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8 things I've learnt since turning 40 and why it isn't all bad

At 15 years of age, you think you know everything. Remember that phase? The fact is, whatever stage of life we’re in, we do know more than we did in the last. Even the defiant, opinionated 15 year old has a point – she (for argument’s sake) certainly knows more than a 5 year old and a decade of experience does give you some sort of wisdom. But does she know everything? Absolutely not! Turning 40 seems to be THE milestone that everyone dreads. I guess it’s because it is slap back in the middle of most people’s lives. Assuming we’re going to reach the ripe old age of 80, once you’ve hit 40 everything must be downhill, right? Wrong!… View Post

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rustic leather bound journal

I have a whole collection of notebooks in my home, from hard backed and floral, to spiral bound and functional. I love nothing better than to sit down in a coffee shop with a brand new note book and a pen. Whether the purpose is to empty my mind, make plans, or craft a blog post, there’s something deeply satisfying about actually writing notes, rather than tapping away on a keyboard. I don’t think that I will ever lose that joy, no matter how attached I am to my iphone! My latest acquisition is a hand-made leather bound journal, from Amazon. If you’re a notebook hoarder like me, you’re going to LOVE this – it really is the king of all notebooks! Not… View Post

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I read some literature not so long ago, that talked about ‘kicks’.  At the time, I was commencing yet another course and the reading material that accompanied it, urged us not to treat this course as just another ‘kick’. What’s a ‘kick’ I hear you cry?  Well if you’re well known for starting things and not finishing them, getting excited about something new and then losing interest when reality sets in, then you are probably very familiar with ‘kicks’.  They are likely to be as much a part of your life, as they are mine. Sewing. I decided one new year, that I wanted to turn my hand to something new.  I duly enrolled on a curtain/blind-making course and purchased a… View Post

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Let’s start with a confession: I have a cleaner. Now that’s out in the open, we can continue….. My cleaners come once a week; they come as a pair. I’m not sure if they spend more time drinking coffee and chatting than mopping the floor and dusting but either way, I always return to a house that smells of Flash and kitchen surfaces that gleam. Bliss. I usually try to be out of the house when they’re here but today, I felt it necessary to stay in. Why? Because tomorrow my Mother-in-Law arrives for the weekend. I told them that I would be upstairs cleaning bathrooms if they needed me and went on to explain that my mother-in-law was paying us a visit so I needed… View Post

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I remember the exact time and place when my friend mentioned she had been whiling away her morning on Facebook, catching up with old school mates and reminiscing. “What’s Facebook?” I innocently enquired (don’t mock, I was a mother with 3 children under 7 and a head full of Cbeebies). “Oh it’s fab” she said “You really must check it out”. And so I did. That very day back in 2007. Yes, yes, I know that I was about 3 years late to the party. Who can actually remember the days B.F. (Before Facebook)? A life when anonymity was a very real possibility; when we couldn’t delve into the past to discover who our first boyfriend actually ended up with. And we had to telephone friends to arrange a catch-up.… View Post