Exploring Lincolnshire...

Ah, a week off.... Well, a relative week off anyway - time off school is rarely a holiday for parents! As I type this, I'm working again, he's back to school, and I'm completely knackered. Anyway... Daddy was working over half term so I took the little man to spend the week with his grandparents in Lincolnshire.

Finds from a mini nature walk in Grandma and Grandad's garden

As you would expect, we're there fairly regularly, and I spent my teens living there, but here's a little rundown of what we did on this occasion and some outings I'd recommend. 

1. Lincoln Castle

Lincoln Castle

The castle has had a pretty significant revamp in recent years and reopened with a fanfare last spring. This was my first visit in a very long time (I think the last time was when I crossed the finishing line of the Lincoln 10k about 10 years ago!). You can now get into the castle for free and visit the nice cafe and shop, stroll about, sit on the grass etc. But they charge for entry to the Magna Carta exhibition, prison (this is worth seeing if you haven't been before if just for the chapel) and to walk the walls. The walls have been restored and for the first time (ever in my memory) you can now walk right around them. It was a lovely day, and we had a very impatient 5 year old with us so we opted for the wall walk only. It was really rather good and I'm sure we'll do it again.

The cathedral from the castle walls

Inside the cafe

2. The Kinema in the Woods

Woodhall Spa is a really really pretty little town with some lovely houses. It always seems to rain when I'm there though - I'd love to take a stroll around sometime. We visited the cinema there as it really is a fantastic experience (and the Odeon in Lincoln is second highest in price only to Leicester Square - yes, this is true!). 

The Kinema is in a wonderful old little building tucked away in the woods (the clue is in the name!). You get an interval and an organist. So it (almost) makes watching Alvin and the Chipmunks bearable. Almost. 

Pretend you're in the 1950s at the Kinema in the Woods

3. The National Centre for Craft and Design

Head down to Sleaford for the National Centre for Craft and Design. I absolutely love this place. My Dad doesn't. On this occasion though he was as enamoured as the rest of us as there was a fabulous exhibition of furniture on (as a carpenter he was in his element!). The little man got to make stuff and my Mum and I just loved pretty much everything. They have changing exhibitions throughout the year and a wonderful shop. Do check the place out.

The National Centre for Craft and Design

4. The Garden House, Saxby

We visited The Garden House to see the snowdrops - there were quite a few. It's a relatively newly established garden and it can only get better year on year - they've planted a woodland walk (along which you can see the snowdrops) - the trees are pretty small at the moment but its' still worth a visit. 

The Garden House, Saxby

I was also rather taken by the formal gardens nearer the house, where we spotted some lovely hellebores and cherry blossom.

The Garden House, Saxby

The Garden House, Saxby

We pootled around the house a fair bit too - the little man loves his grandparent's garden as it's huge. We also had a bit of snow to play in!

Playing in the snow in our pyjamas

A couple of food recommendations too.... While we did end up eating in two (yes 2) separate branches of Pizza Express (the little man's favourite) we also had a fantastic lunch at Doddington Hall - their burger is fab (as is the cake). They have a brilliant shop there too. At the end of the week we had a very nice pub lunch at The Kings Head in Tealby (gorgeous old thatched building in a very pretty village near Market Rasen). 

And that was that, back to the smoke! 

The Spring Clean...

I finally decided to have a wardrobe clear out last week when I got completely fed up of trying to wedge my dresses in, and find the particular black jersey thing I was after. It was fairly epic. This is what the charity shop is receiving:

27 dresses
22 tops
13 skirts
6 cardigans
6 items of swimwear/nightwear/underwear
2 pairs of leggings.

As you can see I was pretty ruthless. Still plenty of cardigans left though, so that's OK!

Now for a restock, or not... It seems that I still have quite a lot to wear (including a rainbow of cardigans). I did make one initial purchase though - a new t-shirt from Baukjen. It's this one, but in grey (as it was in the sale).

