A couple of things have happened lately that have made me more aware than ever just how old my lovely old Dad is getting - he's always been such a strong, independent (and stubborn) man so it's hard for me to see him as anything but the Dad I'm used to.I think he's struggling with it all too if I'm honest and I know he hates asking me for help but often has no choice these days - the dilemma for me is when to step in and offer my help without him feeling a little bit useless.It's a subject I want to write about but right now, I think I'd go off in a million and one tangents to do with … [Read more...]

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer!I can't remember where I first read this travel quote (it was probably a Facebook meme to be honest) but the words really stuck with me.We're not the sort of people who can sit on a sunbed all day (well, Miss Frugal is but the rest of us aren't) and we don't even like the heat that much as we all burn so quickly so we've mostly holidayed in the UK over the last five or six years.  There's so many places to visit and things to see and do here in the UK that we haven't seen nearly as much as we'd like to see yet but even … [Read more...]

One of the most popular posts I've ever written is my post about six things to do before you go to bed to make your next morning easier and honestly, I genuinely feel better the next morning when I take the time to do these six things.Someone once commented on a Facebook post about this post to say that she 'couldn't be bothered to faff about on a night' but I'm not a morning person and find it much easier if I can just get up and go without having to think about much at all.  I also find that getting organised for the next day on a night helps me to relax at bedtime because I know … [Read more...]

I can trace my love of stationery back to when I was about six years old on holiday in a pretty little town called Zelena Laguna in Croatia. There was a shop there filled with super-cheap exercise books - all with different colours and patterns on the covers and I remember spending far too long choosing just one from them all.I wanted more but my Dad had just bought me a cute mini rucksack and a matching bum bag in the shop before so he'd said I was only allowed one and it felt like the hardest decision I'd ever made at the time.I eventually chose one and that night, I remember sitting … [Read more...]

A couple of years ago someone bought me an a very expensive looking Jo Malone candle in my favourite scent and I loved it. I actually loved it that much that I didn't open it as I didn't want to 'waste' it. ;-)The candle sat, still in it's wrapper in my little ensuite bathroom where I eventually kind of just forgot it was there because it was like part of the furniture in there. Until a couple of weeks ago when I was giving the bathroom a mini makeover and I noticed the wrapper had gotten dusty so I actually got my damp microfibre cloth and dusted the box!!!Mid way through this … [Read more...]