My Alcohol Detox Update

Hi there! As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I'm currently on a 30 day alcohol detox which I started last Tuesday 6th April (the day after Easter Monday in the UK.)

After a week off the booze I feel brighter, more upbeat and I have started to have some better nights sleep. For motivation, I've been listening to the alcohol free podcasts, Alcohol-Free Life by Janey Lee Grace and Over the Influence, as well as rereading The 10-day Alcohol Detox Plan by Lewis David. According to David, it can take up to 10 days for alcohol to leave your system depending on your previous drinking. I know, that's quite alarming isn't it? After, my 3 month no alcohol stint in 2019 I know that I can do 30 days. 

Alcohol is a very addictive substance and like any bad habit that we may fall into, the initial period of abstinence can leave us with diminished dopamine. But if we hold tight and stay alcohol free, those levels of dopamine can normalise and other benefits begin to happen. 

I'm going to hold onto that promise as well as my alcohol free drink of choice.  With the wine witch ever watchful (she loves 6pm) I'm following Janey Lee Grace's mantra of, "Keep the ritual, change the ingredients." Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted xo

54: Happy Friday Links

Well it's Friday again, woo hoo! This gorgeous swirl of daffodils are part of a local walk that has become our default stroll. They're on a route which we take when we really don't feel like leaving the house and just want to tick 'daily walk' off the list. I usually feel better for a blast around the block even if it's cold or involves a hail storm like this Tuesday. And if the walk seems like a chore, at least I have the satisfaction of banking some steps and an excuse for an afternoon sojourn on the sofa. 

Don't get me wrong, this particular walk is lovely and includes our neighbourhood park but we choose it out of habit and not for the scenery. Lately, there's been new sights we've noticed like these daffodils that were planted last autumn which we've been eagerly waiting to fully open and this week we've seen people having picnics and a children's football team training after a long break. All signs of new life that have reinvigorated my pandemic dampened spirits. 

Today, whilst walking, a friendly woman stopped us to ask if we'd heard the news about Prince Phillip's death and whilst it was sad news it was still nice to have a chat. Over the last year I've been grateful for the care and thought people are putting into their gardens and nearby open spaces, their window displays or just taking time to smile, say hello or exchange a few words as we walk our walks. 

Thanks so much for reading my last post. It was great to hear from some of you as well. I hope you enjoy these links which may just give you an extra boost this weekend.

Why we need to be present to enjoy our lives, not just productive by Rochi Zalani via Tiny Buddha

8 ingredient Twix Biscuits via Mrs Hollingsworth's

How to inspire and encourage yourself everyday by Sandra Pawula at Always Well Within

A moving tribute to actor Paul Ritter by Tamsin Greig via The Guardian

Pet Friendly House Plants by Sophie at A Considered Life

Ethical Shopping - Where I Actually Buy My Clothes by Rachael at Our Beautiful Adventure Photography

Tiny Living on my Narrowboat - How I Make the Most of Small Spaces by Olivia at Living on a Shoestring

Enjoy, stay safe and well xo

Short Hair and a List

No it's not new year but I wanted to get going with blogging again and it kind of feels like a new start as we've just had Easter and the clocks went forward just over a week ago.

I definitely have the most energy at this time of year and so I thought I'd make my first post of 2021 a list of what I'm hoping to achieve this year. A few have already been started.

1. Be gentle with myself and others. Expect to not complete everything on this list and accept this as being normal. I would like to work on some self-improvement or self-care though. I love a challenge!

2. Commit to at least 30 days without alcohol. In 2019 I did both dry January and had 3 months without alcohol. I feel ready to give it another go. 

3. Make an inventory of my current clothes and accessories. I've been donating and selling some items over the last year and I'm working on making my wardrobe more versatile, practical and sustainable as well as smaller. 

4. Grow some veg for my community garden plot. The last couple of years I've mainly concentrated on growing flowers for cutting.

5. Clear some space in our tiny garden for a bench. This will involve removing part of a border and putting slate there instead. 

6. Walk every day for at least 20 minutes. I usually walk every day with Tim before lunch and often have a longer walk once a week with a friend. I've also become a litter legend which gives me an excuse for an extra walk most weeks.

7.  Stop going to the hairdressers. The last time I had my hair cut professionally was December 2020 and I cut it short just over a week ago. I cut my Mum's hair before she went into a care home and have cut Tim's for several years now so I think I know what I'm doing. This is the shortest I've ever had my hair and it's so liberating.

8. Read every day for at least 20 minutes. I have plenty of books on my 'to be read' pile.

9. Try some new vegan recipes. We had a subscription to 'Vegan Food & Living' magazine as a surprise Christmas present from my brother-in-law and so I shouldn't be short of inspiration.

10. Update my blog more regularly. There's so much I want to write about and I enjoy both writing and photography so what's holding me back?

I hope you're well and keeping safe wherever you're living. I would love to hear from you. 

Claire xo

A mini-break at Rowthorne Lodge, Derbyshire

Just a week ago we headed off on a mini-break to celebrate our wedding anniversary, the end of term, retiring from teaching and the fact that it's summer and with the easing of lockdown we're now allowed to go on holiday. I was as excited as Bridget Jones and the fact that we were the property's first occupants since March felt quite special. We chose to venture just an hour away to Derbyshire to a beautiful one bedroomed lodge in the grounds of Hardwick Hall which is owned by the National trust. It was a beautiful property. Let me show you around...

