I have completely moved now.  Please find my other blog www.jad36.blogspot.com.  It's easier to add images to.

I have now been using the new Simple products I got at the Spa for just over a week and I can see a small difference to my facial skin.  Whereas it used to be a bright red first thing in the morning, it's a more calmer and duller red, so the new products must be working.  I am so pleased, and will keep on using them.  In light of this, I have decided, and so has my mum, that we will stick to using Simple products only for face and body, well apart from washing my body for which I use aqueous cream, which is mild.  I bought some Simple exfoliating wipes to use possibly once a week.  I do have some Dead Sea facial exfoliation stuff but my mum thought it could be too harsh for my skin, seeing I was told it's sensitive.

I forgot to say that while I was on holiday I tried a different fruit juice.  I tried acai (pronounced ah-cai-ee) and although it looked like chocolate drink, it certainly didn't taste like it.  It was horrible.  But I hae now discovered another juice which is much nicer. It is raspberry juice made by The Berry Company and it's yummy, even my mum liked it.  Even better is that the bottle is recyclable. I will be trying blackberry juice next weekend.   I have been doing more exercise and getting on with Pilates at the weekend.  Each weekend I try to do more and more but haven't got that far yet.  I do want to lose some weight because I put on a few pounds while I was on holiday.

Well, must get on with some work.  I do try to blog at home but my home ISP is too slow and won't let me. It gets so far then stops and I give up.  Which is why I'm planning to change to Broadband which is faster.

As I had been having trouble getting into this blog at home, I created another blog yesterday and have decided that I will use this blog for health and beauty only.  So I am letting you know what a relaxing time I had last week.

I went shopping here and there and last Wednesday I went to Simple Spa by Covent Garden. My mum and I had a back, neck and shoulder massage, which was really soothing and relaxing, then a facial then a manicure. We were so relaxed that by the time we got home we felt like puppets who'd had their strings detached.  Needless to say I had a good nights sleep that night. I chose Simple spa because I know their products are colour and scent free and would use those on our bodies.  I got advice there. The therapist said my face is sensitive and recommended special products she used that has things in it that calm redness in the skin.  That day they were doing promotion and that you could get one product free and was advised to choose the dearest of the 2 recommended to me, so I did.  It would've cost me £25 otherwise. I have been using these products and it's early days to see if they're working or not. Other than that I didn't do a lot apart from going to Greenwich again and taking more photos, but of the river area this time. I did eat a lot of naughty things, and discovered Gillian McKeith's new Cacao bean bar which is yummy, but I've found that the pink grapefruit juice is no longer being done so can't have that anymore. I liked that.

Well, must go back to work even though I can't log in to my computer here at work.

I'm a happy person.  Why?  Last Monday I had a blood test, which is a yearly thing, but I also asked for my potassium level to be included this time because it had been higher than average a few months ago which caused concern to me.  Anyway, this morning I got the results.  My cholesterol level is 4.63 which is good, and my potassium was even better - it was 4.5 and I'm so happy because it's a vast improvement on 5.2 which it was back in March.  I had cut out beetroot from my diet but had still been eating chocolate and dried fruit so the beetroot must have been quite high in potassium.  I will eat a banana now and then if I feel like it, like this coming Saturday when I have a meeting to go to.  It's easy to carry and eat travelling on a bus.

Meantime, I am still on holiday at home.  Haven't done much yet.  Been shopping here and there and went to Greenwich last Friday and took lots of photos for research for my next adult book, which will be a RS.  I managed to find the theatre, which I was pleased about, now I know where Lottie in Stay is playing to her audiences.  Talking of Stay.  I have been working hard to finish the book this holiday and can happily say that apart from a few very minor amendments, I have finished it.  I have to print it all out ready to send to the NWS, which will take a few more days doing 2-3 chapters a day.  Once I've done those amendments, I am going to work on Bug again.  I will be walking up to Forest Hill tomorrow to take some photos of the place for research for Bug and the next 2 books.  On Wednesay my mum and I are going to have spa treatments in the afternoon, which should be nice and relaxing.  Can't wait.  Will let you know what else I get up to in a couple of days time.

I went to bed with a headache and woke up with one.  So as soon as I'd washed, dressed and was presentable to the outside world, I popped to the kitchen and got some water and had tablets. I can't remember what the first talk was, but the second one was with 3 authors who had just had a book published, including my friend S who writes for HMB.  They told us how they got published and what it felt like to see their new book out.  Then there was a talk by a librarian who runs a campaign called Pure Passion to get libraries pushing romantic novels read in the North East.  That was quite interesting.  Then was lunch which for me was totally disappointing.  There were sandwiches again but they either were with cheese or fish, neither which I eat, so all I ended up for lunch was a few mini sausage rolls and crisps, and I took a peach and banana.  I bought a baguette at the station and even then I had to take out the cheese.  The train journey was OK and I got home just after 5pm.  As soon as I arrived home, I unpacked and put all I had away and didn't give my body a chance to unwind properly.  I went to work the next day, so my body didn't have a chance to recover from the weekend properly, until last Saturday when I started my holiday.  Exhaustion took over and all I wanted to do was sleep most of the afternoon, which I did.  I was still tired on the Sunday, but better now.  I have learnt not to eat too much sugar before bed because it acts as caffeine and stimulates my brain too much in the night and keeps me awake.

