Tweet Wow, New Year’s Eve. The end of 2015, and a whole year to look forward to. I have to say, I am not a fan of New Year in a party sense – the whole forced jollity of it, counting down to midnight, and then… well, it’s just another day. You might as well […]
Lake District

Driving Home For Christmas
Tweet 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 […]

Thankful Thursday #4
Tweet 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 […]

Happy Halloween! Headless Man Tutorial
Tweet 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 […]

Thankful Thursday
Tweet In keeping with my reasons to be cheerful attitude, I thought I’d share a few things that I am grateful for this week. Dirty clothes I have piles of washing every day, because I am lucky enough to have two wonderful, active boys, who like nothing more than playing football or rugby, and being […]
What’s in my Happy Box?
Tweet It can be very easy to become preoccupied with the stresses and strains of everyday life, and take the good stuff for granted, even to the point of ignoring the all the fabulous reasons to be happy in favour of coping with the things that add to our troubles or make us grumpy (for me […]

A History of Carlisle
Tweet Carlisle may be an unassuming little city positioned on the Northern edge of England, just 8 miles from the Scottish border, with claims to fame such as the most promiscuous city in Europe (perhaps Carlisle men just aren’t that good at counting) and also Britain’s happiest city (are the two related?) When is comes […]
Passion Projects – My Fantasy Tea Room
Tweet It’s been a busy old day here today – the first day after a Bank Holiday is always a weird one. I’ve had to keep reminding myself that it’s Tuesday, not Monday, and there is always that feeling of having just as much to do, with one day less to do it in. I […]

Walking at Castle Crag – The Great Outdoors
Tweet I’ve just watched that video – the one that has, ironically, gone viral today, about how much we lose from our lives by being constantly attached to laptops, phones and tablets in the name of “social” media. And yes, blogging can be included in that too. We miss so much, and I am sure […]

Fooling Around and Family Fun
Tweet Today is day 3 of the BEDM challenge, and already I am going off-piste a little, because I want to tell you about a favourite pass-time of mine – fooling around with my children. For all the stress and upset that my children sometimes cause me – having two boys, with less than a […]