My Funny Valentine

I hope you don't mind a different kind of post from me today. I thought I'd share my romantic Valentines day...... Just the three of us!

It was a lovely, sunny but cold day so we decided to make use of our year ticket to Trentham Gardens for a romantic walk. As you can see from the picture above Splodge loved the fountains (that's what he's trying to point at in two of the photos!). Yes, my earmuffs look silly but I get terrible ear ache when it's cold, anyone else have that problem?

Considering we weren't supposed to have been bothering with Valentines day, my hubby got me these really cool card flowers (pictured below). They'll last a lot longer than the real thing! 

And my lovely toddler baby got me this really cute necklace. His daddy told me that some of the money from the necklace went to the Cats Protection League charity. How thoughtful! 

For tea we ordered indian food and my lovely hubby made us cherry pies. Splodge looked like something from a horror film by the time he'd finished his!

Valentines day for us is a lot different than what it used to be (pre-Splodge) but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Did you do anything for Valentine day?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

P.S. Splodge pointing at things reminds me of the family guy evil closet monkey!

www.statemaster.com

Slimming World! #5

I put a sticky label over my name because they always spell it wrong! It looks like I stole my certificate!

I got my stone award from Slimming World!

I'm so pleased! Goodbye baby weight (and the little extra I accumulated myself.....ahem!) it's slow and steady weight loss and although in the past I've lost weight quite dramatically and quickly it's not healthy and generally unsustainable. Slow and steady wins the race and it's also more likely to stay off too! My work trousers are loose and its quite annoying actually because I'm skint and can't buy anymore yet! 

I know I say it a lot but I'm shocked I lost anything this week, with the baby Splodge at Gran's house for the weekend we had a Tesco takeaway!

It was also taster week and people brought lots of yummy sweet treats which I'm going to have to give a try at home so I will show you how I go on!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   

I'm Still Learning!

SOURCE bin-the-l-plates.co.uk

First of all I'd like to thank anyone who sent me those good vibes I asked for, for when I did my test!

Alas it was a FAIL! So I'm still a learner with a massive L on my head but never mind. I was so nervous on the day my chest hurt and I thought I was going to be sick (nice!) I failed because I cut a curb turning left from a minor road to major road (I didn't even notice, the examiner said it was a low curb!) and I should have given priority to an oncoming driver on a chicane (I had seen him, I just thought I was going to get there first!) They were just silly mistakes, easy fixes and I think I made them because I was so nervous. I had a reverse around a corner on the test which my instructor said most people hate but I find it quite easy (it's just the driving forward I have a problem with....!) and that went without a hitch!

If at first you don't succeed try, try, again, and I intend to! My next test is all booked for the 13th October, it sucks you have to wait so long I want it done and out of the way but hey, that's life and better luck next time! 

Again, please send me positive thoughts for my re test day and next time it's going to be a PASS!

Any tips for passing your driving test?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   

A Crash Course in Driving!

SOURCE shop.theaa.com

A while back, I booked a driving course and it's finally come around! Eeeek!

I have done one before but at the end of it I knew I wasn't ready to do my test and I knew I would have failed it. This time however, I have booked 30 hours driving and I have a test included at the end of it on the Friday! No chickening out last minute that way.

Being able to drive is important to me and I'm not asking for the tiny violins to start playing or anything but my Hubby is disabled (a broken back and partly severed spinal cord from a motorbike accident a few years ago) and he can drive an automatic, but his feeling in his feet is patchy and sometimes he misjudges how much pressure he is putting on the pedals. Trust me, it makes for a hair raising journey sometimes! But joking aside we have a baby now and it worries me and as time goes on the Hubs condition will deteriorate and it will be ultimately up to me to get us around. I also live far away from my parents and I miss them so very much, I'm hoping being able to drive will help me feel not-so-far away (although I'm in negotiations to eventually move closer to them, how babies change things huh? But that's a whole post to itself!) My other danger is that I put so much pressure on myself that on test day I'll just crack up. I need to remember that if I fail it's not the end of the world and I can retake my test! But I so want to pass and get it out of the road (haaaa get it?) 

So as you can see there's a whole lot riding on me passing my test and to anyone reading this I would really appreciate it if you could wish me luck and send me some good vibes!

Do you have any tips on how to cope under pressure? Or how you passed your test?

Please let me know! I'll keep you updated!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x     

My Hair Through The Ages!

I've done lots of crazy things with my hair over the years and today I thought I'd share them with you!

