On my 33rd birthday six years ago, I wrote a post called ‘40 things Before I’m 40‘. It was a list of forty things that I want to do, achieve and experience before I turn forty years old in 2023. I’d originally started the list when I turned thirty but I hadn’t launched my blog at…

May always feels like being on the cusp of something good: the promise of summer being just around the corner; everything is suddenly abundantly green; trees and hedgerows are full of life; wildflowers burst into colourful existence seemingly overnight; and there are warmer days, blue skies and sunshine. It’s been a bit of an up…

April has been a busy month!  I’ve spent a good portion of it travelling – up to Manchester for an evening, down to London for the day and a family holiday in Cornwall for a week during the Easter holidays. Nothing makes me happier than being out and about doing stuff so although I’m utterly…

March has been an unusual month in every respect.  I spent eleven days solo parenting whilst the husband was on holiday in Barbados, watching cricket with friends and living his best life by the pool.  We’re still trying to get some support for Lola, who now hasn’t physically attended school for seven weeks due to…

February was an immensely challenging month for various reasons.  A lot of my time was spent supporting a friend going through a crisis; all of my Dad’s anniversaries fall in February (his death, his birthday and the day of his funeral) and Lola started to really struggle with her sensory issues more than usual, which…

I find that I need to ease quietly into January, the way you might tentatively slip into a cold swimming pool – I’m not a fan of diving in head first and getting the shock over with.  It’s probably a good thing that I prefer to start slowly as January almost never goes according to…

I usually like to spend the first half of January reflecting on the year that has just passed: looking at what I’ve learnt; what I could have done better, whether I honoured my intention for the year and what mistakes I made, as well as what the highlights were; what I achieved; and what I…

I found December quite overwhelming.  I’m usually pretty good at managing all the festive madness (lists are my superpower!) but this year felt a little more challenging than usual. Juggling all the balls of work and home and school and Christmas and birthdays, alongside the additional and most important part of keeping everyone fully healthy…

November has felt chaotic, scattered and, frankly, a bit of a slog to get to the end of.  The intensity and volume of my work has increased and we’ve also had a decorator in, his work hours spreading out over various days and weeks rather than in one solid chunk of time with a definitive…