Autumn is where my seasonal comfort zone is at! 

I guess Autumn can seem like a sad season because its when the trees lose their leaves and start to look a bit dead but it reminds me that the year is drawing to a close and that the atmosphere is simply getting its crap together for the winter in order to move into the new year where it can start things over again.

Walking on crunchy leaves and spotting conkers/chestnuts is my favourite part but only when they are crisp, not when they get soggy and stick to my shoes!

Autumn should be out in full force during my 100 Happy Days Challenge so I'll be sure to stick in some Autumn pictures!

You can read more about the 100 Happy Days challenge on their website.

Read More