Middle Aged, Menopausal, Muddling along
When I recently wrote about all the things happening around Hampshire in National Trust houses this month, one grabbed my attention more than any other. The Night Before Christmas is one of my favourite poems, and Mottisfont is one of my favourite National Trust properties. Win Win and a great excuse for a morning out with my BFF and our cameras Mottisfont The Night Before Christmas 24 November –
My family thought I had gone mad when I said that we would be getting our Christmas tree at the end of November. Putting put the Christmas tree was always a Christmas Eve event for me as a child. I would decorate it with my folks, and then I would go off with each of them separately to help them wrap presents. Feeling quite smug that I
I must admit I thought I knew quite a bit about being a vegan. Not that I have ever been one, though I was veggie for a while as a teenager. I know that it means that along with the obvious meat and eggs it also means you can’t have honey, wear leather shoes or have gelatine sweets. I didn’t realise, however, that it goes as far
This might be a controversial one but here goes. I don’t like the term #Gifted. To be fair it might not be something that is even on your radar, so let me explain. Us bloggers, or influencers as we are increasingly being referred to, are required by the ASA to mark anything that we have been paid for, or sent for inclusion in a blog social media, as an
Help me out here Deborah. Why did you feel it necessary to pen a column in the Times this week where you said that influencers should be relabelled “Detestable Freeloaders”? Well I know what brought it about, your watching the programme about Cliveden and the inclusion of two influencers called Katie and Ben, but why did you have to give them (and all other influencers) this new moniker and
If you’re looking for somewhere special to escape the high street crowds this Christmas, consider a visit to a National Trust place. Our historic houses in and around Hampshire feature sparkling decorations and Christmas trees, fresh winter greenery and festive trails. Outside, you’ll discover beautiful garden landscapes filled with winter colour and scent. Classic Christmas stories are brought to life at Mottisfont and Uppark, and there’s a festive murder
Let’s face it, I can’t be the only one who hasn’t quite grasped the idea that December starts at the weekend, can I? Can I? Anyone? Bueller? Which means I may have been a bit slow off the mark with advent calendars. And I know that the cardboard ones I had as a small child aren’t really going to cut it. Even the ones I had that were covered
I should probably date this post as I am pretty sure my thoughts on the menopause are going to keep evolving as I get closer and closer to the end of being menopausal and become post menopausal. But first of all, why this post today? Well I watched, with interest, the documentary that Mariella Frostrup did on BBC1 last night. Menopause has been on my agenda for about six
I had a conversation with Jonnie this week about his trip to Switzerland and how he feels he has “done the area” he travelled to. He went up mountains, got on cable cars, went inside glaciers, did all the chocolate factories and other touristy places and came away thinking he could well and truly tick Interlaken off his list. I joked how that is absolutely NOT how I
It hadn’t really occurred to me to be honest, that technology is killing our ability to be spontaneous. In fact I was always thinking the exact opposite. That having so much information in the plan of my hand as allowing me to have more knowledge of what I could do if I wanted to be spontaneous. How finding ourselves with a free Saturday afternoon at home would
Where to start with buying Christmas presents? I seem to have the same routine with panic buying every year. First of all I refuse to start before the 1st of December, and then I realise despite the fact I only have to buy for a dozen people I generally run out of ideas about an hour in. Regardless of whether that is when shopping locally, or online.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”. Isn’t it? I normally don’t feel Christmassy until at least the middle of December but for some reason I am feeling really festive already. So if you’re already ahead of the game and all organised how about looking for somewhere special to sneak off to for the day. Or if you have still to do your shopping but want to escape
