I went to Boots Hearingcare recently for a free hearing test, I have been meaning to have one for ages, well since I turned 50 probably, but when Boots Hearingcare asked if I would consider sharing details of their free hearing test service on my blog, I decided it was an ideal opportunity to get one done myself!  For quite a number of years I have suffered with painful ears, recurring ear infections, excess wax and temporary poor hearing which also caused me to feel dizzy and unsteady - gosh I sound like I am falling apart!  I was under a private ENT Consultant originally and I had regular appointments to get my condition under control, this included microsuction and antibiotics.  Eventually I was able to transfer to the ENT Nurse at my local NHS Hospital - until Covid arrived! 

For the last 18 months I have had to either pay for private microsuction ear wax removal or go without.  And although I have increased the time between appointments, it is clear I still need this service.  The longer I go without seeing the ENT Nurse, the deafer I get, I am fairly sure it is related to my excess ear wax and ear eczema but I still knew that it was important to get my hearing checked and especially as I am over 50.

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A few weeks ago, my daughter and I headed up to Bath to move her into her third year student house.  Time certainly does fly by, although we clearly weren't expecting the complication of a worldwide pandemic when she started at Norland College in September 2019.  She was one of the luckier ones with in-person lectures able to continue for large parts of her second year but there was still a lot of disruption and time at home studying online.  But back to the fun of moving in ... she is sharing with two friends and lucky for me they didn't mind me staying for a few days so we were able to spend some time sorting the house, adding a few homely touches, shopping, lunching and having fun.  While we were there I was invited to join a virtual 'Greek' themed cocktail making evening with Jet2holidays and Mixology.

Well obviously that got me super excited and dreaming of sunny holidays, unrestricted travel, blue skies, turquoise waters, a sun lounger with a view and lots of books for two weeks!

Blog post in collaboration with Jet2Holidays.

Did you know that UK sales of organic beauty and wellbeing products have increased from £30.1m per year in 2011 to £120.2m per year in 2020!  That's a massive increase.  I will be honest organic isn't something I am particularly focussed on but there is no doubt that it is growing in our consciousness and that we need to be more aware of protecting our planet and doing what we can as individuals.

Nourish London is a British organic skincare company offering scientifically effective, organic, vegan and cruelty free skincare powered by ingredients from nature.  And this September they are 10 years old and to celebrate they have launched a Limited Edition 'Celebrating 10 Years of Green Beauty' Collection featuring five of their best selling products from the past 10 years.

And they sent me one to try out!

This is a gifted blog post.

Hi!  I am slowly getting back into a routine after the summer break!  You may have seen 'being fifty and fab ... this summer' where I touched on what I have been up to during the holidays.  In this post I wanted to share my new home office and more about my autumn planning, with help from the lovely life and mindset coach, Siân Winslade!  I love a bit of planning this time of the year, much more so than new year resolutions!  It is a habit that I started once I had my children and after the summer holidays, September felt like a new year, new start.

I have moved my 'blogging' into a new home office, I decided to separate home and blog and Fifty & Fab is now based in the log cabin in my garden.  Following on from my coaching with Siân, I realised that a lot of my overwhelm was due to my crowded office in the house, and no separation between 'home' and 'work'.