As you must surely know by now, I am very proud of the area in which I live, and consider myself very lucky to be surrounded by hills and and valleys, lakes and rivers. Whenever we drive back home after a spell away, the stretch of the M6 when the mountains really take shape is […]

Thankful Thursday #4
Back to school week, and back to work for me. It’s a busy one, as usual, and I am looking forward to the weekend (although with Mr away I’m flying solo, so it’s a case of no rest for the wicked, I fear). I had planned to paint Youngest’s bedroom last weekend, but a bout […]

Happy Halloween! Headless Man Tutorial
I’m not usually a fan of Halloween (in the slightest, if truth be told) but this year we are taking our children to Lowther Castle and Gardens for their Haunted Halloween event. Amongst the plethora of spectacularly scary activities, such as falconry displays and snot making, ghost hunting and wicked witchcraft, there is the traditional fancy […]

National Cat Day – Why Cats Will Rule The World
Apparently on 29th October each year, National Cat Day is celebrated. A day in which all things feline comes to the fore, and cats of all colours, shapes, sizes and breeds are declared super-worthy of our love and affection. I love cats, I really do. We have two who allow us to share their home. […]

Thankful Thursday #3
It’s been half term this week, and we were all ready for a break! Naturally this week I am grateful for lie-ins, children who bring me cups of tea, and having chance to chat to my boys over breakfast. Some of the other things I count myself lucky to have experienced are… Hairdressers Eldest desperately […]

A Very Northern Boozy Christmas
Following on in my little mini series about Booths Christmas, I absolutely simply must tell you about their Christmas spirit. Well, ok, not spirits, but certainly their wine and beer range. During the Christmas preview evening, there was a chance to sample some of the fine tipples, and the first supplier was particularly focusing on a sweet […]

Thankful Thursday #2
It’s been a busy week this week. I spent the weekend decorating Eldest’s bedroom, watched Youngest’s football match and ironing. Work has been pretty busy too, as usual before half term, and I feel a bit like I have rushed from one thing to the next, just trying to remember all the things I still […]

Perfectly Imperfect
Magazines, television, internet, Facebook…. it all has a lot to answer for. It’s way too easy to look at people’s snapshots of their lives and see their perfect family, perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect life, perfect them. Magazines and TV can be more easily rationalised as untrue – everyone knows models are airbrushed – but […]

A Very Northern Christmas Party
Following on from my Booths Christmas preview event post, I promised to give you some of the finer details in separate posts. I thought I’d start by giving you some pointers for hosting the perfect Christmas party. The range of party food on offer from Booths, supplied by both Gazebo Foods and Frank Dale, was […]

Snow Leopard And Cub Cake
It was J’s birthday, and as he’s still snow leopard-mad, he requested (and by requested, I mean drew a design for and left it lying around the kitchen were he knew I would see it) a cake with a snow leopard on. His little face lit up when he saw it recreated with the addition […]