I read about Theresa Kachindamoto this week and I just had to share some of her story here in case you haven't heard of her.

Theresa is a Malawi Chief nicknamed "The Terminator" for her annulment of around 1000 child marriages since she became Chief of her tribe.  Not only has she done that, but she has also sent as many of those girls, and sometimes boys, as possible back to school. 

In a country with high rates of child marriage, Theresa has done an amazing job of protecting girls from early marriages and the huge risks that come with child pregnancy.  

When asked about the annulments,Theresa has famously said:

“When girls are educated, everything is possible.”

It's not been an easy road for her of course, with opposition from male chiefs and parents who benefit from arranged, child and forced marriages, but she has fought them with courage and kindness. Recently, in February 2017, the country took a major step to end child marriage by adopting a constitutional amendment that raises the minimum age of marriage from 15 to 18 years, for both girls and boys. 

I'm happy to see that has received global recognition for her work and has been visited by Emma Watson, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, generating more support for her work and more financial aid to ensure girls can remain in school rather than be forced into marriage.  

I'm sure you will agree, what a woman!

You can read more about her here and here.

It's been a tough 10 months for me.  I've been physically unwell with nausea, vomiting and tummy pain mixed with headaches, on-and-off since June, and it's really taken its toll.  Getting so run down, for this unknown reason, kicks off my lupus and my mental health took a nose dive.  I was spending chunks of the day in bed and this was happening many days in the week at the rough points.  

Then we finally found out I have stripped the lining in my stomach and developed ulcers in my digestive system, probably caused by my steroids and things I take for lupus. Not good, but great to know what had kept flaring up and making me feel so rubbish.

So, now I am getting physically much better (with yet another medication) and trying to lower my lupus medication so that it helps me but doesn't cause all this to happen again.  I am still finding it hard, but I am certainly feeling a lot more positive. I was wondering a little while ago what I can do to help myself more, as self-compassion is something I am very bad at.  I'm a real do-er, so I get frustrated when I get knocked for six on a poor health day and I'm not very good at stopping.  The fact I had so many bouts, meant my mental health and ability to keep positive and keep going, went out the window.  With more energy now, I can work on that even more, so I decided to subscribe to two delivery boxes with my mental health in mind.  Like everyone, I am not keen on just getting bills, so I thought I'd try something nicer arriving on my doormat.

The first to arrive was my Buddy Box, from the Blurt Foundation.  

At £21.50 it is pricey, but that's because there is so much in it.  You can always go for the Buddy Box lite at £12 if it's too much for you to afford.  What I did like, is that a one-off box is the same price as the monthly subscription, so you can feel happy about trying it out or treat yourself every 2 months etc. if that's better for you.

I tell you what though, it's an absolutely lovely box.  As the foundation say themselves, 

The contents of the BuddyBox vary from month to month and remain a closely guarded secret. (The surprise is very much part of the experience.) All the items included in the box are intended to make you feel good: helping you de-stress, find calm, feel pampered, relax, get creative, or simply have fun.

It was exactly what I wanted and it is beautifully done. It's a social enterprise, so profits are channelled back into helping those with depression, and the foundation is also there for you should you need them.  So, with at least 5 top-quality items in the box, and knowing that you are doing good with the profit money, it's a real boost.  

I got the box that we are all "Winging It", so it has a fab bird theme.  I received some  a lovely Gull Notebook, a winging it card, a sew your own bird pencil topper, a wooden badge saying "Kindness Matters", some lovely tea bags and some very expensive rose facial oil for my skin.

It's all just so lovely and my cat thought so too.  If you fancy receiving a box of surprise gifts, to remind yourself to sit down and take some time out/that you are not alone/to get you trying something new, give them a go.  You can also visit their website for some fantastic resources if you are suffering with depression.

https://www.blurtitout.org/resources/

Hi lovelies.

Just to let you know that I am making website changes, including my template/design.

I am trying to find a solution that works well on mobiles, tablets and desktops, and it's quite hard to make sure it displays well on all three!  

Hopefully, you love the new design and as I tweak it, it will be more intuiative for the way you'd like to use the site. 

If you have any problems with the site, or notice any links that are being silly and not directing you to the right place, please do let me know by emailing [email protected] or using my contact form.

I'm trialing a live chat!  

I've always wondered about them, but have never been able to find one that I could customise, but now I have at last.

I run the business on my own, with some packaging help from my Mum and Dad now that they have retired, so I can't always be available to chat, but I will have it on as often as I can.  If I am doing a quick job that takes me away from my computer for up to 10 minutes, ,I will pop it on that I am 'away'. If I am doing something that takes a little longer, like getting orders ready or cataloging in a delivery, I shall pop it to invisible and you can just send me a message.  That way, you can decide if it is worth checking back for me if you have a quick question.  

