Rest and Recuperation - Nips and Tucks

Psst, I will let you into a little secret .. don't tell anyone but I've been for a bit of cosmetic surgery.  Currently I'm resting now for a few weeks, I have kept my diary deliberately free for the rest of the year so I can do what I have been planning and wanting to do for many years now - fix the bits of my face that have dropped with age.  

scented paper wall hanging and pure linen pillows

It seems that so many of life's realities are deemed to be taboo. Depression, menopause, body modification, you name it, there's always something we are supposed to not be talking about. But who does it help by keeping silent? It's only the fear of being judged that keeps people silent, I just wonder who are these perfect people who do the judging. 

my Ziggy sent me 'get well soon' chocolates through Morse Toad with a photo of himself on the box 

book from The Future Kept bedding by Soak and Sleep

Modern day dilemma's often seem to revolve about what other people think, but really one should only ever worry about pleasing oneself.

It is a cliche but, we only have one chance, one life, and as I turn past the 50 marker I feel that I need to be brave enough to sort out the things that bother me.  While we all want to please and be popular, I'm sure that honesty has to be a big part of what draws me to people, and I hope likewise too.

I am not enjoying growing old, there I said it, some of my friends are fine with how they have aged, I am not.  My mind still tells me I'm in my twenties, I am very exuberant about all sorts of things and enthusiastic to keep learning new skills, but I am not at all happy with some of the realities of time taking it's toll physically.

So here's the thing, I don't want to look like anyone else, I just want to look how I did a few years ago, so I've been under the knife and I want to share my experience of that for anyone who feels the same as me, because yeah, it's another one of those taboos and not saying anything is just silly.

scented wall hanging from a kit by Sarah Notes, dreamcatcher made using porcelain feathers from Ceramic Magpie

My procedure involved two nights in hospital, it's pretty horrible shaking off the general anaesthetic and the soreness in your throat from being put to sleep.  The pain of the wounds does hurt a lot, even painkillers didn't completely make it go away.  This gets less after a few days however. Now I'm just keeping calm and relaxed while I wait for the swelling to go down, this will probably take a few weeks. Also the anaesthetic makes things taste pretty awful for the first day and I found that chocolate masked it pretty well, just sucking on small pieces was very soothing and comforting. 

chocolates from Morse Toad, Linen nightshirt by Soak and Sleep on dark grey linen pillow case

I did my research pretty well in finding a surgeon, as with anything physical, be it tattoos or a tummy tuck, never never pick someone because of the price.

Despite feeling that I had thoroughly sussed out what I wanted, when it came to meeting my chosen surgeon, I discovered that not everything you read on the internet is necessarily as simple as some websites make out.  So it is best not to have a pre-conceived idea of the procedure you want, just be clear to the surgeon what you want to achieve in the long run and let him explain how to achieve it. Please have consultations with at least three different prospective surgeons to begin to get an opinion about the procedure and decide who makes the most sense to you.

pure linen bedding from Soak and Sleep

My current regime for recovery is all about the relaxation, I've been stock pilling things to do when I'm recuperating, I've got some books and magazines to read, some knitting and crochet to do and I have set up my bedroom to be calm, comfortable and very zen.

A new set of Soak and Sleep sheets were my biggest treat, and as I had to stay in hospital I also got myself the linen night-dress and robe.  If you every experience linen sheets you will never go back.
They aren't scratchy like you may think, but soft and warm, more like brushed cotton.  I particularly like the heat regulatory aspect of this material, cool in summer and warm in winter. The robe and nightdress have a very clean feel to them, and I was pleased they were cool as the hospital was so hot, also I didn't want anything fluffy. One of the nurses actually commented on my robe, she was very impressed, right before she knocked me out!  

I couldn't sleep in the hospital, but as soon as I hit the pillows back at home I was off like a baby. After surgery you have to wear a bandage bonnet thing, it is not attractive, the cat's ran away the minute they saw me, but sending a selfie to a best mate is quite hilarious.

I've been getting my linen bedding (and towels) from Soak and Sleep for quite some time now and have sets in three of the colours that they do, a pale grey, pale aqua and pale pink.  This time I also have the dark grey to use as under pillows.  Mixed up they look really good together and the fitted sheet is lovely and deep so you can get it round the corners of the mattress, something that really bugs me with fitted sheets is that some keep pinging off the corners.

Bath products and scented candles are two things that I get a bit obsessive about.  If they don't foam up or smell just right I am disgruntled.  Earlier this year I was given the opportunity to try out products from Organic Surge and was really impressed with many of their hair products but particularly the foaming bath. 
I often alternate a foamy bath with a crystal one, and for this I use the Moroccan Rose scent from The Future Kept. 

As I have some swelling and bruising I have also got myself a range of eye masks.  I spend far too much time on the computer and this can make your eyes tired and itchy, so for a quick and effective fix try a couple of the Optrex products.  The spray can be carried with you and sprayed over make-up but for a complete de-stress and un-wind try the new warming eye mask.

towels and sheets from Soak and Sleep

linen robe from Soak and Sleep, eyemask from Optrex

I have ear-marked a few things on the t.v. to watch and bought another copy of Jitterbug Perfume to read, (I first read it in the 80's and all I could remember was that it was brilliant). I sometimes remember to join with 'A Circle Of Pine Trees' for 'A Year In Books' twitter chat.  This gets my little grey cells working and remembering about books read and those still to devour. Laura who runs the hashtag has this chat once a month, the next one is 9pm Monday 5th December.  She always asks thought provoking questions and I always come away with a list of books to buy.  

If you want to order chocolates that spell out a message I can offer you a discount of 10% with Morse Toad just use the code - JANICE
at https://www.morsetoad.com/

For Soak and Sleep go to http://www.soakandsleep.com/ where you can find all kinds of bedding and bath. They often have good discount offers so sign up to their newsletter.

The scented wall hanging made of little paper flowers and gold embroidery threads was made up from a kit that Sarah Notes put together, please check my instagram feed for a link to her.  The woven baskets which keep my vitamins tidy is from my own online shop here where you can put items from different companies into your basket and just pay in one go. 

While I'm at home resting I will be curating different looks for the online shop and watching out for new lines to be added by the suppliers.  

See you next week, but in the meantime find me on instagram. All the best Janice