Time Does Heal

Hello !

A few posts back, I mentioned that I was going on a tour of the battlefields in Belgium and France and it was a very moving trip but there's one particular element I want to talk about today . We visited several different countries monuments to their soldiers but there was one that really stuck with me. Possibly because it was very different to the others and possibly because of where it was located . The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is on the grounds of the only preserved  trenches on the Somme. During the war the trenches were a place of misery, disease and death but now, at the Newfoundland memorial park they have been allowed to recover, for grass to grow again and planted wild flowers. The shocking thing is, when I arrived, I wasn't taken away by the devastation of what happened there. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of what it was now.

As I walked around , I couldn't help but think how the whole place was a brilliant example through nature of time healing. Despite the intensity of the devastation of the war which left this place a complete mess, over time it has become a place of beauty. Time does heal but it takes a long time. However because it takes so long, people forget. They lose faith in time and begin to think it's hopeless. It's not hopeless .

The first picture isn't of brilliant quality because of the times it was taken but it was the best way I could represent what this place was originally. But the other two pictures,  I took while I was there and you can see the contrast and the beauty and it is impossible to deny that time does heal.

When stuff is going wrong and you're scared, you want quick solutions to make everything go away as fast as possible. But those solutions either not there or tend to be not very effective long term. You have to give time, time . No one wants to deal with pain and upset but it is necessary even when it hurts, if you don't take it and deal with it now, it will catch up on you and hurt a lot more. So give it time. It will hurt less, gradually the pain will decrease and become manageable. Maybe one day you can learn from it or use it to make something beautiful like the Newfoundland Memorial. But for now just know, it will get better .

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Email : MyHappyBubbleXx@outlook.com 

Recipe : Lemon Drizzle Cake

I LOVE home-made cake ! My mum is amazing at baking so I've always been used to lots of yummy home-made goodies. I was shocked at how different it was, when I first tried shop bought lemon drizzle cake. It made me realise just how good my mums recipe is ! So I made her one to say thank you for all the ones she's made me and I thought I'd share the recipe with you so that could also enjoy a Lovely Lemon Drizzle Cake !

Ingredients : 

• 2 eggs 
• 4oz (110g) of caster sugar 
• 4oz (110g) of self raising flour
• 4oz (110g) of margarine 
• 1 table spoon of milk 
• 2-3 un-waxed lemons 
• A lil bit extra sugar for sprinkling 
• Annnddd another 2 table spoons of sugar for the lemon sugar syrup that makes it taste so yummy !  

 Other bits and bobs you'll need : 

• Mixing bowl 
• Two mugs 
• A spoon ( I'm not entirely sure if that counts as equitment ... but you need one haha ) 
• A loaf tin 
• A loaf tin liner ( If you don't have one don't worry! You can just grease the tin instead ) 
• A whisk 
• A fork 
• Zester/Grater

This should make one lemon drizzle loaf cake :) Before you start cooking pre-set your oven to 180 degrees... I mean you don't have to, I can't make you or anything .. it would just probably help haha :) 

Step One : Cream your sugar and margarine until the mixture has a white sheen to it. ( It is socially acceptable to eat the mixture as long as your hands are clean and nobody sees you ... I checked ;) )

 

Step Two : Carefully break both your eggs into a mug so that, if you accidentally get some shell in it then you've not ruined your mixture ! Then use your fork to whisk the eggs until they're light and fluffy .. at least that's what my mum used to say . I'm not entirely sure how an egg can be fluffy but I'll take her word for it !

 

Step Three : Add your egg and whisk it into the mixture a little bit at a time. By adding it bit by bit it avoids the mixture curdling . Although I was making this mixture with my boyfriend once and he somehow managed to curdle it before we'd even added egg ! But hey , at least no matter what you do to your mixture I can pretty much guarantee you wont do that because it's not technically possible .. unless you're him, clearly ;)

 

Step Four : Sift the self raising flour into the mixture and whisk until everything's combined ( It tastes really good at this point ) 

 

Step Five: Using the zesting side of a grater to zest two of your lemons and then add the zest to the car mixture and stir !

 

Step Six : Line or grease your loaf tin and spoon in the cake mixture ! Then pop it in your pre-heated oven.

 

Step Seven : Whist the cake is cooking, juice the lemons with a fork or a citrus juicer. Sift out the pips over a microwavable mug so you're left with only the juice in the mug :) Add two table spoons of caster sugar ( or to taste ) and microwave until the sugar dissolves into the lemon juice :) If it's too sour, add more sugar ! You can .. and probably should do this bit over the hob, It was just easier and quicker for me to use the microwave !

Step Eight : Take the cakes out of the oven when they're golden brown and springy to the touch. To check that they're cooked, poke a clean knife through the middle, if it comes out clean then the cakes done. If not then pop it back in the oven for another five minutes an check again !

Step Nine : When your cake is cooked, poke lots of holes in it with a fork whilst it's still warm an pour your hot lemon-sugar mixture over the cake ! Finish off with a sprinkling of sugar and VOILA ! Your very own lovely lemon drizzle cake ! Way better than the shops ;)

Did you know that lemons are technically classed as berries, not a fruit ! So are oranges and watermelons! You can tell that to all your friends when you invite them round for a slice of lemon drizzle cake ... or you know, just tell them on the phone while you eat the whole thing yourself ;) Whichever takes your fancy !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Email : MyHappyBubbleXx@outlook.com 


 

A short break

Hello ,

Just to let you know that I'm not going to be able to post for 2 weeks because of being on holiday, I'm really sorry <3

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

A Quick Chat ..