Hopefully it will be on plenty so that I can help many of you quicker than if you were waiting for an email.  

Let's give it a try to see how we get on.  To chat to me, you just need to click the "Let's Chat" icon down on the bottom right.

This is typically my quieter time of year, after the busy Summer period, and just before the party season starts.  I use the time to do my account and the other things that have been pushed to the side during the busy time.  

I also do one ALMIGHTLY stock check, and I like to put a little   on.  Sales of each style and colour go up and down due to lots of factors, but when I've done my big stock check and I know which I've got plenty of, I like to put them on sale for you. There is a mixture of breast enhancers, breast forms, tape and nipple covers in the sale. 

Hopefully this gives you some brightness in these dark days!

This time around, I've put them all in one sale category as well, so you can see exactly what is on sale.

You may also notice that it is a strange amount to be on sale by, 11%.  This is because this year is my 11th running my lovely little shop full time. Yay!  What better way to both remember that and celebrate, than with an 11% sale. 

I'm a blogging machine at the moment!

I just thought I'd let you know about my recent exchange with The Dating Show live, so you can learn more about my values and goals as a company,

I received this email from them:

Hello there,

I am trying to reach out to see if our upcoming event is of interest to you? 

Exclusively featuring First Dates who will be running a Cafe over the two days, 24th/25th November 2018, we are the largest and first of this size in the world when it comes to dating events, at an expected footfall of 10'000 singles hoping to meet and mingle over the two days at the Birmingham NEC. 

We have the fantastic Hilton Hotels,Hasbro Games, Capital Radio, Love Hearts, Mr Tinder (the most right swiped guy in the UK!),Melinda Messenger, and a lot of unique businesses from a hemp company, to up and coming makeup brands etc on board, we are keen to ensure there is also not numerous stands exhibiting similar products or services to each other. 


We also have a couple of big dating/relationship/fashion/lifestyle bloggers, authors also are involved, which is fantastic in terms of promotion through social media!

Please do get back to me if you wished to have a chat about the event and it possibly being of a good fit for you and Jo Thornton?

www.thedatingshowlive.com

Best Wishes,

It sounds like fun doesn't it, and great for people who want to get out there and meet new people.  I'm certainly very intrigued by Mr Tinder.  Does he just go on non-stop dates?! 

Still, it's not the right fit for me and what I am trying to achieve for my little shop.  This was my reply:

They are the first draft and I hope to shoot some new video footage for them, but you can see all my new breast enhancer videos now on my You Tube channel.

I'll also add them to their respective product pages in my shop.  

I hope they help, but as always, if you have any questions just send me an email or message.

xxx

I was so impressed by the emotion in this video that I thought I would share.  I love anyone who has the passion to speak up about what they feel, believe in and have experienced.

Go Anne.

Following on from my last post, just a little update to let you know I am currently making some videos for the breast enhancer range.  These will be a little introduction to each style, with more photos and some movie footage, along with some key points about the style, set to music.

I hope they are going to be helpful to you :)  I will no doubt keep tinkering with them and adding more content, but I hope the extra photos they show will help you to get a greater understanding of each of the styles.  You will also be able to view the videos for all the styles in one place on my You Tube channel.

 I shall let you know when they are live.  

xxxx

There are not many stories that become as iconic as Frankenstein is there?  

When we think about the fact that she started writing it when she was only 18, it makes it even more remarkable.  It's the anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein, otherwise known as "The Modern Prometheus", which was published in 1918.

Mary had an exciting life it seems, travelling around Europe with her lover Percey Shelley, who later became her husband.  She also experienced hardship, with health problems, the death of a child, depression, debt, and the societal reactions to her relationship with Percy, who was radical in his views, her Father's political friend and was already married.

These experiences no doubt shaped her life and writing of Frankenstein and the novels she wrote after.  Percy died in 1822 and she spent the rest of her life promoting his works, along with her novel Frankenstein.   She did however continue to write and there are many other novels out there for you to discover.

A feminist and a good friend, she was also not afraid to follow her beliefs and feelings.    Putting herself in jeopardy for her friend Isabel Robinson, she even helped Isabel and her lover Mary to embark on a life together in France as man and wife, by obtaining them false passports.  Shelley  was also not afraid to show her feminist feelings by offering aid to women whom society disapproved of. About the help she offered, Shelley wrote in her diary: "I do not make a boast-I do not say aloud-behold my generosity and greatness of mind-for in truth it is simple justice I perform-and so I am still reviled for being worldly".

She was a remarkable lady, helped pave the way for other female writers and remains rightly iconic as the author of Frankenstein.  If you would like to read more about Mary Shelley, there is plenty of detail on Wikipedia for you :)