An angry, fierce and heartbroken Jennifer Halliday speaks out

 Jennifer Halliday is fierce. Jennifer is angry. Last week, I shared Marie Carberry’s story HERE; this week, you can read how the disease Alzheimer’s impacts family members, but Jennifer is angry about more than that. I dare you not to be moved by what she has to say and if you feel strongly about it,
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World Cancer Day Guest Blogger Marie – Life is for Living.

On World Cancer Day, it is my pleasure to introduce guest blogger, Marie Carberry, 56, married and mum of two, worked in the bank for years and then became a freelance journalist. Marie is one fierce woman with a wicked sense of humour! Marie has cancer, but that does not stop her and I know
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The Best of 2017 in Health and Beauty

I was not even sure if it came under Health and Wellbeing, when I wrote about my love affair with gin. The title ‘How to stay Healthy, drink Gin’ confused a few people and I am sure many thought it was fake news but I did a lot of research which suggested that there were
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How to get Healthy in 2018

Once Christmas is over, many of us think of detoxing and dieting following the over-indulgences of the festive season. On a set date in January, once all the goodies are gone, we promise we will begin. Unfortunately, few of us make it to the end of a week and we fall by the wayside and
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How to look after your Make-up Tools

One of my regular readers, a lovely lady called Demi who owns a cleaning  company with her husband in London, guest blogs today.  A mother of two, Demi likes to write in the little spare time that she has and share tips related to cleaning and organising. I, for one, should follow her advice on
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Today’s Mum-Happier than Yesterday’s Mum?

I could not believe my ears. Nothing had changed in the 33 years since I had my firstborn. In a survey entitled ‘Today’s Mum’, sponsored by iconic Irish brand Sudocrem (who have just launched a new barrier ointment called ‘Care and Protect’) I learned that only 14% of partners share the housework equally and 19%
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How to stay healthy…drink Gin!

Gin has had very bad press for years because it was considered to be a drink that made you sad or depressed, or maudlin. Now there’s a word that has gone out of use! I never found it so and, in fact, when I started drinking gin in my early twenties, I found that it
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Cancer survivor donates book proceeds to Irish Cancer Society

I would probably have urged you to buy Des Allen’s book ‘Wanderings & Ponderings’ because the proceeds are going to benefit the Irish Cancer Society. Having read the contents, I can also recommend that you buy it because Des is a fine writer and his collection of writings – recollections, musings and even some stories
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Avoiding ‘the morning-after-the-night-before’!

The older I get, the less I am able to drink and the less I want to drink. Now, I am no saint and I have to say I am rather partial to a gin and tonic (Hendricks preferably) and I love bubbly and I enjoy a few glasses of red wine with a meal.
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Monart Spa Mid-Week Break to Remember

The 2017 Jaguar sports coupe purred up the drive just in front of us as we arrived for our mid-week break at Monart Spa near Enniscorthy. One of the valets on duty took out the Louis Vuitton cases, and the elegant couple, bedecked in their designer gear, entered the building. We never saw them again.
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The Sleep Obsession

Apparently, we sleep for about one-third of our lives, or we spend it in bed trying to sleep. We are obsessed with sleep and how well we sleep. When my children were small, I never got enough of it; my first-born was not a sleeper and GG and I took it in turns to get
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Staying fierce with the Fierce 50 Movement

  Following on from the Fierce 50 Campaign launched by a group of bloggers (including overthehilda) worldwide on February 20th – the 50th day of the year – I am delighted to announce that the Campaign has now become a Movement. We are calling on all women all over the world to join and support
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5 tips for staying happy and stress-free

  The pursuit of happiness can often lead to unhappiness, possibly because we all have some vague notion that happiness is bound up with material things and money and success. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the most contented and fulfilled people are neither successful nor rich. Today, more people suffer from
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A pure treat to make you feel like Cleo

Cleopatra and I have much in common.  I did date an Italian for a short time but it’s not that, so you will have to read to the end to find out what it is. Don’t dare skip! Recently, I was sent some Rose Water Toner to try out by Irish Company Ultrapure. They obviously
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Whiter than white…

I like to smile, perhaps because I am a happy person. Now smiling is good as you can brighten up somebody’s day with a smile. ‘Smile and the world smiles with you’ type of thing. But smiling can have negative consequences also, as too much can give you wrinkles. Why do you think that Victoria Beckham
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A real eye-opener

I hated wearing glasses when I was a young one, because I believed in the old adage that ‘men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses’. Well, glasses were pretty horrendous back in the day when I was a teenager. So I wore lens from about twenty one and then I went and got
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Cupping… no longer a mystery

Maybe you have noticed the circular bruises on the backs of some of the athletes at the Olympics and wondered what they were. Well, wonder no longer, because I know. It is the only thing that the incredible 23 gold medal champion Michael Phelps and I have in common. Both of us are fans of
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Anti-Ageing Tips

Here I am at five o clock in the morning writing my next post. Usually I sleep well and long. In fact most nights I get eight or nine hours sleep. Maybe it was the heat last night, but having tossed and turned since three, I eventually decided to get up.   It is ironic
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Ageless Beauty…Make-Up class

I am the first to admit that I am not good with make-up. Usually it takes me three or four minutes to slap on a bit of foundation, eye-liner, and lipstick. Obviously, I spend more time if I am going out to dinner or going somewhere important, if you follow my drift. Then I add
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Milk Thistle for when your liver needs a little help!

Have you heard of Milk Thistle? Or do you generally ignore all of these health supplements? Well this might change your mind. I am a bit of a health nut! Notice I wrote ‘bit’, not whole or complete. I try to have balance in my life, so yes I like a drink or two or
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Foot in Mouth?

It is just as well that GG (aka Gorgeous Graham) doesn’t have a foot fetish, because my feet are sadly lacking in the beauty stakes. Do any of you remember the photos published in papers way back in 1992 of Sarah Ferguson having her toes sucked by her lover? It caused a bit of a
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“Sugar, sugar…..”

GG is an addict. He is not as bad as when I met him first. He had his fix numerous times a day then. I have managed over the 34 years we have been married to limit the occasions when he indulges to on average once a day. Some days he is really good and
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Do magic anti-ageing creams really exist?

Unlike the image (above) of a genuine, over-the-counter product, there is an advertisement for a “miracle” face cream that frequently pops up on my FB feed which suggests that if you use it, you will look ten or sometimes twenty years younger in a matter of weeks. These creams are supposedly “endorsed” by celebrities such

Make no bones about it

So my Dexa Scan results came back and I have borderline osteopenia which means that my bone mineral density is lower than “normal” for a woman of my age.  My doctor has recommended calcium and vitamin D supplements, told me to drink Super Milk and to take weight-bearing exercise every day for thirty minutes and
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