12 Good Things That Happened in 2020 (Because There Were Some, Honestly)

I know 2020 has been a big sack of shit, but there are some good things that happened. So I'm going back through the year and finding some gems that have happened to remind me of that before we say goodbye this crappy year.

1. The Big Garden Bird Watch

In January, Isobel and I took part in our first Big Garden Bird Watch that the RSPB holds every year. We sat in our kitchen for an hour one rainy Sunday morning and looked out of the window to count how many birds landed in our garden.

It wasn't many (I think we had three wood pigeons) but it was still fun and I'm looking forward to joining in again next month. Plus, we might see our new bird visitor who has recently found us. It's a grey wagtail, which I'd never seen before he hopped into our garden. He's been named Bob, because of the way he bobs about the place.

2. Back To The Future The Musical

Back in February, when everyone was still allowed to gather, we were lucky enough to go to the world premiere of Back to the Future The Musical. We'd waited a LONG TIME for it to happen, and we couldn't quite believe Manchester was getting the premier (but it was great. No trip to London. No overnight stays) and it was AMAZING. Plus, Bob Gale signed our special BTTF cover of USA Today.

3. Rock Painting

We decided to spread a bit of cheer during the summer and did a bit of rock painting, which we left outside for people to find. It was a lot of fun, so we did the same thing in October to celebrate Halloween.

4. The Everything Changes But You Paperback

I'd wanted to create paperbacks for my self-published novels, but I was a bit wary as I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off (I'm not good with trying new things!) But I decided to put my big girl pants on and give it a go.

I love the paperbacks of Everything Changes But You so when I released The 12 Christmases of You & Me, I created both ebook and paperback together.

5. Baking Loaves

While everyone was baking banana bread during Lockdown 1, I was craving a slice of lemon loaf from the coffee shop in my local town. So I decided we'd make our own. The only problem was, our local Asda didn't have any lemons at the time, so we swapped them for their green cousins and made a lime loaf instead.

Due to its success, we went on to make two more loaves: a lemon one (because Asda finally stocked them) and an orange one. As much as I was craving the lemon loaf, the lime is a firm favourite.

6. First Drafts

I wrote not one but TWO first drafts this year. The first (for Book 12) was mostly written during Lockdown 1 while home-schooling my youngest daughter, and the second, (for Book 13, which I've only just completed) was mostly written during this year's Nano and finished off in December.

7. Baking Pupcakes

When it was Luna's birthday, I made her a batch of banana and peanut butter 'pupcakes'. They're really easy to make and Luna loved them, so the kids and I made her a batch of apple and peanut butter pupcakes (which are going down just as nicely).

8. Flawed Crocheted Sausage Dogs

In 2020, I made two-and-a-bit sausage dogs ('and-a-bit' because the first was started in 2019).

I'm quite new to crocheting, so they're definitely flawed, but they're unique and I love them.

9. The Garden

Back in 2018, Isobel and I brought a rose bush cutting home from a school event and re-potted it in the garden. It grew taller and produced lots of leaves, but that’s it. Until this spring when it produced a few buds, which resulted in two flowers. I'm hoping we get more next year, plus I've taken a couple of cuttings, which are on my kitchen windowsill.

I spent a lot of time in my garden during lockdown, and it was lovely seeing the bees and hoverflies enjoying our flowers. They particularly liked our forget-me-nots and the cosmos (when it eventually flowered).

We also grew dahlias from seed for the first time. It didn't flower and out of 17 seedlings, only five survived the snail invasion, but it was a lovely thing to do nonetheless.

10. The 12 Christmases of You & Me

In October, I released my eleventh book, The 12 Christmases of You & Me. I'd wanted to write a time-travel romantic comedy for a long time, so I'm glad it's finally out and (hopefully) being enjoyed!

11. Halloween at Home

We couldn't do our usual trick or treating this year, so I made some cards for an at-home version. The cards were hidden around the house and Isobel had to find them and then choose which ones to open. Half said 'treat' inside (so she could choose a treat from the box) and half said 'trick' (which meant she forfeited a treat. 

(The real trick was that all cards said 'treat', which she found out at the end when she opened the remaining cards.)

We also did a bit more baking, this time making SLime cupcakes, nicking the idea of the lime icing from our earlier lime loaf, and topping off with sour snakes.

