The Annual Blogger’s Bash. June 15 2019.

Where did yesterday go? I was up at the crack of 5am and on the train by 7.46am. I met Eloise, Marje, Marian and Lance at Victoria Station and then it was off to the venue.

Now I did try and take lots of photos but chatting and meeting with people takes precedense But here are some💜.

Above are from the left Marian, Eloise, Shelly, Mary Smith, Sherrie and the lovely Marjorie 💜

Claire Saul, her lovely hubby and April💜

Look at this colourful trio. Martin, Zoé and Rachel💜

Rachel and her husband Adam 💜

Ritu and Hubby, on crutches, Claire and her hubby 💜

One of the Judges Gareth Stevens and his lovely wife Jayne, and Esther💜

The panel Esther, Shelley and Laura one of our two fabulous guest speakers 💜

Photo by Eloise Da Sousa

Laura giving her speech, absolutely brilliant and so funny she had me in stitches.💜

Jemma Todd

Photos by Eloise Da Sousa

Jemma Todd was also incredibly interesting and I for one was totally enthralled.💜

Our Wonderful M.C. Graeme . 💜

Ritu receiving her prize from Geoff.💜

The lovely Sacha💜

Some of the committee.Sacha, Adam and Geoff.

Photo by Ritu

Ritu, Sacha, Geoff, the huggable Hugh and Suzie.💜

I totally failed to get a good picture of Isa , she is sitting at the table in blue top. I was delighted to see her again. It was great to catch up, I wanted a selfie with her but I failed😣 her partner from their blog Jo could not make it. Jo I missed you 💜💜

I really tried to meet everyone but I did not get to speak to these two. I am sorry. If you let me know who you are I will link you in. I am sorry I didn’t get to chat .💜 Just been informed by Lance the young lady is Claire. Just looking for the chap now.

Oh! I have remembered the lovely Simon sorry for the late entry Simon .

I also didn’t get to speak to Ananda Leeks If I missed anyone I am so sorry. Let me know and I will add you 💜

Ritu, me and Marje my Blogging sisters 💜💜💜

I didn’t get any photos of Samantha Smith Here is her winning blog post : If You Only Had Five Minutes, What Would TV You Save?

Excellent story I really enjoyed it 💜💜.

I also didn’t get a photo of of Susanne Tench and her brother. Nor did I get a photo of Jemima Pett

There were others there but I didn’t get photos so if I have left anyone one out please, please forgive me!

I can’t tell you how much it means to me to meet up with my bloggy family. I really love to meet up with old friends and make lots of new friends too. Everyone is happy to chat and so genuine.

If you have never been to a Bash I can really recommend that if you can you do because there is always so much to learn and so many opportunities to network.

We started off with a welcome speech, from Suzie then two awards , followed by the competition presented by Gareth Stevens, and the winner Samantha Smith was at the Bash.

Next Laura had us in stitches. Followed by a few more awards.

Then Jemma told us her story from book devouring teen to published author… absolutely fabulous.

Then lunch, time to relax and chat and mingle, always one of the best parts of the day.

Then it was back in and time for the panel, great questions and great questions.

After the Question and Answers it was Suzie’s Flat Lay presentation

Followed by Geoff doing the final awards, then Sacha closed up .

Time to chat more 💜💜.

So again it was over, months of excitedly looking forward to the ABBA’s planning travel and then poof it’s over and Marian, Eloise and I are quick marching after Lance back to Victoria. We had to step it out because Eloise’s train was due! We said goodbye, Lance made sure Eloise got her train. I saw Marian through to her train, after we had tried to get through a barrier that wasn’t working!

That left me so I found the underground down the escalator Victoria line to Oxford Circus

Image from Pixabay

Oxford Circus, down the escalator again . Then on to the Bakerloo line then up into the daylight at Paddington.

I had to run for my train, not a very ladylike thing to do, not a good idea either with a bad foot!

Image from Pixabay

So where did the day go. But it was great 💜💜 Thank you Committee you produced another winner. To everyone at the bash it was it was wonderful to meet up.

I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE.

Off to the Bash!

On my way to the Bash, heart beating wild!

Too excited to blog now so see you all soon and here’s a smile.

Bloggers Bash. It’s not long now.

Just three weeks until the Blogger’s Bash

This is the fifth year’s smash!

I can hardly wait

Meeting friends old and new it’s just great.

The committee will all be there

They plan the Bash with great care.

There will be awards and a competition

All for a reasonable fee for admission.

The Bash comes but once a year

And when comes it brings great cheer.

You can get loads of advice

There will be a panel to answer questions..nice.

So have you bought your ticket

Need a room? you better pick it

You need to make your plans today

The ticket price goes up on the 26th of May.