More on what I've been up to this holiday later....

I tried to put this here yesterday but for some reason it didn't have the submit entry at the bottom of the screen, so have to do it again today.  Here goes.  I can't remember in what order I went to the talks but I do know that the first talk I went to was by Jodi Thomas, a US suspense author.  She talked about how she got the idea of first suspense book when she bonded with a few other women on a plane, and then came up with the idea what they could bond from.  Then she talked about the idea for her second book and then gave us tips on how to write a good suspense.  The main tip being to end chapters with a hook.  Jodi is a very friendly and approachable person to talk to.  I did so want to buy both her books but missed out because I didn't realise she sold them at the end of her talks and by the end of the conference they were sold out.  Fortunately, I've managed to buy them via Amazon.  Another talk was by Alison Baverstock on how to churn out a novel and she was inspirational.  I bought her book Is there a book in you? and am currently reading it. Lunch was a bit disappointing and unimaginative.  Although I don't normally eat bread due to my wheat and yeast intolerances, I had no choice as they only had sandwiches there and not very imaginative ones either.  I had ham and tomato and took the tomatoes out, plus some Dorita crisps.  Thankfully I took my own snacks of energy bars and rich tea biscuits for coffee times so I didn't go that hungry.  We also had talks by a chap who runs a small publishers called Mymirdon books which I was disappointed in because it wasn't what I thought it would be.  Dinner was nice.  We had pork steak, which was tough and by the end of eating it my fingers were sore from pushing the knife in to cut it, it was with chips and carrots.  Then we had an intermediate of lemon sorbet which was yummy and tangy.  Dessert was apple pie and cream but due to my dairy intolerance, I had fresh fruit instead which was still nice.  Then after dinner we went back to bar where we had the presentation of the Elizabeth Goudge tropy and that proved a v good night for my local RNA chapter.  Sue Moorcroft came in the top 5, Henrietta came 2nd and Janet won the prize and she was gobsmacked.  I later came out of the bar and saw her in tears from the shock of it.  Well deserved, I think.  I had a headache by the time I got to my room but silly me didn't take anything for it and ended up going to bed with headache and still having it during the night.

And then there was Sunday...until tomorrow.

I can't believe that it was only last week that I was in Leicester, actually this time last week I was at Leicester station waiting for the train to come home.  I had a great time, despite being tired most of the time.  Having only about 5 hours sleep Thursday night (I kept thinking about the conference) I was tired on the Friday and thankfully managed to rest my eyes on the train journey there.  I had been hoping to rest and lie down when I got to my room but I couldn't so ended up going to the bar instead and meeting new people.  We had a couple of talks then we had time to go to our rooms, and mine was in the block next door to the main buildiing.  After tidying myself up and resting a bit more, I went back to the bar and then we had dinner.  Dinner on Friday was really nice, we had melon with raspberry coulis to start, then chicken breast with new potatoes and veg, that was followed by a delicious summer pudding.  I was stuffed.  Then later on we went back to the bar where I chatted to more new people as well as others I already knew.  Oh yes, we had our goody bag full of books and other promo stuff, which was quite heavy.  I shall enter what I did on Saturday next week.  Until then...

Meantime, I went straight back to work on the Monday, which I won't do next year.  I think it was a bit too much coming all the way from Leicester, unpacking and not having much time to really unwind from the conference, and going to work the following day.  Next year I shall have the Monday off too.  There was one thing that I decided during the conference and that was to get really working on Stay so that I can send it all off to the NWS the end of the month.  I even wrote down a writing plan, to revise Stay Mondays-Saturdays and work on Bug on Sundays, but that hasn't happened this week as I will be typing amendments to Stay today as well as yesterday.  I read and amended 5 chapters of Stay during this week, so I could have it all polished and ready to send off at the end of the month, when I'm on holiday again.  I shall return to work on Bug and my course work next week when I'm on holiday again.

Shall be here again next week with more conference talk and maybe photos if I can work out how to put them on here.

Nature - you can't mess with it and you can't beat it either.  Tuesday's weather went to prove that you can't mess with it.  Heavy rain on and off, and even hail stones in Clapham which settled on the ground making it look like it had snowed.  As I said to my mum, you wouldn't have believed it was July.  July used to be warm weather but now you can't predict what it's going to be like.  Goes to show that something somewhere has changed.  Then in the evening the sun came out and a beautiful, glorious and bright rainbow appeared.  And that is when you can't beat nature.  At times it can be cruel, others it can be wonderful.

I have been on holiday this week and have been working hard on Stay.  I am now up to Chapter 15 and thought I didn't have much left to revise after that but remembered that there was a chapter where Lottie walked along a sea front but can't do that now because I have changed the setting to Greenwich, which hasn't got sea but a park.  I really want to get it all done, polished and printed by the end of the month so I can send it to the NWS when I'm on holiday again.  I would do some more over the weekend but I am off tomorrow to the RNA conference in Leicester.  I can' t wait and can't believe that it's come so quickly, and no doubt go quickly as well.  Will write all about it when I come back next week.

Well, until after the conference.  Bye for now.