This winter has been long and cold. The UK has had unprecedented ice and snow right up until this normally mild month of April.

But finally, Spring is starting to make herself heard and we couldn’t be happier to nod along to her chorus.

I reckon Spring is as good a reason as any to have a celebration, no? Spring flowers, spring food, pink gin cocktails, yes? There is so much delicious seasonal food around at the moment and the May bank holiday and Royal Wedding (if you're into that sort of thing) is round the corner too.

Welcome April, Month of true Spring. Welcome to the rain showers and the new life bursting out of the ground and sprouting on the trees, the first warm sun on our faces, and bird song ever-escalating in volume. I have been drinking my coffee in the garden all week and it transforms my days, no exaggeration. I feel like I have finally woken up from my winter hibernation, and am suddenly ready to launch all the things I have been dreaming about. Details of some of those are at the end of my newsletter. But you can expect news of residential retreats, day retreats and an instameet and I would be honoured if you chose to join me on any of those occasions. Hurrah for Spring!

10 wonderful things to make, do and celebrate in April!

March, by Emile Maguin for HannahBullivant.com

It is currently quite hard to believe that March is really here; the UK is recovering from a Baltic blast of ice and snow that is only just melting. Schools and work places closed for much of the week (we do not have the infrastructure to deal with it here) and it has been sobering to realise just how much we are at the mercy of Mother nature. We were all forced to slow down, something I needed. But temperatures are set to rise quite quickly over the next few weeks and suddenly March, The Spring Equinox (20th) and a new season is before us. A whole new season!

My oldest baby turns 6 in a few days and underneath the thawing ice and snow hopeful daffodils open. The bird song will get louder and louder every morning from now on, and the increasing light is very welcome too. Spring is a wonderfully energising month, ripe for creativity and growth. I AM HERE FOR THAT.

Here are 10 wonderful things to make, do, and celebrate in the month ahead!

Before I get into this post, oh goodness. The snow. The SNOW. True to my brand, and possibly slightly infuriatingly, I am loving it. It never snows like this in Kent, and I also love proper weather (rather than dull damp grey days) so I am nerding out about it. I am relishing having my girlie at home for almost a whole week. Of course there have been stressy points, but mostly, I have loved playing games with her and baking together and making up dances and shows. I am fortunate however that the snow has meant that Dave has been snowed in for lots of the week too, meaning we are sharing the childcare. The work and childcare sharing, the baking, the fire, the candles and the playing together, means that for me, we are basically living the dream. However, I know if I was on my own with both kids I'd be tearing my hair out a bit by now, especially because I can't get out in the snow with Auden very easily. So I am very aware of my privilege right now, and send out love to those doing this alone.

A combination of sickness, snow and half term have meant that February has left me with very little childcare time, and I have had to prioritise some photoshoots and sourcing in the time I have had. One amazing thing I have managed to achieve, however, is an update to my website, including finally updating my portfolio.

This week we celebrate St Valentines Day, Galentines Day AND Pancake day, *does a quick frantic dance*, so feasting has been taking up many of my waking thoughts, and even featured in my dreams (not even a joke!) I'm hopefully heading to a girlfriends house this eve to hang with some of my besties, and Dave and I will have a meal cooked at home this week at some point too. Galentines and Valentines don't have to be tat-fests, and they also do not have to be celebrated today/tomorrow. If you feel so inspired, you could arrange a gathering of gals/a dinner with your loved one, at any point this month. I personally love a pink themed dinner, or pink cocktails .

So with thoughts of feasting, a newly stocked props cupboard and a new studio, I set up a photoshoot to shoot some styling ideas for you.

I’m thinking about calling February the new January. With me? I’ve felt a bit arse-about-tits throughout the whole of this month, and still do, a bit. Bursts of excitement and activity like a couple of wonderful workshops, followed by bouts of being unable to face anything other my duvet. Sleep deprivation has hit really hard this month too- which has not helped anything. Ever. So I’m calling February, my January. A month of action, movement and progress- even just a little- is what is called for. Onwards! Auden turns one this month so I am so full of soppy nostalgia for this time last year.

The first tender signs of Spring are apparent, and I am allowing them to seep into my psyche. If I think about it, meditate on it, I start to literally feel the grounds swelling energy in my bones. The mornings and evenings are getting ever lighter, crocuses and snowdrops are sprouting and trees are budding hopefully. Spring is so very close now.

