I have a weekend away booked for next week, to Leamington Spa. It’s a beautiful town in the Midlands that made it as a spa town in the early 19th Century when spa towns were *the* place to be. It’s a romantic little break, just Mr Hygge Jem and me, and we will spend our time wandering through the streets of Leamington, Stratford and Warwick, … Continue reading Five Words for August.
Sometimes holidays just seem like the hardest task we set ourselves. Prepping for going away, washing, packing, listmaking, arranging for pet care, parent care, tidying ready to go away, travelling (worse yet if it’s abroad and all the extra worries of foreign travel are piled on top). Sometimes it’s just so much easier to stay home. When the children were small, we used to visit … Continue reading Nefyn. Not This Year, Except in My Dreams.
Bonfire Night, often called Guy Fawkes Night in Britain, is celebrated on or near 5th November. It’s a festival of remembrance, a time to look back on a past that, fascinating as it is to study and imagine, would have been a mad, bad time to be alive. The whole religious conflict of the 16th and 17th Century takes far more explanation and back story … Continue reading Bonfire Night: Hygge the Festivals of Winter (Part 2)
It’s That Time of Year, when magazines enter my house thick and fast. They’re such a reasonable way to treat yourself, usually only £5 to buy and with a pot of tea or a milky coffee and a quiet corner can add up to a few minutes of self-care, inspiration and reflection (as in reading an article and thinking “I wouldn’t do that, if I … Continue reading Magazine Monday: Woman and Home December 2020
It’s Wednesday 14th October, and Liverpool is officially in Tier 3 of the English Government’s Lockdown strategy. No meeting, no drinking, no sport, no no no…. Nothing to do, it seems, except stay in, drink tea and read. I don’t mind that, really. Lockdown looks a lot like my normal life, but I do feel sorry for the extroverts I know for whom Lockdown is … Continue reading My Lockdown Library
I have subscribed to both these magazines for decades now, since early motherhood at least. So this week when I tried to decide which one I wanted to feature, mindful of the fact that it’s nearly time for the Christmas editions to hit the shops and I really want to share my favourite hygge pages from all of them, it struck me that I didn’t … Continue reading Magazine Monday: Country Giants go Head to Head.
It poured with rain in my neck of the woods on Saturday. That meant I had very little to do, so I grabbed my notebook and pen, and set to collecting a list of actions and activities that I want to do during October and November: things I can do to enjoy Autumn in all her beauty and majesty. When you discount travelling too far … Continue reading Autumnal De-stressors: My Kick the Bucket full of Leaves List
Hyggering that won’t cost the Earth: that’s a great ambition. I’m busy today, but I grabbed a few minutes at lunchtime to trawl the internet looking for resources (books, videos, websites) that will give me a great start on my year of bringing less in to get more out of life. Some of the books I have already: greening my life has always been an … Continue reading Research comes first…. Always x
