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How to get back to reading books
Do your remember a time when you found it easy to pick up a book and immerse yourself in the joy of reading. In a busy world with work and parenting responsibilities, many of use lose our way a bit when it comes to this pastime. Check out 4 powerful tips on how to get back to reading books from Payton. “Prioritizing reading has been a real struggle for me these past couple of years. I don’t know what caused it. I think it’s a mix of my OCD and the never-ending entertainment of the Internet. And like a lot of self-proclaimed bookworms who grew up devouring book after book,…
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Interior design courses online – Anne’s powerful story
If you have ever fancied learning more about interior design and/or setting up your own business, I think you will love this inspirational interview from Anne who along with her partner Rachael offers online interior design courses. She has an interesting life story and some great tips on making business dreams come true. Tell us a little about your childhood and teenager years Well, I have 3 brothers and one of them is my twin. You’d be amazed how often I’m asked if we are identical! My mum says I was a ‘born organiser’ and it’s true that I love planning, scheduling and making events happen. Apparently from a very…
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Blue wallpaper designs for a stylish home
We recently moved house and sadly have bland magnolia walls. It is time to jazz things up a bit. As I love colour and all things retro, I have decided to go with blue wallpaper designs of the vintage variety. I also love the diverse shades that blue offers from the calming to the vibrant. I am hoping some of my readers may be inspired by my choices for the different rooms in the home. Blue wallpaper for the kitchen I love a warm and inviting kitchen. Ours has kept rustic elements such as exposed brickwork and a huge fireplace whilst also benefiting from modern units and appliances. We even…
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Support for the hospitality industry – Ashleigh’s story
I love it when women contact me to tell me about their businesses. Today I am delighted to share Ashleigh’s powerful story about the business she runs with her husband offering support for the hospitality industry. Let’s get to know more about the woman behind Halo Business Consultancy. Tell us a little about your childhood and teenager years I grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne with plenty of time spent in the great outdoors of Northumberland. We had so much freedom as children (or maybe my parents did!) and would make the most of building dens in the woods, braving swimming the North Sea and have camp fires with friends.…
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Largest experimental archaeology project in the UK.
A national fundraising campaign has been launched to raise £1 million to build a full-size reconstruction of a ship – part of the UK’s most important archaeological discovery of all time. Here Jacq Barnard, one of the directors of the project and the woman who will eventually lead a team of rowers to launch the vessel, explains why the mission is so valuable. She also highlights how you can get involved in the largest experimental archaeology project in the UK. During my career I have held many different positions and worked in a number of fields but in the last few years I have been able to concentrate on some…
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Why I decided to take part in Veganuary 2020
Are you intrigued by a vegan lifestyle? Could you consider incorporating at least some vegan meals into your week? Can doing so really help our planet? What might it do for your health? Veganuary acts as a catalyst for many people to give veganism a try.. I am delighted to share a guest post from Jen who has decided to take part in Veganuary 2020. “I never thought I’d take part in Veganuary. I felt sympathetic to the movement, but it didn’t feel like it was part of me or my life. I think many people of my generation feel the same way. This year though, I realised I wanted…
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How to develop an Instagram strategy
In June 2018, the number of active monthly users on Instagram hit one billion. That’s a huge number of people, and a good percentage of them may be your target audience. Whether you’re a part-time blogger or a full-time social media manager, you can’t afford to be ignoring Insta. But with so many users and even more posts each day, how can you cut through the noise and get yourself heard? Amy Stenson, Social Media Manager at digital marketing agency, The Audit Lab, shares her secrets on how to develop an Instagram strategy for your business or blog. Get back to the basics And by basics we mean your profile.…
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Losing the sense of smell – a shocking experience
What aromas have you enjoyed today? For me, I woke to the smell of baking as my daughter made some muffins. It is so easy to take our senses for granted. Today I share a guest post from Chrissi as part of my series about women who have overcome adversity. She tells us about losing her sense of smell and how this made her feel. Be inspired by how she took this experience and set up a charity to help others. Losing the sense of smell That summer, I had visited a favourite mountain spot on a hot day. I stopped the car to admire the view. Above me, tall…
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How to discover your innate body wisdom
With a New Year comes New Year’s Resolutions that lead to personal broken promises, guilt, and the vicious cycle of repetition! Unfortunately, we cannot break this pattern until we commit to doing the internal work required to make positive lasting changes in our lives. This post is about how to discover your innate body wisdom and was provided by Ilene who is the founder of Find Body Freedom “When it comes to self-image, I’ve had my fair share around this merry-go-round of making promises that I neglected to maintain. If you’re anything like me, you can relate to painful struggles with body image, weight and my relationship with food –…
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My personal highs and lows of 2019
Every New Year I like to look back at the previous year and to encourage other bloggers to do so. It can help make sense of the negative stuff and remind you to celebrate the great things in life too. If you would like to take part either as a blogger or in your own right in your own heart and mind, check out this post. Here are my personal highs and lows of 2019 and you will find another blogger’s review of 2019 interesting too. Personal highs and lows of 2019 What was your happiest event? Seeing my oldest son return to education. He was a little lost and…
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Favourite items of jewellery and memories
I love jewellery and probably picked this up from my mother. As she would often say the best presents come in small packages. She adored antique jewellery such as that available from Carus Jewellery. I would regularly get her earrings for her birthday or Christmas. Her eyes would light up which was a joy to see. She always kept the smaller gifts until last to unwrap knowing they were likely to be jewellery. She loved gold and garnets in particular. Jewellery is often a present which means that when you wear something you remember that person and a special occasion. Here are 5 favourite items of jewellery that mean the…
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An adoptive family’s experience of therapy
Regular readers will know that I am an adopted person. Adoption brings challenges for so many people – the birth parents, the adoptive parents, the adopted children and the wider circle of family and friends. As time goes on, more help is offered from a variety of organisations. Today I am delighted to host a guest post from Elena Holmes who has written a book called AdoptyMum. It is about how she feels her family were helped by Catchpoint. Here is an adoptive family’s experience of therapy. An adoptive family’s experience of therapy Catchpoint provides unlimited support to our family. From the early days of our adoption, our children have…
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The highs and lows of 2019 – take part!
What were your personal highs and lows of 2019? I have a tradition of sharing mine and encouraging others to do the same. Bloggers can get involved using the following guidelines. We all have ups and downs as part of life’s rich tapestry and I find reflecting on mine and reading about other people makes me feel ready for everything a brand New Year has to offer. Rules for the highs and lows of 2019 tag 1 Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog and mine as the founder of the tag https://kateonthinice.com 2 Answer the questions 3 Tag to take part 5 or more bloggers…
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Blogging plans for a whole new decade
Blogging is a strange sport. Many vintage bloggers started to write online almost by accident with no clear aims as such. Many were bored stay at home mothers who wanted to have a voice in some way. Others were would-be novelists. Many were seeking community whether they realised that or not. Others wanted to change the world for the better or highlight a particular cause. It then became apparent that money could be made via blogging. In a way this was a great thing meaning some women could stay at home with their children and income-generate at the same time. All of a sudden, people were becoming bloggers with an…
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Three Tips for Parenting a Troubled Teen
Parenting a troubled teen is never easy. Unfortunately, many teenagers go through difficult stages during their adolescent years. This may be due to alcohol or drug abuse, an eating disorder, or other problems that cause tension within the family home. You must support your teenager through difficult periods and help them transition into a healthy, happy adult. To help you be the best parent possible, here are three tips for parenting a troubled teen: 1. Identify if there is a problem When teenagers start transitioning from children into adults, it is normal for them to try to gain their independence and freedom by acting out in certain ways. Typical teenager…
