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My Favourite Time

  Watercolour image created using Canva from a photo taken by me Autumn is by far my favourite time of the year. There is something about it that stirs my creativity. The colours inspire me and awaken my soul. The quietness of between seasons gives room to breathe and be still. Thankfully, where we live autumn lasts. The days start off hot - late summer continues to hover - but by mid-April the cool evenings and chilly nights have set in.  I thought I might share some of autumn's inspiring creative virtues with you here. So grab a drink and step into the glorious riot of colour that is autumn. 1. Photography Nothing makes me feel like a  photographer than taking shots of nature in autumn. My phone can never be too full of glorious reds, browns, golds and greens. The evening light casts a golden glow over everything which no filter can capture (in my experience). 2. Clothing I try and keep a fairly simple, capsule wardrobe but I find that hard in autumn because the weather...
Recent posts

Decluttering Classic Books: What to Keep?

  The last few years I have made a concerted effort to declutter my house. When the kids were younger somehow we managed to fill every nook and cranny with bookshelves, craft cupboards and toy boxes. As they have grown I have encouraged them to downsize what they have to be able to keep it neatly in their room. I've decluttered a lot of my own things too - everything from home wares to clothes, photos, journals and yes, even books. There are a lot  of programs, books and content creators out there that talk about decluttering and how by having less stuff we actually have more room for the things that really matter. For me, the biggest benefit of decluttering and letting things go has definitely been for my mental health. Now, even when we have guests or we just let things go for a week or two, it is very easy to tidy up and get the house back in order. I simply cannot handle the added stress of clutter and stuff everywhere anymore. But I still have a long way to go.  Decl...

The Golden Age of Hollywood Word Search - FREE

  Doing word searches and cross words is one of my favourite past times. I find them really relaxing and I know there are those of you who do too. I've also realised that I actually really like making  word searches. Today I have one for you based on the Golden Age of Hollywood. I mentioned here that I've been enjoying watching film noir movies and others from the 1930s-1950s so was inspired to make one based around that time.  Downloading the word search is simple. Either click on the jpeg image above and print it, or you can click on the pdf link below. The Golden Age of Hollywood Word Search If you're interested, you can find the other word searches that I have created  here . I hope you enjoy doing these as much as I'm enjoying creating them. Have a lovely and relaxing weekend.

A Simple Menu Plan

  Last week I spoke about embracing autumnal comfort food. This week I thought I would share with you what is on my menu plan. Normally I plan our menu for the whole month, but I'll just share with you what's coming up this week. We make pizza dough from scratch, but this can easily be bought or you can use pita bread for a tasty and economical alternative. My husband makes the pizza sauce, which includes antipasto such as sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives and pieces of bacon or pepperoni. Once the pizza is topped with that all you need to do is add cheese. I also love my pizza with thin slivers or soft sweet potato and baby spinach. They can be as simple or as extravagant as we like. We tend to buy pre-made chicken schnitzels and battered fish for the burgers, but this can easily be substituted for home-made. Most of our meals are a mix of home-made and conveniently pre-made. I find this is best for those days when my husband and I are both working and perhaps lacking th...

How To Embrace the Cosiness of Autumn: 5 Classic Tips for Your Mind and Body

  In her book, Cosy: The British Art of Comfort , writer Laura Weir says: "In my daily life, I am surrounded by noise and opinion, and over the past few years I have found myself seeking comfort from politically dark winters and the relentlessly bleak news cycle. My instinct has evolved and become an undeniable urge to hide away and find solitude. Rather than swipe and scroll my way through life, I want to feel protected and nurtured. I don't just want to drink a warm cup of tea, I want my emotional state to mirror that cuppa too - warm, predictable, reassuring. Perhaps I'm just getting old, but I want to swap toxic politics and anxieties induced by social media for reliability and kindness. I want to feel more cosy." Oh my, yes please! Count me in! She goes on to explain that cosy is what you do when no-one is watching - it's your definition of cosy, not one that is being prescribed by current trends or marketing techniques. This book really made me think. In Aus...

Saturday Matinee - The Blue Dahlia

SOURCE   It's been a while since I've written a Saturday matinee post but when I watched the film The Blue Dahlia  (1946), written by Raymond Chandler and starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake I knew I had to share it with you. I loved this film so much, and even weeks after watching it I keep thinking back on it. The great thing is, you can watch online too here . The Blue Dahlia  is considered one of the original film noir movies. If you've never heard of the term before, film noir it refers to a particular style of movie, made popular in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Elements of this particular style include dark lighting aspects, a crime or mystery to be solved (they often included detectives or private investigators) and a moral lesson to be learnt. Post WWII films made also included some of the challenges that society faced after the end of the war. The Blue Dahlia does this rather poignantly through the scenes of the character Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix) who s...