Sixth Blogging Birthday!

I always appreciate the chance to reflect on how life has changed over the years, and my now six year old blog has become a way of recording the triumphs, challenges and all the ordinary, little moments in between.

I used to struggle a lot with comparing myself to others, and I viewed significant events like items on a to-do list instead of recognising them as achievements to be celebrated or moments to be cherished. Cutting back on social media in general, and deactivating Facebook in particular (4 years and counting!) really helped me to gain perspective, and now I prefer to compare my past with my present to measure how far I’ve come, what I’d still like to achieve and if I’m living by my personal values, and I’m so much more content as a result. Having said that, I’ve loved becoming part of the blogging community, finding some lovely, welcoming people sharing wisdom, humour and glimpses into their own lives.

It took me about a year to find my voice as a blogger and figure out the topics that really interested and inspired me, but I love having somewhere to document the little details of my life and reflect on all the changes that have taken place over the last few years.

As it happens, we’re preparing for another change and an exciting new chapter for our family as we’re delighted to be expecting our second child in November. Given that it took over two years to conceive our first child and that I’m now in my late 30’s, I was fairly pragmatic about our chances of having another baby, but life is full of surprises.

In some ways, I’m more nervous this time around as I know what to expect from birth and recovery to feeding and sleep deprivation. I’m also apprehensive about juggling the needs of a lively toddler who is used to having all our time and attention with a newborn, but I’ve no doubt our roles and routines will adjust for the newest addition when she arrives. There’s still so much to prepare, but time enough to enjoy these last few months before the newborn chaos starts all over again.

As always, many thanks to everyone who takes the time to read or comment on my blog, and have a lovely week. X

Summer in the Garden

Like most people in the UK, we spent the first half of the week trying to stay cool on the hottest days, though we haven’t had to endure the record breaking temperatures further South. Although our garden is South-SouthWest facing, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well our plants held up during the heatwave, and it’s looking really lovely right now if I do say so myself.

Our back garden has changed a lot over the last few years but is starting to look quite established with fruit trees growing tall, the bamboo clumping, summerhouse freshly painted and perennials spreading in the long border. I’ve tried to plant flowers that bloom at different times, and as Cirsium Rivulare (thistle) dies back, the Crocosmia starts to flower, while the hardy Geraniums (‘Blushing Turtle’ and ‘Rozanne’) and roses pretty much flower from June until the first frost (and sometimes beyond that). ‘Rozanne’ has become a bit of a sprawling mass, so I’ll separate and relocate some to the other beds in the autumn.

I’ve surprised myself by developing a real affection for pink roses, ‘Boscobel’ is my favourite but the climbing rose ‘James Galway’ is a close second, and I doubt I’ll be able to resist adding another rose to fill in the gap in the long border when the next David Austin catalogue drops through the letterbox.

The two smaller square beds were supposed to be wildflower patches, but calendula and one solitary sunflower were the only things to survive the slugs which devoured every other seedling as they surfaced, but I don’t mind as I quite like the dramatic, fiery orange.

We’ve been putting out a little bit of food and water for the birds, squirrels and hedgehogs that inhabit and visit our garden over the summer. It’s especially exciting to see hedgehogs snuffling and shuffling around in the evening. We know there’s more than one visiting as they’re visibly different sizes with different markings, and it’s encouraging because their numbers have been in sharp decline for a while.

We’ve constructed the greenhouse, and my husband also built a small fence around it to prevent kids from bumping into it. During the heatwave earlier this week, the thermometer in the greenhouse reached 46°C before it stopped working. The greenhouse went up a bit late late in the season, but we’ve filled it with reduced price seedlings so we might still get a handful of tomatoes and courgettes, but I’m excited about growing more of our veg next year. I’ve had some success growing lettuce in pots this summer, though I had to move them onto the kitchen windowsill as they were starting to wilt in direct sunlight. I’ve also created a little fruit forest between our apple trees planting rhubarb and strawberries underneath, and our daughter loves foraging for berries in the garden. Weeds have been a problem so I scattered some nasturtium seeds to provide a bit of competition and occlusion, but I haven’t tried eating the leaves or flowers.

Our garden is quite small and yet we’re making the most of the space we have. Gardening is one of my great passions, and I really value time spent in the garden so much, it’s incredibly rewarding and restorative to feel connected to nature. Have a lovely week. X

Lions and Meerkats and Bears, oh my!

We’re in the middle of the summer holidays here in Scotland, but just before the schools broke up we took a trip to Five Sisters Zoo. This was our third visit to the zoo, having been twice last year – including an afterdark visit to see their winter illuminations, but it’s one of our favourite places to visit.

We saw one of the rescued bears for the first time on this visit, as well as catching a glimpse of one of the wolves, but other highlights included lions lazing in the sun, the snow leopard sitting out surveying the area, the lynx snoozing, lots of curious monkeys and lemurs, snuggling otters and meerkats coming right up to the windows to say hello to our daughter.

