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My beautiful relationship with homemade damson jam (plus recipe)

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My beautiful relationship with homemade damson jam (plus recipe)

You know when you haven't seen a really good friend for ages but when you meet up it's like you've never been apart? Well, that's how it is with me and homemade damson jam.

And I don't mean it's lesser cousin, shop bought damson jam, I mean HOMEMADE damson jam.

I have been looking forward to making damson jam now for two whole years. We planted the tree about four years ago and it bore fruit in it's second year. Only enough for about four jars of jam, but that was four jars of a-mazing jam.

Then, last year, there was nothing. Not a single solitary damson.

Sharing online stories with heart

Sharing online stories with heart

It's funny the ideas that can come to you whilst tidying the kitchen.

I was listening to Lucy's podcast, What She said, at the weekend and Lucy mentioned (in this episode) how Pinterest drove traffic to her blog - but only to a small number of her 'helpful' posts. She said, 'there isn't a nice group board for random, oversharing-type posts'.

And I understood exactly what she meant. Pinterest is often the place where you share travel tips, or chicken-keeping tips, or social media marketing tips - posts that people actively search for to answer a question they have.

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The Good, the Great and the Fabulous: Body Scrubs

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The Good, the Great and the Fabulous: Body Scrubs

I've become a little bit obsessed with body scrubs. I mean, considering I never even knew they existed a few months ago I'm now completely addicted.

And when I say I didn't know they existed - what I mean is, exfoliating my skin never even occurred to me. Failing to look after my skin and my body: to exfoliate, to moisturise, to blow dry my hair.... it just - didn't. Which is why I wrote this post. 

But then I saw a YouTuber mention them (another recent thing I'm obsessed by, YouTube videos) and I thought, ooh, get me some body scrub and fast!

Over the summer, as I go outdoors doing my daily tasks with the dog, hens and ducks, my legs are like a moving supermarket for midges and other bitey insects; leaving me with itchy, scabby legs. That, coupled with many years of neglect and our hard water meant my skin was more scaly than a chicken's leg.

It was high time for me to try out some body scrubs. And these are the three I tried:

10 reasons why I love autumn so

10 reasons why I love autumn so

I believe we are now officially in Autumn. My hands, feet and carb cravings are telling me so. Meteorologically speaking autumn began on September 1st but astronomically it doesn't begin until the equinox on 22nd September. However, I've said this before and I'll say it again: Mother Nature is in charge. It is she who decides when the seasons start. And I think she's pushed autumn on us early this year.

And yes, I am delighted about it. The blackberries were here in mid August and the beautiful shiny conkers alongside the colour change on the trees arrived as soon as the calendar flicked over from August to September. 

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What I learnt about writing online from Zoella and other YouTubers

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What I learnt about writing online from Zoella and other YouTubers

My husband laughs at me. My teenage son rolls his eyes. And my daughter, she's eight, asks 'are you watching Zo-ella, again?' She's already learnt the art of taking the Mickey.

And, to answer her question, yes. Yes I am. As I write this I'm watching Zoella's Vlogmas from 2016. Her countdown to Christmas by vlogging every day in December. And I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

During Vlogmas we see her house dressed up with Christmas trees, we see her laughing hysterically with her friend Mark and supermarket shopping with her boyfriend, Alfie. We open her advent calendars (yes, plural) with her, see her takeaways and her oh so cute black pug, Nala dressed in various seasonal outfits. It's all very tame, very homey and it's certainly not an expletive or action packed video. She bakes banana loaf, goes to garden centres, describes what clothes she wearing and puts on make-up whilst chatting to her audience. Her more recent videos, where she shows her (incidentally, gorgeous) new house, has time lapses of her tidying cupboards. 

You might be thinking...huh? 

I know. I understand.

Why I Love to Create Video Montages for Instagram Stories

Why I Love to Create Video Montages for Instagram Stories

In the last few weeks I've been playing around with my Instagram Stories. Instead of filming just my ducks being released in the morning in one fifteen second clip, or perhaps just my chickens, or just the dog, I'll create a montage of clips that equal fifteen seconds, overlaying the clips with music.

Instagram Stories, if you didn't know, are photos or video clips that you can add to your Instagram account. It is separate to your main feed of photographs. Like Snapchat, the Stories disappear after twenty-four hours. 

Books I've read over summer (and what I'm planning to read next)

Books I've read over summer (and what I'm planning to read next)

There's a lot of pressure on what to do with my down time. Do I read a book? Or catch up on my blog reading? Maybe I'll watch a YouTube video (my current obsession). Or I could watch TV with my family, play a board game, write, sew my daughter's labels on her uniform, do an online shop, wash up, tidy and so on and so on...

Sadly, for me, books have gone to the bottom of the pile this year. Which, for a former avid reader, is all a bit odd. And mildly disconcerting.

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Failure to Moisturise

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Failure to Moisturise

I look down at my shins and they're flaking with dead skin. My elbows are hard and catch on my cardigan. My facial skin is not much better. Puffy eyes, spots, flat. There's no glowy, dewy skin anywhere near here.

For many years, particularly since I had children, I didn't think I was worth taking care of. I wasn't worth spending money on. Buying a moisturiser that suited my skin, getting my hair cut and coloured, taking vitamins, even drinking water. I avoided all of it.

For my children I would look through the Boden catalogue and buy them cute outfits. My son and daughter had eczema as a baby and I researched the best cream for them*. It was pricey (at the time) but I didn't think twice. They were worth it.

But was I?

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Why does writing make me feel so guilty?

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Why does writing make me feel so guilty?

Over the summer holidays, during a much needed break, I made a decision. 

But before I tell you my decision let's go back to January 2017.

At the beginning of this year I had a set of goals. This was to create a portfolio business consisting of my blog, Instagram, my newsletter, writing magazine articles, exploring the possibilities with my chicken drawings and writing my non-fiction and novel.

In my notebook I wrote:

In three months I will have a healthy business, writing and drawing, and will be making an income from it.

Summer evenings means avoiding the hedgehogs

Summer evenings means avoiding the hedgehogs

Ok, so the pros of chicken-keeping in the summer is that I can just pop on a pair of flip-flops, walk out the back door and Get On With It. 

In the winter I have to wrap up, pull on wellies, put on a hat and find the second glove from the pair that my dog has wandered off with. And the floor in the utility gets muddy oh so quickly.

But the summer time means I get bitten by night flying insects (and day flying). I think I currently have about twenty bites on my left leg alone. 

My Desk Essentials for September

My Desk Essentials for September

It's only really been in the last couple of years where I've decided not to stress about writing during August. I've deliberately made the decision to wind down and take the time off in order to spend it with my children but also to spend guilt free time outside: pottering with the chickens, picking apples, plums and blackberries, making goodies with the harvest and generally quietening the mind. 

My Summer Story

My Summer Story

Normally I dread summer. The memories, the anxiety, the blasted flies. It's not a season I anticipate with joy.

But this year, it has been different. The memories are still there; losing a wonderful friend suddenly will never be forgotten. But the years carry on and the hurt and sadness is soothed by time. 

And I've learned to take time out. To ease down my work; to not suddenly stop which allows the demons to seep into my mind.