Hello Steemit!

This my first post in the community and its fair to say I'm slightly nervous - please be kind.

I've heard so much about it and as a blogger already, I was initially dubious but once I checked it out found that I love the look of this community and the range of content available so decided to take the plunge and join this blockchain blogging gang.

In order to get to know you, I decided to compile a little A-Z of me - Sweetelyse and, hope you can comment with a small intro about yourself. Let's all get to know each other!

● A - Alcohol. I'm not a huge alcohol dabbler however, I am partial recently to pink gin, yep its 100% a girly drink but that and sloe gin are gorgeous.

● B - Boys. I am a mum to boys. I wouldn't change a thing

The iconic Costa Coffee cold brew with whipped milk selfie
● C - Coffee, Chocolate & Chilli. Both my weaknesses although I would much rather take a small amount of excellent quality coffee, chocolate or chilli over an abundance of cheap stuff any day.

● D - Duck! I absolutely adore duck as a meat option as well as fluffy ducklings. Yes, I know its a paradox but then so is life. Nurture versus survival in its lowest form.

● E - Edinburgh. I live close by to this amazing city but its such a wonder in the sense that every time you go, there's always a new back alley, a new event, shop, cultural setting or building to find. You just can't get bored with Edinburgh.

● F - Frogs. We have a few Rana Temporia which we've grown from spawn, once they're at a stronger stage we will release them so they can jump free and wildly with their wilder frog buddies. We initially saved them from a local pond/water are which was full of dirty baby wipes and junk. It wasn't being maintained and unfortunately now - a few weeks later its dried up and most of the other tadpoles perished. The ones we saved are gorgeous and healthy.

The little baby frogs, some still had their tale snubs at this point
● G - Grapefruit. It's one of the very few foods that I cannot eat. Believe me, I've tried so many times but my palate just will not accept grapefruit is a food option.

● H - Herbalism is a huge passion for me and while I was growing up. I loved learning about the beneficial and dangerous properties of herbs, roots, woods, oils, plants, weeds and resins. You name it, I loved finding out about it and my old dad loved to teach me. I remember when I first found out that most poisons are typically always close to their cure. Take nettles and dock leaves for example.

● J - Japan. I have a wanderlust list as long as my arm, Osaka in Japan (tourist choice or what?) is topping that list. I mostly travel for culture and food.

● K - Kooky. It's a word that I can only use to describe myself. I definitely don't fit into the cookie cutter mould of what a woman should be or how they should think and my personality stretches far and wide. Hopefully, you'll get to find out in my Steemit journey.

● L - Lush. There's a shop called Lush that I adore, you can smell the fragrance of it from a mile away and they're always creating natural (somewhat debatable at times) but crazy products for all skin types.

Two Lush products I absolutely love
● M - Money saving. I can't shake the need for thrifting, maybe it was stowed in me as a child from my dad. He was brought up to save and make do, during the war living was tough and survival was paramount. Now that things have changed, these skills and thriftiness are still valid ways of getting through life without spending a pretty penny.

● N - Night Owl. I love the nights. I hate early mornings. Grrrr!

● P - Petite. I am a teeny 5ft 1 and have 28'' legs. I wished I was taller for so many years, now I've come to accept my tiny status.

● Q - Quiet. This is something I'm not described as in my close circle of friends, however outside of that group I have tendancies to not talk all that much. Again another irony.

● R - Real Talk. I tend to discuss things others would see as cringe-like, controversial or embarrassing. It's not deliberate. I tend to find most things 'normal' and therefore if it's a human quality, it's worth normalising...right?

● S - Scotland. I currently live and was born in Scotland. I am very proud of my heritage (Irish/Scottish) and the history, although it may be gruesome I love the unity that we have.

● T - Thistles. As above, I also love the thistle - I plan to have this at my wedding. I love the yin-yang of this flower. Not only is it delicate and beautiful in its form, it's also prickly and can hurt if mistreated or manhandled.

● U - Unoffensive. I very rarely find anything offensive. My mentality is, if it ''hurts'' then it has to be true somewhat, even if it's only in my subconscious so, therefore, why would I be offended by someone else hurting me when it's my own beliefs that have caused the offence. Therefore I tend to feel anger, sadness or determination or indifference as my go-to emotions.

● V - Violane. This is a gemstone and Violane is much like a diopside. I prefer its natural state to the highly polished form but as a gemstone, this gorgeous purple to blue stone is said to help heal, support bone health, improve diabetes and the symptoms that come from the condition as well as aid weight loss and reduce PMS. The stone is full of manganese so this also maybe how it helps.

● W - Walking. I love to walk as a form of fitness.

● Y - Yoga. Yoga and stretching are passions of mine. Flexibility is key to health and yoga not only exercises the outer body but the internal systems also. What's not to love.

● Z - The obvious one is sleep! I love to sleep and catching some Zzzz's. I can hibernate for days (if allowed) but life says no, so I need to wake up.

So, I failed slightly as I couldn't find anything for 'X' and 'I' and 'O' they genuinely were the hardest letters to use. So, to close, it's been lovely to e-meet you, I hope we can get to know each other? How would YOU describe yourself?

Edit: I have been asked to 'prove' that I am a real person, so here you go Steemit lovelies, this is me (today 6th June 2018) quick snap, taken while working - you can also find me offsite on Instagram where I will post my picture with the Steemit badge username is sweetelyseuk

Love, Elyse

Check out more of my offsite blog here

Copyright: All images photographed, taken and owned wholly by myself