Blog Archives

British lifestyle blogger

Fourteen years of blogging – why do I do it?

Happy Birthday When I Grow Up blog! Yes, if you can be bothered, you can click on the ‘Archives’ button over there on the right and see my first feeble offerings beginning on the 7th April 2004. I don’t know anyone who’s been blogging that long! We didn’t even own a digital camera then, so none of the posts have photos to go with them for a while! Many people talk about needing a creative outlet as their reason why they started a blog. Well fourteen years ago I had recently done my A-level Art and was on my second year of a part-time degree in Creative Writing with a novel about to be published; so I can’t really site that as my reason. My kids were eight and five, but ‘Mummy blogging’ wasn’t yet a thing, let alone a thing that occurred to me to want to do, so talking about parenting wasn’t my impetus either. At the end of the day, I suppose it all boils down to the simple love of writing…..

how to cure insomnia

How to get to sleep – a sure-fire cure for insomnia

I’m sure there are many good things I have inherited from my mother, but the two best ones I can think of are: 1. The ability to make a bloody good cake, and 2. A trick that works when you can’t get to sleep. I’ll be honest, you’re not going to much like it, but trust me, if you follow my rules (they aren’t complicated), then I bet this will work 90% of the time….

review of things are what you make of them by adam j. kurtz

A review of ‘Things are what you make of them’ – Life advice for Creatives by Adam J. Kurtz

Rain kindly bought this book for me for Mothers’ Day, and I’ve since managed to fit in the odd five minutes here and there to read it. That’s one good thing about Things Are What You Make Of Them – it doesn’t take long to read! Oh that makes me sound like I don’t like it, which isn’t true. It’s a book for the current generation who take their entertainment and information in snippets; in bite-size chunks of Instagram stories. There are even perforated edges so you can choose your favourite little pages of words of wisdom to put up on your copper magnet board next to the foiled print that says Eat Sleep Create….

circus fashion

Could The Greatest Showman film spark a circus fashion trend?

(Alternative title: Clowning about in the woods!) I became a little suspicious back in November when I had the chance to browse some well-known high-street shops in a city. I noticed that the stripe trend had turned vertical, and wider, like circus tents! And combined with ruffles, the effect of these details does point to the circus! It’s been known to happen before with a popular musical movie: Do you remember the 1920’s fashion trend of 2013 that well and truly kicked off after the success of The Great Gatsby? I for one am not complaining, I love everything about the circus, particularly the wonderful clothing!….

Teen mom

How I’d do things differently if I wasn’t a teenage Mum

I’ve never really considered being a Mummy blogger – I’m not sure why – it just wasn’t what I wanted to write about; however this topic of conversation came up in the car a while ago, and as it was Mothers’ Day on Sunday, I thought I might do something a bit different and write about the subject in a blog post! Yes I am in a category. I am a statistic of the 90’s. I was a teenage Mum….

cath kidston beauty review

Cath Kidston gift ideas for Mothers’ Day

February 28, 2018

I was given this beautiful set of Cath Kidston hand creams and a lip balm for my birthday last year, and it occurred to me what a lovely gift anything by Cath Kidston would be for Mothering Sunday. Her products combine the two things that make the perfect present – something pretty and something practical….

The joy of the internet when house-hunting!

October 30, 2008

And the addictions! (How the internet helps with house-hunting.) (orignially written in April)