Last weekend it was The Nature Sessions, a 3 day retreat held at my favourite place, Elmley nature Reserve on the island of Sheppey in Kent (yes, there is an island in Kent!) . I helped to found the retreat last year, and this year ran two sessions; a styling with nature session, a beginners guide to journalling session and styled the meals. It was full on from a work perspective but utterly wonderful too. We were blessed with glorious sunshine the whole weekend so everything felt like it was bathed in gold.

The basis of The nature Sessions is getting back to nature, and the focus, unlike lots of other retreats, is not about deprivation. Yes some guests sleep in tents; but they’re 5 meter bell tents with proper double beds and mattresses complete with fluffy towels and bathrobes. Food is served regularly, mostly healthy but definitely decadent too and wine is plentiful at meal times. There was yoga, wild swimming, beach bonfires, picnics, creative sessions, and lots of free time to explore the reserve and be alone. We created our ideal retreat, basically! Below are some photo’s.

Hello! Here is my monthly list of wonderful things to make, do and celebrate in the wonderful month of June, albeit a week later than usual. Last week I was busy working at The Nature Sessions retreat (more on that below) so this months Sunday Supplement finds you a little late but I hope it finds you in good spirits, nevertheless!

June marks the midpoint of the year (wwwhhhaaaatttttt!) There are more hours of light than dark, and the sun is as close as it's going to get. In nature it's a time of intensity, flourishing, light and fire, and all of this affects us humans too.

Last week, I visited Peckham Craft Show. I first discovered the show the previous year and eagerly followed along, and found a lot of the makers on Instagram. I had arranged to visit one of my best friends, and realised the dates worked, so we went along last Saturday. It represents many of my favourite techniques, crafts and makers, and it was a veritable feast of ceramics, textiles and paper. I was in heaven! I harbour my own secret itch to make tactile work with my hands, and this show really ignited that wish! The space itself is beautiful and light, and I loved the way the exhibits had been curated. There was an emphasis on still life, with satisfyingly styled tableaux’s and collections. There was also a heavy natural influence in the curation too- inspiration from Peckham’s history as an orchard. Here are some of my favourites in the show.

Spring is most definitely Springing, hurrah! I’ve been pottering around the garden most days and it is HAPPENING out there (!)

We recently got a new bed for the kids (A Gunmtree freebie- very pleased with ourselves) and it has led to a mega decluttering sesh. The new bed meant we lost the underbed storage space. Finding space for the things that were under the bed necessitated a clear out of the upstairs closet to make space for things under bed- which spilled out into sorting through the stuff under our bed and other areas upstairs etc etc you know how it goes. Chaos. We ended up donating boxes upon bags of baby clothes and kids books and other things I wasn’t using. There is now space for everything in the built in storage (which is ridiculously satisfying)

Hello, and welcome to the May Sunday Supplement! After a break last month (I was launching the Spring chapter of my e-course and something had to give!) my monthly newsletter is back with 10 wonderful things to make, do and celebrate this utterly wonderful month of May. Spring is entering her maturity as the trees fill up with leaves and the first flowering bulbs and flowers finish for the year, making way for the May and June flowering shrubs and trees. It’s a joy- an actual cheesy joy-to take a moment and just take it all in; the blossom and bluebells and bird song.

The quarter points of the year (March, June, September and December) mark 4 natural points to take a step back and review your life and goals. Quarter point reviews are in everyday parlance in the corporate world- 12 weeks make very good accountability points, and a great project timeframe. But these quarter points also happen to align with the equinoxes and solstices too, and doing a review that takes inspiration both from the corporate world and from mother nature makes for a wonderfully meaningful and seasonal deep dive.

Spring is a great time for goal setting so I have opened the doors to my Life Book E-Course , which is all about dreaming and planning, and enrolments end tomorrow (Friday) at midnight. I have been emailing my list with some excerpts from the content and my top tips for making and keeping to goals. I wanted to share some here on the blog too.

Read How to make goals that stick here.

Spring goal setting- it’s a thing!

