The last few weeks have been a busy and sometimes difficult period for our family. Illness and bereavement marked the final months of winter, and it often felt that life was as stormy as the winds that raged outside. As winter trickles a path into spring, snowdrops pepper our garden and early daffodils peek out…
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At the end of each December, I’ve fallen into the habit of writing a reflective post on the year that’s about to leave us. The format has varied slightly during my time in the blogosphere, but sharing the highs and lows of another twelve months has become a ritual I enjoy. It also eases me…
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Here in the UK, it’s Mental Health Awareness Week, an initiative hosted by the Mental Health Foundation to focus attention on mental health issues across the nation. This year the theme for the event is nature, with a focus on the supportive role the natural world can play in boosting mental health. The theme appears…
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I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. Anne of Green Gables It’s not the first time I’ve used this quote on the blog (and I’m sure it won’t be the last time). Autumn is finally upon us – that season of colour, crunchy leaves and closing nights. This year feels…
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In the week since I last wrote, the world seems to have spun completely on its axis. The Covid-19 virus has the UK in its grip, a pandemic that threatens not just our wellbeing, but the very essence of how we live. All around us, the social structures that anchor us to the world are…
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This week, I have found myself reflecting on the changing seasons as winter slowly turns to spring, and then back again, in the game of back and forth that so often characterises March in Caithness. Here and there, primroses peek out in cheerful colours, while on verges, daffodils open up like yellow, honeyed eyes. In…
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A couple of weeks ago, I reached my 50th Parkrun milestone – a feat I never would have imagined possible when I turned up at my first Parkrun event around eighteen months ago. Back on that day in late 2018, I was looking for ideas on family-friendly activities for a stint on BBC Radio Scotland,…
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Truth: I don’t always feel happy, or even positive. In fact, now and again I get days where I can really feel quite down. On days like those, you won’t find me posting jaunty captions on Instagram, or commenting on other people’s photographs. In my own experience, social media can be a tricky instrument to…
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A couple of years ago, I spent a long period feeling pretty awful. I won’t bore you with the details – if you’re interested, you can read more about that here and here. For about a year, from 2017-2018 I suffered the effects of a sort of ‘mystery illness’ that left me feeling exhausted, in…
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If you follow me on social media (I’m mostly on Instagram), you might have noticed that I’ve been trying out a potential new hobby this week – sea swimming. Spurred on by the enthusiasm of a friend – who’s been willingly flinging herself in the Pentland Firth for several months now – I was curious about the…
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