#CherryTomatoes to help you lose weight : ) #Diet #LoveYourselfSlim #Hydroponics #HangingBaskets

One of my favorite little 'secrets' to help me stay on track, have something crunchy and tasty - I love these little Cherry Tomatoes - and they're easy to grow in containers, too, if that appeals to you : ) Yum!  delicious! See my little trick of holding the Cherry tomatoes up against the picture of Yosemite for a better picture?? lol!

Oh, and I happen to loove a couple of slices of Havarti Cheese with a little handful of Cherry Tomatoes - yum! Quite often (okay, all the time - lol!) I don't want to stop what I'm doing (working on the computer, or making Trees, or whatever I'm up to, that day - hahahaha!) to make something fancy, sooo, that's one of my 'Go-To' snacks... yum! 

And, lately, all I ever seem to want is an Apple, a nice crunchy Apple, and two of those Quaker Apple Fruit Crumble Chewy Granola Bars - it's like an instant Apple Crumble, with lots o' Apple! lol! Yum! 

Cucumber Slices in Italian Salad Dressing, or whatever Salad Dressing you happen to like... : )

A nice big salad with Sunflower Seeds, French Dressing, and Grated Cheese - yum!  Now I want that for dinner! 

I used to looove Corn Chips crushed into my salads... with Balsamic Dressing... soo good!  And always with the Sunflower Seeds : ) 

My favorite Apple Crumble little 'diet' meal (if you already know me,or are jus' gettin' to know me, you'll know I canny stand the word 'diet' - ugh!  I use it in the real meaning of the word, diet - what you eat on a regular basis... as long as 'diet' doesn't mean deprivation, because that's what it tends to mean, these days, and I'm all about not depriving yo'self - Treat Yo'self, is more of my thing! hahaha!  Find food you really enjoy, and you'll be fine : ) 

Easy Apple Crumble - half a bowl of apple sauce, cover lightly with oatmeal, sprinkle with cinnamon, microwave for 1 minute, Voila!  A nice, warm, tasty, treat!  I have the original Apple Crumble, which, frankly, is deeelicious, and I needed to do as a 'first step' to my weight loss 'journey', after my second child, my wonderful son, Aidan, had not only arrived, but had already turned 2! lol! That 'baby weight' - it's hard to lose!  Now he's 13, and I was able to lose over 35 pounds using the 'Apple Crumble Diet'.. I'll link that for you to the complete recipe and my special Scottish Diet page : ) 

Lose weight, and have fun doing it - if you feel yourself becoming frustrated or you're unhappy with it, switch it up a bit, get yourself back on track, and make it about choosing food you really enjoy, healthy choices... and have your treats, because if you don't, you'll just keep thinking about your fancy treat you want sooo much, now - better to have a wee treat, move on, right? lol!  Maybe make yourself a little deal that if you have your special treat, make a conscious effort to have an extra healthy thing, just to balance yourself out - and that's really what it's all about - a nice, healthy, balance in your life : )  You be all svelt and delicious!! lol!


I have a whole Scottish Diet that I developed and used to help me lose over 35 pounds... is in the same vein as the whole Oatmeal idea, since oatmeal is sooo useful in losing weight quickly... is da best food, ever!! http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2010/10/scottish-diet-it-really-works.html

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  You'll get a real kick out of how a peat pellet works, too, since it doesn't look like a whole lot of soil in the pellet form, but you'll have fun pouring the water on the peat pellet, and watching it grow into 'real soil'!  Is fun! 

The little Peat Pellet at the bottom of the pot : )

Ooh, I am growing my own Cherry Tomatoes - so exciting, can't WAIT! I used to grow Cherry Tomatoes with my wonderful and hilarious students in our School Garden (shout out to all School Districts who support a Garden in Every School!)...

One year, we had a particularly good crop of Cherry Tomatoes, and I was tryin' to FIND people to give them away - easily, we brought 40 pounds of Cherry Tomatoes out of our School Garden, that year - we used to go out into the School Garden, collect all the fruits and veggies, we would eat and cook with them as a class, then bring the extra up to the Front Office, so people could just help themselves - was so much fun! I loved my students soo much! I hope they're all doing soo well, now! I'm sure they all are! Shoutout to all my great Students! : ) You know I love you! You're the Best!! : )

Now I'm growing the Cherry Tomatoes (and Tumblin' Tom Tomatoes - looove the name - how hilarious is that?? The person naming the plants - laughin', laughin' - prolly all alone, and laughin' and laugh' - I love that image! haha!)

