Are we calling it summer yet?

I can’t quite bring myself to wait until Midsummer before declaring the start of summer. It seems foolish to wait until you’re halfway through a cake before being able to say what sort of cake it is. Likewise with midsummer and midwinter: it’s a folly to wait until either to say ‘this is the season’.

Besides, let’s be quite honest, the weather in May and early June is usually better than it is in late June to July. So, yes. I am quite happy to say that summer is here, and especially since we have had the most beautiful three days of heat, humidity, shadow-walking, cool-drink-grabbing of the year so far.

So it’s nearly the end of May and I have been remiss with my little home on the net. Work, study, family, tiredness and mostly a desire to do nothing have powered it. You’ve missed me, but probably not as much as you would have four or five years ago. Time moves on, fashions change and I am not an influencer from choice so I don’t feel a dreadful need to be forever recording, writing or showcasing. I’m just here.

How has your May been? I love the month of May. It’s my birthday month, so it’s full of old memories of school days on the field, presents I loved oh too well and time spent with family and friends. When the kids were little it was a holiday month, in Durham or Wales or somewhere we fancied. I did have a weekend away this year, too. And I’ve spent the rest of the time working, writing and with relatives. Oh, and two funerals as well (not close-close relatives, but close enough)

On my old blog (Angel Jem’s City Cottage) I used to have a habit of writing a Wednesday Wind Up every week: a look at what I’d been up to that week, what I’d read, where I’d been. It was a kind of online diary. I’m thinking, perhaps, of bringing it back. If you’d like to join in, these were the questions:

What am I reading this week?

What Have I Watched this week?

Where have I been this week?

How Has my spending gone this week?

What are my WIPs this week?

Any Other Business?

Just a sentence on each one, a record of what I’m up to and a kind of accountability. I need more accountability in my life. The last few years have been hard, and I am very good at the compassion but not at the resumption of better living. No regrets, but plenty of remorse.

Wednesday Wind Up will start officially next week, and I’ll share on the blog and the Insta. Please don’t tell me I need to get on TikTok. The answer will be no.

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but my non-Christmas books are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of Winter 2026.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is of the wisteria at my Dad’s house. It was looking particularly beautiful this year.