Nayu's Thought of the Day #6 It's Wednesday!

Just a few more days until the weekend. Congrats on making it this far in the week!

Nayu's Thought of the Day #4 There's always a cat!

Saw this online for when you're having a bad day - made me smile! Got my annual routine appointment at the pain clinic today, so will be offline today and tomorrow while I recover from the trip. Being at 9.30am means it's an early start but that means I can be home hopefully by lunch!

I travel by train so get to see a bit of the countryside (which I live in) before arriving in London and taking a taxi to the hospital.

Nayu's Craft TIme #115 White Noise

White noise isn't a song

 

I've hear about white noise for years. According to Dictionary.com white noise is 

Also called white sound. a steady, unvarying, unobtrusive sound, as an electronically produced drone or the sound of rain, used to mask or obliterate unwanted sounds.

I have friends who use it at night to help them sleep. The other day a blog I regularly read mentioned using white noise to help their family sleep. I decided to find out what the fuss about white noise is.

Big mistake. I tried about 6 white noise tracks on Youtube and I disliked 5 of them. The thunderstorm one terrified me as I hate storms. The rain and the sea one made me want to use the bathroom as well as making me scared because any expanse of water bigger than a bath freaks me out.

Calm and tranquil if you aren't me. Picture source

The other tracks were just bad for my ears. The only one I vaguely liked I may use for relaxation, but definitely not for sleep. I'm an earplugs girl! Need it very quiet for me to get to and stay asleep.

These are my favourite brand! & this is not a sponsored shout out

So there you have my view on white noise. It's a no for me, but I'm glad it helps so many people relax. I'd love to hear your views on white noise! 

Since fans are used for white noise I'm fairly sure wind turbines might be too!

 

Nayu's Craft Time #114 Techno Gremlins, Book Themed Crochet

This would be a nice working area! Random pic found online. Picture source

Afternoon! Thank you for being patient while I've been absent. I was a bit peaky, and I've been working hard on writing the backlog of reviews. I'd hoped to blog earlier today but my laptop decided to do a 2 hour update. I only agreed as it usually takes under 5 minutes. And, apparently there are more urgent updates! Needless to say I'm only doing those once I'm done with my laptop for the day. I've learnt my lesson! 

I will show you the promised sneak peek of crochet goodies tomorrow.  This week I've made 1 turquoise fingerless glove and 3/4 of a grey fingerless glove, which I haven't taken a photo of, but you can look at my first crochet bookmark.

I used multicoloured yarn in rows for the middle, then edged it with purple yarn.

Hop! goes the bunny charm ^o^

What do you think? I possibly will make more, but really into my fingerless gloves for some reason so will stick with those for a while. Have a good rest of the day!

When they work and don't have a mind of their own!

Nayu's Craft Time #113 Drinking Water Tips

We can't live without this wonderful source of life (Picture source)

This possibly seems an odd topic to discuss, as surely the answer to drinking water is to simply drink it, right? That's correct, but I've got a few tips on how to enjoy drinking water. 

What's your favourite fruit juice/squash? (Picture source)

We are all encouraged to drink more water. This can be in the form of fruit juice. I think fruit juice is an occasional drink, due to the sugar content. I'm not the sugar police, not by a long shot, but fruit juice and squash is one thing I drink moderately. Apart from lime cordial (I know I should just add limes to water but I adore the cordial sometimes), I try to stay clear of any squash. The ones I've seen are almost always from concentrate, although they may not have added sugar they do have naturally occuring sugar in them. 

Take advantage of different nutrients and drink a rainbow!

The drinks in the above picture look like smoothies, which is another option for drinking water not discussed in this post. Here are links to my carrot, orange, + tomato smoothie and my blueberry green smoothie. My preference for not from concentrate applies to fruit juice too: when I buy juice, I only buy not from concentrate as it means it's the whole fruit, not processed through I'm not sure what. Just my personal taste! Often for budget reasons juice/squash from concentrate is the only option, which is fine. 