February holds some wonderful celebrations to tide us over until the spring solstice next month. Here are 10 of my most favourite things to do this month. I have now been sending out these monthly prompts for three years! Can you believe that?! Without further ado, here are 10 wonderful things to make, do and celebrate in the month ahead.

I first fell in love with the quiet glories of winter in my mid-twenties. Before that I associated winter with prolonged bouts of sickness (hello recurrent tonsillitis), mine and Dave’s mum’s deaths (I know, sucks, right?) and a general feeling of etiolation (“pale and drawn out due to a lack of light, having lost vigour or substance; feeble” -the most wondrous word). But since I decided to stop complaining, embrace the darkness and look at winter differently, I have come to adore this season. Yep, adore; strong word, there. (read more about how I did this here). So, I can say with great confidence that the single best way to embrace these short cold days is blessedly simple; cook delicious food, and have friends over; preferably both at once

We spent last weekend at our favourite place, Elmley Nature Reserve, retreating from January, going through our January Book, resting, talking, eating, laughing and just connecting again. Oh my, it was a sweet piece of heaven on earth. We have been doing our January book for 9 years but for the last two we have gone away for a weekend in January to do it; something we have now decided we can't do without

This year, I also finally made a downloadable guide to my January Book so that others can go through it too and I have been blown away by how many people have downloaded it, it has far far surpassed my hopes! Thank you so much to those of you who have downloaded it, and also to those who have sent such lovely emails and DM's too. I have had a surprising number of messages from people who have done it with their partner with amazing results, quite a few formally not very talkative boyfriends/husbands have been really into it. Amazing. (The January Book can be done alone or with your partner/family. Link to download below)

Elmley

But, let me think back to Elmley. To The Damson, their newest hut. To the huge

January has been pretty slow and sleepy for me, and that is just how I like it. I have been slowly working away on a few projects in the background when I have has the time and inclination to do them. One of them is writing a guide for you, dear readers, about the end of year review process may husband and I have done for the last 9 years; a process that I have been asked about so much over the last few years, and one I have now written about!

So, what is The January Book?

Put simply, it is the notebook my husband and I use to review the year that has passed and plan for the year to come. It is both an individual and collaborative process.

But it has led to some incredible things. See my last post for a taster.

We first did this book in 2009, and over the following 9 years we credit this process for being the basis for many of our mega life decisions-from having babies, to changing careers, hiring coaches, and making better health decisions.

2017. Um, wow.

2017 started with a weekend away in which Dave and I dreamed about the year ahead. I was heavily pregnant and I was decompressing from an amazingly busy work year in which my (swollen) feet had hardly touched the ground. I was so ready for some space and time to think. We went away to Elmley for the weekend to rest and talk and work through what we call our January Book, a notebook in which we review last year and plan for next. We talked about 2016- the wins, the painful spots, the lessons learned. And then we talked about how we wanted our life to feel in the coming year. That process was the groundwork for some incredible stuff.

2017 was the year we welcomed Auden into our family and three became four.

It was the year I discovered the surprise furnace of power inside me. The year I had a calm, back-to-back home birth despite believing I “couldn’t cope with pain”. 2017 was the year I understood finally, just how powerful our self-beliefs are, the power of repeated mantra’s and positive thinking. (So, so powerful, guys. Read more about how I prepared for birth here and here and read my home birth story here.)

It was the year I allowed my word for the year, “Nourish”, to whisper it’s wisdom everything I did. I asked for help. I stayed in bed with my baby for the first 6 weeks of his life. We were fed by my friends. I flexed my “no”. I let tears flow. I chose rest, ate nourishing food and found time for creativity when I needed it.

When I first spotted Rune’s market stall in my local town centre a couple of years ago, I knew we had to be friends. A perfectly styled selection of vintage wares combined with the most mouth-watering array of Scandinavian baked goods. I treat myself to a pack of Rune’s ‘Macarunes’ whenever possible; they are crunchy on the outside and chewey on the inside and nutty and delicious and dangerously addictive. Last week Rune let Dave and I run around his house snapping his stuff (and eating his baked goods- oh my!) He has very kindly written a guest post for the blog. Its been a pleasure to work with you, Rune!