12. Loki's Return

There are some Christmas traditions that we've had to miss out on this year due to Coronavirus, but one tradition that we can keep is our Elf on the Shelf, Loki. He's returned with gifts and silly antics to makes us smile.

So those are 12 good things that happened to me during 2020, and it was nice looking back and being reminded that despite everything, there were still pockets of enjoyment.

What good things happened to you during 2020?

Back To School

 

And just like that, they're back to school. 

After five months of home-schooling, of baking lime loaves (and lemon and orange ones), of community-style games of Scrabble in the kitchen, of planting dahlias and watching them grow on the windowsill in repurposed Pot Noodle pots, and watching bees enjoying our flowers in the garden, of cream teas and chocolate chip pancakes, of rock painting, of building bug hotels and making bird feeders from plastic bottles, of social-distanced leavers' gathering in primary school playgrounds, my girls are back at school and college.

In some ways, lockdown has gone on forever (I can just about remember back when Isobel came home on that final Thursday of primary school, although we didn't know that would be her last day. We thought she'd be home for a few weeks of home-schooling and then be back after Easter. Bless us) but it also, weirdly, seems to have passed by in the blink of an eye. And I'm usually itching for the kids to go back to school after six long weeks of summer holidays (ha ha ha) but this year it's harder to let go and I would quite happily remain cocooned in our house for a bit longer (although I'd pass on the home-schooling, thank you very much). 

I'm always anxious when it comes to back-to-school time, but it's even more nerve-wracking this time around; not only is Isobel going back to school, she's starting a whole new one, with teachers she's never met before because with no school, there was no transition period between primary and secondary school to ease them in. Plus, there's the added worry of everything Covid-related - masks, the inability to social distance in a school, the threat of a second wave. Can we go back to rock-painting and growing dahlias, please? Just for a teeny bit longer?

No, I know that can't happen, and Isobel was looking forward to starting her new school (while fully aware the novelty will soon wear off). I've got to put my big girl's pants on and get on with things, aka dive into planning my next book, which I'll be writing a (hopefully) big chunk of during this year's Nano. I'll also be making sure everything is ready for the publication of The Twelve Christmases of You & Me next month which, like starting a new school, is exciting and scary in equal measures.

An Ode (Sort Of) To A Tiny Garden

My garden is little and messy. We have grass, but only because it's growing through the cracks in the concrete ground at an alarming rate. I have some pots out there, but a few weeks ago they were a mass of weeds (winter and laziness are my excuses of choice).

And then Cornoavirus happened and we were all confined to our homes and that messy little lump of walled-in concrete at the back of my house became a godsend. I'd never really appreciated the chaotic little space before, but I certainly do now. It's a little bit of outdoors space that we can use whenever we like, and I know not everyone has that luxury.

As lockdown came into place and the weather turned surprisingly glorious, I started to weed the pots, one or two at a time, and I found those few minutes out in the fresh air really helped after being cooped up. I also found some flowers among the weeds: daffodils, irises, hyacinth and bellis.

As the weeks went on, most of these died off but there are more waiting to take their place. The raspberry plant we potted last year is growing back and there are a couple of lilies popping up out of the soil. There are some other... stuff starting to sprout again (I'm not a gardener and I can't remember what was planted in which pot. And no, of course I didn't label them) as well as some new plants growing from the seeds I sowed once the weeds had vamoosed. I also sowed some dahlia seeds indoors, and these will eventually go outside too.

There's also the birds in the garden, which we finally managed to entice last spring. We have a feeder and a birdbath (though we are yet to witness them having a scrub) so it's nice to sit and watch them visit. Our old faithful feathery friends the wood pigeons, starlings, blackbirds and collared doves have been, as well as the return of magpies, and I spotted a crow on the roof last week (they're my faves).

I like spending a few minutes checking on the plants and watering them (and whipping away those nasty little weeds that insist of trespassing) each day. There's the all-important fresh air, as well as the excitement of seeing things grow. But it isn't just the pots that have been keeping me busy out in the garden. Most days, I've taken my blanket out and laid it out on the concrete so I can have a read (Luna usually joins me. Sometimes one of her squeaky friends does too). I've even taken my crochet out to get some vitamin D while working on my sausage dog projects.

As well as nature, book-reading and outdoorsy crocheting, we've also used the garden to carry on with my youngest daughter's basketball training. The league has been suspended (obviously) but Isobel has been out in the garden, practicing her dribbling and shooting. There may not be much space, but she's having a go!