Heyy there !

I don't know if you've noticed but I haven't really been around that much and I'm trying to post on my scheduled day but if I'm honest a lot of things happened that make that pretty difficult at the moment. Firstly my phone broke so I had to get a new one yesterday meaning I loosed the photos that were for the recipe post that was due to be posted today ( I'll sort it and get them done for next week ) but that kind of threw me today. I'm also going on holiday with my family next week and then to Belgium with my aunt to see the battlefields. I'm really excited to go away with my family and just get away for a while ( even if I haven't packed yet hehe ) I think it's really important to just get away once into a while to somewhere where no one knows who you are, I find you begin to act like you again :) I will hopefully ( we're not sure if there's wifi ) post whilst I'm away with my family but when I go to Belgium I'm pretty sure I won't be able to, so if I disappear again then that's where I've gone !

As we're here and you've been ever so lovely and read through all my slightly confusing scheduling issues hehe, we might as well have a quick chat about a few other little things :) Firstly, have you heard Fight Song ? I'm not a massive fan of the original but a musician called Charlotte Campbell covered it and oh my gosh I love it ! I can't stop playing it :) Another one of her covers that is so genuinely lovely is Wasn't Expecting That, I couldn't not mention it.

 

 



I've also been really enjoying doing creative things recently. I just love making stuff look pretty and I want to start being crafty again ( Pinterest here I come ) I think my next stop is learn how to knit and there's a DIY in a book called Life With A Sprinkle Of Glitter where you get a three part frame and stick a different map ( 3 important places to you or whoever you've giving it to ) in each frame ! If I was you I'd definitely buy the book because it explains it a lot better than me aha. But when I do this I'll make it into a blog DIY. I just think it would make the cutest gift !

Also in the world of Marianne, a few months back I started piano lessons again ! I played piano for a long time when I was very young but I just didn't particularly enjoy it and it took me a long time to quit and I didn't want to practise because It was effort and it was just a lot of extra work if I'm completely honest and because of that, I was rubbish.  But this time I'm a lot older and one day I just thought, I'd really like to play piano again . So I asked my dad and he got me some lessons but we decided not to work towards grades because I didn't need extra pressure. I have been going now for about two months and I love going to my lessons ! I'm not good at piano and I don't feel the need to be. Nothing depends on me learning to play well and because of that I just have to try what I can do and I always leave feeling really calm because when I make a mistake I actually just laugh at myself now . It's amazing what you can achieve after a few weeks of just trying ( admittedly a lot of trying ) but still just trying . Be kind to yourself, you don't have to be amazing at something to enjoy it, enjoy being not good at something . No one wants to be the best, being the best is boring. You'd have nothing else to learn !

* Que another quick topic change* Me and my boyfriend have been trying to get through all of the doctor who episodes from the ninth doctor onwards . We're now on the sixth series, I want us to get to the end of series 8 before the new series comes out in September ! Is anyone else super excited for that ? Let me know if there's any whovians reading this blog, in the comments :)

Right, I feel I've rambled enough now ! This is a very old style, chatty post . I don't usually do these anymore because I did a lot of them on my previous blog but I just fancied having a chat and getting a few of the smaller things I wanted to share with you into a post :) I'd actually quite like to do a few more personal posts on my blog, a little like this so let me know if you'd enjoy reading that or just prefer my usual stuff !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Friendship | Quotes Posts !

Hello ! 

I really hope you enjoyed the Self-Love Week Posts! I just wanted to say really quickly, thank you so much for all the lovely comments on them and for everyone who took the time to read them ! It really meant a lot :)

I'm sorry that I disappeared for the week last week, I had a week long drama course which I'd been waiting to go on for two years but it had no wifi ! I had a brilliant time and it's made me see how important it is to do something that you're so passionate about and makes you feel genuinely happy :) My posting schedule should get back to normal now apart from a few days when I'm on holiday but I'll talk about that another time !

Today I wanted to share with you a few quotes about friendship as was requested on one of my last quotes post :) I really enjoy finding new quotes and going through them for the best of the best, most moving and beautiful quotes , so here with go ;

" I knew when I met you, an adventure was going to happen" 
- Winnie the Pooh 

"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not in my nature " 
- Jane Austin 

" Good friends, good books, and a sleepy consciences ; this is the ideal life "
- Mark Twain 

" Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend " 
- Sarah Dessen 

" Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value ; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival. "
- C.S. Lewis 

" Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down " 
- Oprah Winfrey 

" True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable " 
- David Tyson Gentry 

" What is a friend ? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." 
- Aristotle 

" I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." 
- Helen Keller

" 'Why did you do all this for me?' he asked.' I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 'You have been my friend' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing. " 
- E.B.White 

Which was your favourites ? Let me know in the comments ! Also, if there's any other posts you'd like to see on different kindsof posts for example; love quotes, picking yourself up quotes, most beautiful or anything you can think of then let me know in the comments ! :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley:) 

lots of love, Marianne xxx