MEscovery

It's grim here up North. When I told my parents almost 16 years ago I was moving to England and more specifically to the North East, they admit to imagining a rough, industrialised area of little beauty or charm. It didn't take more than one visit to change their mind. We are lucky to live along the beautiful North East coast of England. Although for around 360 days of the year we could use a few more degrees Celsius, it only takes a day like this when the sky is blue, the sun is out and the beaches are clear to make me feel like this is the place to be.  We headed to the King Edward's Bay in Cullercoats after school this week with the crucial supplies of Malteser ice creams - carefully selected by the children - to one of my favourite little beaches for a round of "let them run around and work off some energy so I can have a relaxing evening". As luck would have it, we had the whole beach to ourselves. A rare treat and probably explained by the fact ...

When I look at other people's blogs I love the ones which are multidimensional. I have a preference for those which cover everything from fashion to travel, beauty to food and are personal, open conversations, preferably of the rambling, spill the beans - there is a word I'm looking for here, can't think of it - type. So how come when I think about writing a new post, which differs slightly from my usual slightly neurotic, comical content I feel like a fraud? As if someone will put a big red mark across the page saying "NO. This is not your territory. Get back in your box". I'd love to expand my blog (even calling it that makes me feel like a vain, self-centred idiot) to cover other interests I have in life, to post some of my favourite products I use, fashion loves or places I have visited. To display some pictures rather than hide behind drawings would be cool. So why don't I? It all links back to the fear of criticism. It's somehow easier to t...

This one's for the mums to be out there. Especially the ones expecting twins. And even more so for those expecting twins when they weren't expecting to be expecting twins. Sorry, got carried away there. As I was sat at the dinner table tonight, watching my children eat, I had a little flashback to when I first found out I was expecting twins. That first week was one hell of a ride. Let me set the scene for you. We had planned our second pregnancy when our firstborn was around 1 years old so when we found out I was pregnant, a few months later, we were over the moon. I started to think about the different combinations of sibling relationships with our firstborn this baby could have and tried to guess what would be my gender preference in relation to my eldest - a girl. Two girls? Lovely sisterly bond, easy to pass on clothes and toys, play together well (or fight once teenagers...) but two of a kind, less likely to like football and beer once older (kidding) and no litt...