You don't need any space - I have this Hanging Basket out on the balcony, but you could have a hanging basket in your house, or in any classroom - I really, really think it's fantastic for children to watch plants grow, and then harvest the fruits and veggies - they're far more likely to grow up and eat more fresh produce, so, healthier kids, healthier adults, healthier society... I think you can see where I'm goin' with THAT... lol! 

Yay! Look at all that beautiful New Growth! I'm so excited! I just loove watching plants grow - what a miracle! Thanks, Universe! Thanks, God! Good Work! Nice Job! A+++++! lol! : )

I bought the little Tomato Plant for $2.00, at our local Grocery Store, but you can pick up the hanging baskets at the Dollar sore, now - did you know that? Am I the last to find out? haha! But I was thrilled, because the hanging baskets with the fancy liner used to be very expensive, so, I'm all for better pricing, so everyone can have one, right? Right! Sure! Grow a Garden, Baby! : )

Hydroponics: Now you can grow Fresh Vegetables and Fruit, year-round - lasts for years, no more waiting for the prices to be 'normal' or 'reasonable' at the Grocery Stores, for your fave Vine fruits and veggies : ) 

10% OFF ENTIRE GROWERSHOUSE SITE! Wouldn't it be soo great to have Fresh Tomatoes, Fresh Cherry Tomatoes (my personal favourite! Yum!), Fresh Strawberries... Really, all your favourite Fruits and Veggies that grown on vines or in pots... 

I first found out about Hydroponics in University (nooo, it's not what you might be thinking - hahahaha!  It really WAS for the Tomatoes - hahaha!).

Anyway, if you're interested in Hydroponics, want to save money on your fresh fruits and veggies (they're a craazy price in Canada), and you want to Grow Your Own, Hydroponics might be something to look into...really Extend Your Growing Season : ) 

Ready for Love - It's Still Here!! Yahoo! I guess they ARE ready for love! lol! (We're Ready For Wine!) #Wine!

  Wow. So I was soo surprised to see that Ready for Love was still on the air, tonight... after all those rumors, and flat out information that said NBC studio executives had cancelled Eva Longoria's Ready for Love after only 2 episodes... that made me so mad, because what is the point in cancelling a show mid-season, when there's virtually nothing else on at this time of the year?  And their Big Plan was to replace Ready for Love with Grimm on Tuesday, and Dateline when it was supposed to air on Saturday.  Stooopid.  Dateline is almost exclusively creepy murder stories, yuck, and Grimm is too dark for me, so now they've just managed to lose the audience they DID have for Ready for Love - and if you wanted to watch Grimm or Dateline, you would've watched it, or DVR'd it, at its' regular time, right?  Ugh!  What is going on with these 'executive decisions'??  And don't even get me started with Jay Leno - seriously, Jay Leno's sooo funny, we love watching him as a little family (a very little family! lol!)... I hope they reverse that stooopid decision, too, and just let him stay on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as long as Jay wants to stay, and we're all watching...

So I'm glad Ready for Love is still on the air - is fun to watch - I had to laugh when I saw Bill Rancic's suit - was hilarious!  Like maybe someone's getting a little hippy, right before the show, too late for another suit... but I guess now we know who's been eating Guiliana's extra-helpings at dinner! buh-dum-bump! hahaha!  Nooo, I kidding!  They booth look good, but that suit really did break me up : )