Baujken Long Sleeve Tee

Not very exciting I hear you say, but I love Baukjen. Their t-shirts are fantastic quality and wash really really well. This one replaces a grey one I bought when I was still on maternity leave, and have practically lived in for over 5 years (and that was the last time I sorted out my wardrobe - eek!). 

I also have jeans from Baukjen as they fit so well. Mine are a bootleg cut which they don't seem to do anymore (I'm short so it's the best cut for me!). 

So I have a bit of a wish list, but I'm managing to restrain myself fairly well at the moment. Boden had these wonderful shoes in the sale (which I'd been after for about a year) so I snapped these up too...

They've also got some lovely new stuff. Thinking I might need to go for something like this?

Maggie Ottoman Dress - Boden

Then there's my current fave Lindy Bop. I already have a dress from them which has hummingbirds on and I've been wearing it a lot, but I think I might need this one too...

Clarissa Hummingbird Print 40's Style Tea Dress - Lindy Bop

But at the moment, I'm quite enjoying having some space! I did get rid of a lot of summer stuff, so give me a couple of months and I may be shopping... If you have any recommendations for flattering bikinis (with a substantial bottom half - not that I'm saying I have a substantial bottom mind - 50's style...) I'm all ears! 

I'll be taking a week off from this blog next week as it's half term. See you again on Sunday 28 February. 

The Beach Hut

I've long dreamt of having my own beach hut - I'm sure a lot of us have. Now I'm known for my love of concrete and brutalism, and mid-century stuff but a pretty colourful little beach hut is equally wonderful - no? Also eminently more affordable than a flat in the Barbican...

So, a couple of times a year we'll be at a beach and say "Yes, let's buy one!" - although of course this is yet to happen. We calculate how many times we'd have to go to make it worthwhile - factor in how many times we could actually go (when the rain is hopefully not horizontal) and decide not to. One day though.

These pictures were taken at Lancing beach last weekend (it looks idillic but it was a tad cold and breezy - I still see myself in my hut, making a pot of tea though, no?). Lancing is my favourite beach (that we can just pop to from South London anyway) - it's nice and quiet too, so don't all rush down there at once please! Anyway, when you buy a beach hut you're basically buying the plot - and the huts only last 20 years or so (if you're lucky with all that wind and sea spray and all) - there's an annual ground rent to pay too, so it can all get a bit pricey. A girl can dream however. 

If you are interested in purchasing a hut (not in Lancing though please, I don't want the prices to go up...!), this website is rather useful. 

Winter in the Garden

Our garden was designed so as to have year round interest. It is looking a little scrappy at the moment though (few don't in January) and I had a little potter out there last weekend with the small boy, trying to spot the interesting stuff...

Thought I'd get one last shot of the hydrangea heads before they're chopped off but I've been told I should leave them as they protect the new shoots - so you learn something new every day (they're still there!). 

I also thought it might be a good opportunity to seek inspiration for a workshop I've signed up for. I'll be making silver clay jewellery with Emma Mitchell (you can see the sort of thing here) and at the moment I'm struggling to decide what I want to make. Do I go organic as Emma does with her own beautiful work, or do I try something completely different? Let me know if you have any thoughts! 

I may have failed on the ideas front but it is always nice to do a lap around our little plot - especially when the sun's out and it's not too cold. I'll share some more pictures as the flowers start to show themselves in the spring. 

Quiet Weekends

As I type this, we're mid-way through a run of weekends where we have NO PLANS. None. Zero. This never happens around here.

Now, I am a bit of a planner (and you'll know if you've been reading this blog recently that I really do prefer to be busy), but I often find it a little overwhelming when every single weekend for the foreseeable future is full. At this time of year I tend to be pretty quiet work wise (although this year I have a lot more work on than I've ever had before) and in the past I've probably filled the weekends to make up for it. But not this year. 