So first up- why Spring?! I know January is the traditional time for goal setting, new starts and resolutions. And when I first ran my E-Course in January over 100 people joined me to do just that,(but using my much kinder approach!) I actually like the quiet of winter for dreaming and planning and always have...

Buuuut…

Spring is, in many ways, a much MUCH better time to set some goals and intentions and make them happen!

Heres why

Have you ever made a goal only to completely forget about it?!

Yeah. So have I.

I've always loved dreaming and making plans and have always written in a journal. It’s just part of my make up, and I love hearing about other peoples too. For years my hopes and dreams brought me a lot go joy and filled reams of pages in my journal….but they stayed as just that. Hopes and dreams written in a journal.

It wasn't until Idid the following things that I began to actually start taking steps toward my goals. Pretty mega steps actually. (quitting my job, moving house and figuring out motherhood sort of steps 😱)

t’s half term here and Frankie-Rose’s school bunches all of its inset days together so we get a second sneaky week off, and boy are we ready for it. Both kids are so tired! Auden has a permanent cold and Frankie-Rose really needs some quiet days after a busy term and SAT’s (ugh). Our plans are still materialising, but we are certainly planning to do some holidaying at home (actually one of my favourite things to do) and generally take it verrry easy.

We have been busy in our garden lately, half planting, half slug fighting, and are spending more and more time outside. I decided to throw a simple celebratory tea party for our family to celebrate the imminent end of term (YES), the gorgeous weather and just because I fancied it. I like getting the nice glasses and crockery out just for us, it elevates things and the kids love it too, they feel the specialness of it somehow. I worked with Hobbycraft in creating this post which is a bit of a dream for me. Hobbycraft was one of my favourite shops as a teenager (I know, I know I was so cool). I really remember my excitement at the prospect of a trip to the Bolton branch of Hobbycraft trip with my cousin and aunt. What can I say, I’m just a stationary-and-craft-shops kinda gal.

Ok, so the details!

March! A whole new season! What a hopeful, life-filled month this is. The ground is already teeming with new life, evidenced in the delicate cups of the crocuses shyly opening toward the sun, and the hanging heads of snowdrops bobbing in the wind. Daffodils are trumpeting and the bird song is intensifying by a few decibels each morning too. If you manage to catch the sun in a windless moment, it feels gently warm on your face, a sweet promise of what’s to come.

I was recently going through some old files and came across a load of work that I have never really shared, so in in a bid to find my blogging mojo again, I thought i’d share them here. I also realised I dont talk about my work on my blog very often at all, something I would like to change.

As well as being a blogger and Instagrammer, I’m an interior stylist and cover editorial, real homes, events and product styling. I work 1: 1 with people to offer help with their homes, businesses or retail spaces; things like space styling, press breakfasts, help with home styling, etc. My year has started with a great retail styling project in Whitstable called Grain & Hearth for example; I’ve loved sourcing and pulling together ideas and inspiration for a bakery and cafe space. Here is some more of my work.

Welcome, February! Wow, what a month January was! It has felt, as it always does, verrrry long. In this coming month, Spring really gathers force. The mornings and evenings are getting ever lighter, crocuses and snowdrops are sprouting amindst the snow and ice and some trees are starting to bud hopefully. Spring is just round the corner now.

​I started my year in community and it has felt very good. I have absolutely loved hosting my first e-course and being present for my students in the Facebook group community. I also hosted an absolutely gorgeous January Day retreat- gathering, making, talking and sharing in my home with a group of incredible people was such a brilliant way to start the year. It was an honour to host both of those things, online and in real life, and I am so looking forward to doing more in 2019.

Tickets to my Spring day retreat are now available, and i'd love to see some of you there. A day of nourishment, in every way, in my home on Saturday March 23rd. A spring floral wreath, a group mentoring session with Ray Dodd, sessions on making space in our minds, decluttering and amplifying the joy in our homes and epic food and cake too. There are payment plan spaces and a pay what you can space too. Any questions, please just hit reply. All the details here.