Dangers of DIY over the festive period

When we moved into our home a few years aog, it was just before Christmas, we rushed to get everything in and a tree up just in time for our eldest to enjoy the festive period and even though the house needed work in parts we were keen to get it feeling as homely as quickly as possible. After an initial quick re-paint in most of the rooms, we hastily unpacked most of our boxes, hung up prints and art work and filled the shelves in our alcoves filled with books and DVD's. We decided this was the best course of action to provide a bit of consistency for our son during a time that can feel quite unsettled. We then would work on each room, doing any repairs or re-decorating as needed. As our living room was the most used space we decided to leave that a little later than the kitchen which we did first, followed by the bathroom. We quickly realised the owners before us had been keen DIYers and not the best kind either. Luckily John is pretty practical, he had trained as an elec......

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Getting the Festive Party Started

So I have been talking a lot about how to make your home warm and cosy, focusing on our winter outdoor adventures, collecting holly and bringing Christmas into the home, but the festive season is also about having fun with friends, letting your hair down and perhaps dressing up, dancing and adding a little sparkle into what is normally the coldest time of the year.  It is of course the time to be merry as well as wave goodbye to the past year and welcome the new. I have seen a few fun pieces that really captures that fun party feel such as these gold high-top Converse and gold clutch. I have always loved the tutu skirt Carrie wears in sex in the city but I have never had the nerve to wear one although I do love the peachy midi skirt number from BooHoo. There is a fantastic website called Woznow which finds everything on sale from over 200 UK retailers such as this super cute pom-pom Breton top from Boden . For many this time of the year can be the social hig......

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Preparing the Home for Christmas

The novelty of log fires, the smell of a fresh fir tree, pine cones and a small glass of sherry or hot chocolate to warm you up on a cold wintery night while counting down the days to Christmas will never fade on me. Having spent my childhood in a hot southern hemisphere climate the idea of a traditional Christmas was never fully realised, well at least not in the way I imagined or had seen in the movies, dreaming of waking up to a white dusted landscape wearing thick pyjamas and running down the stairs to a tree surrounded by presents. Of course we celebrated Christmas and there was always an element of British flair in the home with my mother being a Welsh Expat but rather than it being in the depths of winter it was the height of summer and opening presents was swiftly followed by jumping in the pool to cool down. Having settled in Wales for nearly ten years now I get more excited with each year when it comes to the festive season and bringing Christmas into the......

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Raising Money together & the art of giving back

Like most mothers today I worry about the future, about what kind of world we are bringing our children up in as well as what we are leaving behind. I am mindful of trying to leave as little trace as possible, to replant, to recycle, to be aware and make educational choices. Living in the UK I am fully aware of how unbelievably lucky we are, my worries revolve around what we are going to eat for supper or what crafts I can set up to entertain the children while others in this world of ours are faced with hardships many cannot fully comprehend. Growing up in South Africa has meant my eyes have always been open to suffering, we saw it daily and I try and make my children aware of what gratitude really it and how comfortable our life is in comparison to others. Each and every year we try and giveback as much as we can from little gestures of purchasing Christmas cards where the profits go to charity to making small donations to select charities of our choice. This year however I am ......

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