1.5ml sachet.

I received this sample of Origins Plantscription Anti-aging Eye Treatment through Freebielist.com

You can read more about Origins products here.

According to the leaflet that came with this sample, this product helps reduce the appearance of 4 signs of eye ageing:

• Diminish the appearance of crow’s feet
• Reduce the appearance of undereye cross hatching
• Smooth the appearance of crepey lids
• Visibly lift & firm the appearance of saggy eye skin.

I followed the instructions by applying a pea sized amount morning and night onto the eye contour area (the bone around the eyes).

The 1.5ml sachet lasted for four days.

This is a brand that I hadn’t heard of before and because of that I really wanted it to work. After I’d used it a couple of times I convinced myself that my wrinkles weren’t as noticable. Was that just wishful thinking? I don’t know. I’m am always very sceptical about this type of product so maybe that’s stopping me from believing that this one actually worked.

I don’t think four days is long enough to test the product properly but if I really thought that it was working I would probably buy it.

Talk to you later,

Susan.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the plight of Darlington Football Club. In case you haven’t heard, they have gone into administration for the third time in nine years. I couldn’t possibly tell you the story about how things got this bad but there is an excellent post about it here.

Darlington’s plight was brought to the attention of many thanks to a post on the fan’s forum at Darlo Uncovered. He wrote the post before what was expected to be Darlo’s last ever game at Barrow.

If this doesn’t bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye of any football supporter of any club then I don’t know what will:

Let’s make Barrow on Saturday a celebration of the life of Darlington Football Club, not a wake or a funeral or an attack of those who have dropped us into this position.

Go to Barrow and show people around the world how proud we are of our team and our lads. Let’s show people that we still care, that we are still proud of the club and our town. Let’s show people that Darlington Football Club stands as an ambassador for our town and our area and we will not just give it up and slope off home. We will fight on.

Let’s show the players that that shirt still means something, that that shirt still needs to be worn with pride and that it is worth putting on that shirt and running out on that pitch and representing all of us one last time. One last go lads, everything you have got, one last time, 90 minutes of life as a Darlo player left. Shit or bust, hero or zero. Go out with a bang and not a whimper.

Use this game to thank them and the legend that is Craig Liddle for everything they have done recently, against so much strife, unpleasantness and uncertainty and tell them that we are so proud that they are carrying on, lets get behind whoever takes a place on that pitch, regardless of opinion, past reputation or performance on the day. Because this might be the last time!

Lets show people what it means to be a fan of Darlo, celebrate those 128 years of existence. Celebrate everything that has gone before, the good, the bad, and the ugly, show people that we although we have been here through thin and thinner, that we have suffered blow after blow we are still not beaten ,we are still not broken, we are still here and we still stand proudly behind Darlington Football Club.

Show them that although we have been on knocked down and might be on the canvas right now we will get back on our feet and come out punching. It will be us who land the knock out blow. Use this day to shame all of those plastics and couldn’t give a damns in the town into thinking about what they could have been a part of, make them see what have been about, what we are about and what we will be about again.

Lets celebrate the good times, the 85 promotion, Boro, the Conference win in 89/90, Welling away, 90/91 champions, Rochdale at home, Knowles, Little, Hodgy Platt, Hodgy (again), Wembley in 96 and 2000 and that sweet moment in May when a little fella headed home from half a yard to win us the cup.

Make everyone who has knocked us or laughed at us over the years understand that today we embrace all of the crap players, the terrible teams, the rubbish managers and the crazy chairman who have afflicted us. Why? Because all of that makes the few good times even better. Because all of those things are what Darlington Football Club is about. Let’s show them what it means to call your self a Darlo fan one last time.

Lets also think of all those people in the Tin Shed in the sky who aren’t able to stand with us on Saturday, think about what the club meant to them and how they passed on that love for the club to you, think about how one day you want to pass that love on to the next generation so that they know what being a Darlo fan is all about. I am sure they will be stood leaning on that crash barrier under the Sunday Sun board with their scarf’s and flasks of Bovril thinking “typical bloody Darlo” – but they would still make the journey if they could! In fact I am sure they will be there with us. Sing that bit louder for them.

If anyone is unsure about going and is able to go they should make the trip, it could be your only chance to say goodbye to the team you love. It could be your last chance to wear the black and white and get behind the lads. Do whatever it takes to get to Barrow, wear your shirts with pride and wave your scarf’s one last time. Tell anyone you meet where you are going and why. Tell them you are proud to support the lads!