A few weeks ago, the garden was an underappreciated space, but now it's like another room of the house. We're using it every day, for a range of activities, and I'm definitely grateful that it's there.

My Summer 2018

The house is very quiet today, which can mean only one thing; it's back to school time. The past over six weeks has passed in a bit of blur. On one hand, I'm not sure where the time has gone, yet on the other - bizarrely - July seems a very long time ago.

Back in July, we took a little family trip down to London as my teenage daughter, Rianne was desperate to see Hamilton after becoming obsessed with the soundtrack. As Isobel is a bit younger, I took her to see the Matilda musical while Rianne and Chris went to see Hamilton.

 

While in London, we did a bit of sightseeing, including the London Eye, which was fabulously air conditioned (back then we were very much in the throes of the heatwave and baking!), and I left behind a little gift on a bench.

 

A few weeks later, we went on a slightly longer trip to Blackpool and had a brilliant time. The heatwave was long gone (thankfully) and we didn't always have the best weather (we were rained on a few times) but we kept ourselves busy with indoor activities on the crap-weather days, including the Tower circus, the Sea Life centre and - best of all - the arcades.

 

 

We did have some sunny days, so we spent time on the beach with our buckets and spades and an octopus kite (which was a lot of fun flying). We also spent the day at the zoo and bought Luna a little toy wolf to bring home with us.

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I would have liked this summer, but I did share the book love here on the blog with my Six Weeks of Summer Reads. What did you read this summer? And did you go on any trips/holidays? Let us know in the comments! :)

Oldham Reindeer Parade 2017

One of the things I look forward to most during the run up to Christmas is the reindeer parade, which is held in the town centre every year. It's fantastic fun and so lovely to see so many families gathered together.

This year's theme was 'A Christmas Day Feast' and there was also lots of different characters and props, bands playing festive music and Santa and his reindeer!

What do you look forward to during the run up to Christmas?

What We Did This Summer

I know it isn't officially autumn yet, but the summer holidays are pretty much done and dusted (I have one child back in school and one returning tomorrow) so I thought I'd look back at the last couple of months.

It's been quite a busy couple of months for me, with two book releases; A Beginner's Guide To Saying I Do and the paperback publication of The Little Bed & Breakfast by the Sea.

The second book in the Beginner's Guide series was published mid-August and I've been busy planning lots of book extras to put up on the blog. I've been working on the book for a long time (since 2015!) so it was exciting finally releasing into the world of Amazon.

The ebook edition of The Little Bed & Breakfast by the Sea was published back in June, but the paperback was released on 24th August, which was an amazing moment as it's my very first paperback. It was a surreal moment popping into my local Sainsbury's and seeing it on the shelf!

I had to wait a week to actually see the book on the shelf, as I was on holiday at the time of release and it sold out at my local Sainsbury's on the first day. I had to wait until they'd restocked before I go and see it 'in the wild' and have a stroke/sniff/take a shelfie.

The weather hasn't been too good during the school holidays, but we did manage to get out to Uppermill for a day out of feeding the ducks, going on the barge, and eating ice cream, and we went bowling and to the arcade which was fun (and dry).

Thankfully the weather improved for our holiday to Blackpool. We decided to stay in the UK this year and have a few days at the seaside, which was a lot of fun. We built sandcastles, flew a kite and had a paddle at the beach, spent the day at the zoo and went to the Tower Circus. You can see my blog post about our fun here

At the beginning of the school holidays, I gave Rianne and Isobel a little gift each; their own copy of Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood for our summer read-along.

It's my favourite childhood book and I couldn't wait for us to read it together. As well as the book, we also had the magazines to read (which were out in the 90s and I've collected from eBay) and the DVD to watch.

We didn't quite manage to read the whole book over the summer, but we've only got a few more chapters to go.

As well as The Animals of Farthing Wood, I also wanted to re-read some other books over the summer. I chose Kiss Him Goodbye by Victoria Routledge, Rainy Days & Tuesdays by Claire Allan, and Snap Happy by Fiona Walker.

I also read Vicky Pattison's My Sister's Wedding and I'm currently reading The Angel at No. 33 by Polly Williams.

The summer has been fun (even if there's been far too much rain this August) and it passed way too quickly!

What did you get up to this summer?