Life is hard, hard enough that one feels like they have the right to complain about how hard it is. Of course, not everyone is as unfortunate and some end up being able to take it easy a bit, but don’t let yourself fall into the mindset that you will never be able to do the same. In fact, even starting tomorrow, you could start making life easier for yourself, because right now, we have opportunities in life which were not around a mere few decades ago. We are living in rather tech-oriented times, and if the fact that the president of the United States keeps impulsively posting on twitter ... read more
Keeping Those Winter Wonderful Memories with Truprint #PicturesIntoPresents
One thing that I love about living here in the UK is the seasons. I just can't imagine living somewhere where the weather is the same all year round. By the time each new season rolls around I'm ready for it. Looking forward to the change and ready to embrace what comes along next. That's why winter for me is so special. After those cosy autumn evenings snuggled up as the weather starts to get colder there's something I love about the cold snap that signal's winter's arrival. As an outdoor lover I love going out with the family in those colder winter days when it's like the frost has taken ... read more
Time to Challenge Yourself?
Image source You have a pretty great life right? You have lots of fulfilling hobbies, a family you love and plenty of things to keep you entertained. But, do you ever wish for more? Not in a dramatic “I’m going to give it all up and join the circus.” kind of way, but in the “ I need to break out of this safe cocoon and try to do more; be more” kind of way? If you do, you’re not alone. So many of us have built up such cosy lives that we basically start to coast. We get up in the morning, feed and clothe the kids, do the school run, work, cook, craft, repeat -you know the drill - and it’s ... read more
Blog On 2017 Christmas Jumper Linky
There's less than a couple of weeks now until I head to Manchester again for the next Blog On conference. I know I've said it before, but Blog On is by far my favourite blogging conference and it's the reason I happily head to the wrong side of the Pennines twice a year. The goodie bags are legendary for starters, but I think that by now I'm enough of a Blog On pro to know how to get the most out of the conference. Not only the planned sessions, but also networking with brands and the other bloggers too. I've also pretty much nailed what you need to take with you. If I'm totally honest ... read more
My 2016 in crochet
Now normally reviews of the year come at the end of the year. It's the kind of blog post that people publish between Christmas and New Year as a sort of round up. That was my plan, but like all the best laid plans it didn't happen. Many reasons, but the biggest one being that by the time we got to that weird period between Christmas and New Year I was just absolutely shattered! I also sat down then with a notebook and realised that I actually did far more in 2016 than I'd realised, and just one blog post wasn't going to do the year justice. So, welcome to what is likely to be the first in a ... read more
My inspiring WI Summer
Yes, I know it's October. And mid-October at that, but I'm still catching up with the very, very long list of things that have been going on in my life that I want to capture here. In a way the summer seems like it was a life-time ago, but strangely it also feels like only a couple of days since it started. And boy did the summer start with a bit of a bang! I've blogged several times on here about the things that I've been getting up to at the lovely Herts Belles WI group that I joined here in St Albans a couple of years ago. Up until earlier this year though I only really went along to ... read more
January – all the things I’d forgotten I’d done
Did I fall asleep or something? Where on earth did January go? It seems like only two minutes since Christmas and New Year, but then at the same time they also feel like a lifetime ago. So, what exactly have I been up to in January. Sitting here now it seems a bit hard to work out exactly what I've been up to for the whole month, but I'm sure I'll work it out. The biggest thing has probably been that January has been the month in which I started running again. Here I am on the 29th of the month and I'm delighted to say that I've clocked up a whole 70km in January (so far!) and am ... read more
Why I will be sending Christmas Cards this year
If you're on Facebook or email I'm pretty sure that over the next week or so you'll start seeing messages along the lines of: Just so you know we're not doing Christmas cards this year, but we will be making a donation to charity instead. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year! That's all fine and dandy, and everyone's entitled to do whatever they want, not only at Christmas, but for the rest of the year too. But as someone who hasn't given up on Christmas cards I thought it about time to actually shout about why I will be sending them this year, and why I'd encourage others to do the ... read more
The rhythm of life
I can't hear those four words without bursting into song in my head. My old school choir did an amazing version of The Rhythm of Life that used to make the hairs on the back of my neck just stand on end every single time. Somewhere at my mum's I'm sure there's a cassette recording of it which has to be reason in itself to dig out an old walkman and wire it up somehow. The rhythm of life has changed somewhat here over the last couple of months and it's taking a bit of time to get used to. Master C finished at nursery at the end of July and I strangely found the whole thing a bit emotional. ... read more
Busy Being
Things here have been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately and there's a very simple reason for that. I've been busy being. The only thing is, until this morning I wasn't totally sure exactly what it was I was busy doing. I then had a bit of a lightbulb moment when a friend of mine linked to this wonderful blog post by Richard Branson. If you don't follow his blog then you really should do. He writes on a huge range of subjects, but does so in such a way that you can easily imagine that you're just sat having a chat with him in a local pub beer garden over a cold drink - rather than him ... read more