And should this turn out to be the last time then lets celebrate all of that, lets support the lads and the manager, lets keep singing up to the final whistle and beyond because this club means something to each and every one of us, it has been part of our lives for so long, it is what makes us who were are, it is what makes us better than everyone else and it might not be there for much longer. Let’s make this day one of the greatest moments for this football club.

If it is to be the end lets go out on a high, all guns blazing giving it everything we have got and not for one minute forgetting that we are Darlington Football Club and we will bounce back!

The response to this was incredible. There were messages of support from supporters of clubs all over the country and beyond.

A whip-round was started with the aim of raising £150 to pay for the players food on the day of the match. The donations came pouring in and ended up totalling £8,000. Who would have thought it possible.

The Barrow supporters produced a huge banner on the day of the match which just about says it all:

Darlington were beaten 3-0 but the result didn’t matter that day, it was more of a last farewell from the fans to their beloved Darlo.

Since then there have been meetings with interested parties and hopeful investors. Yesterday was the deadline – if nothing was resolved that was it, the club would be liquidated bringing to an end 129 years of Darlington FC.

This article from the Northern Echo tells the story of how yesterdays events unfolded.

I spent most of the day on the Darlo Uncovered forum, pressing F5 to refresh the page so I could see all the snippets of information that people were posting. It was an emotional roller coaster of a day. I shed a tear when the news came through that the club was finished, then waited with baited breath when the news came that a sum of money had been raised that could buy some time. I shed more tears when it was announced that the administrator had agreed to let us play our next three games.

It’s not over yet, not by a long way but where there’s life there’s hope.

You might wonder why I’m so emotional about all this, after all I don’t even go and watch Darlo. Well, you’re right – I don’t. Not now. But I used to. In fact I followed Darlington all through my teenage years. I followed them through thick and thin, home and away. I was one of the ‘faithful few’ in the Tin Shed end a Feethams.

I did the sponsored walks that the supporters club arranged – I’ve got the certificates to prove it!

I bought the football shirt:

That’s me in 1979 aged 14.

I wore the black and white Darlo scarf:

That was taken in 1982 at an away match at Blackpool.

I bought the jumper with the clubs badge embroidered on it:

This was taken in 1981 or 1982.

I had a Darlo digital watch. I bought all the match programmes (I wonder what happened to them?) I lived and breathed Darlo.

Then for some reason I stopped going to the matches. That was 28 years ago.

Why did I stop going to Feethams? Why have I never been to that ridiculous, oversized arena that was built by a man with an oversized ego? I don’t know, I can’t answer those questions.

But after all this nostalgia I realise I still love my club and I don’t want it to die.

In my ideal world the club will be saved, our original home at Feethams will be rebuilt and we will all live happily ever after.

This is all that remains of Feethams:

No pitch, no stands, no terracing. All that’s left is the Tin Shed – the place I stood at all those matches, all those years ago. It breaks my heart to see it looking like that. Will Feethams ever be rebuilt? I very much doubt it but who knows? Miracles can happen, can’t they? Permission has been given for houses to be built there. I don’t know how that could have happened because the land was gifted to the townspeople to be used for sporting purposes. But I suppose that’s a whole different story.

The main thing to worry about now is that someone cares enough about Darlington FC to save them. Not just for a few matches but forever. It’s going to be a tense few days, we’ve got until the end of the month. I hope somebody saves us.

Please don’t take my Darlo away.

Talk to you later,

Susan.

As I walked I saw a car going backwards towards the main road with it’s four way flashers on and without stopping it carried on into the road at a slight angle without stopping, causing a couple of cars that were driving along that road to take evasive action.

By this time I had reached the junction and the car had stopped in the middle of the road and wasn’t moving anywhere. A white transit van pulled out of the opposite side street to come across the main road and into the street I had just walked down. I think he realised at the same time as me that the car in the middle of the road was in fact driver-less! He stopped his van alongside it, wound his window down and shouted across to me “I think someone’s left the handbrake off. I think they live at that house over there” and pointed to a house in the street I’d just come out of. So I said “I’ll go and give them a knock.” (The alarm had obviously been tripped when the car started rolling backwards.)

I went over to the house in question and rang the doorbell. No answer. So I knocked on the door. At that the bedroom window opened and a blonde, middle-aged woman stuck her head out and said “hello?”

I said “did you have a car parked out here?” and she looked a bit worried and said “yes, why?” I said “well it’s rolled away down the road.” Then she said “oh my God! Oh my God! Where is it?” I said “it’s in the middle of Willow Road.” All she could say was “oh my God! Oh my God!”

