BRINGING UP BABY: FEELING THROUGH THE 4TH TRIMESTER
I learn many things about baby and being a mummy every day. But in the fourth trimester I remember most fondly four things he’s taught me as we’ve bonded about some of our simplest feelings, emotions and actions. Some of this is old hat to many, or sounds poetic or too sugar tinted.…
View PostONE BABY ACHIEVEMENT AT A TIME
I started writing this baby post on my phone a few weeks ago… But, when you only get one thing done a day, prioritising a blog post takes a while! But the baby monitor is on, baby is napping and I fancied a bit of blogging! So, first let’s roll the clock back…
View Post1481 DAYS: MISCARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD
Talking about miscarriage isn’t something I find easy even with close friends and colleagues so writing this is tough. I have started this post many times… The timing was never right. But talking about miscarriage is important. Too many people go through it. Most people don’t talk about it and suffer privately. 1…
View PostPENELOPE, PARKER AND BABY IN THE SUMMER
Summer 2018 has been pretty life changing… I even altered the blog name!! But first… June marked the end of our first year in our new home. In fact it was when it really started to feel like home too. The carpets went down and the lighting was finished. The upstairs of our…
View PostBRINGING UP BABY: 6 WEEKS IN
Every day in life is a learning day… And nothing compares to the speed of learning with a new baby. It comes thick and fast… Not just the poo! It’s surreal, I had more training to be an office first aider than a parent! I never let myself get ahead of things in…
View PostTAKE AWAYS FROM TRAVEL
When you suddenly don’t travel as much as you did, you realise what you love about it. That said, I’m happy with the reason why I can count on just two hands how many flights I have taken in the last 6 months and the fact that we can’t really book any more…
View PostTHE BABYMOON – TRIED AND TESTED
The babymoon – it’s fair to say we took a few… Not just the “last jam before the pram” before the arrival, but at regular intervals through 9 months of growing the baby. Our choices were around Baby P and to be sure I got the relaxing and de-stressing breaks I needed to…
View PostDAY 1 WITH BABY: WHAT’S REALLY NEEDED?
I didn’t believe that we’d really be bringing home Baby P. Despite having watched the heart trace for the whole of labour to check his heart was beating… Even with those last few pushes when the midwives could see his little head. And Mr P was even summoned down there (!!) by the…
View PostLIFE UPDATE: BABY PARKER
My beloved blog has been, and will be, a little quiet… There’s a newly beloved on the scene… A baby! Last week we celebrated the much longed for arrival of Baby Parker into the world! The last 9 months of adventures have all discreetly been carrying around our tiny human that we’ve waited…
View PostCHARMING COTSWOLDS STAY AT THE LYGON ARMS
We’ve been lucky enough to stay at the Chewton Glen and Cliveden House a number of times. There are few teams and hotels that know hospitality better. I have for a long time been wary of what’s on offer hotel-wise in the Cotswolds as much of it looks a bit like Little London.…
View PostA SLEEPY WEEK IN THE ALGARVE
Our week on the Algarve was just what a doctor would have ordered. Warmth and sunshine. 10 hours sleep a night, a few more hours dozing on loungers by the pool each day, plenty of fruit (especially oranges), veg and fish and some excellent pampering too. We also added in a teeny bit…
View PostBELA VISTA HOTEL RESTAURANT AND SPA, THE ALGARVE
When I stumbled across the Bela Vista hotel whilst hunting for special places to stay in the Algarve, I saw photos of the most incredible hexagonal stained glass bathroom. I didn’t quite make the booking on just the basis of this one room but it was a factor… As was the dreamy pool! Quite…
View PostP&P IN THE SPRING
Spring was slow (late) arriving this year… But when it finally did it was spectacular. The 20 degree temperature rise inside 4 weeks was a bit of a surprise but there were no complaints once the snow and rain finally departed! March March so often dawns with the smell of spring. Not this…
View PostPACKING LIGHT – MY TRAVEL LUXURY
My travel luxury comes from packing lightly. My husband may well laugh as I have been known to take an umbrella and multiple jumpers on a desert holiday. You can’t be too careful just in case, you know, it is like the UK winter while you’re there… But over the years I’ve done…
View PostVILACAMPINA GUESTHOUSE, THE ALGARVE
The symmetrical white-washed moorish architecture and the lone tall palm tree. The remote rural location. The simple and peaceful blue and white pool. Vilacampina has you at hello. It’s a dreamy contemporary villa, the kind you wish someone in the family owned outright! But with the benefits of a hotel thrown in. The perfect…
View PostP&P RECOMMENDED: LONDON HOTEL DIRECTORY
If we stay in London then it’s normally got something to do with work. Or to break up the commuting week. As stays are mainly for work they err on the practical and functional side of things. Sometimes though, we make a London date night of it and have been working our way around…
View PostAN INTIMATE SUPPER AT EVELYN’S TABLE
When you find a food style you enjoy… Stick to it. We were taken to Machneyuda when we were in Jerusalem. And to our delight, there’s a growing list of restaurants in London run by the same group. I’m pleased to say we have now enjoyed them all. Each slightly different, but all…
View PostP&P RECOMMENDED: OUR HOTEL DIRECTORY
It is fair to say I can be fussy when it comes to choosing a hotel. Which does mean if we have stayed somewhere we liked, then it comes recommended! Way back in 2015 there was a travel link-up theme about places we can’t get out of our head. In 2015 I picked 6…
View PostRELAXED WEEKENDING AT TIMBRELL’S YARD
We booked our stay at Timbrell’s Yard after I made a shock discovery… Mr P was away for over half of February with work and he also had a ski holiday and weekend in Cape Town squeezed in. In a very first world way, with no trips planned, I was feeling hard done…
View Post10 BITS OF BALANCED HOLIDAY WELLNESS
What’s the furthest one could get from a wellness break? Probably one of those Brits abroad boozy night clubbing holidays that make me shudder! Not for me! That said, I am pretty sure each and every sailing regatta is in its own way just as bad. They just begin more elegantly! The times I have…
View PostP&P IN THE WINTER
Monthly updates were getting tiring and quite frankly boring! Some months work takes over and it rains continuously. Others I hibernate! So there’s nothing to wax lyrical about… And no pretty pictures to log! It’s about seasonal updates now as in amongst the rain and work there are still beautiful days and adventures…
View PostA QUIET WEEKEND IN CORNWALL TO REMEMBER
Sometimes all anyone needs is a weekend away, in Cornwall. Away from the chores, the need to do a food shop, catch up on work or (heaven forbid) do anything strenuous. A weekend away in a nice place that isn’t home. No 3G, no TV, just some fresh air and sea views. Time…
View PostTRAVEL MEMORIES TO LAST A LIFETIME
If you are like me, then it’s the pinch me moments and memories you remember most fondly. You know, the memories that made something or somewhere special and once in a lifetime. Obviously there’s the life stuff – like finding someone brave enough to marry me 😘. The big stuff – like last summer when…
View PostTHE MAGICAL NORTH COAST OF CORNWALL
The north coast of Cornwall is magical. Especially the bits that few visitors find! Ask many where to go on the north coast of Cornwall and you’d oft hear Padstow, Rock, ‘The Scarlet’, Bude top of the list… Charming yes, But there is so much more. And it’s truly Cornish… Let me share…
View PostMADEIRA: 10 GREAT IDEAS FOR YOUR VISIT
Madeira was the icing on the travel year cake for us in 2017. When we arrived on the stunning mid-Atlantic island, the only thing we knew was that Madeira was the perfect place to select for a week of RnR. The tears from cancelling our India trip because the government/tourist board had hidden…
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