Feeling Concerned of what is going on around the world

I do feel that there is an elephant in the room, not personally but around the world and not certain as to why. I feel a little concerned of the future of Britain and the changes that are happening politically. Not sure of Donald Trumps and what he is all about. Is he trying to cause chaos? I'd love to take Henry to Florida but I feel a little dubious, because there seems to be a lot of tension where Donald Trump is concerned. 

Who should we trust in the UK? Is Labor going to help with the costs of living and has inflation gone down? Will there be help for families having to go to foodbanks? When will poverty end?

It worries me when I think of those not able to pay their rent, afford clothes to dress their kids and chasing money and doing 2 to 3 jobs in order to get by the poverty they are facing. I have had my bank accounts showing zero funs and had to cancel items when shopping and it is humiliating.

In my opinion everyone deserves a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in. 

There seems to be some confusion about immigration, are they going to get it under control? What do you think? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below. 

I know there are a lot of people fleeing from war but we can't save everyone and we do have poverty in the UK so who is more important? 

I feel for those that are wanting to be here in the UK and if I was in their situation I'd like to know that I could rebuild my life and be in a safer country but I also feel that we have to put those who live here already, to the top of the list. Once we have sorted out the poverty in the UK, then this makes space for those trying to get away from their country and start a new life here. I remember a girl I worked with and she was legally here in the UK and travelled from South Africa by herself and wanting to work and live in the UK.

She said that in South Africa it can be quite unsafe and that being in England made her forget how dangerous it is in South Africa and thinking she has got a lot of courage because I don't think I could travel and live in another country by myself. It takes a lot of guts. 

I have flown by myself to France, visiting a school friend, but not to live in another country. 

The nearest I go is to Southbank and Blackpool by coach. 

It I feel is going to be trickier to go abroad now because of countries like Spain are protesting about tourists and because of the cost of travelling overseas. 

Its a strange kind of feeling not knowing what is going to happen. We can't get a place for my son who is going up to Secondary school and have certainty that he will be going to a school or be tutored at home. 

So yes a little concerned but determined to get through it and that it all works out so people can live better and feel safe wherever they are.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X  

Being Scammed/Staying Safe

Hello and welcome to my daily blog. So I watched a TV programme called Scam Interceptors and this poor woman was almost scammed, losing £5,000. It is terrible and it nearly happened to me when I got an email posing as PayPal.

It is heart wrenching.

Your bank will never call you and so I hang up when I can smell a scam and block anything that I feel is a scam and delete the number. Often it is a mobile number. I get people contacting me on messenger about my Youtube channel and making out they are content creators, wanting to help me boost my Youtube channel and when I smell a rat I instantly block them. 

Trust your gut instinct. 

Then there are text messages saying that your family member is somewhere and need some money sent to them. 

Call that person instantly. 

There have been Youtube channels hacked, by people posing as them and making out that they are running a competition. Alert the person by messaging them about their channel, as hackers and scammers tend to work together to steal your details to commit fraud and now we have AI scammers are using someone identity as if they are them to scam.

Have I been involved in a car accident when I don't even drive? 

I not knowing was selling Satellite warranties for what OI thought was a digital company. It was warranties for digital boxes when actually they didn't need them and glad I found out that it was all nonsense, as they expected you to work for nothing. To begin with I firstly started off in their house and then into a old building and so glad that I found out that they were taking money from people on something that they didn't need to buy. They were on watched dog, as it wasn't just them but other organisations telling people they needed a Satellite warranty. 

I was so unaware and it did puzzle me and found it via an advertisement in the newspaper and they seemed genuine. The people seemed friendly and they even asked me to do some Admin work. I still had no idea.  

When on holiday in Tenerife I was on my Honeymoon was scammed by a Timeshare company. 

Binary Trading. Getting a call making out I had a Amazon delivery when I hadn't ordered anything and that's the thing about Scammers, 

They Will Try Anything to Steal someone's hard earned cash and it is disgusting. 

It is good that there are programmes exposing scammers, helping to stop them and help with protecting people, from having their details being used to destroy a person and take what isn't their's. 

Call centers being set up to scam and they can appear as honest citizens when they are not.

So be vigilant and block, block and block. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

How I love Getting Ready in The Mornings

I do feel good when I read my book in the morning, have a couple of slices of toast and listen to a bit of music. I currently have Billy Idol in concert on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-zZuMkSc2o

Check Vlogs I post Every Wednesday and Friday https://youtu.be/iYOSq9u4vmg

Music really helps me to wake up along with my son telling me to get up. 

                                   

"Who's the parent here?" I ask. 

If you want to alter how you feel in the morning then make one change each day. 

Like going to bed a little earlier, take a bath before bed or read. I read every bedtime and morning.

Have bit of tidy rather than do a workout. I tend do a workout in the afternoon unless it is walking outdoors. 