You'll have to excuse the bad photo's but some of these are very old! From black to blonde I've done it all, including bright pink and bright purple (middle left and bottom right). I loved the brights but they're so hard to keep on top of as you have to keep colouring it as they don't come in permanent. Not to mention all the bleaching, I wish I was a natural blonde I'd have all the colours of the rainbow, all at the same time! (not sure my employers would like that mind!)

If your wondering what's going on in the middle picture of the top row, they're synthetic dread extensions and I loved them! It took my friend ages to put them in, you have to braid them into your natural hair and they were so heavy! The only problem was after a few washes they started to unravel and look tatty. It was funny when I took them out I had an afro!

When I went white blonde (top right) I decided to bleach my eyebrows too (I had been blonde before and succeeded in bleaching them blonde to match) as I hate the whole white hair and dark eyebrows thing (don't even get me started!) but I did it and they went ginger! So I did them again and they disappeared completely, I must have left it on too long! I had to draw them in until they grew back!  

The oldest picture here where my hair is black (top left) and the waviness at the ends of my hair is my perm growing out, yes, I said perm. Not an old lady perm, but a spiral perm and I loved having curly hair it was so easy, all I had to do was wet it, mousse it, and scrunch it. Done! 

What's the craziest thing you've done to your hair?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x 

My First Smear

At the ripe old age of 25, a letter flops through my letter box inviting me to make an appointment for a cervical smear test.

Images like this one were all over the bloggosphere not that long ago and it inspired me to share my own experience. 

To be honest, that wasn't the first letter I'd had about going for a smear but the first time I got the letter I was pregnant and therefore couldn't have it done. It was actually a GP at my doctors surgery that reminded me to make an appointment. 

Now I know it's not a pleasant thing and I realise not everyone will want to read about this, so I invite you to tune out now if you don't want to read about lady parts, foofs, vajayjays, fanny's, muff's or whatever word you like to substitute vagina for! 

For the sake of this post I'm going to use the term lady parts, yes it may seem rather immature but I don't like the word vagina so I'm not going to use it, simple as.

Before I went I had a nice bath, to make sure everything was nice and clean "down there" and it helped me to relax a bit too. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous but after having a baby and also having had the coil in the past it doesn't really phase me. 

The nurse called me into the treatment room and explained that results take around two weeks to come back and that they also check for HPV (human papilloma virus) which is common in the general population and just means you may be slightly higher risk. If this is detected you may be referred for a colposcopy (where a microscope is used to look for abnormalities). Please don't freak out, that's only IF they find anything abnormal, and an abnormality DOES NOT mean you have cancer. Abnormal cells could lead to cancer if not treated, but that doesn't mean it will! The idea here is that prevention is better than a cure. 

So on with the procedure, the nurse asked me to remove my clothing and underwear from the waist down. She pulled curtains around and asked me to tell her when I was ready. This way you don't have to undress in front of anyone. I wore a dress for practicality, it's easy access and goes a small way of covering up your decency. I lay on the bed and the nurse asked me to pull my knees up, put my heels together and then spread my knees apart. She inserted a small speculum (like a plastic tube, about the size of a tampon, lubed up with KY jelly) into my lady parts so she could see my cervix.

Now my experience was different to most in that my cervix is at a funny angle (I have been told before that I have a retroverted uterus, it just means it tips backwards rather than forward) and therefore was asked to lie on my side and hold my leg so she could get better access. She then swabbed my cervix (with a cotton swab, like a long ear bud) removed the speculum and all was done. She then left the curtained area while I got dressed.

The whole thing was over in 5 minutes and although it's uncomfortable it's not painful. If you've had your letter, go and get it over and done with. I certainly want to be around for my son and my family, it's so worth doing, it's 5 uncomfortable minutes that could save your life!

For more information see the NHS website HERE

Feel free to ask me any questions,

Thanks for reading,

Wench x 

Park Life!

With the glorious weather we've had in the UK recently I wanted to share something a little different from my usual posts today. 

Me and Splodge went to the park and I was showing him the sights and the animals and took the opportunity to take some pictures (and practise my not-so-great photo skills!) 

We saw a heron and I got super excited! 

We saw a squirrel playing with a stick (clearly a dog in an earlier life!)  

Answer me this, is a full white pigeon a dove or still just a pigeon?! Answers on a postcard please! 

And finally, here's a pretty tree!