The Bash is such a lot of fun

A great chance to meet and greet everyone.

The Grange Wellington Hotel. is the Venu

A brilliant day is on the menu.

Have you Voted for the Nominees of ABBAs yet.

Hi again everyone the voting for the Annual Bloggers Bash Awards ends 21:00 (BST) ON THE 24TH APRIL 2019.

If you have not voted for your favourite bloggers yet I do urge you to do so . You can can cast your votes and buy your tickets if you have not got them, yet here.

Do vote if you have not it’s a great way to show you the nominees you like their blogs.

Many thanks to the Committee and all their hard work we look forward to seeing them all in June.

If you would like to make my day and vote for me. I have been so lucky to have been nominated in the Best Lifestyle Blog Category, you can use the above link.

So all I want to do now is to wish all the nominees the very best of luck, and to remind you if you are thinking of coming to the Bash do buy your tickets before they run out.

Be well be happy and keep on blogging.

The Time to Vote is Running out.

Hi Everyone , I am always embarrassed to ask for votes but as others are asking, I thought why not.

If you would like to vote for me I am in the Best Lifestyle Blog Category as willowdot21. There is under a week left to vote.The Voting closes 21:00 (BST) ON THE 24TH APRIL 2019. Here is the link. I have done my voting and I wish all nominees the very best of luck. Have you voted for your favourite blogger’s yet.

To all of you who have or might vote for me I am very grateful. Also if you would like to share this too I would be forever in your debt. 💜💜💜

Now don’t forget to get your tickets if you have not already. I love the Blogger’s Bash is such a brilliant occasion and the committee put in so much hard work to make things run smoothly.

You can buy your tickets here.

Not long now, looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Cue happy song.

I just Needed to share.

I try not to mention how I am feeling too often because … well I suppose that is how I was brought up. If asked how you are , you lie through your teeth. Even if you are on your last legs you smile and say “I am fine thank you.”

Yes I did include you all in the last stages of my withdrawal from neuropathic and morphine based painkillers ( the prescription ones that most doctors hand out like sweets to keep you quiet) I am now prescription painkillers free and for that matter over the counter pills free too.

I was an addict and withdrawal is very hard and painful but it can be achieved. There is a problem though and I do try to keep it to myself but here I am spilling it all out on to the page for you all to see. Not very stiff upper-lip you might say.

PAIN,that is the problem. Constant nagging and stubborn pain. It hounds me all day, it pokes me to remind me it there all night while I sleep and it notches up a level when I least need or expect it.

Those of you you who suffer with constant pain will know what I am talking about people like Claire Saul and her Blog PainPals she will know what I am talking about and her blog is most interesting do visit her. Also is Caz’s blog at Invisibly Me well worth a visit too.

Life is a trade off isn’t it I could live a half life like a Zombie drugged up to the eye balls lulled in to a false sense that the pain is numbed. ( It isn’t really eventually they do not work at all and you realise you are taking them just because you NEED them to feel normal) Or I can have my brain working to full capacity and find ways to cope with the constant pain.

I made the choice I gave up the pills and I cannot really ever take any of them again because I am an addict. I am afraid to even take over the counter painkillers encase I wind up hooked on them. Most days I cope but on days like today , I feel like shit. I am exhausted, in pain , shorted tempered, freezing and tearful. I am finding so hard to even write this blog but I will …I hope that someone out there might just need to know they are not alone.

Where am I going with this, I don’t really know but I just needed to get my feelings out there. I have been trying to get my poems into some sort of order because I would dearly love to get a book published this year, I even have a working title ‘ A Blogsworth of Poems ‘ I am plodding away at that but I have so little time as because the stupid pain slows me down everything takes so much longer.

Enough now no more moaning lets look at some positives. I had a great weekend, Saturday we visited a local brewery with friends and we could take Ruby too as it has a dog friendly bar called the Taproom. No we didn’t do a tour we had a fabulous BBQ lunch and tried out their interesting original beers. I also found a beautiful bluebell wood to take Ruby for a walk in. Sunday we were out with our youngest son and his two boys the eldest of who was 5 years old last Wednesday.

We had a pub lunch and we took M’s birthday presents and the Easter eggs for both boys along with us. It was delightful to have our eldest grandson announce That his birthday present was “Just what I wanted ” The joy of see the grandchildren really helped with the pain… maybe the fact that we had so much fun at the weekend is one of the reason I feel so tired ( you might say) … but the pain and tiredness are constant

I do lots of walking daily ( the advantage of having a dog! ) and Pilates twice a week and I am so much better than I was this time last year and a thousand times better than I was three years ago.