Ben, Ernesto and Tim are having a great time - lots o' girls, little bits o' action... couldn't stand that the old girlfriend of Ben's was still on the show - she's annoying - clearly a manipulator... they need to punt her out, so Ben can find a new girl - really he's been right in the same town for a year, and she doesn't bother to talk to him until Ben's on TV?  Hmmmm... that doesn't seem manipulative, at all... so she needs to go... but I loved that the 'Single Mom', the one who views herslf, and then portrays herself, as disadvantaged, because she's a single Mother... I never liked that term - I'm single, and I'm a mother (I have some jokes, here, but dey all inappropriate! hahahaha!), but I have never once referred to myself as a 'single mother'... it has connotations I canny be bothered with .... but this is the same girl who had to tell Ben that she wasn't his mother - I looooved that!! hahaha! Who has Mommy Issues?? hahaha!  Oh, and I really loved when the one girl says Ben can't dance - ruh-roh!  Dat not a Good Sign - but it's not the worst sign, just in case any of the ladies out there are wondering about this - a great personality and lots more can make up for that : ) , so don't discount a good guy for his lack of dancing skills! lol!

I like Ernesto.  He's the only one I find attractive... surprising that he kept the girl who was so rude to his sister - yuck.  Too rude, and I loved when she takes Ernesto aside, not his sister, the one she actually offended, to explain that she's not like the, not really.... hahahaah!  Not really.  Yep, really.  really horrible. But there you go, Ernesto chose her, so you can never tell what a man likes... so many men love a mean girl. Yuck.  Wonder what the appeal is?  Ah, well.  You don't want to be mean for a guy - a guy would have to be pretty screwed up to want someone like that, so you're better off with a guy who is not attracted to meanness.  Yick.  But when it's another one of those situations where it's so contrived, and the guy has to choose one to stay, one to go, I guess that lets the wrong ones stay a little while longer - unless he really does like that ...

Tim is too dull for me, all-round.  They should have led with Ernesto, and they should have started Ready for Love with all three of the Bachelors, not spend sooo much time on Tim.  Nice enough guy, strikes me as a player, not really 'Ready for Love'... chances are really high I'm wrong on that - who knows?  Maybe this is good for his career... it's weird for me when I see some of the girls get sooo emotional after rudely interrupting another girl's nice little story, then shockingly, it doesn't work out... no sense of timing... might explain the difficulty in dating... but when Tim came in and started jumping on the girls' beds in the morning - what a crazy thing to do - that would annoy me to no end - too stupi for me... and if the producers told him to do something that annoying, that's gotta stop.  That just tells me someone has poor judgement on what is crazy, and what is normal...

I love all the advice from the Matchmakers - have you noticed I haven't really learned all their names, yet?  What's the point?   have no idea if Ready for Love will stay on the air, plus, they need to put their names on the screen when they are on - there are too many people to keep track of, and sooo many of them are personality-free....oh, and that teacher who keeps saying massively inappropriate things - not funny- inappropriate, gross-inappropriate... hahahaaha!  And to have to be told not to do that, over and over and over and over... that matchmaker must be losing her mind! hahaha!  Pretty sure most adults know that little tidbit of what to say and what not to say, on a date, but also to other humans... funny...

Well, i hope NBC keeps Ready for Love on the air.  why not??  they've already paid to make it, why not just air it?  and if they want to put some idiotic repeat on in it's time slot, which prolly won't get very many views, anyway, why not just put Ready for Love in some obscure time slot, and we can all just DVR it?  Come on, NBC, quit taking the good stuff off the air, and leave Jay Leno on the air, too... there, I said it! lol!

Happy Love Adventures! (I was gonna write, 'Happy Dating', but 'dating' is kind of an odd thing, anyway - better to develop a nice friendship, get to know each other, go have dinner, go hang about with each other... I don't know why I don't really like the word 'dating' - seems contrived, I guess! hahaha!)  Ailsa xox!



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Ready for Love, OR Ready or Not, Here comes Love! hahaha!

I'm watching the news at the same time as I'm writing this - is so hard to even think of cheery, even silly, things, right now, in the face of the Boston Bombing... so, so, sad... our hearts go out to everyone involved in the horrific attacks, and our hearts go out to everyone affected.  I am very happy to see the tremendous amount of positive response on Facebook and Twitter.  Just so sad, and a we boy... that's so horrific...

So how do you talk about a Bachelor show at a time like this?  I guess because it gives us a little more hman connection while we're all trying to deal with this, so here goes...