Two weeks ago, the little man and I spent the best part of an afternoon making crafts, drawing and collaging at the kitchen table - him working on one project, me working on another - one thing that never happens. When he was a baby I had this little rose tinted vision that we'd do this sort of thing, that weekend was the first time. He's getting on for 6...

We've also spent a lot of time by the fire (it has been rather chilly), and just enjoying being at home. I've managed to avoid weekend Post Office runs (although I have had some work to do - not too much though) and have spent a little less weekend time on social media (I've gone off Facebook completely - a couple of minutes at a time is just about my limit - so apologies to friends whose posts I've failed to like/comment on, when I would've done in the past, I haven't seen them - and it's not you - or me for that matter - it's Facebook). I think I feel better for it.

Last weekend it snowed. Mr M and the little man managed to conjure up a snowman from basically no snow. I tried not to be too alarmed by the sight of a flowering agapanthus amongst it.

And thanks to some really painfully sore muscles (I won't bore you with the story, I've just about had enough of it now!), I got to have an afternoon bath - yes a bath in the afternoon - yes I have a child. A miracle I know (it was lovely - I stayed in the tub for an hour).

And do you know the best part? At the moment we don't have any plans for next weekend either! I probably should make some effort to see friends, do something productive, take the little man out somewhere, but just staying at home and not doing much is fun! Oh, and fortunately come February we start to get busy again!!! 

What do you like to do when you have nothing to do? I like the idea of sitting in bed reading the Sunday papers and then going for brunch, but as I said I do have a nearly 6 year old... 

The Migraine and the Spicy Meatwich

So I suffer from migraines and I have since I was six. The first one happened when I was sitting at our kitchen table talking to my Mum. I stared across the table at some bananas in the fruit bowl and they became all pixelated and out of shape. It completely freaked me out at the time, but when I described what I could see to my Mum (who also suffers from migraines) she told me what it was straight away and said not to worry. I did get a headache afterwards but I don't remember it being too bad and we went to the doctors and opticians to get me checked out (and low and behold I needed the glasses I still sport to this day) and that was that.

As time went on I developed a second type of migraine - the visual disturbances aren't as bad but the headache is an off the scale, nausea inducing, darkened room doesn't help type affair. These are hideous, and sadly nowadays a lot more common.

As far as I'm aware, my migraines are caused by stress (usually relaxing after a period of stress rather than at the time, which is helpful I suppose!!), flickering light patterns (trees flickering in the wind behind a blind on a sunny day, driving past rows of trees with the sun streaming through - both of these have set them off) - this type is more likely to cause the visual disturbance migraine than the "I want to die it's so bad" headache type, and dehydration.

So, after nearly 32 years of migraines I've more or less pinpointed what causes them!!! Now, what to do to alleviate them.... Before I was pregnant I discovered that codeine is just amazing - makes me feel weird (in a not good way) and excessively thirsty for ages (but it's good to get lots of fluids when I have a migraine so it reminds me to drink more!). Even the worst migraine is usually cleared after a couple of rounds of ibuprofen and codeine. Then I got pregnant and panicked - how on earth would I cope with a migraine if all I could take was paracetamol - it'd be as good as useless. But by some miracle (or mother nature or something if you believe that) I didn't have a single migraine during my pregnancy or when I was breastfeeding. In fact I didn't have one until I started to get stressed about returning to work...

Anyway, all this depends upon the severity as sometimes I wonder if I can keep the codeine down, and they work much much better with food. Greasy food. Hangover type food. Here comes the spicy meatwich!

Now, I have a (slightly off topic) confession to make. I love watching Man v Food. I may not strike you as the type, but I do. Portion sizes aside (I honestly think I would keel over and die if I even attempted one of those, quite frankly obscene, eating challenges) but the food itself makes my mouth water - for the most part at least. This is also the type of food, which when combined with the painkillers, really helps my migraines (if I don't feel too nauseous that is!).