I am fine , hopefully tomorrow I shall be even better I have a lot to look forward to. Next week is Easter. The week after I am going on a course ( The Lord of the Deep ) with the Silent Eye which I really looking forward too. I am also hoping we will see more of the grandchildren. Then June brings The Bloggers Bash!

Life is what we make it and nothing can last forever… I hope ❤

Now lets have a happy song . Love you all

The Annual Blogger’s Bash 15th June 2019

It’s that time again we are all set to get really excited about voting and counting down the days to June 15th and The Annual Blogger’s Bash.

We have received notification that the votes are open and I have passed that on too. I am delighted and grateful to say that I have been nominated this year in The Best Lifestyle Blog Category. If anyone would like to vote for me that would be wonderful , there are so many amazing blogs to vote for. I am just excited to be going .

So what am I blogging on about here. Well I just wanted to tell you just how much this event means to me and how much work our wonderful committee put in to it’s organisation.

Every year under the ~~Evilly Clever Eye~~ er, diligent eye of Sacha Black the committee members go all out to make things perfect. The rest of the Committee are, Hugh Roberts, Suzie Elliott, Adam Dixon, Helen Jones, Graeme Cummings and Geoff LePard. Lets give them a round of applause.

Now there is a website dedicated to the Blogger’s Bash and you can vote, buy your tickets and find out all there is to to know about the day, there. I know you have got your tickets but there may still some blogger’s out there who have not got them yet. So I will give you the link again here

This year the Blogger’s Bash is being held at The Grange Wellington Hotel. 71 Vincent Square, Westminster, London SW1P 2PA.
It is a lovely venue and we have been there before, and they are letting us back 🤪.

If you have not attended a Blogger’s Bash before I can truly recommend it. It is a wonderful way to meet fellow bloggers and meet old friends and new.

There are always plenty of speakers and lessons and advice to gain and above all it is a wonderful social event.

Below are some photos from 2017 at the Grange Wellington Hotel. ( This year’s venue)So if you are making your mind up on whether to join us or not I can honestly say we are a welcoming bunch. So go on jump in.

This year is the fifth year of the Blogger’s Bash and it gets bigger and better every year. It will be the fourth one I have attended and I hope to see you there..

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS March 9/19

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday from LindaGHill is “abash/a bash/bash.” Use “abash,” or “bash” as a noun or a verb. Bonus points if you manage all three. Have fun!

SoCS badge by Pamela,

Unabashedly I can confirm that I am a huge fan of the Bloggers Bash. Yes it’s true I do.

I have attended three out of the four Bashes so far and I am off to Bash number five in June.

Talking of the Bash have you got your tickets yet, have voted for your favourite Bloggers yet. Here is the link to the

THE ANNUAL BLOGGERS BASH THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR THE BEST BLOGGING EVENT OF THE YEAR!

Also I have entered the ‘Five’ competition. Would you like a bash at that, here is the link for that too.

THE 2019 BLOGGERS BASH BLOG POST COMPETITION

Well all I can say is give it a The Blogger’s Bash a bash this year, you can be assured of a friendly welcome.💜💜💜.

This is part of #SoCs.

Five Steps to Recovery.

In the last 20 years I have broken my back twice. Where does Five come into this equation, I hear you ask. Well, I am going to share with you Five steps to recovery after a broken back.

Step 1: Positivity. After more than a month in hospital and two of the three operations I needed, I went home. I had to be brave because I had to learn to walk again. That was not easy. Physiotherapy is very important and you need to make yourself do all the exercises you are given. I really needed to push myself to walk at first. I counted lampposts and felt very proud if I could reach two and then turn round and get home.

Step 2: Friends. I discovered who my real friends were. Many dropped me like a stone because I was too hard to deal with. The good part about this was I learnt who my real friends are. The ones who stay around are my diamonds in the dust.

Step 3: Certainty. There will be a lot of fears and pain to contend with. Find something to occupy your mind. That’s how I found blogging. I was seeing a pain psychologist and she suggested I try writing my thoughts down. That is how my blog was born. I can honestly say blogging saved my sanity. I have met so many wonderful people here in the bloggysphere.

Step 4: Medication. This is tricky. You need to find the fine line between the pills helping you and forming a dependency. I got hooked on Tramadol and Gabapentin, both highly addictive. I had to endure 5 years of withdrawal. That’s another story. But with determination and the help of my hubby and my blogily friends I am now pain killer free. I am not pain free but I am off those pills that dragged me down.

Step 5: Perseverance. I can honestly say that if you believe in yourself and are determined you can come back from anything. I wasn’t always sure I would make it but I never gave up. So what I want to say to you is never give up and never give in 💜