I know my photography is shocking, but hey me and Splodge had a nice day out, didn't we baby?

I realise this is a very picture heavy post but congratulations on making it this far! Hope you don't mind the change of post! 

Thanks for reading!

Wench x

Mother's Day!

Good morning! Just a quick post that I hope you don't mind me sharing! 

I hope all you Mummy's of the world had a lovely mother's day yesterday?! I celebrated my very first mother's day yesterday and I was very spoilt indeed! I got a lovely card with my babies very first (and very scrunchy!) hand print.

My hubz made me facon (fake bacon - I'm a veggie you see!) butties for brekkie and I got some lovely flowers, new PJ's (I not-so-subtlety hinted at!), a cute little bear, and a little plant.  

My husband made me a special fake steak tea (lots of fake veggie food going on!) and even ran me a nice, relaxing bubble bath (I have a post on that coming up!). I was treated like a princess but most importantly I got to have lots of cuddles with my special little guy! 

It was all a bit much for some!

I hope you didn't mind me sharing a few snaps of my first mothers day with you. I had a great day and wanted to share it with you!

Thanks for reading!

Wench x 

What Is This? 20 Questions?

Yes actually, it is!

I thought for a little "let's get to know each other" exercise I'd answer 20 questions! So without further ado let's go!

1. Full Name: Sharron Rachael Jennifer Parsons - yes that's Sharron with 2 "R's"


2. Age: 25! And getting older by the minute!


3. Zodiac Sign: Gemini


4. What's the blog about? Mainly about beauty on a budget, the occasional expensive treat, and really whatever else comes to mind. My own little slice of the internet pie!


5. Meaning behind the name? Wench's World of Wonder is inspired by my childhood nickname "Wench" which may seem offensive but was given to me lovingly by my older brother, and it just seemed to stick. The world of wonder part came from friends and family that often describe me as being "away with the fairies" or "in a world of my own" (which is a song in Disney's Alice in Wonderland - Hit "like" if you know what song i'm on about!) There you have it!


6. Relationship Status: Happily married!


7. Kiddiwinks? 1 beautiful, bouncy, 5 month old baby boy!


8. Pets? 2 Degu's called Claudia and Chi Chi, I'm a massive cat lover but unfortunately as we rent, we're not allowed any cats *cries*


9. Where are you from? Originally from Manchester, but have moved to sunny Stoke-on-Trent.


10. Three Fears: The toilet flush, yes quite strange I know and this has got better over the years but I'm still a flush-and-runner! Worms, they just creep me out! On a more serious note, being a bad mother, I think any mum can relate to that one


11. Three Loves: Make-up! Obviously! Bargains! Another obvious one! And my gorgeous little boy!


12. Ideal Sunday: Spending time with my son and hubby! Building a den and watching youtube videos or disney films in our pyjamas!


13. Tea or Coffee? COFFEE, I'm a massive coffee addict! Vanilla lattes are my favourite!


14. Favourite Perfume? My all time favourite is Very Irresistible by Givenchy, I also love The Body Shop's White Musk.


15. Favourite Song? Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, I got married to that song and it has a lot of meaning to me. I love Rock and Metal music!


16. Favourite Book? I love Stephen King. I couldn't put "Cell" down. And I love Dan Brown too, "The Da Vinci Code" is my favourite I think, just because it was the first one of his I picked up. (I know that's 2 books but shhhhh don't tell anyone!)


17. Favourite Film? I'm not that big into films really, I'm also one of those annoying people who always points out what was missed out from the book! I don't have a favourite film but my favourite genres are horror/thrillers. And Disney! Who doesn't love a bit of Disney!


18. Favourite Holiday? This has to be when my brother went travelling for 6 months and I met up with him half way through in Thailand and did a whistle stop tour through Cambodia and Vietnam. I could gush about that for hours so I think that may be a future post!


19. Last text message? From my mummy asking me if I want to go home on the Easter bank holiday.


20. Last phone call?  From my mother-in-law, she text me a picture from her new phone and because I didn't have the number saved (but knew it had to be someone from that side of the family - if that makes sense) I text back "which weirdo is this?" She rang me to laugh at me!

There you have it, 20 questions answered by yours truly! If you have any other questions you'd like to ask me, comment with them and i'll answer them! Please excuse the mess, I'm new to blogging and just getting the hang of what's what, if anyone has any pointers they'd be much appreciated! Hope you enjoyed this post and watch this space for more from me.

Thanks for reading

Wench x


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