So last week, inspired by Man v Food and with a migraine which just would not go, I created the sandwich above, which I have snappily named the Spicy Meatwich! It contains...

Lovely fresh crusty bread roll
Barbecued pulled pork (heap of)
4 slices of spicy pepperoni
Piri piri coleslaw (heap of) - see some veg!!

This could (possibly) be improved with a slice of melted cheese and some sliced jalapeños on the top to make it spicier - if you're a fan of properly spicy, it's currently not that spicy if I'm honest.

Then washed down with gallons of Diet Coke (yes I'm still thirsty). Full fat coke is probably best here as I often feel that my blood sugar is low, but I just can't drink the stuff, it's too sweet.

Anyhow, on this occasion the migraine really took some shifting but I do have a really great favourite new migraine (and almost certainly hangover) busting meal which I can look forward to the next time one strikes!

Aside from the meatwich, I need to think of other ways to handle the old migraines. Migraines and small children DO NOT MIX - it's hell. They don't understand. You have to carry on as normal no matter how ill you are. I also run my own business now - of course back when I was working for someone else, if I had to take a day off with a migraine I'd spend the whole of it panicking that it'd cost me my job, but it never did and there was always someone else around to do the urgent stuff. There isn't now...

So - I think I need to look after myself a little better - fewer late nights, less alcohol (more other fluids too), exercise and maybe attempting to take a day off once in a while (as I mentioned in last week's post I really struggle to do this so it'll be a challenge!). Oh and if I have a migraine, don't worry about the migraine. Go back to bed for a while if I can (after the school run) and don't get stressed. Easier said than done perhaps!

Do you suffer from migraines? I know that everyone gets slightly different types and finds they're own ways of dealing with them, but do share any tips you may have!

Bloggers Block....

Happy New Year!

I've discovered something about myself in the past few months - something I probably already knew but it has now been confirmed. I can't take a break. Not a proper one anyway.

When I take a break from my business I get stressed - I either worry that I'm missing out on something (I'm almost certainly not!) or I start thinking of all the stuff I have to do, worry about when I'm going to get it done, and just start working again anyway.

I've also discovered that the old adage that the more you use your creativity the more of it you have, is true. Take this blog as an example...

I started writing this blog back in August as I fancied a fun little blogging project with no pressure. I didn't even intend to post that regularly (if I didn't want to) and the first posts were massively sporadic. My friend then pointed out to me that with a title such as the one it has, a weekly Sunday post might be appropriate (oh yes, why hadn't I thought of that?). But then there was an issue. I had to think of stuff to write about.

Rarely a problem with my other blog. I post 3 times a week. I have a set list (albeit in my head) of what I will and will not write about - I like to keep it "on brand". This blog is all about the stuff I can't write about on that one because it doesn't fit, or the tone isn't quite right. To start with it was fairly easy, although I've realised that I'm still not that comfortable sharing too much parenting and small child related stuff (sorry - it's me not you), and that Made By Mrs M is actually very me (so I'm the "brand" - hooray! That makes life easier...).

Anyway, so here we are 3 weeks after I decided to take a Christmas and New Year break from this blog (I took 1 day off from the other one!!!) and I'm stuck for ideas...  Well yes, I did have a very nice Christmas thanks, but you don't want to hear about that on 10 January do you? Aside from having masses of work on (thank you for keeping me so busy folks - see not taking time off from my business has resulted in loads of orders - someone give me a slap please), I haven't got anything exciting planned this month. I could write about my Christmas presents but they're all so "on brand" they'll be featured on the other blog!

So instead I've written a semi steam of consciousness post about how I have nothing to write about!

Do pop back next week to see if I come up with anything more exciting. Alternatively you could let me know if there's anything you'd like me to cover in the comments. I've illustrated this post with some nice little shots from a couple of days out we had over the holidays - a blustery day in Brighton and a grey but very pleasant walk on Epsom Downs. See you next week!