She left the window and started making her way to the front door. The man with the white van was now standing by the car and he shouted over “is that the right house?” I replied “I think so.”

She came out of the front door saying “oh my God! Has it been smashed?” I said “I don’t think so, I just saw it rolling down the road.”

She went running over to the car, still saying “oh my God!” and she said to the man “has it been smashed?” I didn’t hear his reply. She went to open the car door but it was locked. “Oh my God! I’ll have to go and get the key!”

She came running back towards the house and said to me “oh, thank you so much! Thank you so much!” Then she went inside for her car key.

I don’t know what happened after that as I just carried on walking.

I was taught that when you park on a slope you should leave the car in gear and turn the steering wheel so that the wheels are pointing towards the kerb. That way, if the handbrake fails (or you forget to apply it) the car will roll into the kerb and will be prevented from rolling away. Mind you, it wasn’t the driving instructor who told me that, it might have been my Dad, I’m not sure.

Obviously it was something that this woman wasn’t taught but I bet she does it in future. That could easily have been a very costly parking error. It was only due to good luck that there was no damage either to cars or people.

So that was my excitement for the day.

Talk to you later,

Susan.

Every year, starting around the Spring time, our patio windows are bombarded with hits from birds that don’t realise they are flying into glass. The windows are big and reflect the sky and trees in the gardens opposite our house, making the birds think they are flying towards more trees or open air.

Luckily no birds have died – yet. It’s usually pigeons and collared doves that do it. They don’t half hit the windows with some force then they land on the decking, stand up then give their heads a shake and fly away.

Last year I was in the front room when I heard a thud. I guessed what it was and went into the back room and looked out of the window to see a young blackbird laid on it’s side on the decking. It wasn’t moving but it wasn’t dead as it kept opening and closing it’s beak. I didn’t want to stand and watch it die so I went back into the front room. I felt a bit guilty about the poor little blackbird so a few minutes later I went back to see if it was still alive. I expected to see it lying there dead but it had managed to stand up and was just standing there looking dazed and bewildered.

A few minutes later I went back into the room and looked out to see that the blackbird had recovered enough to fly onto the fence. It had survived its ordeal.

I have been trying to think of a way to stop the birds flying into the windows and after doing an online search I found out about Window Alert stickers. You put them on the window and humans see a clear see-through shape but the birds see a brilliantly glowing reflection, something to do with reflected ultraviolet light. This breaks up the reflection of open sky in the windows and supposedly this will stop the birds from flying into them.

I had some money that I was given for my birthday in December so I ordered a couple of packs. They arrived a couple of days ago so I stuck them on the window.

Now all I have to do is wait. I’m not convinced that these stickers will work but anything’s worth a try.

Has anyone tried these stickers or does anyone have any other suggestions on how to stop the bird strikes?

Talk to you later,

Susan.

The only charity I would consider giving it to is the Dog’s Trust at Sadberge, where we got Floss from.

They always have lots of dogs there waiting to be re-homed. If I was considering adopting another dog (which I’m not) that is where I’d go to find one.

Despite them having so many dogs that need re-homing they have a policy of never destroying a healthy dog which is a good thing as it means that none of the dogs are living on borrowed time.

A few years ago I knitted lots of blankets on my knitting machine to use up all my leftover wool. I phoned the Dog’s Trust to ask if they could use them and was told they could always use more blankets so I sent them off straight away.

You might think there are more deserving charities that I could donate this fictional one million pounds to but I’m a dog lover so it has to be the Dog’s Trust. After all, they gave me Floss – my best friend for ten years.

Which charity would you donate a million pounds to?

Talk to you later,

Susan.

5ml sachet.

It was a bit messy trying to get it out of the sachet.

A red gel-like substance. It had a sweet, fruity smell, almost good enough to eat.

When I applied it to my face there was a little left over but not enough for a second application.

Waited twenty minutes for it to dry.

As it dried it tightened a lot. So much that I couldn’t open my mouth wide enough to talk properly!

It didn’t look like it does in the photo, it was clear with a slight pink tinge.

When I peeled it off my skin felt really soft and smooth, I assume because dead skin had been removed.

I would definitely use it again, it felt really refreshing. The sachets are not expensive at just over a quid each though I would prefer it in a bottle rather than a sachet.

More information can be found on their website.

Talk to you later,

Susan.

I went into the front room just before eleven o’clock this morning and saw this when I looked out of the window:

“Ooh – what’s going on?” I thought to myself.

I didn’t know which house the police had gone to so I waited and waited for him or her to come out.