I do put on makeup but my skin can become very dry so I do moisturise if no make up and use a vitamin spray. If you like me to talk about more of my skincare then please let me know. You can uses the comment box below.

However waking my skin up and have a drink. I do drink water but is one of my struggles, but will drink water, but I like to have two cups of tea, then when my son goes off to school will have a coffee or a milkshake. 

Having breakfast to me is important and a midmorning snack. 

I will do bits on my laptop and then stop at 7:30am to focus on my son getting ready for school and chill for a bit. 

We do some reading or today it was spelling words and my son was playing rugby with his teddy bear or sometimes its Mickey Mouse, darts and his Tipping Point machine.

I write a blog about my son sharing his transitions and from baby till now and onwards: The Parenting Adventures- The Birth of my son | This WordPress.com site is the cat’s pajamas

I am pausing at the moment as Billy is now singing Rebel Yell. 

So where was I? Oh yes mornings. It can take me a while to wake up especially on Fridays, because of being busy and completing my week, not feeling behind on things and enjoy my days. I love my first cup of tea in the morning. I love having he news on in the background, aswell as music and just breath, not rushing around but that we are outside ready for when my sons taxi arrives and getting stuff done like today I packing to go over to Wimbledon. Next week it is half term so getting prepped for that also.

So I am signing off but see you next week if not over the weekend. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

Is it too early to promote a Christmas song

I love music. I have loved it since a kid and i enjoy discovering new music aswell as old. I have been playing music from Dua Lipa, recently but also discovered a song with David Essex and Showaddywaddy  

It is the song of the month. For a few months it has been Little Gingerbread Boy sung by Sammy Davis Jr.

Here is the song and yes it is a Christmas one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i20oJMgCWs

Yes it is only May but I love the song. 

It is like "How is this the first time I have come about this song?"

Not sure about the Eurovision song for the United Kingdom, but was okay but think we could have done better. What do you think? You can leave a comment below. 

Is the Eurovision outdated now?

I have watched it every year as a kid and imagined myself singing in the Eurovision contest but I feel like is it still political? 

I feel it has been slowly moving away from Politics and are voting based on the song. 

It is good to explore different international music, even if its not to your liking and the songs are always going to be more out there, because it is a life long opportunity for many of the performers.

If acts like buck fizz was taking part now with Making Your Mind Up win now? Or ABBA? 

It can help boost careers and debuts into music depending on the song and their appearance. I did like the fact that it was a girls group for the UK as I feel we do need more women bands and would love to put together a girl rock band. 

What do  you think? Or a modern day Four Tops and not popified. 

I'm going to see Billy Idol in concert and cannot wait. He just great and a true rockstar. I'd like to see Rod Stewart again and see Bryan Adams. My cousin is going to see Duran Duran. I love going to concerts and going to try and see a concert each year.

Last year it was Cyndi Lauper at the Albert Haul and Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium and they were brilliant. 

If you'd like to share your feelings I have shared in this blog then pleases do. You can leave a comment below and subscribe if you'd like to be notified when I post on this site and then you won't miss a post.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X  

Weekend of fun and another week ahead

It was a great weekend with the FA Cup Final and the Eurovision Song Contest. Well done Crystal Palace and Austria, winners of the Eurovision song contest and FA Cup winners. It was a shame that Celine Dion didn't perform, but did watch the singing and some very erotic performances. YET Switzerland did put on a good show. What was your view of it? You can comment below. 

This week is the last week of school for another half term before the School Summer Holidays. We still have no place in a Secondary School and has been like a rollercoaster and not getting anywhere but hopefully it will all work out. Who knows? I never thought it would be so hard. My son goes to a special school because of his learning difficulties and many of the schools we went to see, were not suitable. 

Time just goes so fast and its like I am hanging on a piece of ribbon to keep up. I went to see my son train at Fulham Football club at their training ground. He does this on Saturdays mornings and it was so good to see. The coaches are brilliant. We went to end of seasons party at the rugby club he goes too. It was fun to celebrate the season and now need something else to do on Sunday Morning, whilst we wait for a the next rugby season, so been looking to see if we he can play tennis or cricket even now it is the summer.

It is good for kids to have a hobby. Something for themselves to socialise and using up their energy as Henry has so much and it is great form of exercise and being active, it's important. Or using their creativity with painting and drawing. Check out my Cheat Sheet I did this week of ideas of things to do during the Holidays https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/2025/05/19/my-weekly-cheat-sheet-holidays-things-to-do/

My son is going to his holiday club, whilst I will be hopefully be able to read and write in one of the local parks and plan to go up to Wimbledon common to do some valuable walking. It is good for my son to do his own things, whilst I have time to myself too as he can see different faces. I have not done Parkrun for a few weeks. I really wanted to see Henry do his football training and it was so good to watch and perhaps start Parkrun again in the summer or in the Autumn and where I don't have other commitments as it is quite busy for me running up to the summer holidays. I will still be doing Race For Life in June up at the Epsom Downs. There's an issue with my fundraising page at the moment so going to see if I can sort this out. I want to raise £500. It is for Cancer Research.