We visited midweek, arriving just as a bus full of school children were leaving, meaning there was just us and a handful of other families wandering around. We had taken a picnic as we didn’t know if there would be anything GF for my husband in the cafe, and the little one had a great time in the playpark in the middle of the zoo, which was a great way of breaking up our visit.

For a family run zoo, I’m always surprised by how big it is and how many creatures there are to see, it’s really great value and well worth the ticket price. Have a lovely week. X

Midsummer at the Beach

A mercurial spring has finally given way to a warm and sunny summer, and a couple of weeks ago we had a long overdue visit to the beach. When it was just the two of us, my husband and I would always visit in January (if not on New Year’s Day itself) for a bracing walk along the shore letting the icy winds blow away the cobwebs of the year before and sharing a flask of hot coffee while we chatted about our hopes and plans for the year ahead, but this year was half gone before we found time to visit.

Croy Shore is a beautiful beach with incredible views of the Isle of Arran across the sea, but lacks the amenities of other beaches along the Ayrshire coast such as cafes and ice-cream vans or public toilets (closed during the pandemic and never reopened) which mean our visits here always require a bit more planning like toilet breaks on the way and packed lunches.

My husband had checked the tides before we arrived so we knew that it would be out allowing us to explore the rockpools that are usually hidden underwater at high tide, and after scrabbling across some very slippery seaweed covered rocks we found crabs, an eel and starfish.

Our toddling daughter was fascinated by all the aquatic critters but she probably had just as much fun digging in the sand and splashing in the sea.

After a lovely afternoon of picnicking, walking barefoot in the sand, paddling in the sea and exploring rockpools, we were all tired but refreshred and ready for dinner, showers and baths to wash the sand from between our toes, and an early night. Have a lovely week. X

June Reading WrapUp

June was a good month for reading, ticking off four books from the TBR and receiving one eagerly anticipated new release. Halfway through the year now and I’m back on track, let’s hope I can keep up the momentum and make my target by the end of the year.

The Red Admiral by Bella Ellis

The third in the Bronte Mysteries series sees the three sisters and their brother leaving their beloved Yorkshire to help a friend living in bustling and gritty London. I love the ways this series juxtaposes the family dynamics with thrilling mysteries to solve, and always against the backdrop of Victorian society without shying away from the darker side of poverty, abuses and moral hypocrisy. The Red Admiral does cover some dark themes (CW: child trafficking and exploitation) but I thoroughly enjoyed this tense adventure with clever twists, daring deeds and an unexpected dash of romance.

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

Last year I binge read Holly Black’s Folk of the Air trilogy, and was thoroughly captivated by the slow-burn enemies to lovers romance between Jude, a human raised by Fae, and the cruel and decadent Fae Prince Cardan. I’m usually not a fan of spin-offs but couldn’t resist the opportunity to return to this world of cunning and devious creatures to learn more about Cardan. Beautifully illustrated, How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is an engaging addition that offers some insight into Cardan’s childhood and formative experiences, as well as a little glimpse of Cardan and Jude’s adventures after the events of the main trilogy.

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

This one has sat on my bookshelf for a couple of years now until I was finally in the mood to read it. Helen Russell and her husband were living and working in London at a frenetic pace before he received a job offer from Lego which would mean relocating to Denmark for a year. Russell decided to use the year to start her own career as a freelance writer and undertake some investigative research into why Denmark consistently tops the world’s happiest country. The book is split into 12 chapters each covering a month of their year in Denmark and a different aspect of Danish culture and society from hygge and hobbies to childcare and taxes. It’s an enjoyable and informative read that is both positive and balanced (she doesn’t shy away from analysing the high rates of divorce, domestic violence and cancer for instance), but it’s also a record of her own personal journey as she considers her own work-life balance and infertility.

Vow of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

Dance of Thieves was one of my Top 10 favourite reads last year, and the sequel was every bit the nail-biting, heart-pounding and romantic conclusion I was hoping for. While the first book in the duology focused on the enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers again romance between the protagonists, Kazi and Jase, the plot takes centre stage in the in sequel as the leads fight together and apart to save the little Kingdom of Tor’s Watch from an unexpected villain hellbent on revenge, destruction and domination at all costs. Vow of Thieves was tense and thrilling, and provided a very satisfying conclusion to this YA fantasy duology.

Bridge of Souls by V.E. Schwab

The third and final part of the Cassidy Blake series actually turned out to my favourite as the girl who can see ghosts after a near death experience finds herself being hunted by an Emissary of Death. One of my favourite aspects of this series has been the settings, which are wonderfully described from the architecture and history to the food, and while I was familiar with the locations of the previous two books (Edinburgh and Paris), Bridge of Souls is set in New Orleans which was new and exotic to me. Bridge of Souls is a captivating conclusion to this middle grade series full of ghosts and the occult, family and friendship.

Have a lovely week! X