Tonight, they had Ben and Ernesto, Ben Pallon and Ernesto Arguello - a couple of good-looking fellows, to be sure, and a whole slew of gorgeous women... so why so many gorgeous women who are single?  Hmmm... I wonder how much the times have changed that women are not getting married early on, and the men who don't appear to have marriage on their minds... has it really changed that much for women, or is the change with the men?  These women are soo pretty, and so well put-together... the worst line of the night was the lovely girl who was sent away, first, I think, she said, I've got all the education, and I guess that's not what men want..."  Nooo, don't go there!  Ladies, don't listen to that... go get whatever education you want and like, become whoever you want to become, a Good Man will come along - don't limit yourself thinking that will bring more men - yuck!  What kind of man would that be?  A man who can't handle an educated woman??  Gross!!  That would move us back a few decades, would be awful... no, we want to be our Best Selves, and let the men be their Best Selves (or whatever love match you would like the mostest, since Love is Love is Love is Love, right??! Yep!), and we'll all find someone great to love - I keeps me fingees crossed for you!! lol!

What's with bringing in the ex-girlfriends??  I don't like that.  What's the purpose in that?  Makes the whole thing aaaawk-ward! lol! There she is, glaring at all the other girls ... all that Crazy, wrapped up in one little person... and then was it Ben who said he 'needs' to be made crazy?? So unhealthy... there's a Drama King, right there... hmmm, Good Luck, Ladies, with this one...

And then there's Ernesto, who is in his 30's, right?  And has never, ever, told a woman he loves her - who else sees a giant Red Flag, there?? hahaha!  Hmmm, begs a few questions, don't it?? Are you thinking the same questions I am?? lol!  Whatevs, let's say he really is looking for a wife, how did he get to his 30s, and has never fallen for anyone, or is there phenomenal fear in saying I love you?  That's not tough to say, soooo, me wonders about this one... but he sure is handsome, so we'll forget all the Red Flags, and get on with the show! hahaha!

I love the bitchy girls - what is that all about?  How horrible... and then the wallflowers really break me up, on National Television - Oh, I was sooo gonna say something... hmmmm, yeah, go on and say something... when they were doing some construction, which you know is near and dear to my heart (www.buildyourownhouse.ca - my main site! lol!), and the two girls are working on installing the flooring, and needed specific measurements for the flooring, and the mean girl all mad about that... bleh!  Why so many mean girls?  Wonder what they get out of being so mean?  Do they actually reap any rewards from that?  I've definitely known lots of men who actually go for that - ugh.  That's nauseating to me - if they're gonna be mean to everyone else, they're gonna be mean to your children - and that's not okay.  It's hardly even female, to me... yuck.  Just be nice and kind.... but that's what I like... hahaha!  I canny stand da meannies!  They horrible! I avoid them wherever I can, makes my life sooo much better!

What do you think of the format, letting the Matchmakers make the final cuts?  Weird.  What was that male matchmaker saying about what men want?  I know it irritated me when he was saying it - and did I really hear one of the matchmakers say, get out there and make an impression, don't be yourself... was that possible??  Dammit, was that when I was checking out my Easter Basket to see what's left in it for late-night treats?? hahaha!  Well, to be sure, Be Yourself... why even bother not being yourself??  Who has that kind of time to fake crap?  Either you like him or you don't, and either he likes you or he don't (okay, I couldn't resist keeping with the 'don't' - hahaha!  All my English Teacher's be groanin', right now! hahaha!) (doesn't - feel better? lol!)  So silly.

And the poor little Virgin Girl - she knows what she's doing, she's got a good head on her shoulders, and she'll make all the right decisions for herself - I liked the whole thing of being open to a relationship, but not the way they went about it - she clearly knows who she is, and is comfortable with that... and that guy won't respect that - he sure seems like a player to me... she needs a Real Man. Just a really young one... but I do know a lot of people who started their marriages as virgins - was the way it was for a long, long time, but some of them really struggled with their relationships, because they were virgins because they were so closed off, so I think that's where the matchmaker was coming from on that one...

