OUT OF TOWN
Pick Your Own flowers at Manor Farm Gardens
It has become an annual tradition for us to visit the wonderful walled gardens of Clarey and Barney at Manor Gardens near Darlington. My parents live in Teesdale so each summer we take a short road trip to the PYO gardens and enjoy a day out picking bouquets of flowers. We look forward to it every ...
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WEEKEND GETAWAYS
A week in St. Ives, Cornwall
The pretty fishing town of St Ives in Cornwall is somewhere I’ve grown up holidaying since I was a small child. It holds so many special memories of long, lazy summer vacations spent with family - cousins, aunties, uncles even school friends. And it’s a place that my kids call home even though we actually ...
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FASHION
Milk & Biscuits
I discovered Milk and Biscuits a couple of years ago at Playtime in Paris. The collection looks so different from a lot of the other brands – bright bold prints, original fun designs and beautiful fabrics made the clothes stand out. So I got chatting to Kate, the designer, who was just launching her line -- ...
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PLACES TO VISIT
Stonehenge, inside the circle!
Last weekend our little family, along with 24 friends, made a special visit to Stonehenge. We've been to Stonehenge once before and we've driven past it several times, but this visit was an entirely different experience, one that none of us will ever forget. My friend Lesley organised a private group tour for 30 people which meant ...
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OUTDOORS
When the sea calls...
This past Saturday, despite the weather being quite cold and windy, we felt the urge to drive out of London and get ourselves to the seaside. Friends laughed at us when we told them we were going to drive two hours only to spend a cold day at the beach, but it turned out to be ...
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BABY
Hop & Peck, handmade wooden toys and gifts
Hop & Peck is an English company with an adorable range of wooden gifts and goodies. The products are all lovingly handmade and hand-finished in Essex, England and made with solid, sustainable oak and child-friendly paints. I love the little tractor, and the sweet rolling elephant. They also have a selection of wooden egg cups ...
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KIDS ROOMS
Animal nightlights from White Rabbit England
I have long been a fan of the beautiful nightlights from White Rabbit England. How cute are these animals? I'm not sure which one I love most. Maybe the owl? But the dog is cute for a boy's room! They're made here in England from fine bone china, and I must say... they're even more ...
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BABY
More country differences: caring for the umbilical stump.
My #1 was born in London, and on discharge from the hospital I was told to bathe the baby regularly and that the stump would fall off pretty soon. That's it, simple and practical. Then the midwife who came to our home a couple of times checked on it. #2 was born last week in Milan, and stumps ...
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