There’s a week still left in February, but today is Pancake Tuesday. I no longer need to race home desperately wondering how on Earth I am going to mix, toss and serve enough pancakes to keep the kids happy, because it turns out that my Daughter is a much better pancake maker than I ever was. Sarah, you are an absolute star, because I know … Continue reading Late February Sunshine has me hoping: Spring is Coming!
Isn’t it funny how the same dates crop up time and time again in a life? How one grandparent’s birthday becomes the anniversary of another grandparent’s death? How marriages start and businesses are created on the same day? And how often, with 365 days out of the year to choose from, children choose to be born on the same day as another relative? In my … Continue reading Birthday Hygge: Parent and Child
I’m glad to be in February. For one of the shortest months, it seems to always have an extraordinary amount crammed into it. It doesn’t help that both my parents and two of my own children managed to fit their birthdays into the month! But it’s the month when I look around and think hopeful thoughts. We’ve been through the worst of the winter (and … Continue reading Blessed Imbolc: Merry Candlemas: Happy Groundhog Day!
When I was a little girl, there was a TV series on in the afternoons called Farmhouse Kitchen. It ran from 1970 to 1990, and was on at 2.30 in the afternoon, so watching it probably meant I was off sick from school. I think, as long as we weren’t vomiting and really nauseous, it was a way to keep us quiet. I used to … Continue reading Book Friday: Home Cooked by Kate Humble (Recipes from the Farm)
Today is Blue Monday, and news programmes, papers and places all over the internet are proclaiming it the lowest Monday of the year. Christmas is over, the bills ahve come in, the weather is blue and we are too. Well, not this year. I’ve done well at keeping active, meeting friends who keep me boosted and enjoying life, including finding the gem of a 1930s … Continue reading Blue Monday? Depends on the Shade
What are your Winter Joys? In the Hygge Nook, we’ve had a few posts about Winter, especially this post-Christmas period of it, being hard on the happiness factor. And I’m quite honest that I have found it harder to be happy in January and February rather than during November and December in my past. But I do know that I have parts of Winter that … Continue reading Book Friday: The Happiness Year by Tara Ward (How to find Joy in Every Season)
This year so far has been a weird mix of bright sunshine and dark rain clouds, physically and metaphorically. I either feel light and airy, or weighed down by stresses so heavy I don’t know how to get out from under them. I know sometimes the weather has the guiding hand in my emotions, but at other times the warmth is there regardless of the … Continue reading A Winter Wellness List
Well, there goes Christmas until next December. And here comes my darkest time of year. When I was supply teaching and mothering at home, January and February were my months of low, slow living. The bright lights were down, the children back at school. There wasn’t enough light in the day to do anything much and I basically squared my shoulders and set off to … Continue reading Wintering
How to Hygge the British Way 