The clutter free and spotless interior was perfect for unwinding and the 2,500 acre estate gave us plenty of scope for exercise and exploring. For anyone who's not visited before, Hardwick Hall is an Elizabethan country house and was first built by Bess of Hardwick (see a statue of her below), a noblewoman and ambitious builder. The hall was eminently impressive  and it was such a shame that due to Covid we couldn't go inside and get to look out at the estate from the magnificent windows for which it's famous.

However, the gardens near the house were a source of pure joy for me. Such great planting involving gorgeous and unusual plants and artistically thought out colour schemes. These are just a few of the vistas that caught my eye. Boy, have I got so many planting ideas to try in my tiny garden and in our community garden. 

I've had trouble putting this post together as it's been so long since I blogged at length but really these photos are wasted sitting on my phone. Just a few more to go, I promise. 

Can you tell, we had a truly relaxing break. It wasn't perfect as we had quite mixed weather and a power failure on our last day which was time consuming to remedy but we had lots of time to enjoy reading, walking, eating simple but delicious food and a blessing... no wi fi to distract us. Just a few more photos and I think I'll have recorded enough memories of a wonderful four night break.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Take care, my friends xo

Life Changes

So this is where I'm at. I've retired early from teaching. On Friday I left my full-time teaching post after six happy years at a wonderful primary school. I've had various roles there including three years as a full-time class teacher. And, like a lot of other teachers I haven't seen or taught my Year 3 class since March 20th. However, I've been in school every week since then and have seen about a third of my class during lockdown. I've had communication with the rest of my class via email and phone calls but this wasn't how I anticipated ending my teaching career. My decision to leave was made before coronavirus and I handed my notice in during February so I felt under no pressure to change my mind. Teaching nowadays is full-on and exhausting and was not working for me or my family.

It's been a very strange end to my teaching career but a decision I know I won't regret. A simpler life beckons...

Tiny garden tour 2020

Hello there. I hope you're well and configuring your way around coronavirus. To be honest, I think my coping mechanisms are all over the place and my ability to cope changes hourly with my moods. Today I offer you an antidote, an escape, a little peep into another life - it's not a makeover perfect project just a space, a moment in history to be shared, a time when the hum of bees and the twitter of birds were more inspiring than social media, daily government briefings and the dos and don'ts of lockdown. At times lockdown has been exhausting, overwhelming and frustrating but just occasionally don't you think you're being gifted a wonderful opportunity to take stock, be authentic, still and slow down. Isn't this the way to live? Just add in your extras (mines's a takeaway soya caramel latte).

We did a 'makeover' of our tiny garden in 2014 - see it here. It's now a much more 'lived-in' space but it's giving us so much pleasure and purpose in these turbulent times. It provides us with invaluable outside space and a chance to be still, creative, nurturing and productive.

We all need escapism right now and probably will do for the foreseeable future. Whatever it takes: quiz nights, family zooming or the voyeurism of Marianne and Connell from 'Normal People' - a BBC Three series which I'm eeking out as long as I can.

I hope you enjoy my tiny garden tour and it gives you that feeling of being somewhere else.

Sending you my best wishes and love xo

Easter 2020

There's been no shortage of chocolate, sunshine and beautiful spring flowers this Easter break. Also, there's been no shortage of time since March 19th when schools in the UK closed and I've been at home apart from one day a week when I'm on duty at school to look after key workers children and vulnerable children. There has been home learning to organise plus other teaching tasks to complete but it's been a very light workload compared to my normal teaching duties. And so a chance to update my blog of which I'm still very fond of despite its hiatus.

Scrolling through photos on my phone there's so much I could write about and lots of lovely images I could share with you from the last year but that world seems like a hazy sepia dream from decades ago and not just last year. My archive of photos are an eerie reminder of why we need to stay safe and stay at home. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting those carefree days back but also realise that life will never be exactly the same again and it will take time to adjust when restrictions on lockdown begin to be lifted. Also, I hope that we learn lessons from this worldwide emergency and that in the future we don't take for granted the fragility of our health or economy. We may need to reassess our priorities in life.

I do hope you're well and are finding time to enjoy some simple pleasures in this topsy-turvy world we find ourselves in this year. Whether it's a walk around the neighbourhood, a phone call or zoom meeting with family or friends, home-cooked meals, gardening or generally enjoying a slower pace of life these all have the power to lift our spirits and ease away anxiety. The future seems even more uncertain than ever so I'll leave you with this thought.

My Word for 2019

It's been a few years since I've chosen a word for the year and I've missed this little ritual and the guidance it can bring. Slowly, the word that has come to mind for me in the first few days of 2019 is cherish. This is a positive, warm and gentle word and has connotations of wellbeing. I'm resisting the January merry-go-round of fitness and diet advice, sales shopping and goal setting and concentrating instead on cherishing what I have: my health, more clothes and possessions than I need and a bank of motivation to encourage me to follow my values and my own path. In 2019 I want to nurture relationships old and new, practise gratitude for all that I have, stop wanting more or wanting to be more and to be kind to myself. I want to cherish life and indulge a little.

Thank you for all your comments and for reading this little blog that is now coming back to life. Happy New Year friends xo