I must really apologise for being such a bad blogger at the moment. Truthfully I have been struggling with a family issue that has really knocked me for six since March. At a time when I should have been happily emerging from my winter hibernation, blinking at the sun and planting seeds for summer blooms, I was staring into space, looking like I’d been caught in the headlights and doing some mental gymnastics that left me feeling alternately offended and like the worst person ever for not being able to offer my support to someone else. No details; I cannot and will not share specific details here, just to say that it did take a lot of thought, hygge, family communication and a fair amount of  consideration of my own mental health to get me back to almost normal.

I hope I’m pretty much there now. There’s a side of me that wonders if I can ever be carefree again, and I am guarding my inner self much more carefully, but I am not on edge at the moment, and I am coming to terms with things.** And so I emerge at last into my happy Hygge world and find that June… magical. marvellous June… has made no appearance at all on this website and that, without a whisper, the year is half done.

I might as well give up on June. There’s no way I could even remotely catch up with the midsummer evenings in front of the fire, the heat last week and the days out we enjoyed. Move on, move on and face the future. Welcome, July!

I have fond memories of July as a Primary school child. I seem to remember endless afternoons on the field, hot classrooms with windows that barely opened, evenings spent in school plays or at Displays of Work with the products of our sewing class, woodwork class or essay writing lessons proudly displayed every where. I know everybody is supposed to look back at their school days with fondness (and I do) but I’m realistic enough to know that there was probably proper work as well, angry moments at home and school, and a lot of anticipation for school breaking up and long summer holidays starting.

I no longer get the long summer holidays, now I’m an office worker and working for the family business, so taking six weeks off would be an impossibility. We have whole family holidays, no more than a week, and short couple-only breaks now. And my long, luscious hours are kept for weekends, which have a nasty habit of disappearing as anybody with a house and extended family must know.

Building in my July bliss this year will have to be done consciously. I know I lost a lot of my mental wellbeing this Spring as a result of spending too long on social media… both as a reader and a poster. I’m cleaning up my act for Summer. I am going to spend a lot less time on Twitter, which I find degrades very easily into a pool of meanness and insults, and more time on Instagram. Perhaps because I’m careful who I follow, my Instagram is a visual delight and a source of contact with bloggers I used to follow (still do) who no longer blog as often or as avidly as they did.

And Facebook is coming off my phone, except for The Hygge Nook, which is still one of the happiest, friendliest places I know. It has its moments, but for most of the time because we consciously avoid politics, religious disputes, offending anybody, it stays a calm and welcoming spot. Need 60 seconds listening to the ocean? The chances are someone has posted that within the past few days. After a garden view? Yes, that’s there as well. Pretty much everything cosy, comforting, supporting can be found there. It’s like the social media equivalent of a hot chocolate with marshmallows.

And I’m streamlining my work as well. I am too conscious that for six months I have been spread too thinly. With a heavy heart, I am stepping out of the newsletter field. Cosy Happy Hygge, though fun to do, gives me no income, and a girl does need to eat. I’m using the energy I was spending getting that written every month to write the book equivalent, also called Cosy Happy Hygge and focusing on using the rhythms and routines of everyday life to make every day lighter. It should (all things going well) be available around September, ready for a new Autumn of cosy hygge moments. (the email addresses of the people who signed up… and thank you for that… will be removed from the database for security, of course)

I’m committing to at least one, hopefully more, blogposts a week. My daytime work has expanded to fill every minute the Boss can take, but I need to call a halt to that and demarcate the time that is available for my work as a legal secretary and the time that I need to write… since writing, it seems, is the thing that keeps me from going mad. I’m giving myself permission to enjoy summer again.

**I started this post on a Monday, and went home to get a telephone call off the Vets to say that my Loki… my personal guinea pig out of the herd… has cancer, and may possibly get another lump which would not be worth operating on, and would mean adios to my friend. Yes, just as I dared declare my head was getting above the parapet, the forces of blueness pulled me back down. But I’m not going into that darkness again. I won’t let myself. So this summer, I will also be hugging Loki a lot, taking videos and pictures of all the herd and spending a lot of time with them. Cancer be damned, let’s live while we’re young**

I have a massive favour to ask….

I don’t monetise my blog. I don’t run adverts, take sponsorship for writing posts or use affiliate links. I want everything I do on this blog and in my hygge life outside to be truthful. If I promote a book it’s because I’ve read it and like it, if I  point out an item it’s because it’s impressed me on its own merits and not because the publicist has talked me into it. It does mean I don’t run giveaways and I’m not chasing followers, but the drawback is that I need to find a way to support myself.

That’s why I write books. My thoughts are that if I ask you to buy a book not only does it support me, and let me keep writing as an independent writer, but you get something back for your bucks. I’ve written several books, some on hygge, some on Christmas. If you like what you read here, or in the Hygge Nook, and you’d like to support a struggling writer, would you please consider buying a book? Ebooks give you the best value, since for 2 or 3 pounds you get the whole content of the book without paying the extra for paper production, but I’d be a pretty poor writer if I didn’t appreciate the beauty of a real book in the hand. If you buy just one book, it all adds up in the end to support me, and I’d be so grateful.

If you already have my books, or just want to support me as an independent writer, you can always just send me the price of a cup of coffee as a friend, to paypal.me/HyggeJem . I tend to use a lot of my spare cash on books that I review for the website, so every penny donated goes towards building my happy hygge life. 

My first three books are hygge related, 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way  was my first book, and is available in Paperback and Kindle version. It’s a simple look at ways to feel more hyggely in life and at home even though we’re not Danish and don’t have it in our DNA.

How to Hygge Your Summer, in Paperback and Kindle form, has lots of good ideas for the summer months. I strongly believe that hygge is so much more than throws and warm drinks.

Happier is my fourth book. It’s about how I boost my own happiness levels. It’s full of hints, tips and ideas for you to use and adapt to suit your own situation. It is available in ebook and paperback version from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

I have three Christmas books,

Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas was released in September 2017 and is available again in paperback and ebook version. It looks at keeping the Christmas season warm and cosy, with ideas for activities and routines to keep Christmas happy.

A (Hygge) Christmas Carol is my look at Dickens’ immortal classic and the many lessons we still learn from it today. It contains the full text of the book as well as hyggely thoughts on the story.

Enjoying a Self Care Christmas is only available in ebook version. It’s about keeping Christmas simple enough and healthy enough to keep you sane in the process.

If you buy any of the books through the links on this page, I get a couple of extra pence per copy, in Amazon vouchers which go towards buying more books to review for the blog. I’d really love it if you’d support me monetarily, but I quite understand that cash is tight for many people, and I just love having your support via reading and commenting as well.