After my last bridesmaid post, in which I wallowed in my uselessness at this particular job, I noticed that I had forgotten my nephew’s first birthday. I say “noticed” but in reality my sister, the bride-to-me and mother of said nephew, phoned me to tell me. She was probably simultaneously wondering if she could get… Continue reading Operation Better Bridesmaid
One of my favourite things about shopping trips to Dublin as a child was going into the Laura Ashley shop on Grafton Street. I know it is a brand that many consider old-fashioned and terribly floral, but it has always been special to me. I used to go in with my mother. She had some gorgeous… Continue reading Planning Our Guest Bedroom Makeover
Do you remember the show on the BBC The Great Egg Race? I don’t remember much about the actual series but I was fascinated by the opening. I looked it up recently to show the children and was pleased they like it to. This post is nothing to do with the TV series and everything… Continue reading The Great Egg Race, or 3 Last Minute Easter Decorations
Being a working mother has made me terribly efficient at shopping. I can cram in a few purchases into the tiniest of time slots. Take last week for example. With a little bit of time to kill at the train station in Darmstadt after a meeting, I popped into the super market and bought a… Continue reading Wire Basket Easter Centrepieces
Lent and the run up to Easter have felt long this year but even still, I have barely had time to prepare at all. Here and there in a snatched few minutes I have done a few bits and pieces. Planting some Easter grass took less than five minutes. Getting the box of decorations from… Continue reading Planting A Mini Easter Garden
One day in 2009 I realised that I had become stuck in a rut of Friday outfits. Friday was and still is my one day off a week. I got up one Friday and put on a black top, black tights, denim skirt and boots and realised I pretty much had a uniform. An unintended… Continue reading A Capsule Wardrobe For A Weekend Away
Book 16 When I last wrote about my reading challenge I was in the middle of a German novel called Weil Sie Das Leben Liebten (Because They Loved Life) by Charlotte Roth. A few years ago before my first trip to Berlin I read another of Charlotte Roth’s books, Als Wir Unsterblich Waren. It was… Continue reading Reading Challenge – 18 Down, 22 To Go
Awfully Chipper, my favourite diaspora blog, has a linky running at the moment called Snapshot. I wanted to join in last week but life got the better of me and scuppered my plans. Tonight I am seizing the moment and taking a mental snapshot of life lately. It ain’t real pretty but here it is.… Continue reading Life – As A Snapshot
Two years ago, when I was still new to this blogging business, I wrote what has become of my most popular posts to date, How to be lazy and still be organised. Back then I was on parental leave with three children and no pets. Trying to maintain a certain level of organisation involved juggling but… Continue reading Lazy Organisation, Part 3: How To Be Lazy & Still Be Organised
A few days ago I made a batch of lemon curd. I do it once or twice a year when I get an urge for that lovely lemony tang on scones, toast or on a simple sponge cake. The only thing I did differently this year was post a photo of it on Instagram. Well,… Continue reading Lemon Curd – A 4-Ingredient Indulgence