About ten minutes later a police car pulled up and parked in front of the van.

“Ooh – now what’s happening?” I thought to myself.

So I waited and waited for the policeman to get out of his car. He didn’t get out of the car and after about ten more minutes he drove away.

I waited a little longer but nothing seemed to be happening so I went back to what I’d been doing before I’d gone into the front room.

Some time later I went back in and looked out of the window again. The police van was still there and just at that moment a police woman came out of one of the houses and went and got something from the van. Then she went back into the house.

I got bored waiting for something else to happen so I went and busied myself doing other things.

At about ten to two this afternoon the police woman came out of the house again, got in the van and drove away.

And that’s all that happened.

We hardly ever see the police in our street so when they turn up, naturally I have to have a neb out of the window. I thought I would have an exciting blog post to write tonight about drug raids, arrests and goodness knows what else but unfortunately all I can tell you is that the police came, stayed for three hours then went away again.

On a side note, remember that twenty pound note I found in the front garden? Well, I’ve decided to buy some new net curtains with it to replace the ones you can see in the photo.

My life’s just one big whirlwind of excitement, isn’t it?

Talk to you later,

Susan.

It’s not that everything’s dirty, it’s just that I tend not to pull furniture out when I vacuum, I just go around it. I have a lot of stuff stored under my bed and I can never be bothered to pull it all out so that I can move the bed out of the way to vacuum behind it. Extremely lazy, I know but it will get done eventually.

I never dust the tops of the wardrobes because I can’t reach and anyway, no-one can see the dust right up there, can they?

The house does stay much cleaner now, no dog hairs all over the place, no muddy paw prints and no doggy snot all over the windows! I only vacuum once a week now, it used to be two or three times a week.

I think I could do with one of these:

When it comes to washing the dishes I could do better, I suppose. Billy works away all week so there’s only a plate and a knife and fork to wash each day so I save them up during the week and wash them all at once. Well, what’s the point of filling the sink with hot water when there’s hardly anything to wash? That would just be a waste wouldn’t it? I don’t have a dishwasher, though I must admit this one looks a bit tempting (just kidding):

So, what needs cleaning in your house?

Talk to you later,

Susan.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Personally, I’m glad to see the back of 2011, it wasn’t a very good year for me.

I never managed to find a new job, apart from the three shifts I did at B&M which knocked Hell out of my back. I have now been unemployed for sixteen months which is the longest I’ve ever been out of work since leaving school at sixteen in 1981.

On the plus side, the DWP let me have Jobseeker’s allowance for six months but that came to an end on Christmas Eve.

Hopefully I’ll find something this year, fingers crossed.

Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band lost the Big Man, Clarence Clemons. This came as a real shock to me and, I suspect, to Springsteen fans all over the world. The stage will never be the same with out Clarence and his sax alongside Bruce.

By far the worst thing that happened in 2011 was losing poor Floss. She was so full of life, so active and so obsessed with that bloody ball, who would have thought that by July she would be gone? I still miss her.

Life goes on.

It’s a new year, full of hope and optimism and it’s up to me to make the most of it. I haven’t made any resolutions, I gave up doing that a few years ago. Let’s face it, how many people stick to them anyway? I’ve seen a couple of people starting their new year’s resolutions today. A  man and woman came jogging past my house this morning, puffing and panting and looking as if they were about to keel over. They probably thought it seemed like a good idea at the time but I wouldn’t mind betting their resolution is broken by the morning!

Have you made any new year’s resolutions?

Talk to you later,

Susan.

Unfortunately I tend to bear grudges, I can’t help it, it’s just the way I am. I find it very difficult to forgive people who have done me wrong.

I don’t think I will ever forgive (or forget) the two people whose attitude towards me upset and annoyed me so much that I ended up leaving my job back in 2008. That was the best job I’d ever had and I loved it. I loved going to work, I loved being at work and I loved the work I was doing. I got on well with everybody there and there was always a great atmosphere. Alright, we all had our off-days from time to time but on the whole there was no arguing or bad feelings. That was until those two started with their little games. I wrote about it at the time and even thinking about it now makes my blood boil.

I haven’t enjoyed the jobs I’ve had since anywhere near as much as I enjoyed that one. I wish I could turn the clock back to a time when I still worked there, before the gruesome twosome were there. Those were the happiest days of my working life and I know I will never find another job as good as that one.

It makes me sad when I look back on those happy times and think about how they came to an end.

I don’t find it easy to forgive those who have made me angry.

What about you?

Talk to you later,

Susan.