Sooo, next week, they have all three of the guys, and they're down to, what is it?  4 million girls?? haha!  I like the shows where there are more people involved, in equal numbers, so people can really get to know each other... maybe they could meet at a bar, like in da old days?? hahaha!  Just seems overly contrived, and how do you find love like that?  Oh, and before I forget, I thought it was soo funny when the Pilates Studio Owner had to tell Ben she's not his Mom! hahahahaha!  Hilarious!  Not a good sign on a first date! Hello, Red Flag!

Okay, have a good week.  Love is right around the corner.  What's for ye'll no go by ye'.... (my favourite Scottish saying - has gotten me through the worst of times... and maybe you'll find some comfort in it, too : )  Ailsa xox!

I thought this is such a pretty ring... and a fantastic price : )
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Gorgeous Wedding Dresses, Bridesmaids Dresses, Prom dresses, and, of course, Gorgeous Dresses for dating and going out for a lot of fun!! 
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A wee bit of Wedding Advice, to go along with all your lovely Wedding Gowns and Bridesmaids Dresses! 
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And some nice wee dresses just for fun : )...

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Make Crafts for Fun, Gifts and Profit - Art Projects You Can Really Enjoy! #Crafts #DIY

Really, I just love crafts : )  I've always been very 'crafty' - hahaha!  From these gorgeous wee 'bear beds quilts' I used to make when I was in University. They were little baby quilts, and I was all about Primary Colors for children, at the time, so I usually made them with red, blue and yellow bears, on a green background - I was always in a kindergarten class, back then, and it took having my own wee girl to finally cross over to pastel colors! hahaha!  I was all about teaching until I had my own beautiful little baby, then I was all about, What does Cara want?? And I'm still that way! hahaha!  And now Cara will be 25, this year! lol!  Time flies when you're children are growing up : )

Crystal Wire Sculpture - by far my favorite new thing to make!

I'll see if I can find a picture of them, but they were a  full yard square in green with a little trim lace around the outside for the girl babies, then a square in the center on one side made of 9 squares, no two colors together, so first row, blue, red, yellow, next row underneath, yellow, blue, red... you get the idea... each of the red, yellow and blue squares was a little bed for the bears, so I made 9 small envelops, and would sew those together, then sew them onto the green base.... and then I would make 9 little bears, red, yellow and blue, sew them and stuff them, and draw on a very cute little face on each bear.  What a gorgeous project that was - so much fun for me to make, and I loved giving them out as gifts.  The children loved to carry the bears around, they could put them in their mouths, put them to bed, match the colors, or mix the colors... was a very sweet wee toy, and fun to cuddle up with.  For a while, there, there were a lot of tiny children with their own pockets full of wee colorful bears! hahaha!

So, really, that's where I started with making crafts, although I always loved teaching Art with my students, over the years.  Just remembered - I've got some really good Lesson Plans for fantastic art projects for yourself or your students, if you happen to have some! lol!  But making crafts, or crafting, if you will, is a great way for you to relax, enjoy yourself, and create something gorgeous, or lovely, or shiny!  Whatever it is that you like, and it's a fantastic creative outlet - and then you can sell your crafts, too, on ETSY, and all sorts of venues, now.  Who knows, maybe you'll be doing something you really love and start a new career!!

I love cake decorating (really, I've gotta go and see what pictures I can find for you - but I used to be an avid cake decorator....was so much fun, and now I want to learn how to make roses in icing - I used to do it, but this is a new style of roses with a softer icing that I want to learn how to do, so I can make a Rose Cake like a bouquet for my lovely daughter, Cara!  It's all about Cara! hahaha! (And Aidan, mah' boy!!)

Hey, it's my biggest 'Art Project'! haha!  I designed and built this gorgeous house, and I've already redesigned it so I can build another version of this lovely home with the same living room you see here, but with the bedrooms up over the garage... a really good use of space : )

Crystal Trees - I love making these gorgeous wee trees, and have given these as gifts, too - and I have two of them on my dining room table - I just looking at them... fun to make, and easy to make, and very inexpensive, too : )

Oh, man, I love learning new techniques, and now you can do that online - so easy!  Or, 'sew easy'! lol!  Sorry, couldn't resist that!  Oooh, I want to know more about Cake Decorating!  And everything else! 

Go have some 'crafty' fun!! : ) 

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