I will be getting my newsletter completed for this month. This is posted every month on my site: Everyone can build a castle: https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/2025/04/25/april-newsletter-2025/This is last months newsletter and they are free to download and print. 

I do radio show on Sundays, on Epsom Hospital radio on Sundays 4pm to 6pm and play songs from the 60's to the 2000's: https://www.epsomhospitalradio.org.uk/on-air/presenters/carrie-challoner

So going to get on with other jobs and will post again as we move into the week, but for now, I hope you have a great and I do a vlogging channel if you'd like to check it out and post my vlogs on my Youtube channel Every Wednesday and Friday: 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

Being Locked out

Can you believe it yesterday I locked myself out. Luckily my husband works around the corner. I had the door closed to, so not wide open but the wind blew and yes couldn't get back in. 

I did panic a little with a bit of embarrassment as I didn't have my phone on me either. It taught me a valuable lesson to listen to my gut as I had a feeling this would happen and had at first when he started having a taxi taking my son to school because of how far his school is, had my keys in my hand and then felt I'd be alright but no. So now I will make sure I have my keys just in case. 

It was good I had nothing cooking and when it happened, it is like a reminder to not be so ignorant as I can be and catch myself. It is good to be precautious and I am lucky to have a roof over my head. I feel for those sleeping in the streets and nowhere to go. Or anything they call their home. 

There are families being kicked out of their homes because they can't afford the bills and in this day and age this should not be the case. Everyone deserves a bed a roof over their heads and somewhere they can grab a bite to eat.

I am not sure about those who beg. The other day on the train a guy got on was saying he was off to have an interview but needed help with  the cost of travel. There were people who gave him money but I am always a bit dubious and why I give to what I feel is a legitimate cause. Giving to the foodbank and I do this each month this year I am doing Race for Life up at the downs raising money for cancer on the 22nd June 2025. 

So I do my bit to help those in need and ensuring the money goes to those who need help and support. The other thing is scams. There is one where they pretend it is someone you know stuck and needing money. I know that this would never be the case, but am vigilant nevertheless and I like to choose where my money goes. 

So I will make sure that I always got my key and my phone and life is full of lessons and I take note of them.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

Why It Is important to look after ourselves hair and all

Gone for a new hair do. I was putting it off but feel good for it. It is good to have a change and is now a length I have had before and feels so much better and lighter. I would not have it as short next time, but it is a good to manage and would like it when it grows a bit to put some curls in.

I do have a Pinterest board if you'd like to see it: https://uk.pinterest.com/thetypicalLondongal/hair-cuts-i-like/ It is a good idea to find a style and show it when you get it cut. When it is long I think oh I'll plat it and curl it but I never do. When I went completely short it did not suit me. I couldn't wait for it to grow back. 

I prefer short to medium length. To get it done I went to Storm in Wimbledon and cost for a cut, wash and blow dry £75. I booked online, I was supposed to have it the week before but was a bit anxious about it so changed to this week. I'm not keen on the sinks with the neck rest as it always hurts. Now though I am glad I had it done and then will dye it at home. 

Do you fear the hairdressers? I feel the same going to the dentist and the doctors but glad afterwards and I remind myself that it is for my own good and it is not a hindrance. We need hair dressers, dentists and doctors they are there for a reason and that they are potentially saving my life. I don't want my hair too long, have bad teeth or be in bad health. I want to healthy and happy and that comes at a cost. 

I want to take care of my body. I have discovered some new form of exercise which has made me see I don't need pay anything to get fit just use what I have. My arms, legs, neck and face and is relaxing and slow and toning myself up. 

Who wants bad teeth? My dad had to have his teeth replaced and that can be expensive. I have been putting this off but I need to get my teeth checked and so will be making sure I book an appointment. I was okay as a very young kid, but then when I had to have a couple of teeth removed. My milky teeth and in the middle of this procedure they had a power cut and had to get a guy to get a torch out off his car to finish the procedure and I was inconsolable and then on began to fear the dentist. 

I am good at going to my check ups with my doctors and have to have a diabetes check each year as I did have high sugar count but through changing what I eat it has changed so make sure I cut down on sugar and eat more healthier and have a variety of good meals. 

This isn't to say I don't have a biscuit. I do like a shortbread and want to get some Jaffa Cakes but do eat vegetables and fruit too and drink less alcohol and have realised I need to cut back on coffee as it can cause me to have a bad stomach and so it is listening to my body and if it dislikes something I listen and take note, but make sure my health checked and reduce my fear of my medical appointments. I plan to make sure I get my hair done on a more regular basis and it can be become and when long, knotty. 

So it may be nerve wracking but we have to take care of ourselves and put our health first over our fears.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X