A small selection of the incredible variety of both tea and coffee

Water can also be drunk in tea and coffee form. However, both of these have caffeine which is dehydrating, so it's best to drink other liquids as well as these beverages. There are decaffinated version, although I've heard that they aren't 100% caffeine free. Caffeine in tea/coffee disagrees with me so I stick with herbal teas, which are 100% caffeine free. 

Go herbal tea!!!

My favourites include peppermint, spearmint, nettle, camomile, milk thistle, and a cherry compote blend exclusive to Nothing But Tea who I'm currently buying my loose tea from. I don't benefit by point you in the direction of their site, I just adore their tea!

Great source for loose tea!

  Drink as much herbal tea as you like, be it the more herbal flavours or the fruity ones. They are mega low calories, and are often great cold too! 

Simple, pure, and sometimes a bit dull.

Then there's water, which is where I got the idea for this post. Water is obviously the best form of water there is. Depending where you live you may need/prefer filtered water (water filters are inexpensive) rather than drinking straight from the tap (which I do), as it helps takes out natural impurities that aren't harmful but can make the water taste weird. I know there are some countries where it's safer to drink bottled water, so do whatever's best for your circumstances. 

It's fun to add citrus fruits like a slice/wedge of lemon/lime/orange to some chilled water. The colder water is, the better I like it. I seem to drink more if it's cold than if it's room temperature. 

The final tip is what you drink the water from. Yes, you can use a plain glass, your favourite mug, or

but you can also use a fun bottle/cup like this one! 

My family got it for me as a present, I think it was from Sainsbury's. It's pink, has a bunny, and is super cute! I'm a visual person, so since I adore all things kawaii (cute in Japanese) drinking plain water from this makes it way more enjoyable - I want to keep seeing the bunny so I keep drinking! It's easy to clean, although I'm not sure on the dishwasher compatibility as we don't have one. The straw is durable, thick, and what you can't see is that it has a ring around it at the bottom so it can't come out of the bottle. Not that you need to tip the bottle, because if you do the water comes out - yes I've had this happen to me recently in one of my clumsy moments. 

In summary to help you drink more water you can: 
drink fruit juice/squash in moderation

drink tea/coffee in moderation

drink as much herbal tea as you like, with a wide variety of herbal and fruit based teas in loose or tea bag form.

add citrus and other fruit/vegetables into plain water for a refreshing drink

put the water in a favourite cup/mug/bottle. 

I'd love to hear how you drink your water, and if you're inspired by some of the ideas I've chatted about today in the comments! 

Drink me!

Nayu's Thought of the Day #3 Beauty of Life

Something to bear in mind today!

Nayu's Craft Time #112 Craft Peeks & Spring Fever!

I love the feeling of spring in this blossom lined walkway (no idea where, random internet photo)

Hi everyone! It is a gorgeous sunny Sunday here in the South of England, and I hope it stays that way! Sunshine makes everyone happier, lifts my spirits, and, even better, tends to make the day warmer. The temperatures are slowly increasing, which means my body grumbles a bit less than it has over the last 6 months. Yay! That means I have more oomph, and slightly more time to do bloggy things. 

Craft peeks wise I'm hoping to show you peeks of what is going on sale hopefully next week by this Friday (so by Friday I'll show you the sneak peeks, & next week you can buy them!) I know I've been barely functioning on my shop, but it's been a tougher than expected winter, and priority has gone on my writing. One wip is out & although not all thoughts are in I know it needs a lot of work. The one I'm working on now is in better shape, at least I think so!

Warmer weather = able to do a bit more = happy Nayu!

When I searched for blossom images I saw this adorable tea cup which I had to show you!

That pretty much covers everything in the title. Got some topics for post ruminating (love that word, not sure if it's the right context) away so keep watching this space! (When I feel better I use even more exclamation marks than normal - sorry!!!!)

So true! As does anime, chocolate, friendship, cats, cute animals...