Permission Slip
I recently stumbled across Maggie Smith's Substack, For Dear Life. Her latest piece, A Pep Talk, delivered the following quote: 'As I prepare to launch this book in April, I’m thinking a lot about all of the other books that made it possible for this memoir to exist....
And the Oscar Goes To…
It's award season! I'm endlessly inspired by both fashion and film, so the period between November and March when most significant film award events take place, is something I always look forward to. I love the red carpet coverage and I'm probably the Glambot's...
Hello 2023
This time last year, I was waking up at home after a long night spent in A&E. A cyst on my left ovary had ruptured and I’d nearly passed out from the pain, the like of which I’d never experienced. A few weeks later, still recovering, still feeling fragile, I wrote the...
Q4 2022 in Review
I doubt anybody noticed, but Q3 in Review never made it on to the blog. A few days into October, when I should have been working on the first draft, I finally succumbed to Covid. I'd had a good run, managing to avoid the virus for two years, even when the rest of my...
Notes From a Summer Sabbatical {Part 2}
In case you’re new around here {or somehow managed to miss my incessant social media updates while I was away}, last month I returned from six weeks in Australia. Before I departed, I had a vague plan to work ON my business rather than IN it while I was away....
Notes From a Summer Sabbatical {Part 1}
Taking a 'summer sabbatical' had been a goal of mine for a long time. I think I first said it out loud in 2017. It felt like a real possibility at the beginning of 2020, but, well... we all know how that turned out. Even when we booked our flights to Australia earlier...
Q2 2022 in Review
Clearly, I'm a little late posting my review of Q2. I had grand plans to write and share this while I was in Australia at the beginning of July, but I really leaned into the whole 'summer sabbatical' thing {more on this in a future post}. Apart from the odd Instagram...
My Evening Rhythm
May was a chaotic month in the Love Audrey household. We navigated another burst ovarian cyst {me}, Covid Round Two {Izzy and Carl}, an emergency dental situation {Carl}, a cancelled trip to Norway and half term. Then, on the first day of June, our car broke down near...
My Life with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Thursday 12th May was World ME Day, a day to focus on learning about, raising awareness of and campaigning around Myalgic Encephalomyeltitis {ME}, sometimes called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome {CFS}. The theme this year was #LearnFromME. Why should you learn from ME? ...
Q1 2022 in Review
The first quarter of 2022 was bookended by trips to A&E and filled with multiple periods of ill health. I started the year with a ruptured ovarian cyst, my CFS flared a lot and I managed to hurt my back badly at some point in the middle of March. Then Jesse caught a...
How I Rekindled My Love of Letter Writing
Since the end of last year, I’ve gained five pen pals and started writing multiple letters a month. In an overwhelming, fast-paced digital world, putting pen to paper has become one of my favourite ways to slow down. Here’s how I rekindled my love of letter writing…...
Hello 2022
I usually have my first blog post of the year written and published by January 3rd. After the chaos of Christmas, I love shutting myself away to reflect on the previous 12 months and document my plans for the year ahead. The words flow readily. I always enjoy...
3 Creative Lessons From a Christmas Wreath Workshop
At the beginning of December, my mum and I drove to nearby Nailsea to attend a Christmas wreath workshop hosted by Sarah from The Petal Emporium. With fairy lights strung from the rafters, and tea and mince pies waiting for us upon arrival, the Tithe Barn provided a...
Why I’m Picking Up a New Hobby This Winter
If you read my last post, or watched the saga unfold via Instagram, you'll know I spent a large chunk of the summer playing nurse. Jesse tested positive for COVID in July and Carl and Izzy quickly followed suit. It was an intense, exhausting time and definitely not...
My summer has mainly been spent…
Nursing 75% of my family through COVID. Feeling grateful for science, vaccines and the NHS. Grieving cancelled plans and postponed adventures. Somehow...
Our Summer Bucket List 2021
The weather forecast may be sending mixed messages, but summer is finally upon us here in the UK. Jesse is due to break up from school in a couple of weeks and the calendar is the busiest it’s been in over a year. Despite being fully vaccinated, we’re feeling fairly...
Curiouser and Curiouser – Some Thoughts on Inquisitive Thinking
A little while ago, this Instagram post by The Playful Den stopped me mid-scroll. Emma's description of 'curiosity peaks' piqued my curiosity and I've been thinking about inquisitive thinking ever since. Here's a brief extract from the caption: 'Throughout the early...
12 Things I’ve Learned from 12 Years Writing Online
At the end of this month, it’ll be 12 years since I published my first blog post. At the time, I was simply picking up a new hobby. Writing for fun after three years of academic writing for my undergraduate degree. I was also eight months pregnant with my second...
How to Write When You Feel Like You Can’t
Don't take this personally, but I really didn't want to write this blog post. I've been putting it off for ages. First, I ignored the task on last week's to-do list and let it spill over into this week's. Now it's a few days before it's due to be pubilshed and I'm...
Home Comforts – What’s Done {For Now} and What’s Left to Do
For obvious reasons, I've spent a lot of time at home over the last 12 months. Like many others, staring at the same four walls day in and day out has left me craving change. It's also highlighted every single outstanding DIY task we've been putting off for the last 8...
